Middle School Pop Art Exhibit Opens in Wenberg Gallery

2/22/2019

172 colorful pop art portraits have filled the Wenberg Art Gallery on the third floor of the Fonseca Center.

The works are the result of an in-class visual arts exploration led by Middle School art teachers Bruce Robbins and Vicente Saavedra that began in the fall of 2018.

Each student was asked to take a self-portrait using Photo Booth on School Apple laptop computers. That photo was then manipulated into a high-contrast black and white image, which then served as a reference for new works of art. Next, the students worked on 4”x5” gold and silver scratch boards. Their finished portraits were then displayed in the Middle School lobby as an artistic — and very shiny — face board.

During the winter trimester, students took the project to another level and medium by creating colorful acrylic paintings on 9”x12” canvas panels. During the creative process, students learned about pop art, high-contrast imagery, positive and negative space, and simple color theory, all while developing hands-on painting skill. Andy Warhol’s silkscreen portraits of popular culture icons were inspirational as students worked to turn their images into paintings that popped with vibrant colors.

The exhibit will continue through Thursday, March 7. A closing party will take place on March 7 at 5:30 PM. We hope you will take time to enjoy these innovative and interesting works of art!