Alexander Saar’s painting will be one of many featured by art students from Revelstoke Secondary School in the main gallery of the Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre this month. The show, Don’t Hide the Madness, grade 10, 11 and 12 art students. The show includes a wide variety of subjects, mediums and two and three-dimensional pieces. Students were free to either choose a piece from a class project or create something specifically for the show. The show runs from May 10 to June 6.
Here's a complete description of the show from art teacher Theresa Browning:
This exhibit showcases the work of students from RSS in several classes, Art Foundations 11/12, Visual Arts Media 10, 11, 12, a couple of exceptional students who are in grade nine Visual Arts and some students who are doing Independent Directed Studies (grade 12’s). It encompasses work from a wide range of subjects, mediums and 2 and 3 dimensional pieces. It is hoped that it shows what incredibly talented youth we have in our community.
All students from the art classes mentioned above (Art Foundations and Visual Arts Media) were asked to submit to the teacher at least one piece that they wished to exhibit. This piece could come from something they had already done as a class assignment or if they wished, they were welcome to do something specifically for this exhibit that was not part of a class mark or assignment. About ten percent of the students did pieces specifically for the exhibit while the remainder chose pieces from things they had already done.
One thing that was encouraged regardless of the assignment or independent pieces was the exploration of using a variety of mediums. Once students had an idea or concept they needed to decide which medium would produce the best result. With this approach, you will see pieces done in pencil crayon, pen, ink, marker, pastel, conte, charcoal, pencil, chalk, paint (acrylic and watercolor) and a mix thereof.
There were also some specific assignments in the Art Foundations class that dealt with a particular medium. Students were able to do printmaking using styrofoam and lino. There are a number of pieces using both these mediums. Some other specific assignments also included ceramic masks, which were bisque fired and then painted. Sculptures that began with a wire armature, were then covered with plasticine or papier mache and paint. They also did some work that was inspired by M.C. Escher that dealt with transformation and progression.
In the Media class, students were asked to choose a quotation that held some significance for them and then to illustrate it. This could be done with traditional art mediums as well as digitally. They also did an assignment that was inspired by Andy Warhol and the Pop art movement, using repetition of an object and bright colors. Another assignment was to create some form of a self-portrait, a representation of who they are, and there are a few pieces based on this.
All in all, I am incredibly proud of the work students have exhibited and I believe it is fantastic to see such a representation of art by youth in our community.