The Shape of Things
A gallery reception will be held March 7, from 4:30-7:30 p.m.
Cubes and hexagons abound in the work of conceptual artist Raishad J. Glover, the newest member of the Holyoke Community College visual art faculty.
"The cube acts as a form of building block," said Glover. "Building blocks for family. Building blocks for community. Building blocks for ecosystems."
A hexagon, he notes, is essentially the outline of a cube, and a form prevalent in nature, such as on honeycomb found in beehives.
Cubes, hexagons, the environment, as well as other shapes and themes, come together in Glover's latest exhibit, "Geo-Spec: Cultural Introspection Wealth," which runs Jan. 16 through March 20 at HCC's own Taber Art Gallery.
A reception will be held in the gallery Thursday, March 7, from 4:30-7:30 p.m., celebrating Glover's work and his recent addition to the HCC faculty.
Glover studied studio art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in Boston and holds a master's degree in fine art in painting and printmaking from the Yale School of Art in New Haven. He joined HCC in the fall after nine years teaching art at Claflin University and South Carolina State University in Orangeburg. At HCC, he teaches two-dimensional design and painting.
"I have a lot of history up here, a lot of family, and a lot of friends, and a gallery in Boston that is used to exhibiting my work," said Glover, who lives in Northampton and maintains a studio there. "I wanted to get back to other areas that I'm familiar with and build connections."
The "Geo-Spec" exhibit explores concepts such as culture, mind growth, wealth, and ecological design. "Geo" refers to geometry, "spec" to spectrum. Glover experiments with multiple mediums, such as lenticular printing, graphite powder, beeswax, dura-trans/backlit film, analog and digital photography, and LED Lights.
He is an advocate of sustainable design and chooses materials that are more environmentally friendly. Geo-Spec includes pieces constructed from granite, paper, glass, bamboo, and wool, among others.
One of the pieces is a refurbished portable television from the 1940s, retrofitted to play videos from an Amazon Fire TV Stick."We're going to play a short video on there," he said, "but it's top secret until the show opens."
The Taber Art Gallery, located of the lobby of the HCC Library on the second floor of the HCC Donahue Building, is free and open to the public Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. during regular school sessions.
PHOTOS by CHRIS YURKO: Raishad J. Glover in the Taber Art Gallery
