Artist Guild unmasks new exhibit

Masque runs for the next two weeks in Houston Hall. Reveling in the success of the latest Artist Guild production, Co-President and College senior Javier Villar stood among dozens of colorful masks that will line the walls of Houston Hall's Bowl Room for the next two weeks. "Our organization's purpose is to represent artists in the Penn community? and this is like a microcosm of Penn," Villar said last night at the opening of Masque, an exhibit sponsored and organized by the student-run organization. The masks -- distributed by the Artist Guild to "whoever expressed interest in it" -- were decorated by people throughout the University community, including University President Judith Rodin. Rodin decorated her mask with streamers of red and blue emerging from the face, painted with a mosaic-like "P." Underneath, a typed message accompanied each work of art. "We are a community of different identities, and we must openly celebrate our differences as well as our similarities," Rodin wrote. Villar was initially skeptical about the response to the project, but expressed excitement about the exhibit. "We wanted to include as many people as we could, but it is hard to get individuals to submit [art]," Villar said. "We initially distributed 60 masks [for decoration]? and got about 200 percent back? there are about 110 to 115 masks here." The idea behind the masks, Villar explained, was twofold. "On one level, the concept of the mask is that it's your face -- genderless, not racial specific," he said. "On the second level, it is an expression of the community and the individual at the same time." Villar likened the art exhibit to a complete "mural" while also drawing attention to the fact that each individual mask is a unique entity. Diana Falchuk, a co-president of the Artist Guild, also expressed excitement over the large turnout at the opening night of the Masque exhibit. "It's an ingenious way to unite the community," said Falchuk, a College sophomore. "Rather than assaulting the community with art, we try to unite the community." College sophomore Abby Feldman -- who curated the exhibit -- noted that she is "really proud of us as an organization." Pointing to the tendency of the group to be seen as "elitist," Villar expressed his optimism about the Artist Guild's changing atmosphere. "We are staying away from hierarchies?we don't categorize, but try to represent people," Villar said. College senior Neema Ghazi-Moghadam -- one of dozens who perused the exhibit last night -- mused, "It's interesting just to look. It's like a look into the [artist's] subconscious." College freshman and Artist Guild artist Alexandra Minnaar -- who decorated a mask with aluminum hair cut from soda cans -- said the exhibit promotes artistic appreciation. "It's important? that so many people are interested," she said.