ORONO – “A Semblance of Resemblance,” a new art exhibit at the Lord Hall Gallery, University of Maine, brings together the work of three Maine artists, Andrew Hurtt, Owen Smith and Alan Stubbs, in a show that provokes more questions than answers.

Questions such as: What is art, how is art made, what is art made from, why is art important, how does it relate to other parts of life, what is its meaning, how do we understand what the artist is saying and what is the role of the viewer in the interpretation of the work?

What is interesting about the selection of these three artists is that even though they ask many of the same questions, they are in no way uniform in their approach or interests.

Andy Hurtt has included some 20 digital photographic prints from a series in which he seeks to explore the basis of images and how we create or assign meaning. Large, colorful images are layered with semi-translucent words playing with the nature of the visual and the verbal as they “hide” and “reveal” potential meanings.

Alan Stubbs, a perceptual psychologist by training, has created 10 photographic images that play with the senses. A disquieted familiarity acts to draw the viewer in, to wonder what it is that he is looking at – something that is recognized, but can’t really be determined. The images seem abstract, yet photographically real and the viewer is left to question what it is that he perceives.

Owen Smith is represented in the show by a variety of media types – painting, sculpture, digital print, video and Internet art.

Although his work seems at first to be so widely varied it might be hard to understand, it is not the media that is central to the work, but how the media is used to ask questions about art and making art.

Ultimately, the art is united by its ideas and the questions it asks, rather than by the media with which it is made. The specific media utilized is not just a given based on the artist’s habitual choice of materials, but central to the meaning Smith is exploring, and thus varies as he considers different ideas.

The wide variety of work in the show offers multiple investigations initiated by the artists, but left for viewers to ponder, show organizers said. It is a rich feast for the eye and mind, and a trip well worth taking to the Lord Hall Gallery at the University of Maine.

The exhibition is open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday through Aug. 3. An opening reception will be held 6-8 p.m. Thursday, June 28. For more information, call Krista Molnar-Smith at the University of Maine Department of Art, 581-3245 or e-mail molnar@maine.edu.