Pauline Eiferman
It’s that time of the year again. Another generation of artists are emerging from MFA programs, with fresh talent and ideas on display across the country in the final thesis exhibitions. Here are the highlights from some of the best art schools in the country.
Yale University’s School of Art presented its painting and printmaking show from April 18-24 at the Green Hall Gallery on Chapel Street. New York City-born Abigail DeVille constructed a 33×13′ mural on site, made of building materials including sheet rock, steel studs, paint, burnt table and chairs, television sets, clothing, and a collection of personal detritus. “The mural will evoke three different types of urban space,” she explained.
The photography show, May 16-25, will feature Heyward Hart, whose images address public space as a site for dramatic or psychological speculation.
Abigail DeVille, Black Condensation.
UCLA is holding four rounds of thesis art exhibitions at the New Wight Gallery in Broad Art Center on the campus. Sarah Awad, a native Californian artist graduating from UCLA, presented Instruments of Culture. In her paintings, she revisits museums as large tombs, interrogating attempts to record a civilization’s cultural production. The fourth exhibition, will take place from April 28th to May 6th. After that, the Design Media Arts thesis show will run May 12th through May 23rd.
Sarah Awad, Citizen Courts.
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago will hold its largest ever thesis exhibition starting Saturday, April 30th at the school’s Sullivan Galleries. More than 130 students will be featured in the show, which runs through May 20th.
The exhibition is guest-curated by four recent alumni, who each took care of smaller exhibitions inside the show. “It gives it a greater sense of coherence,” said Gregory Harris, a 2010 graduate and one of this year’s curators. The pieces were grouped by themes or commonalities, sometimes by medium, he explained. One of Harris’ sections, named Calling Out of Context, focuses on artists who repurposed original material to give it a new meaning.
Marissa Benedict and Luis Palacios (Graft), BRRGS Generation 1.2.
Marissa Benedict and Luis Palacios, both graduating this summer from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, will present their piece named “BRRGS Generation 1.2.” Working under the collaborative name (GRAFT), the two art students use plants that were developed through cross-breeding to complete an entire life cycle in 28-35 days. Their piece, a culture of those plants, coincides with the duration of their school’s exhibition – a metaphor for the students’ dense two-year graduate school experience.
Kellie Romany, Untitled.
Other highlights include Kellie Romany’s paintings, which explore body cycles in large-scale works with tactile elements, and Kristin Nason’s performance pieces.
Kristin Nason, Balance 1.
Columbia University’s School of Arts opens its thesis exhibition on May 1st at the Fisher Landau Center for Art in Long Island City, New York. Featuring work from 27 graduating students, the show will last until May 22nd. It is curated by the Queens Museum of Art’s Larissa Harris. Highlights include Adam Axel’s depictions of the female form, the abstract paintings of Matthew Fischer, and Pooneh Maghazehe’s photographs.
Adam Axel, Debbie.
Pooneh Maghazehe, Untitled.
Featuring the work of more than 170 students, the Rhode Island School of Design’s thesis show will take place in Hall C of the Convention Center in Providence from May 19th to June 4th, 2011. As in previous years, the 28,000-square-foot space will be subdivided into smaller galleries with more than 1,500 feet of custom-built walls.
Jennifer Cawley, Untitled (Airstrip, Vietnam).
Jennifer Cawley, a graduating photography student at RISD, shows images from her series Re/constructed Narratives of the American War in Vietnam, as well as video pieces.
Laura Swanson, 5th grader expressing her sadness over the suicide of a classmate.
Another highlight will be digital and media student Laura Swanson’s Trauma Paintings, which replicate real drawings by children who have experienced a social trauma.
For those of you eager see a few MFA shows yourself, a schedule of upcoming openings:
New York
ICP-Bard MFA Thesis Exhibition
April 1 – May 22
International Center of Photography
School of Visual Arts MFA Fine Arts Open Studios
April 28-30 (public reception: April 28, 5:00-9:00 p.m.)
133/141 West 21st Street
New York Academy of Art MFA Open Studios
April 29, 5:00-9:00 p.m.
111 Franklin Street
Hunter College MFA Open Studios
April 29-30 (public reception: April 29, 6:00-10:00 p.m.)
Times Square Gallery/Hunter MFA Building
Columbia MFA Thesis Exhibition
May 1-22
Fisher Landau Center For Art
New Haven
Yale MFA Photography Thesis Show
May 16-25 (public reception: May 21, 6:00 p.m.)
Green Hall
Yale University School of Art Open Studios
May 15 12:00-6:00 p.m.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island School of Design Graduate Thesis Exhibition
May 19-June 4 (public reception: May 19, 6:00-8:00 p.m.)
Rhode Island Convention Center
Los Angeles
UCLA MFA Exhibition #4
April 28-May 6 (public reception: April 28, 5:00-8:00 p.m.)
New Wight Gallery
Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago Spring Graduate Exhibition
April 30-May 20 (public reception: April 29, 8:00-10:00 p.m.)
Sullivan Galleries
