Ohio State students will have the chance to view local artists at the Hopkins Hall Gallery Monday, when Edward Valentine’s and Amy Youngs’ exhibits will open to display many of their stylish and diverse projects.

Valentine is an associate professor in the Department of Art. He is world renowned and has had exhibitions in Manhattan, Los Angeles, the Czech Republic and Germany. He said he became interested in art at the age of 5 when he realized it was his passion.

“When everyone was playing ball, I was drawing,” Valentine said.    

         
From then on, he said he knew he was going to create art for the rest of his life. His main artistic outlets are painting and drawing.

Valentine never backs down from a challenge and only struggles with what to put on the canvas. Even then, the struggle is a “weak match, and I always win,” he said. Valentine has created more than 50 paintings in his career and has yet to get bored.

Having an exhibit in the Czech Republic’s Atrium Gallery in 2002 and 2003 and traveling to galleries all over the world helps Valentine keep the boredom at bay.

Another internationally famous artist on display is Amy Youngs, another assistant professor in the Department of Art.

Her work has been shown around the globe, from galleries in Norway and Holland to local institutions like the Hopkins gallery. Youngs’ pieces in the OSU exhibit include collaborations she has produced with her husband and fellow artist Ken Rinaldo, a professor in OSU’s Department of Art. Youngs specializes in creating diverse pieces that incorporate various media and objects, from dead cacti to electronics.

Youngs has a knack for discovering inspiration in everyday life, taking hints from objects she uses in daily tasks and often becoming fascinated with various toys and tools.

In the exhibit, Youngs will present a slide show of her Farm Fountain project, which is currently located in Portugal. The project creates an indoor habitat for fish and plants.

Youngs and Rinaldo then eat the plants and fish they have cared for together. Through art, they are exploring a new way to grow food. The piece reflects Youngs’ diverse take on art, utilizing fish waste as fertilizer for the plants by using a pond pump to flow the fertilizer to the plants’ roots. While the project is practical and inventive, it still maintains an aesthetic quality.

Youngs’ work exemplifies the current direction art is taking as it grows into a more open and interdisciplinary field. Elements that would not mix before, such as art and biology, are now acceptable combinations.

“Art is becoming more diverse, more interconnected with culture,” Youngs said.

Students can hear more from Valentine and Youngs at the artist talks at 4 p.m. Oct. 27 at the Wexner Center. Like the exhibit, the talk is free.