‘Fatal Attractions’ now on display at Blackbird
These works are part of “Fatal Attractions,” van Rossum’s art exhibit that debuted Monday Mar. 9 at Blackbird. The exhibit encompasses his work with text portraits on different mediums. Four of the five works consist of portraits of famous assassins, created with text from the biography of the person they killed.
“I hate art talk,” van Rossum said. “But the only reasons these random people were famous was because of the person they killed.”
By using the text from the victim’s biography, van Rossum asserts the lives of the assassins are significant only because of their crimes. The faces on the wall include Marc David Chapman, John Wilkes Booth, Gavrilo Pricip and Marvin Gay Sr.
“The idea happened last semester to do an entirely text portrait with a picture of Marc David Chapman, who shot John Lennon, entirely of text from John Lennon’s biography,” van Rossum said. “I did that and it was great.”
After finishing his class assignment, van Rossum was asked to do an exhibit at Blackbird. His show is highlighted by an extravagant light box, which depicts a portrait of John Lennon and another portrait of his murderer in text.
“The light box was really cool,” van Rossum said, “because it depicts both victim and assassin.”
Though van Rossum’s work spoke volumes by itself, captivated friends and fans had nothing but good things to say about it.
“It’s really good,” said Emily Gomez, photography teacher. “I really like the variety of materials that he’s using.”
Aside from the light box printed on transparency film and framed in wood, the exhibit included screen prints and an etching made with nitric acid on metal.
“You basically use a silk screen and a stencil,” said art major Toni Dread about screen-printing. “Then you press the ink on top of the stencil and on to the wood.”
Each picture required a large amount of time and text. The light box took two weeks, and the smallest piece took about eight hours, van Rossum said.
Throughout the show and artist talk, crowds milled around and mingled with the artist.
“He’s a mass communication major,” Gomez said. “But he should be an art major.”
Whatever his major, van Rossum produced eye-catching art that dazzled crowds and inspired those who took time to take a closer look at each piece.
“I encourage people to come look,” Dread said. “There’s a whole other level because you can see the image, then spend time reading it.”
Luckily for fans, van Rossum stated that he plans to keep working on his art. His original show was supposed to have twelve pieces, instead of five.
“I’ve watched the progression of Cooper’s work from when he started,” said alumna Rachel Hotchkiss. “I think he’s come a long way and I’m proud of him. It looks very professional.”
Van Rossum’s art will hang in Blackbird until late April.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Mar 13 2009. Filed under Features.
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