Visual Arts Gallery
New York
13-28 June 2008
School of Visual Arts (SVA) presents "Surrounded by America," an exhibition that brings together selected thesis projects from recent graduates in the MFA Photography, Video and Related Media Department. The exhibition offers a thought-provoking assessment of the material and spiritual condition of America today, as seen from the vantage points of emerging photographers. Curated by faculty member Bonnie Yochelson, a noted photo historian, author and curator, "Surrounded by America" will be on view from June 17 - 28 at the Visual Arts Gallery, 601 West 26th Street, 15th floor, New York City.
According to Yochelson, "This year a surprising number of artists drew inspiration from the American documentary tradition, particularly from the work of straight photographers, such as Stephen Shore, and others coming out of the 1970s?an era in which artists were prone to question American values." Bryan Lear, Rachel Barrett and Sarah Palmer each embarked on trips around the country to create travel albums of the modern American landscape, whereas Philip Kline and Vincent Manzi found emotionally resonant themes on the streets of Manhattan. Ben Handzo and Alison Malone explored their own childhoods with documentary projects on childhood organizations to which they once belonged, while Clayton Cotterell investigated American adolescence by documenting one boy's suburban life over an extended period of time.
By contrast, other artists utilized a wide array of more contemporary media, including digital manipulation, appropriation, projection, video and site-specific installation to explore their perceptions of America. Erica Allen's appropriated barbershop illustrations create anonymous portraits that poignantly evoke the American past. Chris Rodriquez's fictional tableaux draw attention to the grotesque disregard for scale, function and safety in American land use. By videotaping her carefully orchestrated encounters with divorced men in their homes, Allison Kaufman explores the American experience of divorce as well as her own feelings as a child of a divorce.
Many of the students born outside of the United States took this opportunity to reflect on their American experience. Jeonghyun Lee's subtle still lifes, Maria Regina Ulloa's claustrophobic cityscapes, and Jee Min Kim's documentation of meals shared online with family overseas, all seek to express the anxiety of being transplanted from another culture.
The exhibition reflects the philosophy of the graduate program, which encourages its students to explore the photographic medium’s cultural, commercial and political impact upon representation and the creative process, whether in art or in communications. Over a two-year period, students define their own style and personal relationship to the medium, to the history of image making and to life in an image-driven culture. Cutting-edge digital technology is an integral part of the students' capabilities and understandings.
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