It’s M.F.A. season here in Baton Rouge, and it’s your opportunity to see the graduating artists from LSU exhibit their graduating shows.  For two months, every weekend there is an opportunity to catch a peek at the hard work put in by these artists. 
                Artist David Contreras comes to Baton Rouge from Corpus Christi, Texas as an M.F.A. candidate in the Painting department.  Contreras’ paintings are large scale and depict everyday objects that you can find around the city of Baton Rouge.  Urban Monuments, Contreras’ thesis body of work, focuses on the mundane objects and activities overlooked during life.  He seeks out these objects in the city, sketches them from life, but paints from memory back in the studio.  In a previous body of work, Contreras says he used photographs and internet sources for reference, but with Urban Monuments, he aims to “capture the manipulation of paint so that it does not look or reference a photograph.” 
                Upon looking at Urban Monuments, you see images of a mail truck, bus stops, and trash; objects meant to be insignificant but painted bright and quickly.  David Contreras wants to make them important, paint them as monuments and portraits.  “The President gets a monument,” says Contreras.  He wants to elevate and honor the working man.  “I never knew I could do it [painting] as a profession,” but after finding the passion in art, he never looked back.  After graduation, David Contreras plans to move to Los Angeles, California in pursuit of painting.  “I like to feel lost,” says Contreras, “I don’t want an agenda for my work.”  You can catch Urban Monuments at Foster Gallery on the LSU campus April 7-11, 2014 with a closing reception on Friday the 11^th, at 6pm. 
                Artist Jimmie Nord, another M.F.A candidate in sculpture, will also be exhibiting his Graduate Thesis show this spring.  Nord is from Willows, California, a small town in Northern California.  He builds kinetic structures of varying sizes made from wood and steel.  Playschool¸ the body of work, is inspired by the ongoing construction of the LSU Tiger Stadium here in Baton Rouge coupled with Nord’s whimsical approach to the notion of play.  “I take play very seriously,” says Nord, working with children reinforced this approach. 
                Playschool resembles the visual skeletons seen in construction of building, and in this case, the construction of the stadium.  Jimmie Nord finds this underlying infrastructure to be the “magic.”  The sculptures created by Nord appear to be unfinished or in progress, though they are complete.  The magic happens in the process of building, and once something is considered complete, you don’t see that magic.  The sculptures in Playschool, also, have an interactive element.  Influenced by the Kinetic Sculpture Race Nord used to attend with his grandparents, a system of pulleys sit within the sculptures inviting the audience to pull at strings and manipulate the pulleys.  “Craftsmanship is important,” says Nord.  His grandfather and father both valued the perfection and precision of the craft carried through to Jimmie Nord.  Jimmie Nord works to create this precise adult make-believe world, where adults can play.  You can see Playschool at Glassell Gallery in Downtown Baton Rouge at the Shaw Center April 22-27, 2014 with a closing reception Saturday the 26^th at 6pm. 

Gallery • 1 Photos

Jimmie Nord in his studio