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The 0AiLYO3La6i^AjiTSPEAK
March 25,1993
^Graduate student, Jeff-
Nichols, assigns color and
shape to blues music arid
creates artistic patterns.
Aaron Root/ ActSmajc
Artist Jeff Nichols sits in front of his painting, one of two graphic illustrations of Eric
Clapton's song "Have You Ever Loved a Woman?" This painting along with 12 others will
be included in Nichols graduate exhibit "From Music to Canvas," on display March 28-
" > in the Phebe Conley Art Gallery.
April 5 ir
Ait lesson erupts in controversy
BydeflSt^viauer
CPS Special Correspondent
NORTHRIDGE, Calf.-
About two dozen CSU,
Northridge students barricaded
themselves inside the university
president'soffice to protest the
firing of a student teacher who
asked thero to draw nude
picture of themselves.
The Feb. 17 protes high¬
lighted the case of Rootart Carl
Stechman, 25, a fonner gradu¬
ate teaching associate who
clams his views are being
ceitsored. >
'*l|>ev*re trying to expefl
"riWnow" said Stechman,*'" ■
mstudentlfs pretty
Stcchman' s troubles began
after he started teaching the
beginning drawing class. He was
•having a hard time getting his
students to unleach their creative
abilities, so he told them to do
rWdeseifportraits. '
"I thoagh.the easiest way to
ge them to loosen up was to go
took at themselves in the ttiumrjf
and draw themselves * Stechman
said.
His faculty supervisor,
Marvin fterden, told Stix&nan
that such an asignment was
iriiujipropriate for a beginning
class. Instead of cancelling the
assignment, Stcchman gave his
students tiiepptipaipf drawing a.
still life or doing the original
assignment Stechman said
aboot 90 percent of the students ■
turned to nude self portraits.
On Feb. 15 Stechman was
fired. When he told his students
two days Liter, the class angrily .J
marched out and locked them¬
selves inside CSUN President
Blenda WilsonVconfensnce
room.
, "1 think it's censorship,"
Stechman said. "Most of my v
students liked doing this. It's
discovering who we are."
University officials con-
firmed the firing, but were
unable to discuss the details.
Northridge isn't puritani¬
cal," said Kanie Thompson, a
CSUN spokesperson. "It has
nothing to do with censorship."
Stechman is still waiting to
hear if will be expeHeoVTm ehly]
dneelass away from my degree."
By Stefanie Monahan
ArtSpeak Staff Writer
The music of Jimi Hendrix,
Eric Clapton and B.B. King are
given color and shape in the art
exhibit "From Music to Canvas"
by Jeff Nichols.
The exhibit, along with a
written abstract, is Nichols final
project for his masters degree in
art and will display in Phebe
Conley Gallery March 28-April5.
Developing the series of 13
paintings came about as a
struggle, but Nichols, who also
plays .and teaches guitar, decided
to incorporate his two passions-
painting and music.
"I developed a system based
on colors and shapes to visually
illustrate the different patterns
musicians use," Nichols said.
"I've taken the 12 tone musical
scale found in Western culture
,and the 12 colors of the color
wheel and assigned one color to
each note.
'Tor example the note 'C is
yellow and D' is green and the
different octaves of a note get a
variation of their assigned color."
The sheet music and the
lettering of lyrics are collaged
onto the canvas with clear
acrylic, notes are grided out
mathematically with a pencil to
incorporate shapes and bright
.transparent layers ofjacrylic paint
are applied to the canvas.
Nichols said each painting takes
at least 100 hours to complete.
Each painting manifests
itself in geometric shapes and
allows viewers to see, rather than
hear, chord and solo notes
changing and blending.
The paintings feature
improvised pieces that are within
the 12 bar blues format.
''I picked this format
because I found it was a form of
music that would be fairly
uniform for my series of paint¬
ings," Nichols said. "My
intention was not to capture the
emotions of a blues song, but
Compare musicians and empha¬
size the improvised piece '
visually."
"The works are considered
to be concept or sytem paintings
because the system'dictates the
shapes and colors and I never go
against the system." Nichols
said. "It',s kind ofa paradox to
take a free flowing improvised
piece and impose a rigid system
' to it."
"Jeffs work addresses ■
several ofthe most exciting areas
• of advanced abstract painting:
the meaning of color and the
nature of mental imagery, Dan
Nadaner, art professor, said. "We
know that many people "see"
music in visual images and Jeff
has conducted one of the most
disciplined and imaginative
inquiries I have seen into the
expression of music in color and
form." /->
"His knowledge of blues and
jazz guitar gives the work an
extra authority, but the electricity
ofthe painting also speaks for
itself."
The exhibit includes three
versions of the Jimi Hendrix
song "Red House" and two
versions of Eric Clapton's "Have
you ever loved a Woman."
These paintings illustrate
how the musician evolves and
approaches the same song
differently each time it is
performed, Nichols said.
.^Overall I have received
positive feedback about the.
work," Nichols said. "This type
of work may not aesthetically
please everyone, but if may
intrigue people because of the
system that made it all come
about."
Object Description
| Title | 1993_03 The Daily Collegian March 1993 |
| Alternative Title | Daily Collegian (California State University, Fresno) |
| Publisher | Associated Students of Fresno State, Fresno, Calif. |
| Publication Date | 1993 |
| Description | Daily (except weedends) during the school year. Microfilm. Palo Alto, Calif.: BMI Library Microfilms, 1986- microfilm reels; 35 mm. Vol.1, no.1 (Feb 8, 1922)- |
| Subject | California State University, Fresno -- Periodicals. |
| Contributors | Associated Students of Fresno State. |
| Coverage | Vol.1 no.1 (Feb 8, 1922)- to present |
| Format | Microfilm reels, 35 mm. |
| Technical Information | Scanned at 600 dpi; TIFF; Microfilm ScanPro 2000 "E-image data" |
| Language | eng |
Description
| Title | March 25, 1993, Artspeak Page 2 |
| Alternative Title | Daily Collegian (California State University, Fresno) |
| Publisher | Associated Students of Fresno State, Fresno, Calif. |
| Publication Date | 1993 |
| Description | Daily (except weedends) during the school year. Microfilm. Palo Alto, Calif.: BMI Library Microfilms, 1986- microfilm reels; 35 mm. Vol.1, no.1 (Feb 8, 1922)- |
| Subject | California State University, Fresno -- Periodicals. |
| Contributors | Associated Students of Fresno State. |
| Coverage | Vol.1 no.1 (Feb 8, 1922)- to present |
| Format | Microfilm reels, 35 mm. |
| Technical Information | Scanned at 600 dpi; TIFF; Microfilm ScanPro 2000 "E-image data" |
| Language | eng |
| Full-Text-Search | The 0AiLYO3La6i^AjiTSPEAK March 25,1993 ^Graduate student, Jeff- Nichols, assigns color and shape to blues music arid creates artistic patterns. Aaron Root/ ActSmajc Artist Jeff Nichols sits in front of his painting, one of two graphic illustrations of Eric Clapton's song "Have You Ever Loved a Woman?" This painting along with 12 others will be included in Nichols graduate exhibit "From Music to Canvas," on display March 28- " > in the Phebe Conley Art Gallery. April 5 ir Ait lesson erupts in controversy BydeflSt^viauer CPS Special Correspondent NORTHRIDGE, Calf.- About two dozen CSU, Northridge students barricaded themselves inside the university president'soffice to protest the firing of a student teacher who asked thero to draw nude picture of themselves. The Feb. 17 protes high¬ lighted the case of Rootart Carl Stechman, 25, a fonner gradu¬ ate teaching associate who clams his views are being ceitsored. > '*l|>ev*re trying to expefl "riWnow" said Stechman,*'" ■ mstudentlfs pretty Stcchman' s troubles began after he started teaching the beginning drawing class. He was •having a hard time getting his students to unleach their creative abilities, so he told them to do rWdeseifportraits. ' "I thoagh.the easiest way to ge them to loosen up was to go took at themselves in the ttiumrjf and draw themselves * Stechman said. His faculty supervisor, Marvin fterden, told Stix&nan that such an asignment was iriiujipropriate for a beginning class. Instead of cancelling the assignment, Stcchman gave his students tiiepptipaipf drawing a. still life or doing the original assignment Stechman said aboot 90 percent of the students ■ turned to nude self portraits. On Feb. 15 Stechman was fired. When he told his students two days Liter, the class angrily .J marched out and locked them¬ selves inside CSUN President Blenda WilsonVconfensnce room. , "1 think it's censorship," Stechman said. "Most of my v students liked doing this. It's discovering who we are." University officials con- firmed the firing, but were unable to discuss the details. Northridge isn't puritani¬ cal," said Kanie Thompson, a CSUN spokesperson. "It has nothing to do with censorship." Stechman is still waiting to hear if will be expeHeoVTm ehly] dneelass away from my degree." By Stefanie Monahan ArtSpeak Staff Writer The music of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and B.B. King are given color and shape in the art exhibit "From Music to Canvas" by Jeff Nichols. The exhibit, along with a written abstract, is Nichols final project for his masters degree in art and will display in Phebe Conley Gallery March 28-April5. Developing the series of 13 paintings came about as a struggle, but Nichols, who also plays .and teaches guitar, decided to incorporate his two passions- painting and music. "I developed a system based on colors and shapes to visually illustrate the different patterns musicians use," Nichols said. "I've taken the 12 tone musical scale found in Western culture ,and the 12 colors of the color wheel and assigned one color to each note. 'Tor example the note 'C is yellow and D' is green and the different octaves of a note get a variation of their assigned color." The sheet music and the lettering of lyrics are collaged onto the canvas with clear acrylic, notes are grided out mathematically with a pencil to incorporate shapes and bright .transparent layers ofjacrylic paint are applied to the canvas. Nichols said each painting takes at least 100 hours to complete. Each painting manifests itself in geometric shapes and allows viewers to see, rather than hear, chord and solo notes changing and blending. The paintings feature improvised pieces that are within the 12 bar blues format. ''I picked this format because I found it was a form of music that would be fairly uniform for my series of paint¬ ings," Nichols said. "My intention was not to capture the emotions of a blues song, but Compare musicians and empha¬ size the improvised piece ' visually." "The works are considered to be concept or sytem paintings because the system'dictates the shapes and colors and I never go against the system." Nichols said. "It',s kind ofa paradox to take a free flowing improvised piece and impose a rigid system ' to it." "Jeffs work addresses ■ several ofthe most exciting areas • of advanced abstract painting: the meaning of color and the nature of mental imagery, Dan Nadaner, art professor, said. "We know that many people "see" music in visual images and Jeff has conducted one of the most disciplined and imaginative inquiries I have seen into the expression of music in color and form." /-> "His knowledge of blues and jazz guitar gives the work an extra authority, but the electricity ofthe painting also speaks for itself." The exhibit includes three versions of the Jimi Hendrix song "Red House" and two versions of Eric Clapton's "Have you ever loved a Woman." These paintings illustrate how the musician evolves and approaches the same song differently each time it is performed, Nichols said. .^Overall I have received positive feedback about the. work," Nichols said. "This type of work may not aesthetically please everyone, but if may intrigue people because of the system that made it all come about." |
