CMU art exhibit expectedly unique

Too Far Gone

Various Artists

Through April 20

The Regina Gouger Miller…

Too Far Gone

Various Artists

Through April 20

The Regina Gouger Miller Gallery

(412) 268-3877

Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Art is renowned for turning out such artists as pop-art icon Andy Warhol. It can be expected that any artists the program produces will be unique — mavericks, masters, eccentrics. The newest crop of masters of fine arts students from CMU’s No. 2-ranked school certainly doesn’t disappoint.

A showcase of mixed media from MFA artists Jacob Ciocci, Adam Davies, Carolyn Lambert, Mario Marzan and Blithe Riley is on display in the Regina Gouger Miller Gallery. The show, titled “Too Far Gone,” is this year’s MFA thesis exhibition.

According to Susanne Slavick, head of the School of Art, the title of the exhibit refers to the student artists’ eminent departure as well as their “creative intensity and abandon.” This so-called abandon is perfectly evident in such works as Blithe Riley’s “Crawler” and “Shaker.”

“Crawler” is made up of a castle-like tower that dominates the second floor of the gallery, a large mound of dirt and a life-sized movie projected on the floor between the two. The picture on the floor shows the progress of what appears to be some sort of punk-like diver as he or she tunnels through an underground cavern from the castle to the dirt mound. If this sounds absurd, that’s because it is. But it gets weirder.

“Shaker” has to be experienced in person to be fully appreciated or understood. A movie is projected onto a corner of the room, showing a girl in a hooded dress rolling on the floor while groaning, apparently in pain. The source of her agony seems to be some gray material in her body that she is trying to force out of a slit in her skin. The scene then changes to the girl floating through space while swinging her head to a harmonious chant.

Riley’s works are accompanied by Mario Marzan’s panels of acrylic, graphite and ink, which are easy on the eyes in comparison to “Crawler” and “Shaker.” The panels reflect Marzan’s upbringing in Puerto Rico, where he witnessed the affects of rain and flooding on the landscape. His work is a representation of how the memory retains information, with a whirlwind of colors, shapes and abstract maps that stretch in one continuous theme across six panels.

On the third floor are several striking paintings by Adam Davies, whose interest, according to his artist statement, is “extreme moments of technological and cultural breakdown that cause us to question the promise of the future.” His oil paintings are dark and ominous. “The Watcher,” oil on canvas, is genuinely creepy, with a darkly clad figure lingering behind a turquoise fence.

To see these wonderfully odd pieces of art, all you have to do is walk down the street. The Regina Gouger Miller Gallery is located on the Carnegie Mellon campus. The entrance is under the electronic scrolling sign in the main quad. “Too Far Gone” has been under way since last Friday and runs until April 20. The artists will give gallery talks about their work Wednesday and Thursday. Ciocci, Lambert and Riley will speak at noon on Wednesday. Marzan and Davies will explain their work at noon on the following .

Be sure to take a short stroll and check out the wild art of our neighboring university community.