"Independent Spirit"

By Hakiym Colon -- Oneonta, New York (Broadcasting MCOMM 256)

"Drawings of refugees' faces inform us that the shadow figures in the mural are not shadows at all. They represent flesh and blood people, each with a unique story of suffering and loss" Christine Heller

The Martin-Mullen Art Gallery featured many local artist and students within the Oneonta

community. It showed the many talents that Oneonta has to offer and the creative minds within such a small town. The Art Gallery was held at the Fine Arts Building on the SUCO campus. The Gallery ranged from sculptures, pictures, paintings, photography, and even videos which I found to be quite unique and different in expressing art and creativity. The audience ranged from young to old and was very diverse in nature and I was lucky to get two points of views from a young student and an elderly woman. I interviewed Philip S. who worked at the gallery and gave me some intake on what he thought of the Gallery. He said " The lady Looks too real".

"The lady Looks too real"

As you can see this painting looks like an actual picture that was taken. You can see in the picture that some elements of the painting is off, but you can tell that the artist did a good job in separating the real from the fake and the detail on the face is amazing. This was Philips favorite piece and I could tell why, as i went close to the portrait, it felt as if i was actually standing in the same environment and made me feel as if i was in the portrait myself. 

Cauliflower Garden - J. Lamb

Here we have an oil painting of a garden. I always wondered how you can get the many blends of colors from oil paintings and how it differs from actual paint. As I walked thru the Art Gallery I noticed how the oil paintings looked much more crisp in my opinion. I was lucky enough to actually run into an oil painter named Danielle Buday and interviewed her. She stopped by to check out the Art Gallery before picking up her son from a guitar class. She visits Art Galleries as often as she can and also was an artist her self. When asked how long has she been doing oil paintings, she replied 

"As long as I remember".

She haves a website called DanielleBuday.com where she has her work for sale and viewable to the public. 

Here are some more artwork that were presented at the Gallery.

"Me Without Me" Acrylic on canvas - Cristina Toro

"Timeline Shift" Corten, mild steel, notes and drawings - Jay Roth

"Carrie Ann's Dream" Etching - Gerald Scheck

"closed - Self portrait" Sublimation print on aluminum - Michael Stolzer

This Self portrait were one of my favorite pieces here at the Art Gallery. At first it just looks like an all black sheet of paper but as you focus in and look in the center you can see a picture of a man. It looks a little creepy but at the same time reminds me of the many personalities and attributes one can see in someone beneath the surface. There was a special light bulb put in this piece that allows you to see the man and without it, this will just be a black wall. Some things need a different point of view and thats what the light bulb presented. The Martin-Mullen Art Gallery will be open and available for everyone to see from January 25th - March 18th, 2016 in the Fine Arts Building. Come by and check out the talent the Oneonta community has to offer. 

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The Martin-Mullen Art Gallery is honored to host "independent spirit" recognizing the many artists living and working in our communities.