Greenville Technical College’s Department of Visual Arts (DVA) “2018 Visual Arts Annual Student Exhibition” is now on view through November 30 at the Benson Campus Galleries. This year, juror David Detrich selected “Grief Prevails,” a work of photography by GTC student Ethan Stroud, as the exhibition’s “Best in Show.”
Detrich is currently a professor of art and sculpture and graduate program coordinator at Clemson University. Detrich received a B.F.A. from Kansas City Art Institute and a M.F.A. from Alfred University. His sculpture has been exhibited nationally and internationally.
“Of the 154 works submitted for consideration, I chose 48. A very talented pool of applicants made the process of selection very difficult,” said Detrich. “For the ‘Best of Show Award,’ I chose Stroud’s, ‘Grief Prevails’. The success of the photograph lies in the gravity of the subject matter in relation to the human condition and the economy and precision in which it is rendered. Though small in stature, the work says a great deal with very little in the way of informational cues. The detached and somewhat ambivalent gaze of the central figure, coupled with the kinetic object element, simultaneous memorializes, celebrates and enshrines aspects of our humanness.”
In addition to the ‘Best in Show’ award, 17 other students received placements in the annual competition of their peers. Altogether, the 18 award winners received a total of $1,700 in cash awards at the department’s Halloween Gala and Exhibition Opening Monday, Oct. 29. The works of the 34 students juried into this exhibition represent all the fine and applied arts disciplines in the DVA’s curriculum.
Winners in their respective categories are Design & Color, Elijah Robertson, first, and Bryan Payment, second; Drawing, Jake Forthman, first, Matthew Clark, second, and Melissa Pinney, third; Printmaking, Matthew Clark, first; Painting, Jake Forthman, first, and Annie Pham, second; 3D Design, Raymond Armstrong, first, and Jessica Apple, second; Digital Imagery, Cassandra Dorn, first; Photography, Kristen Lester, first, Tracy Lozowski, second, and Sierra Bowden, third; Graphic Design, Riley Lichoulas, first; Web Design, Morgan Pannell, first, and Sierra Bowden, second.
Works exhibited on the second floor gallery are available for purchase. The exhibition is free and open to the public. Exhibit hours are Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Fridays, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Benson Campus is located at 2522 Locust Hill Road, Taylors. For more information, call (864) 250-3051.
To learn more about the Department of Visual Arts at Greenville Technical College, visit www.gvltec.edu/dva/.
To see a full gallery of first place winners, visit our GTC Facebook page.