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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 1998)
The Battalion Aggielife Page 3 • Friday, October 23, 1998 rom rench rOut Stark Galleries feature popular art pieces, a Renaissance paintings ROBERT MCKAY/Thf. Battalion Lois Johnson, who visits the J. Wayne Stark Gallery during an ostrich farm ing convention, admires “St. Paul Writing His Epistles” by Valentine De Boulogne. The painting is a part of the Ancien Regime exhibit. BY GRAY WHITTEN The Battalion ays died ocial commentary, ranging from a painting of a monkey violinist to stolen views of AOL messages in pop-art form, line the walls of the J. Wayne Stark Gallery as part of exhibits from two very dif ferent places and times. Sharing the walls are a sampling of French Renaissance and roque paintings contrasted with a display of innovative and uversiiv sometimes strange photographic works, entialre::* The larger of the two exhibits, “French Painting of the 'edstoriAncien Regime from the Collection of the Sarah Campbell e said, '■affer Foundation,” contains works from the 15th through mselver fcth centuries. The Blaffer collection gives students a cross- .essions:taction of what was one of the most influential periods in f t history. The French attained a cultural high-watermark by draw- ;ions,sai: igon the influences of the Italians and the Flemish, among astnight'-' ihers, and held that position for centuries, demented! | Enrique Montes, a senior construction science major and imentafe in employee of the galleries, said patrons of the gallery are not always the usual college crowd. “We get a lot more non-students than students. There are otof tours from local high schools and elementary schools |rthe French paintings. Art classes and things like that,” ontes said. The Blaffer exhibit attempts to give a representative sam- of the styles and subjects favored at the time. The pieces on display have been gathered in the last 25 ars for educational purposes, according to information ovided by the gallery. Startlingly realistic works like Hubert Robert’s “The lining of the Hotel-Dieu in Paris the Night of 29-30 De- jcember 1772,” which is amazing in both detail and size, d Charles Franqois Lacroix De Marseille’s “View of an lian Port at Dawn,” showcase the artists’ talent for re- ism and observation. Several of the featured portraits and self-portraits, espe- lally Valentin De Boulogne’s “Saint Paul Writing His Epis- ps,” show an incredible care for accuracy in facial expres- n, lighting and shading. In the De Boulogne work, the face of Christ is visible in (.linMin Charity Phi-Esta Bellamy Brothers, Junior Brown perform tonight to benefit MDA the writing table, almost as a reflection of Paul. This illusion is a residual effect of the original image being painted over by a poor artist. Religious and mythological themes are some of the most common in this exhibit. Some paintings portray everyday scenes, but many are related to the heavenly beings that shaped cultures and societies. Gallery curator Catherine Hastedt said she tries to pick relevant pieces when choosing pieces for a display. “I try to bring in exhibits I can tie into the current cur riculum, like when we have archaeological exhibits or some thing,” she said. “We seem to have the best luck when there’s an assignment related to the exhibit.” After spending time in the presence of pieces of the past, the works of the present that can be seen in “Luminous Code: Photo-based Artworks” will either comfort or surprise visitors with its skewed views of our world. The works in the exhibit are divided by four “themes,” the Natural, the Mnemonsyne, the Semiotic and the Surreal. With work from artists of varying backgrounds, skill lev els and origins, “Luminous Code” presents views of our world in some unusual formats. Some show stark realism while others, like Tom Cham bers’ “Pueblo Fire,” show things that could be. Featured photos are altered, computer enhanced or print ed by alternate methods. Ann Pizer’s “Corselet” is presented on an actual corset, and photos appear on leather and other materials. Jennifer Blessing of the Guggenheim Museum said the images in this exhibit are linked by a common interest in the expressive qualities of the photographic medium. “What’s really interesting,” Hastedt said, “is how much of contemporary society is depicted in it. Everything from telephone to e-mail. It’s very topical.” The care used by the photographers is obvious in some works and questionable in others, but the collection as a whole is an interesting visual experience. “Luminous Code” will be on display through Nov. 1, while the Blaffer collection will be on display until Dec. 17. Hastedt noted that after the end of the French exhibit’s stay at the Stark Galleries, it will no longer be traveling, but will find a permanent home in the newly expanded Hous ton Museum of Fine Arts. BY RILEY LAGRONE The Battalion T exas A&M University’s Phi Delta Theta chapter will hold its first Phi- Esta tonight at Wolf Pen Creek Amphitheater. The concert, which will ben efit the Muscular Dystrophy As sociation, will feature country artists Pat Green, Junior Brown and the Bellamy Brothers. In addition to raising mon ey for MDA, Phi-Esta has been contacted by the Children’s Miracle Network to help grant Garrett Highsmith, a 6-year- old boy who has been diag nosed with cancer, his wish to meet country performer Ju nior Brown. Not only is the concert be ing organized for a good cause, it will feature some of the most talented country artists to ever be assembled in College Station at one time. The Bellamy Brothers, who will headline the concert, have been performing music together since the 1970s. The duo has written such hits as “Redneck Girl” and “Do You Love as Good as You Look?” More recently, the Bellamy Brothers left their label, At lantic, to found their own Bel lamy Brothers Records. Also performing at Phi-Esta will be rockabilly legend Ju nior Brown. In Austin, Brown’s gigs at the Continental Club have be come a must-see for fans, mu sicians and visiting record ex ecutives, and his albums continue to blur the lines be tween rock and country. In fact, the singer-song- writer even invented his own type of guitar. “I was playing both steel and guitar, switching back and forth all the time while I sang, and it was kind of awkward,” Brown said in a biography. “But I had this dream where they were just kind of melted together. When I woke up, I thought ‘You know, that thing could work!’ They make double neck guitars and dou ble neck /steels, so why not one of each?” The idea worked, and the ‘guit-steel’ has become one of Brown’s trademarks. Brown, a master of both in struments, combines guitar licks and steel guitar lines so flawlessly, it is sometimes dif ficult to tell they are not the same instrument. Opening the concert will be local favorite Pat Green. Green, who began his ca reer as a Texas Tech student performing shows in beer gar dens around Lubbock, has been the opening act for artists including Willie Nel son, Jerry Jeff Walker and Robert Earl Keen. Green, who also frequently headlines his own shows, re*- leased his second alburn^ George’s Bar, in April 1997. ^ Russell Roberts, Vice Presi dent of Phi Delta Theta, said h$ is looking forward to the concert. “We’re really excited about the first Phi-Esta, as well as raising money for organiza tions like MDA,” Roberts said', “The whole point of events like this is to generate money to help people who need it.” * PHOTO COURTESY OF PAT GREEN Pat Green, a Texas country musician, will open for The Bellamy Brothers tonight at Phi Delta Theta’s first Phi-Esta. 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