Exhibition

SVA presents “The Mental Health Poster Project,” an exhibition of 24 posters by undergraduate, graduate, and Continuing Education students, curated by BFA Illustration and BFA Comics chair Viktor Koen. The exhibition will be on view from Thursday, September 12, through Tuesday, September 24, 2024, at the SVA Flatiron Gallery, 133 West 21st Street, New York City. 

From pragmatic to esoteric, this is a series of quote-based posters expressing the complex and psychosomatic implications of the most delicate contributor to psychological and emotional well-being. Just a few years after a relentless world pandemic that redefined health, both physical and mental, on the individual and collective levels, this exhibition grapples with its effects by trying to engage viewers through a method that could possibly be described as pictorial therapy.

What does it mean when artists decide to engage with an assignment whose subject is not just close to the heart and mind, but in it? If looking for patterns, solutions can be found that either go very deep or find comfort in informing, cautioning, and guiding.

While simple, direct advice provided solid inspiration, it is juxtaposed with emotional or enigmatic approaches that lead the viewer through complex, internal dialogue towards feeling more than learning. Discussing the ever-expanding definition of mental and emotional health also contributed to cathartic experiences in the classroom.

Presenting work from multiple departments, this exhibition provides a rare cross-section of projects where students share a common theme: research, mental health, and expression through images and type. 

Artists featured in this exhibition are Lee Alex (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay 2024), Manyun Cai (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay 2024), Xinyue Chen (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay 2023), Jodie Chiou (Summer Illustration Residency), Timo Chou (BFA Illustration 2023), Ece Erten (BFA Illustration 2024), Katy Freeman (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay 2023), Chloe Giroux (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay 2024), Helen Han (Summer Illustration Residency), Eliza Hernandez (BFA Illustration 2024), Miguel Hernandez (Summer Illustration Residency), Layal Idriss (Summer Illustration Residency), Lizzy Itzkowitz (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay 2024), Divyakshi Kedia (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay 2024), Bhavika Lalwani (BFA Illustration 2024), Kathleen Ma (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay 2024), Rainy Tang (BFA Illustration 2025), Yu Tao (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay 2024), Ikenna Umeh (Summer Illustration Residency), Monty Vazquez (BFA Illustration 2024), Weston Wei (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay 2023), Lilith Wu (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay 2023), Jeongin Yoon (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay 2024) and Vivian Zhang (BFA Illustration 2024).

The SVA Flatiron Gallery is open Monday through Saturday, 10:00am–6:00pm.