In "Looking," Jessica Gogan photographed people from behind to put viewers into a contemplative state. Click photo for larger image.

Two solo exhibitions by women artists at Pittsburgh Filmmakers invite consideration of how and what we perceive but in very different ways.

In "Looking," Jessica Gogan addresses various means of accessing interiority: looking afar, looking close-up and looking back in time. Carolina Loyola-Garcia, in "Stupid Consumers," suggests that social and political awareness require looking critically at everyday life.

Gogan pulls off the challenging feat of representing unquestionably a subtle action: that of looking. She's photographed people -- men and women of various races and nationalities -- from behind at sites that through their activity and/or dramatic view, coupled with the individuals' relaxed postures, aid the viewer's comprehension of what is occurring.

She's coupled these large-scale, color ink jet prints with like-sized images of flowers, taken close and out of focus, blown up so that their moist essence and brilliant color fill the composition. The viewer is thrust into an abstract flood of color and surrounded in the manner of sound.

Gogan's pairing of vista and flower is at first puzzling. But as the visitor moves through the gallery and enters the subdued rhythm the artist has set up, the relationship between images that at first seem disparate becomes apparent.

Gazing outward, especially across such panoramas as depicted here, one's mind frequently turns to internal musings. Similarly, while peering deeply into something the experience is often more reflective than empirical. Each is an avenue to contemplation.

It comes as no surprise to learn that Gogan, a native of Dublin, Ireland, earned a master's in philosophy, as well as in textual and visual studies, at Trinity College, Ireland, and the Universite de Paris VII, France. It is a human trait to pause and gaze, whether at natural or urban scapes, a habit acknowledged in the building of scenic overlooks or the placing of benches at inspiring views in parkland.

	Posters by Carolina Loyola-Garcia express her sentiments in "Stupid Consumers" at the Filmmakers Gallery in Oakland. Click photo for larger image.

Through her beautiful and compelling imagery, Gogan reminds us of this placid activity and offers opportunity for participation, while she dissects its mechanisms.

Gogan also exhibits 20 silver gelatin prints from her "Pittsburgh Series." Their toning and soft focus make it clear that her intent is not simple documentation.

Rather, in the way that oral histories alter memory, Gogan's selective subjects and representations thereof suggest a way of seeing and of remembering the city. Some of the sites are specific, some generic, but as a whole a vigorous and varied Pittsburgh persona is projected. Is it the artist's intent that the one shown is almost bygone? In danger of becoming lost? Or will remain as a foundation of what is to come?

Where Gogan's presentation is contemplative and internal, Loyola-Garcia's is activist and public.

In a dozen digital-print posters -- a format and medium particularly appropriate for the critique of mass and/or global culture that she's conducting -- Loyola-Garcia visually and verbally conflates the energy of revolution and the hype of Madison Avenue.

A seated figure beneath the words "Life Ergonomics," for example, is labeled unexpectedly. Instead of comments on posture, lines pointing to various parts of the body connect to such Jenny Holzer-like statements as "Language is a mirror of the mind" or "Enjoy the spoils of privilege."

In another poster, the silhouette figures of a man, woman and child appear underneath a clothesline that sports clothing labels and the declaration, "Dressed by the coalition of underpaid workers from the world of corporate exploitation."

Disdain for what appears to be the institutionalizing of the lack of common sense powers her pointed works like "Caution Hot Coffee May be Hot" which shows a cup labeled "Caliente" ("Hot") and a blue ribbon for a "Stupid Consumer Award."

Loyola-Garcia has in mind some large dragons to slay and has selected a medium eminently suited to the kind and numbers of distribution required to effectively conduct street warfare.

The exhibitions continue through Sunday a 477 Melwood Ave., North Oakland. Admission is free. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and during Melwood film screenings. For information, call 412-681-5449 or visit www.pghfilmmakers.org.

8-Hour Drawings

The annual "8-Hour Drawings" event will be held at Allegheny College between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday (including a break for lunch during which the gallery will remain open). The public may drop by to watch invited artists create drawings (broadly defined) done directly on 10-foot by 10-foot sections of wall. The works must be completed in one day.

The exhibition will remain up through Oct. 4, and then will be painted over.

Participating artists are Pittsburghers Martin Beck, Adam Grossi, James Nelson, Alex Smith, Mary Tremonte and the team of Jill A. Daves and Josh Tonies; Sue Buck, associate professor of art, Allegheny College; Nathaniel Parsons, Cleveland Heights, Ohio; the team of Elizabeth Deasy and Josh Tonies, New York City and Pittsburgh, respectively; Emily de Araujo, Los Angeles; Rachael Burke, art professor at Edinboro University; Thomas Frontini, Cleveland Heights; and Bob Bridges, Morgantown, W.Va.

At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Daves, Frontini and Tremonte will give gallery talks. "Graphics & Graphix," art that references popular culture and contemporary illustration, runs concurrently.

The Bowman and Penelec Galleries are in Doane Hall of Art, North Main Street, between College and John streets in Meadville. Hours are 12:30 to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 1:30 to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 2 to 4 p.m. Sundays. For information, call 814-332-4365 or visit www.allegheny.edu.