HCCC Highlighted Exhibitions

    Over the past few weeks I've had the chance to personally immerse myself in two very new and fresh exhibitions, but also different from each other in many ways.  These two new shows are both hosted at my own school, Hudson County Community College- Shifting Horizons in Dineen-Hull Gallery in Journal Square, currated by the brilliant Professor Laurie Riccadonna and Geometric Giggles, a solo exhibition featuring former street artist and turned art educator, Ray Arcadio, at North Hudson's Art Concourse. Both Shows are captivating and intriguing, inspiring new realms of possibilities for art students looking to find their own niche in the art world.

    Shifting Horizons is a group exhibition featuring the work of seven artists. The exhibit explores themes of the environment, earthly and unearthly landscapes, and the spirit of nature.  Imediately upon entering I was drawn to one table with a sculpture display by glass artist and HCCC professor Jason Minami.  In this installation, Minmai creates a horde of meticulously blown, glass mushrooms, covering half the table in a semi-circle orientation.  The other half of the table is covered in paper with a burned pattern.  Gazing through the mushrooms you can see reflections of the burned paper, with a shimmer as the lights catch each of them.  Minami explains further on how he mapped the path of the sun using the mushrooms onto the paper, beofore burning the rays permanently with a blowtorch.  In a future project, Minami mentions plans to potentially create a solar beam using glass and the suns rays, in order to burn paper using the sun's natural light beam path- a fascinating concept I would love to see become a reality.  Minami is truly a master when it comes to glass art and brings a really unique style of artwork to the table.

    In the greyscale drawings of Michelle Finniak, it is sometimes hard to tell whether we are looking at a scene on earth, possibly other planets, or even fantasy dream worlds.  Finniak's work was initially pretty uninteresting to me, blending together into somewhat unidentifiable blobs from a distance, however after further examination I noticed some of the fascinating details you really have to get up close and personal to see. In one graphite and charcoal drawing, I discover minuscule war tanks traversing around a somewhat post apocalyptic world. Different sections of the drawing resemble different theaters of war such as World War Europe, Vietnam, and the War in the Middle East. Another drawing, this one in ink is remnant the winding mountain village of Padulla, Itally.  Bird mothers are seen pushing carriages with children, and those who have been to Padulla know of the sound of screeching birds in that village. Overall it's obviously great work with great insight, if you've got a half hour and a magnifying glass, but to most non-artists this wouldn't really be recognized as anything special.

    Directly across from Finniak's black and grey works are some of the largest and boldest in the whole show- the abstract paintings of Artist and HCCC Professor Riley Strom. During an artist residency in Mexico City, Strom created her own oil paints using all natural pigments.  Strom visited local indigenous tribes, and received the pigments and gained inspiration for her paintings.  Her work includes beautiful hues of bright reds, oranges, blues and yellows with rich earth tones throughout, giving the paintings a naturalistic look, and the spirit and creativity of Indiginous Mexico is fully embodied. This type of eco-artwork is truly a lost art, and the natural paints give the paintings a distinguished look that cannot be replicated using anything purchased in your local art supply store.  Factories like ones that create mass tubes of paint are detrimental to our environment, so maybe all artists should revert to this form of work.  I doubt that would ever happen, but at this stage Strom's work certainly stands out elegantly in the crowd.

Legendary Professor Michael Lee reflects on art with students (classic)

Riley Strom Oil Painting on Vellum

    Currently on view at HCCC's Art Concourse at North Hudson,  Geometric Giggles is now on view, showcasing the work of Ray Arcadio. Geometric Giggles is new and fresh, demonstrating Arcadio's experienced aptitude in the visual arts.  Exploring themes of popculture, comics, and movies, including Star Wars, The Walking Dead, Batman, the Joker, and the Avengers.  The Exhibit even has a painting of Michael Jackson, complete with white glove and all.  The artwork includes all kinds of references to many of the subcultures I've loved growing up, with each piece bringing back waves of memories from different points in my life.  This made the exhibition really resonate with me on a personal level and really stands out among others I've seen. Arcadio was a front runner in the Jersey City street art and graffiti scene, and is now transitioning to breaking boundaries on the canvas and other fine art endeavors.  He also spends his time inspiring young artists as an educator in the Jersey City school system.  

In the center most hallway of the Concourse, Arcadio shows a prolific collection of domino shaped portraits of figures many may quickly recognize, such as Darth Vader and Groot.  Each of these caricatures is built out of simple geometric forms, bearing their masssive teeth, hence the name Geometric Giggles, these artworks are genuinely comical and amusing to look at. Theese icons from what many consider to be "geek subcultures" come from franchises with deep and intellectual storylines, and many of these characters are often misunderstood in some way by fans.  The idea of giving these characters a laughing smile not only changes their vibe but brings light to somewhat dark individuals.  

Works by Ray Arcadio in the North Hudson Art Concourse

       Besides bringing a bold new swing to traditional painting, Arcadio is also an adept three-dimensional designer. In  the main hallway I found representations of Captain America and Iron man in brilliant popping three- dimensional form.  Captain America is designed in the shape of a large domed shield, in a shape resembling Cap's shield.  On the same wall also is another domino shaped portrait of Iron man, this one utilizing three- dimensional objects, with a sauce cup at the center, replicating Tony Stark's Arc Reactor. Ray Arcadio has certainly more than proven himself, not only as a fantastic artist, but also as a comic visionary.