The semester concludes with various exhibitions, talks, screenings and open studios.
Yiran Bian, Under the Leaves We Dance, 2024, digital. On view at “The Book Show.”
Yiran Bian, Under the Leaves We Dance, 2024, digital. On view at “The Book Show.”
December may signal the end of the year, but events and exhibitions at SVA abound all month long. A handful of shows celebrating various illustration practices intermingle with interior design photography, textile printing, lectures by engineers, filmmakers, and photographers, screenings, and open studios.
EXHIBITIONS
“Plasticulture” is an exhibition of works by 15 artists from Project Vortex, an artist collective innovating with plastic debris, curated by founding artist Aurora Robson. By combining artistic expression with scientific exploration, “Plasticulture” aspires to encourage individuals and communities to embrace more sustainable practices and play a part in fostering a healthier planet. Operating at the intersection of art and science, the 45 works on view inspire a rethinking and reinvention of the possibilities of plastic debris.
Through Saturday, December 14 | “The Book Show” | SVA Gramercy Gallery
MFA Illustration as Visual Essay presents its annual “Book Show” exhibition, featuring original books by 20 students, curated by faculty member and 2009 program graduate Anna Raff. In their first year, MFA Illustration as Visual Essay students are tasked with creating books in a format of their choice, whether illustrated poetry, graphic novel, children’s book, or essay. The works in this year’s iteration of “The Book Show” encompass a variety of themes, including narrative fantasy, commentaries on our present-day reemergence into public spaces, reconsiderations of times past, and advancement into unknown futures.
Through Saturday, December 14 | “dR AW” | SVA Gramercy Gallery
“dR AW” is an exhibition of drawings by over 40 artists from the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay program, curated by longtime faculty member Carol Fabricatore (MFA 1992 Illustration as Visual Essay). Fabricatore has taught the program’s Location Drawing course for three decades after taking over from her mentor, Robert Weaver, who initiated the tradition at the College. Location Drawing is a powerful tribute to the challenge of working directly from life. The essence of the course lies in a fearless, unfiltered, and earnest approach to drawing, emphasizing the importance of narration in the creative process.
Curated by industrial designer Lucia Steele and faculty member Peter Hristoff (BFA 1981 Fine Arts), this body of work includes designs and linoleum block prints inspired by the flora, fauna, seascape, and vibrant immigrant community of Cape Ann, Massachusetts, created between 1938 and 1969 by a group of friends and neighbors under the direction of renowned children’s book illustrator Virginia Lee Burton. This body of work, almost all hand-printed on textiles, reveals the idealism of the American dream without any cynicism—a capsule of our culture that may be viewed as nostalgic but, more importantly, as a group effort that reveals the beauty and possibilities of collaboration.
An exhibition of photographs by BFA Interior Design: Built Environments students enrolled in the program’s Interior Photography course, curated by co-instructors Malcolm Lightner and Erin Davis (MFA 2016 Photography, Video, and Related Media). As part of Interior Photography students explore the art of capturing interior and exterior spaces, including architecture, urban settings, and landscapes. These works invite viewers to experience the interplay of light, structure, and human presence, evoking a powerful sense of space and emotion. At times, surreal and otherworldly, each photograph offers a fresh perspective on the inhabited environments.
EVENTS
In honor of its 20th anniversary, BFA Visual and Critical Studies and the SVA Honors Program present a screening of the internationally acclaimed feature Machuca (2004), which takes place in a boarding school during the 1973 overthrow of Salvador Allende’s presidency and the uprising of fascism and Pinochet’s regime in Chile, followed by a Q&A with Chilean writer and one of Machuca’s screenwriters, Roberto Brodsky.
MFA Fine Arts presents a talk by artist and 2011 program alumnus Julie Schenkelberg, as part of the department’s Talks series. Schenkelberg lives and works in Cleveland. Her practice is nomadic, and she frequently relocates for months at a time to places such as Detroit, Pittsburgh, New York City, Italy, Norway, and more. She creates sculptures and large-scale installations using discarded domestic and industrial materials. Her installations have been displayed at the Mattress Factory Museum, the Museum of Art and Design, NYC, UNTITLED Miami, The Sculpture Center, and more.
Tuesday, December 3, 5:00 – 6:00pm | The Artists Roundtable: Minerva Cuevas | Online
MA Curatorial Practice presents a talk with Minerva Cuevas, an artist who creates research-based projects that encompass installation, street interventions, muralism, and sculpture. Her work explores notions of civilization and progress, identifies resistance implicit in everyday life, and questions our political imagination. Through her projects, she provides insights into economic and political organizational structures in the social sphere and facilitates social communication channels.
MPS Digital Photography presents a talk with Kesha Lambert, an international wedding and portrait photographer and Sony Artisan of Imagery, part of the i3: Images, Ideas, Inspiration lecture series. Lambert has held leadership positions within the photography community, formerly serving on the Board of Directors for Professional Photographers of America. With a vivid imagination and observant nature, Lambert draws inspiration from the people she photographs, creating imagery reflecting their character and individuality.
Bojun Huang, Untitled, 2024, archival inkjet print. On view at “Spaces: Through the Lens.”
Bojun Huang, Untitled, 2024, archival inkjet print. On view at “Spaces: Through the Lens.”
MFA Products of Design presents a talk with Tega Brain, an Australian artist and environmental engineer born when atmospheric CO2 was below 350 ppm. Her work addresses issues of ecology, data, automation, and infrastructure and has taken the form of digital networks controlled by environmental phenomena, schemes for obfuscating personal data, and a wildly popular online smell-based dating service. Through these provisional systems, she investigates how technologies orchestrate and reorchestrate agency.
Saturday, December 7, 8:00 – 9:30pm | Bill Plympton’s Slide | SVA Theatre
MFA Computer Arts presents a screening of Slide, an animated musical feature film by two-time Oscar-nominated animator Bill Plympton (1969 Cartooning). Slide tells the tale of a mythical cowboy showdown with eco-villains intent on paving over idyllic Sourdough Creek. The film has currently won 13 festival awards.
Monday, December 9, 6:00 – 8:00pm | BFA Fine Arts Open Studios | 335 West 16th Street
BFA Fine Arts presents its fall 2024 open studios. Senior students will open their studios for viewing and other exhibition spaces throughout the building. This event is free and open to the public.
Installation view of “Plasticulture: The Rise of Sustainable Practices with Polymers,” on view at the SVA Chelsea Gallery through Saturday, December 7.
Installation view of “Plasticulture: The Rise of Sustainable Practices with Polymers,” on view at the SVA Chelsea Gallery through Saturday, December 7.