HUB-Robeson Galleries hosts two student-led exhibitions

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In collaboration with students, artists and student-curators, the HUB-Robeson Galleries is hosting two student-led exhibitions in the HUB-Robeson Center. The exhibitions, titled "FRESH" and "Inside the Frames," exemplify the beauty of personhood and evoke powerful sentiments of self-identity and perception. The exhibits are displayed in the HUB-Robeson Center exhibition cases through May 17. 

Curated by Alix Gaytan and Megan Gottfried, both current masters of fine arts candidates in the School of Visual Arts, "FRESH" invites viewers to look for what makes someone unique as an individual and to celebrate each person's journey. This exhibition consciously focuses on work by emerging artists seeking their own voices through boldness and color. Highlighting self-discovery and identity through sculpture, painting and quilt-making in order to create an open space for personal narratives, "FRESH" features works by Harrison Boden, Emily Furr and Sydney Lee. 

Boden is a queer, interdisciplinary ceramics artist who creates multimedia sculptures that examine the ideals of traditional masculine and feminine esthetics. His art addresses the pressures of being physically and mentally abstracted within the constraints of gender normative expectations. Furr explores themes of femininity and identity through playful colors and everyday objects. Her works in "FRESH" illuminate her embracement of self and her commitment to creativity. Lee provides an examination of the physical world through her craft practice. Being a seventh generation quilt maker and fiber artist, her quilts on display in "FRESH" offer a view of the modern world through the lens of quilt-making. Longer artist biographies are on view with the exhibition.

"Inside the Frames" tackles the intricacies of body image and disordered eating. Art history students Sidan Chen and Emily Tse co-curated the exhibition out of their Curator’s Workshop course (ART 477, taught by Lindsey Landfried, curator and senior gallery manager, HUB-Robeson Galleries) to address the anxieties surrounding these intricacies, and to promote body positivity and acceptance. Works on view are by artists Harrison Boden, Megan Gottfried, Shaobo Liu, Jo Megas, Ronan Shaw and Mengzi Xu.

In combating the volume of physical criticisms that exist in everyday society and culture, each of these artists celebrates the positive energy and natural beauty of the human body and reveals moments of anxiety with careful consideration. Chen and Tse invited exhibiting artists from the Penn State community to acknowledge that these anxieties affect more people in one’s immediate community than expected.

Chen and Tse kept the sensitivity of their chosen subject matter in mind while preparing for the exhibition. “As this is a delicate subject, we do not want to create an intimidating atmosphere for our audience. We invited artists with more student/campus-oriented backgrounds to acknowledge that this is an anxiety that happens to people around you more commonly than anticipated,” they said. 

The HUB-Robeson Center is open 24/7 and the HUB Gallery is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. HUB-Robeson Galleries' exhibitions and programs are always free to everyone.

Contact the HUB-Robeson Galleries at 814-865-2563 or visit studentaffairs.psu.edu/hub/art-galleries for more information on these and other exhibitions. Keep up to date with HUB-Robeson Galleries by signing up for the Listserv or follow on Instagram @hubrobesongalleries.