Under the theme of “S(t)imulation” that I propose, I invite you all to take on the active position of the modern flâneur, immersing oneself in the stimulating environment of simulated realities at the Hillel Gallery’s annual fall committee curated show. Whether it be the 21st century phenomenon of online social networking or the exploding colors that interact with one another on canvas, the social character of art has never been such a pertinent topic of discussion in today’s landscape of ubiquitous art and technology. Composed of the work of committee members and of their selected artist-students, the exhibit engages the observer not only in its physically alluring space, but also in the collective pool of contemplation on the questions of contemporaneity as points of connection. The only gallery that bridges the Brown and RISD art communities, the Gallery Project is proud to present to you the assemblage of whimsical ideas and visuals to provoke minds and senses of the audience.
Jen Jungmin Lee, Brown ’11, Co- Chair
Jungmin Lee is a media/ visual culture theorist from Brown University, double-concentrating in Modern Culture and Media (Track II: Production) and French Civilization. Born in Seoul, Korea, she has been mobile since an early age and encountering different culture around the globe. In addition to pursuing secondary and higher education in Boston and Providence, U.S.A., she has just spent seven months of studying and working in Paris, France. Having adopted a new perspective in arts, Jungmin takes a pause in her artistic production and reflects on the efficacy and the affect of the image production, while focusing on the theories in cultural studies, specifically on exhibition and the public. She is fascinated particularly by the role of exhibition, its form along with its content that heightens the (un)pleasure of the viewing experience of the spectator. Academically trained as a film studies scholar, Jungmin probes in a critical manner the convergence of art, the moving image, and exhibition. In her artistic practices, she enjoys the delicate medium of graphite on paper, while appreciating the incomparable richness of oil paint on wood panel, and simultaneously intrigued by conceptually driven video art or stop motion animation.
