September 11-November 23, 2025

Opening Reception

Thursday, September 11, 2025 5-7pm

Featuring

Alia Ali, Craig Calderwood, Matthew Craven, Natasha Das, Lisa Corinne Davis, Tomory Dodge, Mark Joshua Epstein, Alexa Guariglia, Hassan Hajjaj, Jocelyn Hobbie, Spandita Malik, Ozimoma Onuzulike, Rachel Perry, Anne Samat, Antonio Santin.

System and Sequence: Pattern and Ornament in Contemporary Art brings together a diverse range of artists who use pattern to create works that are both visually captivating and deeply thought-provoking. Drawing on cultural, psychological, and aesthetic influences, these artists transform structures and ornament into powerful vehicles for storytelling, personal reflection, and commentary on societal issues. From intricate geometric designs to organic, flowing forms, the works in this exhibition extend beyond decoration to explore themes of identity, harmony, contrast, order, and chaos.

The elegant device of repetition prompting the viewer to engage on multiple levels, encouraging introspection and offering a deeper understanding of how patterns shape our perceptions and experiences. Whether through cultural references, optical illusions, or explorations of geometry, these works invite reflection on the systems we encounter daily influencing our world in both seen and unseen ways.

In acknowledging the blurred boundaries between sequence and ornament, it also focuses on the broader concept of pattern as ingrained repeated cycles that choreograph our visual and sensory experiences. These works challenge our understanding of repetition, imbuing ornamental elements with conceptual depth and meaning, enhancing their aesthetic value.

System and Sequence: Pattern and Ornament in Contemporary Art invites viewers to look beyond surface beauty, engaging with the profound implications woven into the fabric of repetition and design. Whether questioning societal norms, exploring psychological effects, or unraveling hidden narratives, this exhibition harnesses the power of pattern to provoke critical reflection on the forces that shape our world.

-Leo Barnes

In the Press
Detroit Art Review
September 24, 2025

"System and Sequence: Pattern and Ornamentation in Contemporary Art @ Oakland University Art Gallery"

Repetition seduces the human eye, tugging on it with irresistible attraction. The power of endless duplication is explored at length in System and Sequence: Pattern and Ornamentation in Contemporary Art, which will be at the Oakland University Art Gallery through November 23. Curated by gallery manager Leo Barnes, the 35-odd works on display take us on a kaleidoscopic journey through forests and thickets of ornamentation, sometimes used as a framing device, at others the dominating element in a given painting or photograph.
Read Article
The Oakland Post
September 24, 2025

"OU Gallery’s latest exhibition explores communication through patterns"

Patterns are everywhere – woven into our clothes, tiled across our floors, frequent in nature and hidden in plain sight. They are so familiar that they can often be overlooked. The current exhibition at the Oakland University Art Gallery, “System and Sequence: Pattern and Ornament in Contemporary Art”, invites students and the community to gather and deliberate on these depictions. The artists on display transform patterns into vessels for storytelling through emotion and provide the audience with a thoughtful commentary on identity, harmony, contrast and the world around us.
Read Article