Providence campus exhibit embraces seasonal spirit

Open through Halloween, this Providence art exhibit will get you in the fall spirit PHOTO CREDIT: Nadia Sutyrina

The University of Rhode Island is exploring the cultural side of Halloween and the supernatural this year through it’s exhibit “Spirits, Spirituality, the Supernatural and Steampunk” open through Oct. 31.

The exhibit is presented by the URI Providence Campus’ urban arts and culture program and opened on Oct. 4. 

According to the event page, the exhibit is showcasing all types of media that explore forms of spirituality, religious ritual and connections between spirituality and steampunk. This includes science-fiction and fantasy, as well as late 19th century gothic and silent films and multimedia performances. 

The exhibit starts with three pieces created by Susan Garland that are three-dimensional and abstract. The pieces display sculptures that are reaching out of the wall canvases they sit on, and explore colors of cool and earth tones often associated with steampunk culture. 

The exhibit also has five unique pieces by Eran Fraenkel. These pieces use movement within drawing and black and white and line art to represent the spirit of the music that coordinator Steven Pennell, member of the urban arts and culture program at URI, said will be playing on the nights of the exhibit. Fraenkel used lines to create fluid motions to represent the feeling of the music, as well as images that look like instruments, such as piano keys and guitars. 

A part of the more spiritual side of the gallery is a two-dimensional mixed-media piece by Joanne Ficorilli. The piece, entitled “Being one with the universe,” depicts a character sitting cross legged with an open third eye in space surrounded by planets and stars.  

There are a few art and media pieces featured in the gallery by artist Ted DiLucia. One of the largest is a piece that looks like a gathered rug standing vertically on the gallery wall. The piece is made up of warm colors, such as oranges and yellows, and displays different shaped faces all looking at one another with different expressions. The onlooker can interpret this to represent different spirits that we overlap with in everyday life and all the emotions we can and cannot see within them. 

The piece featured on the webpage of the event is also available for viewing at the gallery. It is a painting by an artist known as Pop Icon and consists of a gray and dark purple background that, at first glance, looks like swirls, but is actually different eyes and faces. Featured in the piece are two blue and white skeletons looking at the face around them. The skeleton on the left is upside down and the one on the right is right side up. This piece perfectly encapsulates the darker, and even spookier, side to the concept of spirits.

The gallery features a wide range of three-dimensional art as well, specifically pieces that use lights to shed light on (no pun intended) the classic works of steampunk artists, displaying visions of space, earth and the ocean. 

To learn more about these themes and see the beautiful art in this gallery, all are welcome and encouraged to visit the URI Providence Feinstein Campus from now until Halloween from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays. Entry is free for all members of the URI community and the public. If you cannot make it to Providence, there is a narrated walkthrough of the gallery available on Pennell’s YouTube page.