Most students have heard of the Meadows Museum, but many areunaware that an art gallery of equal artistic caliber isconveniently located in a high-traffic area that is frequented bymost Mustangs everyday. The Pollock Gallery, located on the secondfloor of the Hughes-Trigg Student Center across from the new Park‘N Pony office, is a small gallery that exhibits pieces froma variety of artists.
The gallery, established in 1987, has survived under varioustitles, currently named after artist Jackson Pollock. The galleryoffers students a chance to encounter art they may have otherwisenever heard of.
Philip Van Keuren, director of the Pollock Gallery and Professorof Art and Curatorial Studies, chose the latest exhibition, inpart, due to its lack of name recognition.
The current exhibit is by modern artist Judith Rothschild. TheJudith Rothschild Foundation and Knoedler & Company, an artgallery located in New York, loaned select pieces of her artwork tothe Pollock Gallery. The exhibition focuses on Rothschild’swork during the 1940’s.
Most of the artwork can be categorized as abstract ornon-objective, and Rothschild concentrates on tension betweenstrong colors and vigorous brushstrokes. Most of the paintingsdisplayed were created when she was between the ages of 22 and28.
Rothschild’s artwork will be displayed through Oct. 9 ofthis year, and intern curator and graduate student Katy Blanchardsees the artistic demeanor and convenient location of the pieces asa great resource for students.
“The Pollock Gallery is a gallery, not a museum,”she said. “It’s small, contemporary and intimate, likethe galleries you find in New York.”
The gallery offers a New York state of mind for SMU students,while at the same time connecting them to their peers and theiraccomplishments.
Along with Rothschild, exhibits such as Peter Beasecker (Oct. 24through Dec. 4) and the West Family Collection (Jan. 31 throughMarch 12) will make a stop on the Hilltop.
Various other exhibits will come from art galleries, foundationsand museums throughout the country.
In addition, students will also get a chance to see the nextgeneration of modern artists when the gallery welcomes the works ofMeadows art students next spring.
Graduate students will exhibit their art when “The Mastersof Fine Arts Qualifying Exhibition” is held from March 28through Apr. 16, and undergraduates will take their turn during”The Bachelor of Fine Arts Qualifying Exhibition”, May2 through May 14.
