H O L Y G H O ST P R E PA R A T O R Y SC H O O L
N A T I O N A L A R T H O N O R SO C I E T Y F I N E A R T S F E ST I V A L C A T A L O G 2 0 19 - 2 0 2 0
N ATI ON AL ART HON OR SOCI ETY
ARTI ST ACHI EVEM EN TS
Sean Booth, Secretary
Ph illip's M ill High Sch ool Ar t Exh ibit ion
Schuyler Cauley, Gallery Co-Chair
Schuyler Cauley
Christian Cymbalski, First Friday Co-Chair
Liam Farrell, Second Place (Painting)
Thomas Dewees, Gallery Committee
John Keating
Liam Farrell, Treasurer
John Nycz
Matthew Ginnetti
Henry Yost
Samuel Hicks
Bu ck s Cou n t y High Sch ool Ar t Exh ibit ion
John Kakoyan, Gallery Committee
Sean Booth
John Keating, Gallery Co-Chair
Schuyler Cauley
Jackson Mahony
Liam Farrell
Ryan Moretti, First Friday Co-Chair
HGP Pu r ch ase Aw ar ds
John Nycz, Director of Events
Sean Booth
Zachary Posivak
Schuyler Cauley Liam Farrell
Joseph Tufo Luke Walsh, Project Manager Henry Yost, President
Zachary Posivak
HGP Cer t if icat e Aw ar ds Sean Booth, Medal Winner Schuyler Cauley John Nycz Henry Yost
- COR UNUM ET ANI MA UNA -
For ew or d Going into the art program at Holy Ghost Prep, I expected to learn the basics of art. Now, after four years and two teachers, I can say that I learned so much more. I learned the importance of artistic expression and even more importantly, I learned to embrace a part of myself. Going into Holy Ghost Prep, I would have been too shy to get involved heavily in something ?artsy.? The art program taught me the importance of being myself and showed me a part of myself that I did not know I had. It brought me closer to my fellow students and staff and gave me a place to be myself. I could not have asked for a better experience and it?s given me memories and skills that I will never ever lose. Even though we were forced to complete the school year from home because of these trying times, I can still look back and smile because I know that the art studio, and Mrs. Smallen?s, and Mr. Gabriele's classes will be memories that I will cherish forever.
Henry Yost President of the HGP National Art Honor Society
Pr ef ace The following catalog includes artwork completed by the students in Senior Portfolio and AP Drawing, all members of the National Art Honor Society, and documents the achievements of our young men who have dedicated four years to studying art at Holy Ghost Prep. I have had the pleasure of working with our current seniors for two years and have seen them grow rapidly into the people they are today. This group was a particularly fun class who always kept me on my toes and there was never a dull moment in the art studio with the larger than life personalities of our senior class. Their camaraderie was an integral part of their creative process and served as a daily reminder of the brotherhood that Holy Ghost Prep is known for. I will dearly miss working with them and their impromptu dance parties that seemed to unfold before my eyes the instant a popular song played on the radio. It is safe to say that this group of young men knows how to enjoy life. Their positive energy was something that I looked forward to everyday, except maybe tenth period on Friday afternoons when the positive energy was not only brimming, but overflowing
. Yet, it was that overflowing energy that enabled our seniors to make an extraordinary amount of
artwork this year and fill the Geruson Art Gallery wall to wall and floor to ceiling with a diverse array of artwork, which can be seen in the many different subjects and styles illustrated in this catalog. Each student was asked to submit one artwork and an accompanying statement for the catalog. By limiting each student to one submission, a stark contrast was created from page to page that highlights how unique each student is. Charism is a core component of our mission at Holy Ghost Prep and after four years, our senior ?s artwork has rendered their unique gifts visible. In addition to teaching techniques and skills and creating an environment in which they could have fun being creative in the art studio, I hope that I have been able to influence our young men in such a way that they continue to enrich their lives with art as creators and viewers long after they graduate. As I said earlier this year at the induction ceremony, ?Art has the power to transform our minds and hearts and shape who we become? and I very much look forward to seeing what the future holds for this group of HGP artists.
Rick Gabriele '00 Fine Arts Department Chair and Visual Arts Teacher
This is a fishing lure that I designed and produced for largemouth bass. It is meant to imitate an injured bluegill. The joint in the middle of the bait allows it to swim in almost an ?s? shaped motion in the water. This style of bait is called a glide bait and to make this bait, I first drew the general shape of what I wanted to imitate, and then cut that shape out of a piece of wood, in this case pine. Once the shape had been cut out, I chamfered and sanded the wood before carving fine details such a fins and gills with a carving knife. After embedding lead and attaching the hardware, I sealed the wood and painted the colors of the fish with acrylic paint. The final step was to add a protective coating with epoxy. Sean Booth
Hand-carved Swimbait, 2020 Wood, paint, epoxy and metal, 14 x 11 in.
My oil painting "Lambertville at Night" is a moody and dark painting of a couple walking down a shadowed alley, dimly illuminated by a street light. I took the photograph that inspired this painting late on Halloween, it was a warm and windy night. Lambertville was an artist colony for the Bucks County Impressionists and has many nooks and crannies that make it a perfect place to paint. I was so happy when this painting sold at the opening reception for the Phillip's Mill Youth Art Exhibition. Schuyler Cauley
Lambertville at Night, 2019 Oil on canvas, 14 x 11 in.
I would say that my piece really speaks for itself. This was for the Senior Portfolio?s ?Triptych? project in which we were required to interpret the idea of ?three? by representing something from three different perspectives, or combining three images to make a new narrative or utilizing three different mediums, etc. What inspired me to assemble these three items was a show called ?Spongebob?, where Spongebob quarantines himself in his home with ?all the friends he needs?: a penny, a chip, and a used napkin. I was going to literally paint the scene from the cartoon, but then I learned about the modern artist Marcel Duchamp and his use of ?readymades? and ?assisted-readymades,? which seemed like a funnier way of associating three images that Spongebob fans could instantly recognize and enjoy.
Christian Cymbalski
Indoors, 2019 Assisted-readymade with a penny, a potato chip and a tissue on matboard, 24 x 18 in.
Taken From Time, 2019 Black cotton blend and white terry cloth fabric, men's size large
Designing clothes and objects is a hobby of mine. I like being able to make my own clothes and wear what I want. For this project, I went above and beyond by making a very advanced piece with amateur sewing skills--I made my own custom 1950?s vintage vacation/swimsuit outfit. I used a Vogue pattern to guide me through the steps of making the garment. The two fabrics I used were a black cotton blend and white terry cloth. The project took me about a month to make and was a great challenge for me. The design I painted on the back of the shirt says ?taken from time.? I wrote these words because the design literally was taken from time as I used a vintage design from the 1950s and made it into my own creation. I wrote ?1950?s? on the leg of the shorts with an arrow below it to imply that the outfit went from being in the past to now being in the present.
Thomas Dewees
When choosing a photo to paint for my first large acrylic painting, I was in the middle of my application for the United States Naval Academy. I took inspiration from my love of the Navy and wanted to make it into USNA. I chose this photo of the new USS Indianapolis because it captures a very intense, strong looking ship coming directly towards you. Although I did not make it into USNA, I hope to still one day be in the Navy and I hope this painting captured my love of the Navy well.
Liam Farrell USS Indianapolis (LCS 17), 2019 Acrylic on canvas, 18 x 24 in.
Before I started this project, my family and I went to see Hugh Jackman at the Wells Fargo Center where he performed some of the songs from his movie, ?The Greatest Showman,? in which he played P.T. Barnum from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The assignment for this piece was to create a miniature mini-golf course. While I was thinking of themes, music from ?The Greatest Showman? kept playing in my head, which led me to the idea of the circus theme for my miniature mini-golf course.
Matthew Ginnetti The Big Top Tee, 2020 Polymerclay, paper, wood, colored pencil and felt, 11 x 11 x 5 in.
Temple University has been a part of my life since I was six years old because my dad is an alumni and I grew up attending all of the football and basketball games with him. After applying and getting accepted to Temple this year, I felt as though an etching of an owl, Temple?s mascot, would be a great piece that I could potentially hang in my dorm room next year.
John Kakoyan
#Temple Tuff, 2020 Ink on paper, 5 x 7 in.
Fishing has always been my passion. It's pretty much all that I do in my free time. The painting is based on a photograph of me as I hooked a striped bass with an awesome sunrise in the background. This is just one of my many fishing paintings and sad to say, this is my last piece of artwork at Ghost. John Keating
Dawn Patrol, 2020 Acrylic on canvas, 12 x 24 in.
The Dominican Republic Service Trip offered at Holy Ghost Prep inspired me to recreate a piece from one of their dams. This painting is a reimagining of one of the local Dominican artist?s paintings on the bank of the dam. Each year the Dominicans repaint the wall and we actually have a student's artwork based on the 2017 version of the Dominican mural hanging in our library. The idea to paint the 2019 version of the wall was the result of a request from Mr. Vierlink, the head of the Mission Trip, who told me about the painting from 2017 in the library and asked if I would make a new painting based on the current Dominican mural that we recently saw on our trip.
Samuel Hicks Sublime, 2020 Acrylic on canvas, 16 x 20 in.
Lacrosse has been a passion of mine since middle school. I have met some of the best people and made some of the best memories playing lacrosse throughout my life. Implicating lacrosse with a self-portrait felt like a no-brainer to me. I used Holy Ghost Prep colors to create an abstract background for the silhouette, which was based on a picture of me from last year ?s lacrosse season.
Jackson Mahony
Four, 2020 Acrylic on canvas, 20 x 16 in.
When I didn?t know what my next project would be, both Luke Walsh and Mr. Gabriele told me to do something with trains since I am extremely passionate about them and that?s what led me to create a railroad crossing warning sign out of cardboard and wood. I have liked trains since I was a child, but then that passion grew even more in recent years. After I graduate from high school, I would like to work for a railroad as a train conductor and eventually move up to a locomotive engineer. Those are my two dream jobs. I currently work on the railroad as a trainman and I?m loving every minute of it.
Ryan Moretti
Railroad Crossing, 2020 Acrylic, cardboard and wood, 41 x 15 x 13. 5 in.
For my AP Portfolio, I had to choose an inquiry which I would respond to through several pieces of art. The question I chose to explore was "What does it mean to be a member of Generation Z?" 2019 was a year of protests all around the world, most of which have been done by students. Hong Kong has gained the attention of the world through its massive protests. Adorned in gas masks and ski goggles, millions took to the streets to actively protest, and some even died for this cause. Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow are among some of those who lead the protests, and they are also members of Generation Z. This piece pays tribute to the protestors who are fighting for freedom in Hong Kong.
John Nycz The Revolution of Our Time, 2019 Colored pencil on matboard, 10 x 8 in.
Before the current global pandemic ended the school year, our Senior Portfolio class was able to travel to the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Held in the museum is the world-renowned painting ?The Starry Night? by Vincent Van Gogh. Inspired by the piece, I decided to replicate it with Cornwells' Hall, a building that has become a second home to me.
Zachary Posivak Inspired, 2020 Oil on canvas, 24 x 36 in.
My painting is an abstract representation of the school colors of Holy Ghost Prep (Bottom Center), and the five colleges I applied to: Saint Joseph's University (Top Left), Widener University (Top Center), Rider University (Top Right), Cabrini University (Bottom Right), and Temple University (Bottom Left). Although I chose to enroll at Rider, I wanted to display my application and decision process in this work of art. I decided to work with an abstract style including different patterns for each block, showing that no college is the same, no matter which one I chose to attend. I placed the Holy Ghost colors at the Bottom Center box and surrounded it with the colleges to show how I am branching out from HGP to one of the five colleges.
Holy Ghost "Preps" For The Future, 2020 Acrylic on canvas, 16 x 20 in.
Joseph Tufo
The inspiration for my drawing came from the US Air Force which will be my next step in life after graduating from high school. I wanted to draw something that means a lot to me right now and in the future. I figured this would be the perfect idea for a drawing because it is going to be a big part of my life and I am proud of it.
Luke Walsh
US Air Force, 2020 Colored pencil on paper, 11 x 14 in.
These two pieces best sum up the artwork that I?ve done at Holy Ghost Prep. I took inspiration from works that I previously made and the people around me. The astronaut is from a painting that I created junior year and the doodles are from the style I have been developing all year, which was partially influenced by my interest in Keith Haring?s artwork. These two pieces are random, colorful and meant to be fun--they embrace mistakes and are riddled with imperfections, but I wouldn?t have it any other way.
Henry Yost
Outer Space, 2020 Ink on paper, 10 x 10 in.
SPE CI A L T H A N K S T O : PRESIDENT: M R. GREGORY J. GERUSON '79 PRINCIPAL: M R. KEVIN BURKE DEAN OF ACADEM ICS: M R. PATRICK HOELZLE '01 M RS. PATRICIA ESPOSITO M RS. CHRISTINE RITTENM EYER
COVER ART BY ZACHARY POSIVAK