A computer case drenched in fake blood, naked figures being dragged on leashes and a painting whose stare follows you as you walk across the room — these are just some of the artworks unveiled on March 19 at the opening reception of Explore My Insides at the U of M’s School of Art Student Gallery.
The exhibition features work by students Alex Halipchuk, Alexa Hare, Tat Raynaud-Guerrero and Jordan Zazulak. Halipchuk, the show’s curator, is a first-year fine arts student who primarily works with sculpture and ink-based art. In an interview, he explained that the show came together as a collaboration with friends.
“You could say I curated the show, but I prefer to say that it was more of a group effort. Sure, I brought it all together, but it was a mutual thing,” he said.
“We all kind of work in the same sort of vibe of our artwork, and it just so happened that we’re all already friends, so we were like, ‘okay, well, they want proposals. Why don’t we put together one of these shows? That would be kind of neat,’ and it kind of just spiraled and snowballed from there, and we’ve ended up with a show.”
The exhibition captures the unguarded interior worlds of humans. While many of the works are physically fleshy, some pieces reveal the inner workings of the mind. “Scopophobia” by Zazulak, for example, references the fear of being stared at.
“Some of the artwork that we show isn’t so much the quite literal insides, but rather someone nude or vulnerable in a way where they may feel exposed and like they’re showing their insides to the rest of the world, and sort of exposing that inner thought process and inner workings of the human mind,” Halipchuk said.
One of Halipchuk’s pieces, “Peter,” features a brain along with other organic shapes inside a computer case. Originally created for a class assignment, it is one of his favourite pieces. The sculpture was initially called “Fleshputer” — a mashup of “flesh” and “computer” — but Zazulak jokingly misheard it as “Peter,” and the name stuck.
“It’s a blend between organic living things and technology and mechanics and all that. So you could say it’s a commentary on AI or on technology taking over the human world, but I just kind of created him to be as visceral and shocking as possible,” said Halipchuk.
Despite the unsettling and sometimes gory subject matter, Halipchuk believes there is beauty to be found in the work — if viewers take the time to look for it. “I feel like coming in, it’s natural to feel shocked and almost disgusted, but as you sort of interact more with the work, I find that you can see how it’s more quite beautiful than disgusting,” he said.
“These two emotions can come together and create this harmony. Things don’t have to be exclusively repulsive, exclusively beautiful. They could be both at once, as a lot of things are, as humans are both repulsive and beautiful.”
Explore My Insides is on display in the School of Art Student Gallery (158 Taché Arts Complex) until March 26. Visit @alexhalipchukart on Instagram to see more of Halipchuk’s work.
