Thursday # July 10, 1997
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Gallery grows with
new themes, exhibits
By Wesley Brown
The Battalion
1 imothy Vanya never attended Texas A&M,
but from the looks of his office, few could
tell. The artist and owner of The Red Brick
Gallery in downtown Bryan has been focusing
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Photograph: Sarah Johnson
Paintings, drawings, photographs and sculptures
are on display at The Red Brick Gallery in Bryan.
on A&M traditions for almost a decade. Paint
ings and drawings of Aggies young and old fig
ure prominently throughout, most of them by
Vanya himself.
“I have a new set of works coming out this fall
that focus on children and A&M — everything
from 18-month-old toddlers to older kids and
their first experience with Aggie traditions.”
It is no wonder this theme is important in
Vanya’s work — his daughter is a student at
A&M. Red Brick Gallery does not, however, fo
cus primarily on the work of its proprietor. The
gallery, which opened in June, is a permanent
showcase for Vanya’s work, but it also displays
work from other artists. Five artists are featured
besides Vanya.
The gallery exhibits paintings and drawings,
photographs and sculptures, but it is not going
to be just a gallery for long. Vanya has big plans
for upcoming months, including a “coffee
house night” with live music and a poetry read
ing every third Saturday of the month and a
“Friday philosophy forum” to encourage intel
lectual discussion.
“I think the intellectual exchange of ideas in a
comfortable setting is what this university envi
ronment should be about, and it’s what this
world lacks in general,” Vanya said. “There’s no
interaction like that with TV or computers.”
The Red Brick Gallery also will function as a
learning center. Vanya keeps a well-stocked art
library on hand and welcomes anyone who
wishes to sit down and read as they visit the
museum. In addition, Vanya and several other
artists will be teaching their crafts to any inter
ested students. Vanya plans to teach beginning
through advanced drawing, as well as life draw
ing, in which he has a particularly strong back
ground. In addition, Dave Brady, whose sculp
tures are exhibited in the gallery, will be
teaching pottery classes.
Vanya is heavily involved with the develop
ment of the fine arts throughout Bryan-College
Station. The building in which the Red Brick
Gallery is located will soon be at the artistic heart
of the community. Owner Kay Coulee has do
nated an 8,000-square-foot area near the Gallery
for a new project.
“We’ve donated this area to the upcoming
Children’s Museum, so that they can have a tem
porary space to show a large part of their exhib
it,” Conlee said. “They’re going to need a lot more
room in the long run, but they’re going to start
off here.”
The Children’s Museum will be next-door to
the Red Brick Gallery for at least two years, chair
man Dale Whittaker said. Vanya welcomes his
new neighbor and the business it will bring.
“Every big city has one, and it’ll be great to
have one here in Bryan,” he said. “If it’s like oth
er children’s museums, it’ll be extremely popu
lar. But even without that help, business here is
getting better every day.”
Vanya and some of his fellow artists are push
ing for even more artistic growth in the Bryan-
College Station area, appealing to the Bryan City
Council for a joint-venture fine arts museum.
“The museums on A&M’s campus have been
great for encouraging art appreciation in this
area, and we want to build on that foundation,”
Vanya said. “We want to be the spark that gets
a true fine arts community going in Bryan-Col
lege Station.”
The Red Brick Gallery is at 202
S. Bryan down the street from
3rd Floor Cantina,
Photograph: Sarah Johnson
Artist Timothy Vanya owns the Red Brick Gallery in downtown Bryan.
Men In Black eclipses typical summer movies
By James Francis
The Battalion
« rphey wear black suits with matching
f / % Ban sunglasses. They hunt
-*■ down the scum of the earth —
aliens in human form, spread out all over
(lie world. They keep us from knowing
tlieirexistence and the unseen popula
tion of aliens on Earth. They are the
Men In Black.
Some may speculate that the pair-
ingofWill Smith as “J” and Tommy
lee (ones as “K” in the sci-fi adven
ture-comedy Men In Black is an
odd one, but the onscreen
chemistry between the two is
pure movie magic.
Box-office figures from
this past weekend confirm
that there certainly is
some film element that
makes Men In Black ap
pealing to audiences
across the nation. With a
three-day domestic gross of
S84.1 million, this film is on
the road to summer-block-
buster success. It just goes to
show that if actors want to
make a splash in the summer,
they should market their films
on the Fourth of July weekend.
The film opens with Smith,
as New York police officer James
Edwards, in pursuit of a sus
pected criminal. But when the felon
jumps from a tall bridge and lands
safely on the ground, Smith realizes he
might not be dealing with an ordinary
person. Later, Smith and the audience
come to the understanding that there
are numerous aliens on Earth. The
only problem is that audiences can’t
tell, because they
’(
form of human beings.
Soon, Smith is confronted by Jones
and is selected to be one of the few,
elite agents of the Men In Black orga
nization. These agents go by single-let
ter names, so Smith becomes Agent J
and is paired with Jones, Agent K. The
plot doesn’t get much thicker than
this, other than both agents attempt
ing to save the world from total de
struction by a gigantic bug. Although it
is straightforward and not hard to fol
low, the storyline
for this film is
still intrigu
ing, and it
keeps the
audience in
touch with its
characters.
The best aspect of
Men In Black is the come
dy. Although the special ef
fects were conducted by
masters at Industrial Light
& Magic and Steven Spielberg
served as Executive Producer,
no one can deny the comedic
pairing of Smith and Jones.
The classic television show
The Odd Couple can not even
come close to the banter played
back and forth between Smith
and Jones.
Smith comes through in the
film as his usual funny-guy
Men In Black
Starring Will Smith, Tommy
Lee Jones
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeid
Rated PG-13
Playing at Hollywood 16
★★★★ (out of five)
character who is just as normal as all of
us — only a bit funnier and more
wealthy. His performance displays a
range of emotion from bewilderment
toward an actual alien population to hi
larity when faced with assisting in the
birth of an alien. With his past success
as the star of Independence Day, Smith
may have a knack for the sci-fi genre, or
at least sci-fi films that doesn’t take
themselves too seriously. Smith is a co
median by nature, and his skills truly
shine in this film.
Jones, on the other hand, takes his
comedy like black coffee — straight,
strong and at times, a bit subtle.
Throughout the entire production,
Jones shows no emotion other than a
very serious nature for being an agent
of the MIB. This is the brilliance of
casting someone such as Jones in this
film — he doesn’t have to try to be fun
ny. Because of his serious facial ex
pressions and reactions to what many
people would deem out of the ordi
nary, Jones comes across as a natural-
born comic.
A good surprise and great addition
to the film is Dr. Laurel Weaver,
played by Linda Fiorentino of the crit
ically-acclaimed film The Last Seduc
tion. Fiorentino is New York City’s
Deputy Medical Examiner, who be
comes involved with the MIB agents
through a series of dead victims she
must examine.
Although she can usually be found
attacking more serious roles, Fiorenti
no takes on a new identity as a quirky
medical doctor. The funniest se
quences she appears in are those in
which Agents J and K must erase her
memory so that she will not remember
their existence or the circumstances
surrounding the victims she examines.
As far as cinematography goes, Men
In Black is a special effects smorgas
bord. From alien creations to space
ship crashes, this film delivers an array
of interesting and realistic-looking
computer-generated images.
Such is also the case with the entire
concept and filming of Men In Black. Its
story is original, the acting is funny and
the action is finely tuned. The only draw
back to the film is that it might not be
long enough for some audiences to get a
full helping of the artistic accomplish
ment that is the Men In Black.
College Station Part-time Hardware Positions
Universal Computer Systems, Inc. is looking for candidates for the following positions at
our College Station computer facility. Operating hours of the facility are 6a.m.-10p.m.,
Monday through Friday and 8a.m.-10p.m. Saturday. A candidate must be able to work at
least 15 hours Monday-Friday and have completed at least one semester of college.
Data Entry - The College Station Repair facility handles computer repair for all our clients
nation-wide and repairs more than 60,000 pieces of equipment per year. Persons working the
data entry positions are responsible for maintaining data for more than 2000 parts both shipped
from and received at the facility.
Cleaning and Reclamation - Persons involved in cleaning and reclamation must maintain
upkeep of all equipment received and shipped from the facility. Involves disassembly of equip
ment, upkeep of pieces, and reassembly of equipment.
Technician - Technicians will learn aspects of using an oscilloscope and multi-meters to trouble
shoot and repair dysfunctional hardware. Each individual will be trained thoroughly in the repair of
one particular piece of equipment including CRTs, terminals, keyboards, PCs, mainframes, con
trollers, modems, and others.
Parts Inventory - Responsible for maintaining inventory of more than 2000 parts that the facility
may handle at any one time.
To apply please call our Recruiting Department. EOE
Universal Computer Systems, Inc.
1-409-846-1213
http ://www. ucs-syste ms. com
AGGIE WRANGLERS
AN AGGIE TRADITION FOR THIRTEEN YEARS
SUMMER SESSION II
DANCE LESSONS
CLASS - PAY ^ TIME LOCATION
COUNTRY & WESTERN
JITTERBUG I
jLx-* ^
SIGN-UPS IN THE MSC FLAGRC
6-7:30
8-9:30
GRW 266
GRW 266
8 AM. - 3 P.M. JULY 14 & 15
.COUPLE
i-..,,;; . i y-x <
CLASSES START JULY 20 AND RUN 4 WEEKS
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT THE AGGIE WRANGLERS ON-LINE AT
http://www.tamu.edu/aggie_wranglers
‘tKaftbe/u
Your
2 Engagement Ring
Custom Jewelry Headquarters
2205 Longmire Suite F • 695-1328
Financing Available
The Battalion’s now offering
access to The WIRE
A 24-hour, multimedia news service
for the Internet from The Associated Press
The WIRE provides continuously updated news coverage
from one of the world’s oldest, largest news services via
The Battalion’s web page.
• A comprehensive, up-to-the-minute news report combining
the latest AP stories with photos, graphics, sound and video.
• Headlines and bulletins delivered as soon as news breaks.
http://bat-web.tamu.edu
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3rd FLOOR CANTINA
This Saturday, July 12th
Pre-saie tickets at Rother’s, Cavenders,
Marooned, DoubleQuick
A Dickson Production