Free drinks and snacks accompanied a variety of art at the Flatfile invitational exhibition at the Fine Arts Gallery last Friday. St. Edward’s held a party for the exhibition, which  displays the work of regional artists using different mediums.

Chatter echoed off the walls of the small venue as visitors slowly strolled in small groups, viewed the art and talked amongst themselves. The event was lively as  the art, and no piece looked like another..

Mediums varied, including layered paper, photography, surrealism and more. Some of the pieces were abstract, leaving viewers to decide how to feel about the subject, while some were more evocative of emotion.

One piece by Kallie Cheves  featured a two-headed figure with each head wrapped in a wicker-like casing. Tendrils covered the piece, and squares surrounding the central image of the body featured other limbs that had succumbed to the tendrils. It was quite surreal, and gave me pause. This was not the only work to make me feel something, but  one that topped my list of most-notable pieces at the exhibition.

Figureheads in the Austin art scene curated the pieces on display. One side of the wall featured artists curated by Troy Campa, co-founder and director of CAMBIA Art. The other half of the wall was curated by Jill Schroeder, the director of grayDuck gallery. Artists included in the gallery are Laura Fitzpatrick, Shannon Faesler, Benjamin McVey, Tuan Phan and others.

Flatfile is structured after a  Kansas City Art Institute exhibit by the same name that happens every other year. The KCAI Flatfile exhibit began in 2001 and features work from local artists, chosen by local curators. The exhibit aims  to display a variety of work within a small space.

Mary Elias, a St. Edward’s student, was quite impressed with the exhibition.

“I feel like I’m in a movie with all this art,” Elias said. “I like how it’s not just paintings. There’s layered pieces of paper, pictures, abstract stuff. The art here is deep. They all seem to have meaning.”