Exhibition

School of Visual Arts presents an exhibition of thesis work by graduating MFA Illustration as Visual Essay students. Curated by faculty member David Sandlin, the exhibition will be on view from Saturday, April 28, through Thursday, May 17, at the SVA Chelsea Gallery, 601 West 26th Street, 15th floor, New York City.

This year’s MFA Illustration as Visual Essay thesis exhibition is by turns beautiful, horrifying, playful and mysterious, representing the fine talents of the latest graduating class and reflecting a broad range of media and content. Serious subjects tackled include the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan, illustrated with incisively dramatic woodcuts, and Jesus’ parables, told here through black ink renderings that make brilliant use of negative space. On the lighter side are a clever watercolor tale of vegetable femme fatales battling an evil tuber and silk-screened coming-of-age tales of punk skateboarders in Mexico. Along the spectrum are lyrical oil paintings of nymphettes besieged by monsters and watercolors capturing the misery and bittersweet longings of Appalachian folk songs.

The moods evoked by these narrative samples range from dread and mystery, whether its brooding landscapes of the Welsh countryside evocative of gothic horror movies or a tour through a sumptuous vampire mansion, to the whimsy and sweetness of a fanciful trip to space for supper’s soup ingredients and a child’s search for color through the seasons.

Artists include Ava An, Anagh Banerjee, Annelise Capposela, Alejandro Chen Li, Kyung Chyun, Alfonso deAnda, Severin Ek, Wenyi Geng, Joseph Gough, Giselle Harrington, Clara Kirkpatrick, Stephen Procopio, Nikki Smetters, Deena So’Oteh, Colin Verdi, Yiwen Wang, Xiao Yang, Wenqi Zhang and Yiqing Zhang.