Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

This week in Alumni Highlight series, Gallery intern and studio art major Adrienne Lee ’21 interviews Carter Eggleston ’11. Eggleston is from Afton, Virginia. In 2011, he received B.A. at Davidson College as a studio art major and math minor, and received M.F.A. at Virginia Tech with a focus in creative technologies in 2017. He is…

Im:mutableRebecca Cobo ’21 On View: April 3-11, 2021 (Galleries will be closed April 7 & 8) I am a queer artist. To describe myself and my work as such is an act of reclaiming a once and still derogatory word. It calls into question how the experiences of queer people have changed with time and where…

In the Fall semester, Professor Pasero-O’Malley’s Spanish 102 students visited the Van Every/Smith Galleries to view the “From Pandemic to Protests” exhibition. The goal was for students to write a personal and creative analysis about one of the works in the exhibition in an essay in Spanish. This was a great opportunity for a COVID-safe…

Felicia van BorkThe Color Grid Movie, 2019Live video, 1.5 hoursFelicia van Bork, art and directionDaniel Lynds, videography and productionOn loan from the Artist On view in the E. Craig Wall, Jr. Academic Center until April 3rd, 2021. Please note: All buildings on campus, including the Wall Center, are only open to Davidson students, faculty and staff due to…

This past fall semester, Psychology professor Dr. Greta Munger brought her General Psychology (PSY 101) students to visit the exhibition From Pandemic to Protests in the Van Every Gallery. Dr. Munger hoped this visit might provide inspiration for one of three “culture points” she prompted students to write throughout the semester. The aim of these…

While the exquisite sensibility, expressiveness and enthusiasm of the arts seem to be incommensurable with the subjectivity, rigorousness and metallic coldness of science and technology, the two areas have never been closer than they are right now.

illumeEmilie Hoke ’21 On view: March 18-23, 2021 My practice begins when I open my studio windows because without light there is no foundation. The shadows and reflections from these windows form the basis of my paintings and process-based works. The light informs my depictions of geometric shapes across canvases, as well as natural phenomena…

Mollie SerenaCelestial Flos 1, 2017Video, 6:38On loan from the Artist Please note: All buildings on campus, including the Wall Center, are only open to Davidson students, faculty, and staff due to the pandemic. Mollie Serena is an interdisciplinary artist who works in photography, film, sculpture, lasers, and light art. She received her BFA in Photography…

Read the full article in The Davidsonian. This past year has taught the U.S. many lessons on empathy. From the  pandemic, to problems of racial injustice and a polarizing election, using one’s voice to tell one’s own story — and oftentimes the stories of others — has led to a deeper sense of understanding and belonging…

Ode to SelfAdrienne Lee ’21 On View: March 10 -15, 2021 [arborization]: nerve extensions in the brain, a sensible homage to the Latin arbor for “tree.”  Earthly extensions;tethered to the abstract architecture of self  Ode to Self presents a collection of works that have subconsciously interrogated the artist’s self-representation. Each work serves as an inquiry, revealing the artist’s inner notions…

Katina Bitsicas Peripheral, 2018HD video, 3:26On loan from the Artist Was on view in the E. Craig Wall, Jr. Academic Center from January 10th – February 20th, 2021. Peripheral can now be viewed on Katrina Bitsicas’ website. Please note: All buildings on campus, including the Wall Center, are only open to Davidson students, faculty and staff due to the…

Nicole CohenCrystals, 2015MP4, 3:00Video courtesy of Shoshana Wayne Gallery and UNPAINTED- The Platform for Digital Art On view in the E. Craig Wall, Jr. Academic Center in the Spring of 2021. Please note: All buildings on campus, including the Wall Center, are only open to Davidson students, faculty, and staff due to the pandemic. Q&A with the Artist…

Kirk Fanelly (American, b. 1975) Vanda Orchid (Pink), December 2020 Nine color screenprint 18 x 12 in. Gallery Purchase “Vanda Orchid (Pink)” is a print of an array of pink orchids, originally created with inlaid cut paper. The magenta color of the flowers contrasts heavily with the stark black background, causing them to appear almost…

This week we are highlighting Sarah Watson Gray, Class of 2014, formerly an educator and fundraiser at the Museum of Modern Art in New York who now works simultaneously with the National YoungArts Foundation and the California Institute of Art (CalArts). Generously, she shared with me her experience at Davidson, a stepping stone that set…

Kevin Frech COMMUNE, 2019HD video, 3:26On loan from the Artist On view in the E. Craig Wall, Jr. Academic Center from January 10th – February 20th, 2021. You may view an excerpt of the video on Kevin’s website. Please note: All buildings on campus, including the Wall Center, are only open to Davidson students, faculty, and staff due to…

Jake Couri Find Your Ritual, 2019Single-channel video, 3:00On loan from the Artist On view in the E. Craig Wall, Jr. Academic Center from January 10th – February 20th, 2021. Please note: All buildings on campus, including the Wall Center, are only open to Davidson students, faculty, and staff due to the pandemic. Artist Statement: My work is concerned with our…

Jason RobinsonCrash Test, 2019Video, 4:29On loan from the Artist On view in the E. Craig Wall, Jr. Academic Center from January 10th – February 20th, 2021. You may also view the video on Jason’s website. Please note: All buildings on campus, including the Wall Center, are only open to Davidson students, faculty and staff due to the pandemic.…

Sabine Gruffat Sandwiched, 2019Unity digital animation, 5:00On loan from the Artist On view in the E. Craig Wall, Jr. Academic Center from January 10th – February 20th, 2021. Please note: All buildings on campus, including the Wall Center, are only open to Davidson students, faculty, and staff due to the pandemic. Artist Statement: Sandwiched is a video game simulation. This work…

Adrienne Lee ’21Tell me where is the fancy bred, Or in the heart or in the head?, 2019Plasma-cut steelWinner: 2019 Brain Art Competition, The Neuro Bureau (international) As the sun rose one day in late September, a blurry shadow cast down a hallway onto the concrete floor of the E. Craig Wall Jr. Academic Center.…

Tavares Strachan (Bahamian, b. 1979)We Are In This Together (multi), 2018, Cobalt super blue, sky blue, traffic light green, green, clear gold neon, transformersGift of the Art Collection Advisory Committee (Malú Alvarez ’02, Charlotte Artus, Jane Avinger, Susan Baik, Ralph E. Blakely, Jr. ’67, Kat Belk ’46, Lisa Chidsey ’83, Kitty Garner ’85, Amy Clemmons…

Trevor Paglen (b. 1974)Dead Military Navigation Satellite (COSMOS 985) Near the Disk of the Moon, 2012Chromogenic print44 x 36 in.Gift of John Andrew MacMahon, Class of 1995 It is daringly familiar. At first glance, we recognize the moon: the glistening white against the saturated black. An endeared neighbor to the Earth, for centuries we have…

Name and hometown?Hey! I’m Molly from Nashville, Tennessee. Class year and major/minor?I’m a first-year, and don’t know what to major in yet.  Did you do anything this summer or during quarantine related to the arts?I’ve worked at an art studio for the past two years as an assistant teacher. Taking precautions, we were able to…

Kevin FrechFOUNDATION AND EMPIRE, 2018HD Video, color, two-channel mono sound, 3:00On loan from the Artist On view in the E. Craig Wall, Jr. Academic Center from October 4 – November 21st, 2020. Please note: All buildings on campus, including the Wall Center, are only open to Davidson students, faculty, and staff due to the pandemic. We are planning…

Antony Gormley (British, b.1950)You, 2006Cast iron sculptureGift of Robert F. Vagt ’69 and Ruth Anne Vagt in honor ofAshley Vagt-Buford ’94 and Lindsay Vagt ’01 I first encountered this sculpture during the first weeks of my freshman year on a late-night walk back from the library to my dorm. In the dark and my homework-induced…

This week, we are kicking off our new Alumni Highlight series with Elena Paul ’85. I had the opportunity to talk with Paul who has worn many hats throughout her career that merge the legal and the artistic. Paul knew she wanted to be a lawyer in the arts ever since she participated in the…

André Kertész (Hungarian, 1894-1985)Underwater Swimmer, August 31, 1917, Esztergom1917Gelatin silver print7 x 9.5 inGift of Walter Young MacDonald, Class of 1964 André Kertész is commonly attributed to the saying, “seeing is not enough, you have to feel what you photograph.” These words prompt an important question: Can one ‘feel’ a photo? Although there is no…

Lisa DahlUnder Water, 2013Digital video, live action, 5:05On loan from the Artist On view in the E. Craig Wall, Jr. Academic Center from October 4 – November 21st, 2020. Please note: All buildings on campus, including the Wall Center, are only open to Davidson students, faculty, and staff due to the pandemic. We are planning to re-screen videos…

David Sanchez BurrBig Bad Anthropocene Machine, 2019Digital video, 18:00On loan from the Artist On view in the E. Craig Wall, Jr. Academic Center from October 4 – November 21st, 2020. Please note: All buildings on campus, including the Wall Center, are only open to Davidson students, faculty, and staff due to the pandemic. We are planning to re-screen…

Name and hometown?I go by Isabel, but my friends call me Izzy too. I am from about 30 minutes from Davidson just west of Charlotte. Class year and major/minor?I am a first-year planning on majoring in Math, but I am deciding between a Data Sciences, Economics, or Communication Studies minor.  Did you do anything this…

Thanks to the generosity of John Andrew Macmahon ‘95, the Van Every/Smith Galleries will acquire a prominent work of art for the college’s collection. Ntozakhe II, Parktown, by South African artist-activist Zanele Muholi, is part of the artist’s highly-acclaimed series, Somnyama Ngonyama, currently on view at the Tate Modern, UK. At Davidson College, the artwork…

Paul Fusco (American, 1930-2020)RFK Funeral Train, 196816.875 x 20.875 x 1.25 in.Cibachrome printGift of John Andrew MacMahon, Class of 1995 Paul Fusco, a world traveler and photojournalist, portrayed a nation in mourning through his critically acclaimed photo-book, RFK Funeral Train. Paul Fusco died July 15, 2020 at the age of 89, at an assisted-living facility…

Ron Kowalke (American, 1936-2021)Inferno Series, 1970Etching on paperGift of Sanford R. Robertson Born in 1936, Ron Kowalke is an American painter, printmaker, sculptor, and educator. After attending the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Chicago, he received his BA from Rockford University in 1959. By 1960, he went on to receive an MFA…

Two weeks ago, Elizabeth Harry (gallery and collection coordinator) and I had the privilege to meet with Aubrey Parks ’22 and Dr. Dan Boye, a physics professor here at Davidson, to participate in a presentation on volumetric x-ray imaging with Digitome software. The Van Every/Smith Galleries have consulted with the physics department a handful of…

Doug Rickard (b. 1968)#34.546147, Helena-West Helena, AR. 2008, 2010Archival pigment print20.5 x 33 in.Gift of John Andrew MacMahon, Class of 1995 Before the days of travel restrictions and COVID-19 precautions, photographer Doug Rickard was already using technology to his advantage by capturing life in thousands of places without ever setting foot on an aircraft. #34.546147,…

Name and hometown?My name is Martha and I am from Cornelius. Class year and major/minor?I am a first-year and plan on majoring in Economics. Did you do anything this summer or during quarantine related to the arts?I did learn how to paint and spent most of my time doodling over quarantine. Why were you interested…

Ariel Mlynarzewicz (Argentinian, b. 1964)Intimidad en Domingo (Intimacy on a Sunday),2004Oil on canvasOn Loan from Crespo Ortega Family Collection (Camila Crespo ’15, Mariana Crespo ’20) Ariel Mlynarzewicz’s work expresses private, family life in chromatic figuration. Intimidad en Domingo or Intimacy on a Sunday illustrates three disconnected figures that are nevertheless encapsulated in what appears to be a singular space.…

John Singer Sargent (American, 1856-1925)Portrait of a Gentleman19th centuryOil on canvas25 x 21 in.Gordon Clift Horton Collection, Class of 1942 One of the preeminent portraitists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, John Singer Sargent possessed a potent gift for portraying the moods and emotions of his subjects. A story goes that an irritated…

Name and hometown?Sarah Zhang, from Shanghai, China. Class year and major/minor?2023, undecided. Did you do anything this summer or during quarantine related to the arts?I worked on a few traditional Chinese paintings over the summer. Why were you interested in interning with the galleries?I’ve always loved galleries and I hope to work in one in…

This year the Van Every/Smith Galleries are excited to have two Melon-funded internship positions for “Stories Yet to be Told: Race, Racism, and Accountability on Campus,” an initiative that will transform key campus spaces into interactive sites for interrogating race and racism. We’d like to introduce our second Stories Yet to be Told intern, Marquia…

Kiki Smith (German American, b. 1954)Wading, 2004Hand-colored Iris print with tissue collage21.625 X 16.625 in.Purchased with funds from the Herb Jackson and Laura Grosch Gallery Endowment “Wading” is a portrait of a woman, centered on the paper, surrounded by blankness. Lips drawn together, she stares into the distance with a pensive expression. She is presumably…

Name and hometown?Caroline (she/her). I’m from Lexington, VA. Class year and major/minor?I’m a senior English and Classical Studies double major. Did you do anything this summer or during quarantine related to the arts?I worked with a Davidson alum on a podcast she’s releasing this winter over the summer (art adjacent). I also did some work…