School of Visual Arts (SVA) presents “The Yellow Wallpaper,” an exhibition of artwork by 19 MFA Illustration as Visual Essay students based on Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story of the same name. Curated by department faculty member, and BFA Cartooning and BFA Illustration chair Viktor Koen (MFA 1992 Illustration as Visual Essay), the exhibition will be on view from Thursday, May 4, through Monday, May 22, at the SVA Chelsea Gallery, 601 West 26 Street, 15th floor, New York City.

Of the exhibition, Koen says, “Challenging as it is to find stories that provide opportunities for pictorial commentary on subjects like mental illness and gender equality from the 1900’s, The Yellow Wallpaper, does just that. This series of journal entries describing the gradual descent to madness of a writer after giving birth is a piece of such brilliant horror fiction.

Approaching the story from different pictorial angles, methods and varying degrees of association to its themes allowed for a thorough investigation of clues and visual prompts that could be translated to powerful storytelling through images and sequence. These treatments may share the exact same literary point of departure, but lead the viewer to completely different destinations in tone, approach and format. While wrestling with such a story through the scope of a developing artist, one has to decide between retaining the story’s structural integrity or only using it as a springboard to a long plunge through the myriad subject choices this well-crafted narrative provides.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story inspired direct and associative comics, ceramics, elaborately folded narrative fragments on paper, intricate compositions of graphic color and allegory, but also animation and interactive applications with haunting results and fantastical environments, much darker than initially expected.

Page after page, the story triggered sensitivities and reactions that found expression by boldly delving into the unknown edges of sanity behind that yellow wallpaper. It is there that artists realize that challenging subject matters require a deeper understanding, involvement and investment in order to effectively adapt the plot. When compared with the powerful visuals finally produced, this seems like a small price to pay. On the other hand, emotional challenges like these always made for stronger images.”

Artists featured in this exhibition are Manyun Cai, Ciel Chen, Sheya Chen, Zixin Chen, Vivi Chiang, Rama Duwaji, Chloe Giroux, Lizzy Itzkowitz, Anjali Kamat, Divyakshi Kedia, Lee Alex, Momo Li, Shiqi Liu, Kathleen Ma, Penny Pang, Yu Tao, Jen Yoon, Shan Zhou and Jesse Zuo.

The MFA Illustration as Visual Essay program at SVA is designed to maximize students’ opportunities as figurative artists, from the conventional gallery wall to the full range of 21st-century media. The program fuses the development of creative thinking with technical and communication skills. Additional focus is placed on best practices in navigating the visual art marketplace, while empowering students to choose making art as a way of life.

Exhibition

The Yellow Wallpaper

SVA Chelsea Gallery

Reception