Shows like this are always hard to gage. Is the art being shown serious or is it academic - that is, is the faculty member a gifted teacher but not so gifted artist or are they an artist making a living by teaching (either well or well-enough to stick).
This show closely follows last year's show.
This show features a rather tedious by-product of an art faculty "project" (maybe a junket) having something to do with the interview of Indian (as in India) artists. If memory serves me correctly these are the remaining fumes from last year's show.
Another thread of work seemed to center around the use of new technology dedicated to printmaking - as much an exercise in manufactured effect rather than artistic innovation.
Likewise the photography seemed stale to me - again, maybe a hangover from last year's show and exposure to the MFA show. Rather than pushing any photographic envelope the work seemed to mail it in.
In touring the show I settled on a set of work from three faculty artists.
Ray Dicapua apparently always attracts attention for his oversized drawings. He's UConn's 'art of the spectacular' entry to these shows.
Here is this year's entry;
Done in vine charcoal! Impressive stuff. How these things get stored are an even larger mystery.
The second piece worth mentioning is by Brad Guarino - The Appearance of Balance and Perspective (2018). Its the first piece I've seen recently that speaks to manhood. Here's the piece and how he speaks to its intent;
Finally, there's the acrylic work of Pamela Bramble which was like a breath of fresh air for me, a fellow painter. I found the innovative use of material, size, and nature of the work to be, at the very least inspiring. The work is playful and full of cryptic surprise, often mimicking fine art print grounds.
It is hard to be impressed or disappointed in faculty art shows. Faculty art is always a mixed bag. But what I look for is innovation, risk, skin in the game of pushing the envelope and in this regard I don't think there's enough showing to write about. This doesn't mean it doesn't exist, it simply isn't on display.
This is not an inspiring show by any means. One can only hope that this faculty's calling is teaching where inspiring students is the masterwork. As they say in baseball, "Wait until next year."