One of the first pieces of art that anyone would see walking into the Rox Gallery was during the Delusions exhibition was one by the artist Lauren Xandra. Being displayed adjacent to the stairs near the front on the gallery the image immediately caught my eye for its vibrant contrasting colors and unique design. It was different from many other works of art that I have seen and while being extremely neat and clean, it also seemed to be in disarray. So many distinct designs and patterns were all being displayed within the constraint of a single frame. A combination of sleek lines, geometric shapes, and wavy patterns to name a few, were all composing this truly delusional work of art. It was difficult to understand what I was looking at originally, however I could see the effort that went into creating it. White, black, and gold were the three colors that were used to make this work however the arrangement and careful positioning, having the light touch each color made it seem as if there was so much more happening.

This I would soon realize was the beauty of the work in itself. While making it both sleek and precise and still achieving the delusion of making it seem in a state of disorder, a possibility arose within my mind. Was this image in itself a representation of the order that we have held in society, yet continue to perceive as being overwhelming? For example one could describe the exact activities a person would most likely go through on an average day as simply waking up, attending school or work, eating, and returning home and completing any errands or work; basically following a schedule. These although when described like this make the average day seem unassuming and rather orderly would justly be proven wrong when they themselves would experience them. When put together these straightforward tasks become a mixture of confusion and distress. Although being familiar with all the tasks individually much in the same way we are familiar with the distinct colors and patterns, together they are responsible for the disorientation we at times experience.

Strange how something so abstract has so many different means of interpretation. The title of Delusion for the gallery was truly a match in my eyes.

Irvin Penn had taken a picture of foods that appeared to be nothing more than a couple of blocks of frozen fruits and vegetables all stacked on top of one another. This, although being the actual display held such an immense amount of meaning for me. When I took a moment and pondered at the possible reasoning to have taken a picture of frozen foods it immediately occurred to me that one of the biggest ideas trying to be conveyed by the image was the idea of change and progression. Thinking back to other paintings that I had seen, there always seemed to be a handful of paintings using fresh fruit and vegetables as the center of the work. I’m sure everyone can relate to those paintings having food such as fruit and bread in a basket, but the main difference between those paintings and Penn’s photograph was the fact that his were frozen as compared to being fresh. Relating back to the idea of change and progression; society has progressed and shifted in such a way that anything frozen is as natural to us as it being fresh. Looking at the image with this idea in mind it isn’t too different than all of those generic paintings with the fruit and other foods in the basket in the sense that in both cases the food itself serves as the main center of attraction and is often organized in a specific way. Before the foods would lay scattered throughout the display in a neat but not necessarily organized manner as compared to the frozen food Penn had taken an image of, being in rough edged box like shapes. It could be possible that the image also represented our society’s change in order and conduct over the years where it use to be more relaxed as compared to now where it could be viewed as being cold, extremely rigid, and in a way almost lifeless much like the frozen foods. The fact that the work of art is also a photograph as compared to a painting could also further support the idea of society’s evolution with time because rather than being painted it was taken with a camera showing how art and expression in themselves are also changing aspects of our society as time continues to pass. While art was often viewed as being a painting or sculpture it has now become subject to many different forms of expression defining it in such a unique way.

-Shujat Khan

Photograph by Irvin Penn                             Painting by Barbara Wells