School of Visual Arts (SVA) presents four exhibitions by the BFA Fine Arts department: “Shades of Darkness” curated by department chair Suzanne Anker; “Hanging by a Thread” curated by Sam Sherman; “Prompt Response: Fusion of Forms” curated by Joseph Tekippe, Luis Navarro, Federico Muelas Romero and artificial intelligence tools; and “From Here to There” curated by Gunars Prande. The exhibition, divided into separate rooms within the gallery, will be dedicated to the various styles of work generated through painting, drawing, technological means and printmaking. The exhibition will be on view from Thursday, February 9 through Monday, February 27, 2023 at the SVA Chelsea Gallery, 601 West 26^th Street, 15^th floor, New York City.

The work in “Shades of Darkness” emphasizes the current state of cultural angst, raising questions about pain (both psychological and physical), anxiety, violence and mutilation. Works in the exhibition range from oil paint, a banana on a cross and red writing on a mattress, to mechanized portraits, graphite on paper and paint on fast-food wrappers. The COVID-19 experience and the emotions and ideas it conjures up still linger, even as most social activities are open for face-to-face dialogue. Many of the images in the exhibition tend towards dark thoughts or experience, even the most colorful ones.

“Hanging by a Thread” brings together a selection of works incorporating or referencing yarn, fabrics, hair and other fibers, both natural and synthetic. Utilizing tension and slack, the artists here create formally complex works—often abstract in nature—that reference the precarity of the present. At the same time, whether in the form of exploring ancestral roots, constructing supportive networks of knots or braiding hair, they hint at the role of community in binding people back together again. 

“Prompt Response: Fusion of Forms” exhibits the BFA Fine Arts department’s interest in technology. The title was generated by an AI program that the department is researching as an image-making device. Other digital formats include projections, an animation, rapid prototype sculpture and active audience participation.

“From Here to There” highlights the cultural diversity of the exhibiting artists, highlighting printmaking methods that range from transfer prints to silkscreen on animal pelts, monotypes and relief prints.

The SVA Chelsea Gallery is open Monday through Saturday, from 10:00am to 6:00pm, and closed on Sundays. Masks are encouraged but not required. It is fully accessible by wheelchair.