‘Pedestrian Rules’ looks at ordinary objects in a different light

Art is all around us, but sometimes it requires an artist’s eye to find it.

And for galleries, sometimes it takes a curator’s eye to find interesting exhibits.

That’s the case in downtown State College, where the Woskob Family Gallery is displaying “Pedestrian Rules,” an exhibit featuring different takes on items that many of us see in our daily lives.

The exhibit is free and open to the public through March 3.

The artists on display are actually photographers — Barbara Weissberger, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh; Tyson Washburn, a professor at Rutgers; and Haigen G. Pearson, a professor at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art.

Weissberger’s art focuses on close-ups of odd sculptures. One example is her piece, “Clump,” which is an array of cut-out cardboard and foil with a central focus on a “clump” of shredded silver material.

Washburn’s contribution includes a variety of architectural photos. One, for instance, “Curtains and Reflections,” shows a line of curtains behind a row of windows in Berlin that reflects the scene behind the camera.

Another piece of artwork, Pearson’s “Maintenance,” is a displayed on a screen as a looping video of still photos taken in Rome of paint-splattered yellow traffic dividers.

“As a painter accumulates paint on a blank canvas, these three photographers build through the aperture of the camera finding their materials in the recognizable, commonplace, un-monumental objects and places of everyday life,” reads the gallery’s note on the exhibit.

“We exhibit contemporary artists mostly, emerging or mid-career, and a variety of media, so anything from a light installation, to a video work, to two-dimensional things like painting and drawing or photography,” said Lindsey Landfried, the gallery’s curatorial assistant. “This exhibition had the specific interest in photography.”

The gallery has about six to eight exhibitions per year, according to Landfried.

“They run the gamut from being one- or two-person shows to large group shows,” Landfried said.

“Pedestrian Rules,” which opened with a reception on Jan. 25, is one of the gallery’s exhibits featuring regional artists.

“Some of our shows are open calls, meaning that we accept applications from artists nationally or internationally,” Landfried said. “Other projects we do in-house, so the artworks are researched and selected by either myself, or the director or (the program manager).”

Upcoming exhibits include a guest-curated exhibit, “Tiny Acts Topple Empires,” which opens in March and will be on display into June, and “Summer Reading,” which will run from June until September.

This story was originally published February 1, 2018 at 11:07 AM with the headline "‘Pedestrian Rules’ looks at ordinary objects in a different light."