HAS Faculty Exhibition: Finishing Touches

Joseloff Gallery 

September 1 – October 8, 2022 

The annual Faculty Exhibition celebrates the latest innovations from the distinguished faculty of the Hartford Art School. From metalpoint and mycelia to glazed porcelain and painted zinc, the range of materials and processes on display demonstrates the vast skills and interests of the Hartford Art School Faculty, while offering insights into the latest conversations in the worlds of contemporary art and design.  

In Finishing Touches, the faculty reflect on how they know when a work of art is complete. While for some there are practical considerations, such as deadlines, for others finishing a work might involve a technical feat—achieving a balance in composition, texture, or tonal values, for example. Some artworks must come into formation fully in the artist’s mind before being materialized in the world. As such, there are pieces on display that were completed with a few deliberate brushstrokes. Others, by contrast, have been reworked for years until instinct, intuition, or emotional impact tells the artist they are finally done. For those who work serially, in which one piece leads to another, the notion of a finished artwork is more complicated. Indeed, many of the faculty artists represented here resist the notion of finality altogether, citing the importance of viewers to activate the work in time and space.  

This exhibition was supported by the Joseloff Gallery Programs Fund held by HAS Endowment, Inc.