Colossal Self-Portraits at Ben U

David Marcet's beginning painting classes at Benedictine University are set with an arduous task: to create a colossal self-portrait. Ugh. To see oneself in the mirror may be hard enough, but to draw and then paint a self-portrait that is not only descriptive, but also captures the students' personality is a challenge, indeed. Marcet's classes show they are up to the challenge, and the exhibit of portraits currently shown on the first floor of Kindlon Hall - north side, are some fine paintings.I will post them here for you to see. Some make me chuckle, some make me smile along with the person in the portrait. But they all engage the viewer with their fresh color and scale. Kudos to Marcet and his class. We look forward to seeing what these students will produce in the future.

The Tactile Art of Book-Making by HaiRi Han

The interest in handmade artist books has grown over the years. So much so that there are degree programs in handmade books across the country. Still, when we find someone who makes handmade books with the sensitivity and flare of Ms. HaiRi Han, we marvel at the complexity with which she makes the objects, but we are astounded when we realize she taught herself how to make her beautiful handmade books.

Han is the head of Graphic Arts and Design at Benedictine University, in Lisle, Il. She studied design at Purdue University and came to Benedictine University in 2012. While she teaches graphic design by day, she spends innumerable hours designing and making her books. These delicate and intricately cut pieces are thematically designed; often on the themes about Nature and the changing of seasons. Han is a master at the accordian-style book which stands up and is visible from multiple angles.

The exhibition at Benedictine University's Komechak Art Gallery will run March 7 through April 7, 2016. Han will give a closing reception lecture on her work on Thursday, April 7th, at 4:00 p.m. The lecture is free and open to the public.For more information on this exhibition, contact Komechak Art Gallery at 630-829-6270 or write Curator Teresa Parker at tparker@ben.edu

Alan Leder's Photographs of "El Cemeterio de San Miguel de Allende"

Alan Leder has been a known fixture in the Chicago art scene for over two decades - as an educator, arts administrator and more recently known as an artist - photographer. Leder debuted a series of photographs last fall at Benedictine University. The work was from a series he has been working on for several years where he has gone to the city cemetery in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico to observe and photograph the nichos and other funerary art.

Leder's intention was to photograph these very personal family remembrances of departed loved ones. What he found were wonderfully unique nichos (a literal square box opening in a wall of niches where a person's remains could be placed for burial. They are often plastered over with cement and then ornamented with paintings photographs and carvings, then adorned with flowers and other mementos of the departed.) These artistic touches are endearing, and sometimes boastful of the departed person's personality. One person was a tap dancer and had a pair of shoes cast and placed onto his nicho. Another person had a photographs of a father and son who had been killed placed together. Flowers and other adornments grace these mini-shrines. Sometime using real flowers, but often using fake ones so they would never wither and would always look fresh.

Some of the cemetery pieces are small boxes with glass coverings. There are pictures of the departed within them, along with flowers as seen above, but sometimes they contain toys for a child who has died. The poignancy of these pieces is palpable. Leder has been to the cemeterio several years now, and he sometimes retakes pictures of nichos he took before as the family has come back and attended or updated their adornments. They become a record of attentiveness to their ancestors in a culture that worships their ancestors on All Saints Day and Day of the Dead celebrations all over the country. Leder has chosen this place to document San Miguel's ancestor repository and the folk art traditions associated with death. The series promises to grow as he continues to explore the cemeterios of San Miguel and Mexico.

Clifton Henri's "Cuba City" Comes to Komechak Art Gallery

Clifton Henri, award-winning photographer from Chicago, Illinois, recently exhibited his photographs of Havana at Benedictine University's Komechak Art Gallery from January 18 - February 29, 2016. Henri's take of life of the Havana streets is eye-catching and engaging. His subjects range from youth fighting in a boxing ring,

to a couple of teens sitting on a stoop. Their faces show a look of promise and faith their fates will be different than their forefathers', who have live in constraint under Communism. They dress in more contemporary clothing, and if it weren't for the fact we know they live in Havana, we would expect to see youth like these young men on any street corner in the US.

Henri said he wanted to visit the country for a long time, and when he got the chance early last year, he jumped at it. He said the culture was fascinating, the people warm and friendly, and music, food and atmosphere were life-changing experiences where he will surely go back to take more pictures and explore more of the island nation.

Henri took portraits of the people he met, and their faces are elegantly portrayed in natural lighting, and without artifice in style or composition. They are straightforward and reveal faces full of life.

The artist also took pictures of buildings and areas seemingly long abandoned, but the mystery of an open door and light falling on a set of old chairs in a boxing center, or light dimly illuminating a stairwell, are inviting for their textures and colors and areas we cannot see.

This photographer is presenting to us a world still largely unknown to the outside world. He shows us the day-to-day activities of people on the street, the time capsule of their environment and all of it makes us want to go visit this uniquely wonderful place. Henri's work is up and coming in attention and awards have been accorded him with growing numbers. We will watch this rising star with optimism as he grows and develops.