Fragments
Hangman Gallery
Runs May 1-31, 2007
By Georgia Webber
Posted April 30th, 2007Student shows — that is to say, high school student shows — are constantly changing their shape and personality.
True, some still perpetuate our expectations that they are targeting the parental audience (who are sure to appear), and that could only mean one thing: everybody gets in. Not to say that student art shows are devoid of anything good, or that there isn't any talent among the youth. There are absolutely pieces worth paying attention to that will capture you just as totally and validly as any other great work of art. But there is a certain level of expectation, and, for the most part, it remains low and ever-satisfied.
With this in my critical mind, I entered the Hangman Gallery on Queen East (at Broadview) to see the Rosedale Heights School of the Arts Senior Exhibition of photography and painting. The show called Fragments featured original pieces by over twenty-five senior students in the theme (or constraints) of the "Constructed Image."
Here's where I begin to believe in the morphing face of the high school art show. Fragments was not the usual case of beauty among the rest, but rather an incredible exhibition of talent and experimentation. With the theme being so loose, there is an incredible the coherency shared by the pieces — yet they are very clearly done by a collection of artists with an established style, each individual. There are still the few oddballs that don't seem to fit, either because they look uninspired or are under-developed. The majority of the show was stunning, and removed from my mind the fact that I was standing in a room that at all other times is classroom in the high school across the bridge.
Rosedale's seniors have clearly stepped it up for this one and it'd be worth your while to look before it's gone. The show runs until the end of May, and many of the artists are headed off to university to continue their studies.
Hopefully (and in my opinion, more than likely), these students will appear again and again in the art world, spanning wherever their education takes them — catch them while you can.