BFA Visual & Critical Studies and the SVA Flatiron Project Space are pleased to present "ME," an exhibition featuring work by program alumnus William Patterson and two current students, Joey Gonnella and Nani Inocentes, and curated by faculty member Peter Hristoff (BFA 1981 Fine Arts). The reception will take place on Thursday, August 2, 6:00 – 8:00pm, and there will be a musical performance by Matte Milk (Inocentes) at 7:30pm. The artists have prepared the following statements about their work: "My work often revolves around several major themes and concepts, some of which include childhood and notions of innocence, appropriated imagery, advertising, the self and psychology, intuition and philosophy. Formally and stylistically the work tends to evolve according to which of these themes in particular is being presented or explored. Often times the pieces are an investigation of the ways in which these themes relate to one another and how they relate to myself and my upbringing. Humor has also become an integral part of my work; taking nothing too seriously is a philosophy I subscribe to more and more. To make a good painting is one thing, but to make a good painting that can also make one smile or laugh is another."-Joey Gonnella, class of 2020"As a transwoman, a majority of my work has been fueled by a constant need to understand my gender dysphoria. Using whatever space is available, I cut off all relatability that is expected from a "cishet-dominated" culture, and embrace the peculiarity and realness that is a queer, naked body. When my figures interact with an audience, the viewer is no longer a straight, heterosexual man. A society that is ruled by heteronormativity is now in fact bothered by the presence of a woman with a penis. While a majority of my paintings take up space and are a noticeable presence that marks my queer womanhood, the work before you represents the diary pages that led me there. My art is personal, my art is true, my art does not compromise. These are my journal paintings."-Nani Inocentes, class of 2021"I am a figurative painter whose work draws on the language of modernist painting, comic books and early videogames. My paintings feature a growing lexicon of motif and gesture (projectile spit, dogs, bubblegum, rats, etc.) that blurs the lines between representation and the paint of which they are composed. Each work is an attempt at absorption in this paint-world, in scenarios that range from sprawling landscapes to vertical city scenes built out of color fields. I am interested in exploring an open and variable sense of space in my paintings, with a focus on strange distance, mixed and conflated planes and an unreliable sense of depth. The net result is a pageant of geometry, cartoon, paint-mud and perception that I hope grows toward ever more enigmatic and expressive significance.-William Patterson (BFA 2013 Visual & Critical Studies), MFA Fine Arts student

Exhibition

ME

SVA Flatiron Project Space

Reception