Lex Miller

Mrs. Hicks
LBST 1105-H
September 12th, 2014

Rowe Art Gallery Response

Last Friday, our class spent time in the Rowe art gallery looking at pieces that
were created by the faculty here at UNC Charlotte. The downstairs portion, as well as the
upstairs, were spaced out very much and each piece had at least a few feet to itself. The
overhead lights seemed very bright due to the blank white walls within the studio and lit
each piece of art well enough for it to be easily visible and clear. Most pieces were hung
on the walls with one piece that was raised in the center of both the upstairs and
downstairs galleries. The one downstairs was Void, and the one upstairs was Vanish. I
was surprised by how filled the gallery was, I wasnt anticipating that many works of art
when I heard that the gallery consisted of work by the faculty. The pieces that attracted
me right away were the interactive, electronic boards downstairs titled Denisovan by
Heather Freeman. Upstairs, my eye caught Passegiatta. It was massive and I was
intrigued by the flecks of gold as well as the plethora of art medium thrown onto one
canvas.
Ecce Homidium was the first piece of art I was drawn to in this exhibit. Not only
did its size capture my attention but also its almost controversial nature. This drawing
consists of a crown of thorns, a handgun, and the Latin words Ecce Homidium in big
bold print at the bottom. The phrase Ecce Homidium in Latin translates to see
murderer in English. Two very powerful symbols, a handgun and a crown of thorns, are
hardly, if ever, seen together. Also, although there is clearly a powerful message behind

the art, its composition almost seems simple. It is constructed on a mixture of papers and
drawn on with little to no color other than light red, black, and gray. The colors have a
high value and a low intensity, meaning the colors are not very bright and arent very
pure. As aforementioned, the size of the art itself is a force to be reckoned with. Nothing
draws attention quite like a massive gun in your face. Also, for me at least, I was
intrigued by the use of a different language in this piece. It made me wonder what it
meant and it stuck with me until I looked it up when I got home. Typically, we associate
a crown of thorns as a religious symbol with Jesus being crucified, and a gun as a harmful
weapon. A religious person viewing this piece may consider it sacrilege to have the two
together. I myself am not a very religious person at all however I am fascinated with
religion and by no means against it at all. I understand why people follow religions, to
explain why certain things occur and to have faith in something bigger than themselves,
however, I find that arguing about religion is pointless. Unfortunately, I also often find
people very close-minded about other religions. I thoroughly enjoy learning about all
religions, their customs and history, but I consider myself a more science based person
that believes in things I can actually see and prove. This piece makes me question if the
artist is against religion, especially with see murderer written across the bottom. Or if
the artist isnt against religion, is he against Christianity? In the artists statement, he
states that to gun rights advocates, the thorny crown juxtaposed over a semi-automatic
pistol might symbolize their divine and legal right to own the ideal weapon to protect
themselves. I appreciate how this artist appeals to social and political issues and draws
attention to them that cause viewers to think more critically of the subject.

The piece next to Ecce Homidium was called Recycled China 012. I was drawn to
this piece by its luster and the mixture of materials within it. After reading the title, I of
course assumed that the medium of this piece was aluminum or bits of smashed metal.
This collage also consisted of small porcelain bits of bright blue and white. I found the
title of this piece clever because most of what we Americans own is created and from
China. Furthermore, our nation and even world as a whole is wasteful and often discards
things without care for the environment. Not exactly satirical, but I do believe the artist is
trying to make a point of how most of the items we own, when you take them apart, are
just bits of metal and plastic. This piece makes me want to break up shiny and glittery
things from China that I own and see what beautiful art I can produce from it. The fact
that everything we Americans own, including myself, comes from China makes me sick.
It makes me think about the millions of citizens, especially children, that work in
sweatshops for hours on end and make next to nothing. Recycled China 012 adds an
interesting view to waste by creating something beautiful from essentially what is
garbage. Perhaps the artist is trying to explain to the viewers that this is what we should
do with discarded goods instead of randomly throwing them out. In his statement, artist
Thomas Schmidt states that he was inspired by the rich history of Chinese ceramics,
and he attempts to give new life to the huge quantity of discardedindustrial waste
from factories around China.
I greatly enjoyed looking around the art gallery and was amazed that such
incredible works of art were created by our schools own faculty. While all the pieces
were aesthetically pleasing, my favorite pieces were Ecce Homidium and Recycled China
012. The cause of my awe were the reasons and explanations behind their creation. I

loved the daring controversy behind each piece and how both artists took items that arent
considered beautiful in everyday life and made them beautiful.