The Department of Fine Arts’ Annual Art Exhibition was on display from May 10 to June 21 in the Dr. M. T. Geoffrey Yeh Art Gallery, located in Sun Yat Sen Hall.

The gallery, which first opened in September 1994, showcases all forms of contemporary art and holds seven exhibitions throughout the year, including the student showcase.

Students from the Queens, Manhattan, and Staten Island campuses of St. John’s are allowed to submit their artwork, while a jury decides what pieces make it into the show.

Most of the pieces submitted were completed during the students’ time at St. John’s, and all work submitted had to be done within the last year. The artwork displayed in the exhibit ranged from 3D to photography to multimedia.

“All the students’ work is versatile and shows the capacity of the students here to engage in different techniques,” said gallery director Parvez Mohsin. An employee of the art gallery for five years, Mohsin believes that all the work exhibited is a fine example of the techniques taught by the university.

Some of the work, however, seemed somewhat controversial for the usually conservative university, such as Kat Hippe’s oil on canvas “Pink Panties,” which depicted a woman lying down wearing only pink underwear and exposing her breast pierced with a nipple ring. Zachary Davino’s charcoal on paper “A Portrait of a Winner and Loser,” featured a man surrounded by sperm. Mohsin, though, did not view the work as controversial. “Its art and it’s all for educational purposes,” he said.

“I loved the photography exhibited in the show,” said St. John’s senior Leon Browne. “The prints by Alexander Reyes were my favorite because they showed New York in a real way but still made it look beautiful,” said Browne. He added that “all the work displayed in the show was very tasteful and original” and that “sponsoring free events like the art show for students and the community shows St. John’s dedication to education.”

The jury rewarded various artists that participated in the exhibit. August Johnson won best in show for his piece “Untitled Series,” while best in graphic design was awarded to Gerard Sampson’s “Grenada after Ivan.” Best in photography went to Courtney D’ne Brown for “Ballerinas and Chris Scaramell earned best illustration for “Freak Show.” Eileen Radigan’s “Self Portrait (2D)” and Orlando Rodriguez’s “Self Portrait Obelisk (3D)’ both won best in fine arts, while Lauto Studios won best in mixed media for its piece entitled “Marvel Ultimate Alliance.”