For the opening of the “Tradition of Mayhem” art exhibit, professor Elizabeth Hacks illustrated the use of mayhem in both old and modern pieces of art, as well as introduced some of the featured artists in a lecture in Newman Auditorium at Santa Rosa Junior College.

Hacks dedicated her lecture to Melanie Kent Steinhardt, an artist who she called “the seed of the show.” Many of Steinhardt’s most famous works, including “Torment of the Agnostic,” can be seen on display at the art gallery.

Hacks followed her dedication by diving deep into what mayhem means in art and how artists have used it for centuries to address what’s wrong with the world as they see it. She described art as a transmutation of reality. She started off by showcasing great works of art that show the beauty within the world by artists like Van Gogh.

Then with a single question Hacks had the audience hooked, asking, “How do we deal with terrible events that are man made?” She said that artists have used art to address not only with what’s right in the world, but also what is very wrong, and that’s where mayhem comes into play.

Hacks said that great works of art, whether a painting, a piece of music or photography, elicit emotion when we see them and document that emotion in that particular work of art. “Tradition of Mayhem” is serious with a sense of humor as well.

To Hacks, art is a representation and transformation of reality according to our own perceptions. She said that we as human beings have the ability to apply meaning to anything, as such that we don’t need images to make meaning.

The artists in “Tradition of Mayhem,” set out to make you feel how they feel, to make you feel the forces at work: namely religion, madness, fear, hostility, greed and militarism.

After going through different aesthetic types of art, including beauty and perceptual activity, she ended her lecture by briefly discussing and showing all the different artists in the exhibit.

Hacks is a contemporary realist painter with a B.A. in studio art and an M.A. in humanities/visual arts. Currently she is an adjunct professor for Allan Hancock Community College.