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posted 05-26-2006 05:28 PM               

I met several of the graduates and had fun talking with them about their work and about art in general.

Michael Cepress has taken Fibres into the realm of fashion without diminishing any of the art-related importance of the medium. Look for the images documenting his Modern Gentleman series near the western stairwell. Last night I saw him at the Sandstrom opening at the Frye walking around wearing one of his creations. How cool is that? He told me that others will be on display at the Henry tonight.

Susie Jungune Lee, a graduate of the Ceramics program, has two incredible video sculptures in the exhibition. Consumation is a film of the shadows of two burning threads that smolter and dance away into nothingness. The image is projected sideways onto a smooth, curved piece of wood and accompanied by a disassembled Bach prelude. The subtle beauty of her works may get lost tonight amidst the noise of the opening so be sure to get back to the Henry later this month.

Elysha Rose Diaz, one of only two Photography graduates this year, has an intriguing series of photographs that document the fragments and fleeting details of some journey, complete with an important epiphany or two.

The only Sculpture graduate in the class, Tivon Rice, has an installation of video monitors and large polyethylene cast protuberances that burst out of their boxes irregularly like giant hungry larvae. Spend some time in this corridor if you dare.

Another work to look for is Anna Lambert's layered wallpaper sculpture/installation in the first gallery. It is interesting to contemplate how the arrangement of simple patterns can work by evoking emotion and memory.

The party is tonight. See you there!

http://henryart.org/ex/mfa.htm

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Jim Demetre

Artdish Editor

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posted 05-26-2006 08:24 PM               

I agree with Jim's observations and I was the other member of the press at the preview

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Steven Michael Vroom

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posted 05-27-2006 02:56 PM               

This particular entry, like so many others, could easily be the starting point for a short story or screenplay. If you don't visit her site every day, you're really missing out.

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Jim Demetre

Artdish Editor

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posted 05-27-2006 10:39 PM               

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Steven Michael Vroom

posted 05-28-2006 05:43 PM            

I would have to disagree with you about CZ's write up and you could hardly call it a POIGNANT account of the opening. She doesn't mention the art at all and instead takes a stroll down memory lane to her feelings about her own MFA show and then assumes this to be the attitude and atmosphere of every graduate student and MFA show that has ever existed (which in my experience is far from normal). She even makes several notes by the end -

"* An exercise in proving you can indeed turn every potential art critique into a small sequence about your self…thus never having to actually talk about the art.***
** I left the part about being damaged by critical theory out to not belabor the subject too harshly.
*** For actual coverage of said MFA 2006 please see....."

And as for the "..reflections on the hopes and expectations that surround a person when they complete one of these degrees.", as I have already pointed out, those seem to be more the "hopes and expectations" of CZ, a self-described "crusty, jaded, sarcastic 42 year-old" - her words not mine - DD

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posted 05-28-2006 08:56 PM               

I think I see where you are coming from, but I can assure you that Carolyn is not trying to rain on anyone's parade here. Like me, she has seen this parade pass her by on more than one occasion and is now old enough to find humor in the situation. Speaking for myself, there may be a sense of bitterness at times like these but they are mitigated by a healthy measure of self-irony that I would not trade in for any worldly success.

Perhaps I should have called her blog post a frank account of her response to the event rather than an account of the exhibition itself, but she says as much at the end of her piece.

The "person" I refer to above is the person who is looking back at the person they were some twenty years ago. Such a person usually gets a bit crustier, more jaded and sarcastic over this time, but also smarter, more relaxed, and a lot funnier. Did you not see Romy and Michele's High School Reunion?

And thanks for pointing out my spelling error -- I've gone back and fixed this! If there is in fact a spell check on this thing, I haven't figured out how to use it yet.

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Jim Demetre

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posted 06-05-2006 10:12 PM               

Painters, of course, may take years to acquire the techniques necessary to fully express themselves in their chosen medium. Naturally, an artist's early work may have qualities that please or intrigue, but it is usually in mid-career that a painter really makes his or her mark. Painting, of all the visual arts, may be the least subject to gimmickry or clever slights of hand by a young or inexperienced practitioner, but it is also less likely to contain the 'ideas' that make art interesting.

I'll go back and take a closer look.

In the meantime, read what Regina thought of the show.

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Jim Demetre

Artdish Editor

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posted 06-15-2006 05:23 PM               

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Jim Demetre

Artdish Editor