Exhibition

School of Visual Arts presents “And Then . . .,” an exhibition of works by the MFA Visual Narrative class of 2019. Curated by Anelisa Garfunkel and Christina Roussos, the exhibition will be on view from Saturday, June 29, through Saturday, July 20, at the SVA Gramercy Gallery, 209 East 23rd Street, New York City.

The MFA Visual Narrative thesis project is intended to be ambitious, personal and transformative. These nine extraordinary stories from the program’s class of 2019 are no exception. They are diverse in subject, scope, medium and genre, but what they have in common is transformation.

Transformation runs deep through each story, whether it be the coming-of-age of a 20-something Orthodox Jew, the later-in-life awakening of middle-aged artist or a young K-Pop star’s struggle to adapt to the afterlife. These stories reflect a specific time in the life of these artists, the culmination of two years and eight weeks of exploration and discovery—an educational and creative journey that challenged each student to experiment and push their own boundaries as artists, writers and storytellers.

But these projects are also a beginning. This year’s graduating MFA Visual Narrative students have produced works that will propel them on new journeys—works that are immensely personal but, through their specificity, universal. They have transformed their own stories into stories for the world, and in so doing have launched their own work into the professional realm.

The stories presented here are charming and bizarre, curious and compelling. They are the stories of witches and saints, dogs and bots, revolutionaries and rebels. They are stunning proof of the power of story and the power of the storyteller.