Spanning multiple floors of the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, the 46th Annual Student Exhibition showcases a variety of artworks, ranging from sculptures to mixed mediums. Last Friday, the Brown Arts Institute welcomed community members to the gallery’s opening reception.
This year’s jurors were Tarik Bartel, a Providence-based artist, community organizer and arts educator, and Jinghong Chen, a visual artist currently based in New York. For Bartel, jurying the submitted works was “an exciting and challenging collaborative process.”
“Putting this show together is truly a team effort involving Brown’s admin staff and installation team,” Chen wrote in an email to The Herald. “We received many wonderful submissions and did our best to include work from as many artists as possible to showcase everyone’s talents.”
Alex Schupak ’26 received the first-place award for his multimedia piece titled “Impression/Expression.” Composed of foam, concrete, acrylic paint and natural materials, the work features a synthetic rock with distinct markings on its surface. Behind the sculpture is a photograph of a cragged wall with a crater a similar size to the rock.
By juxtaposing the sculpture with a two-dimensional print, Schupak hopes to “disrupt the linear translation of the truth value of a photograph.”
“What I’m trying to explore with this work is challenging people’s perceptions of how photographs deliver truth value and deliver information about other objects that are linked to them,” he explained.
Despite his first-place win, Schupak advised prospective artists to not let the format of juried exhibitions interfere with their creative expression. He noted that since curators have “a certain set of ideals or a certain vision for the project,” many artists may try to “change their vision and change their art to match the vision of someone else.”
Instead, Schupak urges other artists to try and create authentic work. “You can only just hope and pray that the exhibition happens to align with your values and happens to see your vision,” Schupak said.
A few feet away from “Impression/Expression” is an ornate display resembling an altar by Jacqueline Zhang ’27. The installation, titled “The Nursery,” features a half-naked doll inside a box decorated with white lace trim, pink curtains and floral designs.
Created last semester for VISA 1410: “Sculpture: Material Investigations,” the installation explores themes of birth, gender and gender dysmorphia. Zhang recalled molding the childlike doll to look “more mature,” a commentary on “child exploitation” and sexualization.
According to Zhang, the audience’s interactions with the installation is also “part of the piece.”
“The holes (on the box) are there so that you can reach your hands into it,” they added.
Bartel refers to the pieces in the exhibit as “vibrant, playful and evocative.”
“I find it powerful and encouraging to see the color, joy and creativity present in these times of intensity,” they added.
Kate Hao, the curatorial coordinator at the BAI, noted the student exhibition presents an “eclectic mix” of work from students across concentrations and degree levels each year. Many of the pieces reflect themes “that are very much tied to curricular life of the campus,” Hao said.
At the opening reception, Hao recalled seeing the students with their friends at the event, adding that it was “really sweet to see them celebrated.”
“As a staff member, it’s really exciting, and it’s an honor to work on the exhibition and to be able to create this special opportunity,” she added.
The exhibition will be open to the public until April 2.
Kendra Eastep is also a senior staff writer covering arts and culture.
