University of Dallas News

Issue date: 2/2/10 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Monica Diodati Dennis Smith's "New Work" ceramic exhibit is now on display in the Loggia in the Art Village.

We are so lucky as students at the University of Dallas to be surrounded by incredible art exhibits all over campus. The Dennis Smith UD Regional Ceramics "Best of Show" Exhibit blew me away. I could barely pull myself away to go rush over to lunch and try to scavenge for whatever leftover grapes and pineapple might be left in the cafeteria fruit salad.

His series, titled "New Work," could mean so many things, but I received a very strong sense of the act of creation mixing with the reality of life's hardships. Maybe it was the fragile birds or the soft, sweet sadness of the works, but Jenny Lewis' song "Pretty Bird" played over and over in my head as I took in each member of the exhibit: "Some pity me … for the blood of the pretty bird."

The sweet pastel colors and the angelic birds perched on the pieces along with the combination of the many phallic and yonic symbols suggest new life. The pieces are somehow full of both passion and youthfulness, both sadness and excitement. The piece titled "Granny's Septic Tank" is heart-wrenching in the way the calming colors are mixed with the shattered china teacups and plates. "Granny's" memories and possessions are "thrown out with the bath water" in a decorative tank of crawling bugs and delicate buttons.

There is a huge difference between these fragile and ironically Easter-themed pieces and the other solid, heavy stone works that hang, almost tugging down the Loggia walls. These pieces are dismal in a more obvious way. The simple heavy objects sit, full of weight, on the dark shelves like immovable sins and sorrows. These pieces are not sugar-coated like the others, but provide a stark contrast that portrays a deep sadness that exists in life.

This exhibit opened my mind, and I can't seem to wipe off my half-smile of awe and envy of Smith's true talent in the manipulation of material to evoke such emotion. I strongly suggest that everyone go and see some of the on-campus exhibits while they recoup from the crazy, loud Groundhog weekend. I promise you, Smith's "New Work" will both impress you and make you think.

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