Wk 10-Artist Conversation – Tony Nguyen

Artist: Tony Nguyen

Exhibition: Neoteny

Media: Metal, Ceramic, and Wood

Gallery: CSULB School of Art – Merlino Gallery

Website: eltigresite.wordpress.com

Facebook: facebook.com/RoboticTony

Email: robotictony@aol.com

Instagram: elll_tigre

 

About the Artist

Tony Ngyuen is currently a fifth year student at CSULB, pursuing a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Metal. Originally an illustration major he changed his focus to metal, and hasn’t looked back. His exhibit, Neoteny, means someone/something that keeps their childish behavior even as an adult. Tony’s feels that this is a good descriptor of his work and of himself. The work in this exhibit reflects Neoteny and having taken two years to create, it is safe to say that Tony’s has kept this same style for a while. In the future, Tony hopes to build props for Hollywood and later on become a professor.

Formal Analysis

Most all of the pieces in the exhibit are made of metal and give everything a sort of cold and sharp feel. Although this cold feeling was subsided by the content that each piece expressed. All of the pieces were very detail oriented and ranged in size from a small ring to a headpiece or glove. Most of the pieces in the exhibit were made of aluminum as well. Even the number labels were made of metal.

Content Analysis

All but one of the pieces in Tony’s exhibit were made to pay tribute to his childhood and the memories he has of those times. The Many Tonys piece was an expression of himself and the different versions showed the many fun and childish ways he still thinks about the world. Kimlee the Pothead and Conrad Jones the Watering can are another perfect example of how Tony expresses his childhood and childish thoughts through his art. Even on some of the pieces that were required to make for his classes his style and childishness shines through to the audience.

Synthesis

Going through Tony’s exhibit made me remember moments in my own childhood and even thoughts I have today. I remember making a pot for a plant and making pothead jokes to others, and Kimlee the Pothead, does exactly that in a more professional and elegant way. Green lanterns ring and the Black Hand also really took me back to my younger self because thinking back I wanted my own of these items but not know how I could possible make them unless I lived in an alternate universe or comic strip. Seeing these items in real life brings me a lot of joy, knowing that someone else has had a the same thoughts and was able to make that thought into reality. It is important to keep a sense of childhood and innocence when going through the world, and this exhibit does just that.

Wk 9- Artist Conversation – Daniel Bonilla-Vera

Artist: Daniel Bonilla-Vera and Dalia Banuelos

Exhibition: Infraction

Media: Photos, Painting, String

Gallery: CSULB School of Art – Merlino Gallery

Website: dbvphotography.com

Instagram: (Daniels): @dbvqp  and (Delia’s): @deliaeffect

About the Artist

Infraction was a joint creation of artists Daniel Bonilla-Vera and Dalia Banuelos. It was born as an expression of the frustrations they both had not being able to get into the photography program at CSULB. For the purposes of this artist conversation I will focus on Daniel Bonilla-Vera. Daniel is and undergraduate student at CSULB working to obtain his Bachelors of Fine Arts in Studio Art. He transferred here from the College of the Sequoias in Visalia, California.

Formal Analysis

The exhibit was set in a dark room with lights focused on the art. The entire exhibit was connected with yarn that connected each picture to one another. Starting from the front there is a series of pictures that eventually leads to the back were there is a giant web like structure made of yarn that connects more pictures on the walls and also has pictures attached to the yarn of the web. On the other wall of the exhibit is more pictures and paintings connected with yarn. At the very end of the yarn trail is a trashcan full of pictures. The very interesting thing about the back of the exhibit though is the two human like mannequins dressed in clothing. One was curled up in a ball in a corner and the other was on their knees and looked as if they were crying.

Content Analysis

As I said before, Infraction is an expression of the frustration that Daniel and Dalia experienced when they were rejected from the photography program. All of the numerous pieces within this exhibit were ones they created and submitted and got rejected with. The black yarn that connects all of the pictures shows the progress, confusion, and frustration going from a linear trip to more of a tangled web. Once it gets back to a linear pattern it unfortunately leads to the trashcan. This is entire story that the yarn creates really makes you feel for Daniel and Dalia because we have all been frustrated with something we wanted but couldn’t have in some capacity.

Synthesis

When I walked into the gallery I was not sure what to expect, but fortunately I found a well told story, experience, and emotion. Having the exhibit be in such a dark room I felt the depth and weight of the situation they had experienced. This darkness along with the many many photos, showed me how frustrated they must of felt on their journey to try and get into the photography program. Many times try a little, fail, and give up when they try to reach a goal. With Daniel and Dalia, you can physically see the numerous photos and paintings they went through just to come up short. Even though they did not get into the photography program I applaud them for giving it such an effort and actually trying their hardest to reach their goal. Another take away is that even though they got rejected, they were able to use that rejection to create such an awesome and interesting exhibit.