New GC art exhibition showcases student landscape paintings

Brigitte Onorato/Contributing Writer

Professor David Chang, chair of the Department of Art History, taught a special course on landscape painting in Summer 2018. 18 of his students presented their artwork at a reception in the GC Art Gallery on Wednesday, Sept. 5.

Chang, who modeled his intense, month-long course after training programs in Europe, said landscape painting is more than just scenery.

“You can see Italy, Tuscani, England, France, you see Florida. It’s really a diverse group of paintings that promote diversity,” said Chang.

Each student had two to three of their pieces hung in the Graham Center. Ronney Aragundi, one of Chang’s former intermediate level students, said that Chang inspired and gave him direction in his artwork, which involved different techniques and much brainstorming.

“I used glazing in my artwork because sometimes the color looks flat, since everything is made of pigment, and oil can reduce the pigment, and can become transparent,” said Aragundi. “You can play with the temperature from hot to cool.”

Many different locations were depicted in these art pieces, each of which embodied different versions of landscape painting. Aragundi was also influenced by paintings he saw in a recent trip to Europe, namely Paris and London.

“There was an exhibition from Camille Pizarros and Monet and many other famous painters, and I was inspired from Camille’s paintings, and wanted to see if I could do something similar,” said Aragundi.

Throughout Chang’s training course, each student grasps the approach it takes to create a landscape piece with the professor’s assistance.

“You do homework exercises on techniques with composition, for example, getting the figure down, then specifically the landscape,” said Sophia Hernandez, a graduate student who is taking a class with Chang.

The students’ artwork will be on display at the GC Art Gallery from Wednesday, Sept. 5 to Wednesday, Sept. 26.