Art gallery showcases seniors’ superior art
Bright colors and non-representational work will fill Rider’s Art Gallery through April 26, thanks to two senior art majors, Olivia Immordino and Louis Esposito.
Immordino described her work as abstract, while including some pieces involving landscapes and the human form.
“I do abstract art, so there’s a combination of a few different things,” said Immordino, “including line and printing, block-faced paintings—I did three of those that are just a concept of understanding the entire rectangle with limited shape and small movements.”
Immordino didn’t set out to incorporate a connecting theme in her works, but acknowledges that one can be found.
“It’s not important for me to do that because of what [else] I was doing,” said Immordino. “I was looking at other artists, including Sonia Delaunay, Hans Hofman, and Wassily Kandinsky, and so I guess the theme could be me looking at their work and taking thoughts and ideas from their work and applying them to my paintings.”
The works in Esposito’s collection began last year, after he won an award from Rider.
“It kind of starts off with last spring,” said Esposito. “I had an URSA award, and it was all about the figure, and right after I finished, I kind of abandoned the figure and went straight to still life.”
Esposito described exactly what kind of work is in his thesis and the theme found within it.
“I have a lot of flower paintings that I did,” said Esposito. “I think some of the flowers, with the way they’re shaped, and the way they kind of dance, they’re almost figural. So even though they’re not figure paintings, I’m thinking of the figure through still life.”
For Esposito, art was never something he focused on until he came to Rider.
“I always kind of drew, and I was always interested in art, but I never really pursued it until I came here as a business major,” he said. “Then after a whole bunch of events, I almost left, but then I took a chance at becoming an art major.”
Immordino also wasn’t always in the art program at Rider. She was enrolled in the political science program for her first semester.
“I had realized I was not happy and decided to take a drawing class, and that was it, then I got into the art program,” she said.
Professor of Fine Arts Deborah Rosenthal recalled both Esposito and Immordino at the start of their paths in Rider’s art program, saying, “Both of them started off with some evident talent.”
Joining Rider’s art program led Immordino to Rosenthal, who she says was a huge influence.
“For me, I feel that she’s not just my adviser; she’s my mentor, and she really pushes me,” said Immordino. “Part of the great thing about Rider is that the program is so small. There are only five graduating art seniors this semester—the program is very intimate.”
Both Esposito and Immordino, have seen their artwork affected by their time at Rider.
“I’ve learned that there’s a lot more to art than people think there is,” said Esposito. “Because of Rider, I’ve learned to really think about the past, and artists that have come before.”
Looking towards the future, Immordino is not too sure of what’s ahead. She plans to work in the art field and enjoy the life ahead of her.
“I think that for me, painting and all of the art and craft that I do are really something that I do for joy and for pleasure,” said Immordino. “So I plan to continue painting and doing gallery shows and that kind of stuff. I just want to be happy and live life in a mellow way.”
This fall, Esposito plans on continuing his education at the New York Studio School to work on an MFA.
“I can’t really say what I want to do after I’m done,” he said. “My goal is to continue doing what I’m doing and painting and working seriously, but maybe someday, way into the future, I’ll become a professor.”