Jan. 17 saw the CSU East Bay’s University Art Gallery, located on the first floor of the Arts & Education Building, open its doors to visitors to view the artistic work of 13 students who are currently working on their Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees.

This annual exhibit, which will remain on display until Feb. 18, features some of the finest artwork to come out of the art department this year.

“For this exhibition, BFA students are allotted a certain amount of gallery space.  Each student chooses the work they want to exhibit,” explained curator Philip Ringler.

Ringler also emphasized that while there isn’t a particular theme for this exhibit, “It is very eclectic as each artist is working with different media, content and style.”

One example is a piece by Adriana Farfan Gonzalez called, “Buenos Dias Ninety-Nine Percent.”  In the matter of emphasizing on the ongoing Occupy movement, Gonzalez uses a tent similar to ones used by Occupy protesters with books, plates and a table set up inside of it, while the song, “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” plays over and over again.

Another example is a steel piece made by Michael Wallace called “World in World.”  With the turn of a handle, his work suddenly transforms into a unique, interactive piece of artwork as steel circles orbit around and amongst each other.

There is also an untitled, reworked photograph taken by A.W. Parker showing the subject in the photograph holding his head on a bathroom sink countertop while his headless body stands nearby.

Picturesque paintings of Hayward street corners, packing tape-made sculptures and a melancholy looping video about fear of love are other pieces of artwork that are also on display at the exhibit.

According to Ringler, the exhibit has already gotten a positive response from staff and students alike.  On the day of the opening reception, over 100 people showed up and since then, there has been a steady amount of visitors coming in and out of the exhibit.

“It’s actually the second time I visited it and I kind of like the displays that they have there, but I wish they had a little bit more content- I mean, it’s kind of bare sometimes- but I like the pictures that they do,” said Business major Alex Hurtate. “[They have] a lot of interesting stuff. I’d like to see them change [the gallery] though; more often. It’s a pretty large room and it just seems like they have some walls that are bare and some that have a little more than others. So probably just more paintings, more digital art […] but just fill up the space more.”

“I liked it. It’s good. I usually expect paintings or photographs but there are a lot more physical objects this year, like the tent and the skull,” commented Multimedia major Samuel Cua.

Ringler hopes for the best to come out of the exhibit and to inspire others along the way.

“It is my hope that our visitors will gain insight and inspiration from the artwork and leave with more questions than answers,” he said.