HCC showcases student diversity at West Loop Campus
Mar 4, 2016
Houston Community College (HCC) celebrated the rich history and valuable contributions of African American artists by showcasing award-winning students Al Saulso and Kevo with an exhibition titled The Journey. The display at the West Loop Campus Gallery is geared toward encouraging students and showing them that they too can be successful in the art community here in Houston.
“We decided to have a cultural exhibit and feature two of our students that are of African American Heritage. Both of them have been really successful in the classroom,” said Maureen Lewis, gallery curator. “They have done really well here, but they are also doing well in the community and already showing their work at different places around town.”
Al Saulso started his artistic journey as a graffiti artist. He later transitioned to photography and mixed media as a means of documenting life. The subject he mostly gravitates to deals heavily with folklore, nature, and surrealism.
“In The Journey, I twisted the concepts of surrealism and spiritualism in a way that explained my inner story,” said Saulso.
Kevin Aregbe, known as Kevo, is a business owner in the tattoo industry. He specializes in conceptual realism – painting what is real in form of another concept, and uses multiple platforms to express his artwork.
Kevo explained, “In this exhibit, I took the affirmations people created with culture, race, and religion and expressed their inner feelings of frustration,”
Bella Canamar, Meteorology student at the HCC Stafford Campus, described how she felt about Kevo’s “Dear Basquiat…These women are still” acrylic on canvas.
“The painting is dark,” said Canamar. “It’s confusing and frightening, especially with the child in the picture.”
The West Loop Art Gallery features a multitude of artists, mediums and subjects with exhibits changing every four to six weeks. The gallery will also be a participating space for Fotofest 2016 Biennial, the first and longest running photographic arts festival in the United States and one of the leading international photography Biennials in the world.
In conjunction with Fotofest, the gallery plans to present a Juried Student and Faculty Photography Exhibition from March 21 through April 22. The artist reception is set for Thursday, March 24 from 6-8 p.m. and it’s free and open to the public. For information on upcoming exhibitions, contact Maureen Lewis at maureen.lewis@hccs.edu.