Hildy Exhibit Review

Over Thanksgiving break, the two members of my blog group (Kara and Chris) and I visited an exhibit being housed in the Albany Airport. The exhibit, entitled Out of this World featured seven artists whose colorful paintings and sculptures were not only intriguing to the eye, but also fun to look at. The subtitle of the exhibit, transcending the terrestrial in contemporary art, explains a lot to the reasoning behind Out of this World. The main goal for these arts was to bridge a gap between our natural world and the ever growing industry of materialism within America.
One of my favorite pieces within the exhibit was by Chris Harvey. Harvey’s Seven Columns of Commerce and Pleasure was a colorfully sculpture, consisting of seven structures/columns created with the use of bowls, plates, cups, etc. Each column had its own color scheme, which created an almost rainbow effect then looking at the entire piece. One could interpret Harvey’s sculpture as a commentary on the connection between materialism and pleasure. By stacking all sorts of bowls and plates, Harvey succeeded in creating a whimsical sculpture which attracts the eye .
Another of one of my favorite pieces from Out of this World, was Susie Brandt’s Stumps and Drains Series. Brandt uses an interesting medium through the use of hand hooked rugs to create these almost psychedelic looking blobs. These blobs, however, are meant to look like tree stumps. After careful examinations, Brandt’s rugs take on a different meaning. While tree stumps are normally brown and often dirty looking, the use of color transforms these natural elements into a newly appreciated object.
While Albany Airport often houses different art exhibits, Out of this World was an interesting choice on part of the curators who decide which exhibits to house in the airport. With all of the bright, magical colors, this exhibit seems entirely out of place within the confines of the airport. One does not expect to see this type of exhibit, with its lime green walls and colorful sculptures in the mundane gray and beige motif of the airport. This clash, however, further reinforces the uniqueness of the exhibit. Travelers can take a break from the often stressful act of traveling to enjoy artwork, which speaks to the more playful side of life.