Paintings varying from a self-portrait of man sitting at his kitchen table to a black-and-white abstract series of birds painted with short dashes to create the effect of feathers line the lime green and electric blue walls of the Museum of Art in the Shaw Center. “LSU Art: Past and Present” is an exhibit devoted to works of art by current and past University art professors. The exhibit, on display at the Museum of Art in the Shaw Center, will run until Feb. 15. All of the work in the gallery is held together by one common theme — inspiration in the natural world. Every piece of art has images of either humans or animals.Kelli Kelley, art professor, has three paintings in the exhibit  — “Promise,” “Colliding Black Holes” and “The Allies.” All three are acrylic on stitched canvas.”My work broadly explores the connections and disconnections between humans and nature,” Kelley said.
In a physiological way, Kelley tries to explore the more animalistic side of humans.Kelley said “Promise” and “Colliding Black Holes” are two study pieces for “The Allies.” A study piece shows an image which will be used again in a larger piece of a series.A monkey shown in “Promise,” and a two-headed animal from “Colliding Black Holes,” are both shown again in the larger painting of the series, “The Allies,” which shows a girl with antlers standing next to a fawn.Robert Hausey, art professor, has two paintings in the exhibit — “Ron and Renee,” and “Esther Inside, Lizzie Outside.” He works with several different mediums, including oil on paper and gouache on paper.
“Esther inside, Lizzie Outside,” is a painting of two dogs. One is staring out a glass door at the other. Hausey said one of the dogs was his own, and another was a friend. He saw the two, thought it was funny and decided to paint them.Hausey said like “Esther inside, Lizzie Outside,” most of his work is done from observation. Though his work is done from observation, it’s not necessarily realistic.”My work is realistically descriptive, but the way I paint it is imaginative,” Hausey said.Hausey said he enjoys showing light and the contrast of colors in his work.”I try to make a color look like more than it is,” Hausey said. “You can paint two colors on a white wall, and they’ll look the same. But if you use them in a painting, they’ll look like two completely different colors.”Students admission to the gallery is free with a student ID.”It’s a great  experience for the students to come and see all the art by their professors,” museum chief curator Victoria Cooke said.
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Contact Nichole Oden at [email protected]