Daily Egyptian

The dress code was open for interpretation at the "Love at the Glove" art show Saturday night, with attendees dressed in everything from drag to regular street clothes.

"Love at the Glove" is an annual anti-Valentines' day art show where SIUC art students, as well as the general public, can submit their love-themed works. It is sponsored by the League of Art and Design and the Graduate Association of Painters and Printmakers.

There is no dress code for the event and it is an unwritten rule that anything goes.

Logan Hirsh, a junior blacksmith from Austin, Texas, dressed simply for the event, wearing cutoff black shorts, Converse sneakers and a black leather submission mask.

Hirsh was nonchalant about his attire, saying only, "It's an erotic art show."

Lucas Dickerson, a senior in drawing and painting from DuQuoin, helped organize this year's show and said that the range of dress is part of the fun.

"People do it on their own," Dickerson said. "People love to dress up, we encourage it."

Dickerson said the show is always well attended. Last year about 1600 people came. The proceeds are split between the show's sponsors.

This year was the first that artists had the option to put their pieces up for sale. Paula McAteer, a senior in painting from Freeburg, put a $100,000 price tag on her piece "Dirty Money." The piece resembled a huge one-dollar bill made entirely out of red kissy lips.

"It was a piece about repetition, it could really be anything, dirty money, dirty love," McAteer said. "The price is a joke, obviously. Who knows, maybe I'll sell it."

McAteer said she spent 15 hours kissing the canvas, and she only had to use one tube of lipstick.

"I looked crazy when I was done," McAteer said.

Assistant professor of art and design Najjar Abdul-Musawwir said that while this show was more "tame" than in previous years, the works were more sophisticated.

"This year it has more of a New York, Andy Warhol kind of flavor," Abdul-Musawwir said. "And I mean flavor."

The show featured interactive art, various multimedia installations, sculpture and light displays. One installation involved cameras and was an interactive piece, with a gilded picture frame with disposable cameras hanging from fishing line. People could take random pictures and become part of the artwork.

One of the most eye-catching pieces was a pink and white light display, a visual collage of images of white blood cells on overhead projectors. Three-dimensional blood cells hung from the ceiling. The title of the piece by Jessica Santana, a junior art major, was simply, "This is about AIDS."

"I actually enjoy that some of the students are being creative on many levels," Abdul-Musawwir said. "It's important for the students to have that type of visual freedom that deals with a common theme. It's all about individual freedom."