Fine Arts seniors display work

A crowded gallery of more than 100 people welcomed five students' year-long artistic efforts to Meyerson Hall yesterday for the Fine Arts Senior Thesis Show. Penn's Fine Arts program -- which was listed in the top 10 of Time magazine/Princeton Review's 1997 rankings -- demands rigorous effort from its students, said Fine Arts Professor Julie Schneider, the department's undergraduate chairperson. The show, she added, was evidence of this effort, which represented two semesters of work for each student. In College senior Marisa Perini's exhibit, more than 15 black-and-white photos of students from a New Jersey high school were displayed with similarly-sized mirrors between each of the prints. On one mirror a quote was written: "As much as I am." On another: "You also seem to be." Perini explained that these statements represent what the students in the photos are "saying" to the viewer as the observer judges the student and then sees himself or herself in the mirror -- therefore allowing the viewer to become part of the work. She explained that her work "is about the way people look at other people and impose different standards than we would for ourselves." College senior Morgan Konn explored themes of "voyeurism" in her self-photographed shower scenes and bedroom displays of privacy. "I wanted to portray the idea that someone is catching another person off guard in a private moment," she remarked about the bedroom prints. Konn said that she felt the exhibit -- which included mundane scenes of her brushing her teeth -- had universal appeal. "These are things that not only I do, but everyone does," she said. The photographic medium was also explored by College senior and rugby player Perry Cohen. She took action photos of women rugby players, as well as of women engaging in other athletic activities. "My idea was to get a real powerful feeling about female athletes," she noted, explaining that the photos say, "Here we are; we're athletes. Look at what we can do." College freshman and rugby teammate Stephanie Lemelin added, "I can feel the energy because I've been involved in these situations and it happens so fast you never see the actual expressions on our faces. It really catches us during the moment." Reza Alavi preferred to express his art through the medium of ceramics. His pottery was arranged in continuums in which the shapeless works gradually become more organized and structured. "Ceramics are normally stagnate and structured. I wanted to show movement and gestural qualities," said Alavi, a College senior. The only painter in the group of five, College senior Rachael Weinstein, conveyed images of still-life landscapes. "I was trying to understand the paint as a material to construct a good painting," she said. Barbara Grossman, the professor for the senior seminar and project, expressed her gratitude for the students' effort at the exhibit. "I am really proud of this group because it is the first time they were able to pull it all together in a professional setting," she said. Undergraduate interest in the Fine Arts Department is increasing, according to Grossman. The department plans on graduating twice the number of Fine Arts majors next year. She added that moving the show to Meyerson Hall from the Blauhaus, where it has been in the past, increased the exhibit's attendance and exposure over last year.