School of Visual Arts presents “I _____ AMERICA AND AMERICA _____ ME,” an exhibition of animations, sculptures and interactive installations by MFA Computer Arts faculty, students and alumni. Curated by Lotte Marie Allen, department project coordinator, and India Lombardi-Bello, assistant to the chair, the exhibition will be on view from Saturday, October 19, through Saturday, November 16, at the SVA Flatiron Gallery, 133/141 West 21st Street, New York City. An opening reception will be held Thursday, October 24, from 6:00 - 8:00pm.

“I _____ AMERICA AND AMERICA _____ ME” examines how contemporary artists express and challenge presentations of fantasy, violence, freedom, chaos, delusion and optimism. Some of these concepts define the American dream, some attempt to destroy it, while others explore our global experience.

Alumnus Kawo a.k.a Sushijojo’s (2015) piece Flamingo may at first seem to portray our American optimism, but on second glance one sees that it speaks to the relentless productivity in capitalist society.

Alumnus Collin Mura Smith’s (2004) piece I Love America and America Loves Me explores how the mythology of gunmanship in America trembles before ideas of freedom, self-serving lobbying, independence and mass violence.

Faculty member Benton C Bainbridge’s AImurica is, in the words of the artist, “a multichannel media artwork that evokes the U.S. flag with low-resolution, analog image-processed video. The electronic ‘flag’ teeters on the edge of recognizability, much like our country.”

Artists in this exhibition also include current MFA Computer Arts student Linda Loh; department faculty member and alumnus Jasper Lin (2011); alumni Frank Gresham (2019), Valerie Guinn Polgar (2010), Valérie Hallier (1992), Santiago Messier-Restrepo (2019)—in collaboration with Juana Galindo & Julian Moreno—and Ihsu Yoon (2010).