scene from CAA MFA Reception, Hunter College, Times Square Gallery, 2011. Photo courtesy: Patricia Flores
scene from CAA MFA Reception, Hunter College, Times Square Gallery, 2011. Photo courtesy: Patricia Flores
The bodies were packed into the galleries, and the atmosphere was electric last night at the opening reception of the CAA MFA Exhibition, held of the Hunter College, Times Square Gallery, representing 20 MFA programs of the greater New York area. Each school was granted its own gallery space, and was curated to showcase the talents of the students in each program. It was refreshing to see that all the schools, and their current crop of graduate students, are equally fluent and knowledgeable in the language and trends prevalent in the NYC gallery world.
I’m not so sure if that’s good or bad, because it’s difficult to differentiate the work between each school; each of the presentations by each represented school looked almost the same. This could be the condition of the instructors today in NYC academia—the widespread sharing of faculty (adjuncts and visiting artists) between several institutions—create one big NYC aesthetic. That being said, it’s good in a universal sense, because it gives an identity. Or, as Jerry Saltz would say, a regional identity. However, one wishes each program would distinguish themselves from the others.
While they all stand together as really hip, up-to-date, and as each parts of a larger tribe, one wishes each program would stand out and apart, and create a unique statement highlighting its particular strengths. They each have the opportunity to distinguish themselves by their exciting areas of development, whether they are social practice, radical craft, transmedia, research-based practices/new knowledge, and other forms of new products and processes in practice.
Something to ponder for next year….
The sculpture in your top picture–the one that the jacketed man is rushing by–was made by Alisha McCurdy, a CAA blogger!
Way to go Alisha! Fellow blogger!
Honestly, it was so crowded last night, there was absolutely nooooo way to even look at labels. Nice to have Chris point you out!
Patricia
thanks! it was a great show!
Yes, it was packed at the Hunter gallery last night. I didn’t see you there–or even see you back at the conference proper! Spotted at the MFA opening were CAA folks like Michael Aurbach, Sue Gollifer, and Bonnie Mitchell. No one was wearing a conference badge–not cool to do so when you leave the Hilton?
I certainly had my badge on the whole time.
But honestly, I could only handle a short time in there. Since I suffer from vertigo 24/7, it was brutal.
I made it back to the conference for the last day today. Funny, it’s the first time I’ve been able to do Saturday.
I regret that my wife and I did not make it to this.