Contemporary artist to share, answer questions about works

The most common response to modern art seems to be plain and simple confusion. “What is this supposed to be?” “I don’t get it.” Although I enjoy art museums and galleries in general, I will admit that modern art often invokes the same questions in me. And knowing that the artists of these modern works are usually still alive when I am viewing their exhibitions, I always wish that I could ask (of course, in a more articulate way) about the pieces.

This Saturday, there’s a unique opportunity for Hopkins students to do just that.

Jimmy Joe Roche, who is a Multimedia Specialist at the DMC and a professor in the Film and Media Studies department, has an exhibition in the Contemporary Wing of the Baltimore Museum of Art. He will lead a tour through his exhibition from 4-6 p.m., answering questions and describing his works.

Hopkins is known, in my opinion, accurately, as a more science-oriented school with more science-minded students. Roche is part of a small but strong community of arts at Homewood.

When asked about how working and teaching in such an environment, Roche said that there was a mutually beneficial relationship between the arts community and the science community at Homewood. He feels that as an artist, he has been inspired by the research and science of Hopkins and believes that many students engage in the arts community as a positive outlet to express themselves.

Many of my most science-oriented friends (lookin’ at you, BME’s) tend to brush off modern art as too confusing more quickly than others. And this opportunity to view modern art in the presence of an artist seems like a great opportunity to see the opposite, to see the similarities.

Roche notes that much of his sculpture work is informed by nature and inspired by the symmetry and complexity found within it. After seeing the exhibition myself, I’m curious to see what someone who studies nature quantitatively might interpret from it.

That’s not to say that they are the only ones to be confused by modern art. As I said, I’m admittedly not a huge fan, and I’m not in the slightest science-oriented.

But Roche’s works, despite being more modern pieces, did not frustrate me. They encourage the viewer to form his or her own interpretation of the work and can invoke personal memories or dreams so that everyone’s experience is different.

The tour is also a great opportunity for anyone who is interested in art or even just interested in what an artist at Hopkins is engaged in creatively.

I would encourage anyone who has ever been confused by contemporary art to attend, if not the tour with Roche, then at least the exhibition before it closes on Sept. 29.