Lamborghinis, Sacks, and the Senior Captain of the Wilderness Brethren

Displaying the talent of local artists, as well as that of national and international artists, is at the heart of what the Sego Arts Center in Provo seeks to accomplish. With its latest art exhibit the vanguard institution does just that.

On June 6, 2008, the Sego Art Center opened Lamborghinis, sacks, and the Senior Captain of the Wilderness, an exhibition curated by Jason Metcalf with work by three emerging artists: Allan Ludwig, Rebecca Neely, and Gian Pierotti.

This artistic endeavor seeks to display what these artists have to offer, leaving it to the viewers to find what connections they may.

"This three person exhibit draws formal and conceptual lines between the three artists’ lines which are often not straight or readily discernible, and which sometimes travel beyond the sphere of the artist, resulting in a show which challenges viewer’s experiences of progression and narrative in curatorial settings," Sego Arts Director Jason Metcalf said in a recent press release for the event.

Each artist has their own unique sets of strengths, each telling interesting stories and giving well-developed messages in their art.

Allan Ludwig’s art presents animate and inanimate objects and geometric shapes and forms in what at first seems to be an arbitrary arrangement. But, when given time to sink in, the shapes and forms Ludwig uses yield sophisticated relationships which help to create equality between the complete work and its parts, which possess individual and relevant identities.

Rebecca Neeley’s piece is composed of nearly 1000 crudely made sacks of fabric that each represent, physically and symbolically, a day she has sought conception. The cloth, sewing, and gender specific theme references feminist materials, which forms an important part of the piece’s concept.

Gian Pierotti’s 3-D creations, also on display, resemble extraterrestrial polygonal forms or amphibious creatures. Seeking to overcome the lumpy context in which clay is usually molded, Pierotti has created large pieces that defy convention. Offering insight into the unique methods Pierotti employed, Metcalf explained, "This aspiration was a product of having a Lamborghini Countach poster placed on his wall as an adolescent in the late 1980s. The slick lines of the race car, ingrained within his subconscious, inspired Pierotti to achieve machined edges in a material that defies precision."

The art exhibit is open to the public through June 28 and is viewable from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The Sego Arts Center in located at 169 N University Ave, Provo UT. You can also visit Sego’s website at www.segoarts.org