Lafayette Journal and Courier

Exhibits elicit visitors' emotions
By Dan Shaw
May 6, 2006

If visitors to the first gallery walk of 2006 got tired of the pristine night air Friday, they could step into a "digital habitat."

During the gallery walks, held several times a year in downtown Lafayette, various art and antique stores stay open later than usual to allow people to amble from one business to another.

In a building next to Artist's Own on Main Street, Petronio Bendito, a professor of art and design at Purdue University, had created "Digital Habitat 2.0." A projector shone light on the back of the room, creating various moving shapes, numbers and colors on the wall.

Bendito said he sometimes likes to think of his original work as an improvement on graffiti.
"Because suddenly, I push the button, and there is no more graffiti," he said.

Bendito said the first time he created a Digital Habitat was in Brazil, his homeland. He hopes to next find a decoration that suits the inside of a baroque church.

The exhibit prompted Kyle Siemers, 28, Lafayette, to use his camera.

"I'm not really sure what it is," he said. "But I am intrigued. I'm staring at it and taking pictures of it."

Alicia Garletts, an artist whose work was featured at Randy Ross Custom Framing and Art, said she hopes viewers respond the same way to her paintings.

"I love to observe people criticizing and have some sort of reaction rather than just walk -- than just be ignored," she said.

Someone even went so far as to turn around a couple of her canvases, which were part of an untitled work in which she had depicted seven human bodily orifices and accompanying fluids.

The paintings were designed to make viewers think about, "attraction versus repulsion, to question behavior and social mores," she explained.

Although she now lives in Scheriville, Garletts said she plans to soon move to Lafayette.

Asked if she thinks the city is ready for her type of art, she said, "I think I definitely offer something different."

Joseph Irudayaraj, of West Lafayette, said he was just surprised by the variety sights there were to see.

"I had no idea that Lafayette had something like this," he said.

Rena Brouwer, co-owner of the Lafayette Renaissance Academy, said she finds many people will use the gallery walks as an opportunity to browse. If they find something they like, they may wait a day or two before they buy it.

Not only painters and sculptors are encouraged to participate, but many times musicians and dancers.

"As professional artists, it's our job to help others," she said. "It's a big collaboration."