Memorandum #1, featuring Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke and Geroge Soros. (Photo William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
By William Oehler, Director of Photography & Staff Writer
On Wednesday, Sept 3rd, two new student-curated exhibitions opened to the public in Schmucker Art Gallery. The gallery hosted a public opening that included student-curator remarks, as well as a special presentation from one of the featured artists, Dr. Gan Yu.
Director of Schmucker Art Gallery Sarah Kate Gillespie opened the evening with acknowledgements to the students: Westley Rathbun ’27, Md Nafisul Hasan Sami ’27 and Ava Prickman ’28. Gillespie also mentioned her gratitude to Yu for his donation of time, art and expertise in the production and research of Rathbun and Sami’s exhibition, Footprints Across the Ocean.
The evening progressed into the first exhibition presentation with remarks from Yu, who expanded upon the main motif across many of his works presented in the exhibition, the stock market.
Featured artists of the exhibit, Dr. Gan Yu, presenting. (Photo William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
In A Wall Street Diary, Yu created 216 panels with “ripped pieces of black paper pasted against a white background… arranged in a grid.” The grouping of panels resembles the centuries-old tradition of Chinese ink painting, with a modern influence through “…paper ripped… to match stock market data from March 21, 2011, until March 27, 2012.” More information about Yu’s life, art, and impact can be found on the Schmucker Art Gallery’s webpage, the exhibition catalogue and the artist’s personal website.
Yu’s remarks were followed by Rathbun detailing his experience and time spent with the works displayed in the Gallery. He also expanded upon his time researching and working with Yu, explaining they began their work together over a Zoom meeting, and later met in Yu’s studio where he lives in Brooklyn, NY. The exhibition also features a digital portion, developed and designed by Sami. The digital extension was made possible through the Digital Summer Fellowship sponsored by The Islan Endowment for the Visual Arts.
Westley Rathbun ’27 presenting on his exhibition “Footprints Across the Ocean”. (Photo William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
Prickman transitioned the audience from 21st-century China to the country in 1966, the beginning of the Cultural Revolution and Mao Zedong’s time in power. Prickman gave an in-depth and interactive address, asking audience members to imagine what it would have been like to be a youth in China during the Revolution. She passed out Red and Black cards as members filtered into the Gallery, to later connect to the idea that the Red and Black classes would have been treated differently by even their closest neighbors during the ten-year rule.
Ava Prickman ’28 presenting on her exhibit”The World Turned Upside Down”. (Photo William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
Prickman closed her address by explaining that how she hung the pieces hung was meant to replicate the claustrophobia and impending threats of Maoist propaganda. She invited guests to focus on the pattern of details and repeated motifs, such as the color red in each of the propaganda posters.
The evening closed with time for guests to enjoy refreshments, speak with the curators and artists and enjoy both exhibitions.
Visitors of the exhibit “The World Turned Upside Down”. (Photo William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
