MFA Show in NYC
The opening reception for The Way We See It, a group exhibition of UNCG's 2011 MFA students at Christina Ray Gallery in Soho, New York City..
About the Show
The Way We See It: new works by new artists, at CHRISTINA RAY gallery in SOHO, with work by six newly graduated MFA students from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The exhibition showcased work in an array of media including video, drawing, painting, installation and sculpture. Isabelle Abbot, Jody Christian, Jonathan Cobbs, Andrew Etheridge, Maurice Moore and Amanda Nicholas will be exhibiting their work at the Christina Ray GalleryÊfrom August 4-20, 2011.
The Department of Art wishes to thank The College of Arts and Sciences for their generous funding of the exhibition.
See More Images of the Show Here.
Last Year's Show
___TENSION: New Works On The Rise, at CHRISTINA RAY gallery in SOHO, with work by eight newly graduated MFA students from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The exhibition showcased work in an array of media including printmaking, video, drawing, photography, installation and sculpture. Artists featured in the exhibition included Kristin Ashley, Eric Kniss, Heath Montgomery, Sam Peck, Christian Ryan, Melissa Sullivan, Matthew Thomason and Liliya Zalevskaya.
See More Images of the Show Here.
Show Review
__Tension: New Work by New Artists at the Christina Ray Gallery is an exhibition of appearances, disappearances, and reappearances. The small space yields quiet, thoughtful, fresh work by eight recent UNCG MFA alumni. The gallery, much like the work held within, requires a double-take. You look, you see nothing, you walk away. You turn, you come back. You did see something. And you want to know more.
I did this two-part-act as I walked down Grand Street towards the gallery, passed the gallery, and came back. I watched another two people do the same thing within ten minutes.
Once inside the space there is the one and only tense moment that presents itself in this show: What do I look at first?
Eric Kniss’ blue Column stands at the center of the space made of unpacked but not unraveled ropes laid like bricks 4x4 to reach the ceiling. The blue line(s) act as the center of a curated wheel, with each piece surrounding it as a distinct spoke.
To the left christian.ryan’s interactive, textilogical sculptures beg to be played with. The viewer is allowed to change-out limbs, connecting one apparatus to another through male-female joints which make appendages move, claw, grab, and squirm.
Liliya Zalevskaya uses technology and play in a most sweet, and child-like way. A single-channel video filmed from a fixed shot shows the artist lying on a stool in front of a video projection that makes her appear to be falling. The artist remains calm and silent, in an endless loop of plummeting.
Beside the silent fall sits a white sculpture that fades in and out of the gallery walls. Matthew Thomason assembles found coat hangers, linens, and lace that float and dance towards the ceiling from a peculiar, lockable box. Time plays an important part in this piece, as it seems to unravel a narrative as it leads your eyes up, down, in and out.
Each work in the exhibition sits quietly, waiting for attention and then jumps into action upon recognition. Heath Montgomery’s thoughtful drips pour in a controlled way towards flowery, white, puddles that sit humbly on the floor. While it is a stunning piece in craft, it invites reflection on pollution and the recent oil disaster. Similarly, at first glance, Melissa Sullivan’s photograph of an interior corner appears simple, clean, beautiful. Upon closer look the wall reveals a mark left from a frame, of which we are only to imagine what it contained. Once again, there is more than meets the eye. It is an intelligent piece that speaks of nostalgia, loss, and the record of time.
Kristin Ashley’s black and white collage undulates towards and away from the viewer with a variety of marks and textures. Slowly, the piece transforms from clouds, to intestines, to organisms, never finding a final resting place. The process and hand of the artist are apparent throughout, and pull the viewer along her journey.
Finally, nearest to the gallery window there are two boxes of stacked, black and white prints. The images range from landscapes to political interventions. Sam Peck piles his images purposefully negating the careful attention owed to each piece. With this decision, Peck makes the work about layers, pluralism, and chance. Rather than a single, framed, well-lit understanding of the piece, you must handle them, shuffle through them, and spend time with them.
The work by these UNCG alumni has a fresh, strong, sense about it; the kind of feeling one usually gets only from experienced, practicing artists. Each artist shows a talent in craft and thoughtful choice of forms well beyond their years. In a time when attention span is shortening, these works not only grab your attention, but they hold it. So I invite you to happen upon this very small space full of understated, and big works.
-Rachel Hines
Rachel Hines is an interdisciplinary artist working with themes revolving around absence, community, and intimacy. The work takes shape in performances, actions, objects, paintings and drawings. Ms. Hines studied at Pratt Institute, NY where she received her MFA in Interdisciplinary Art with an emphasis in Art and Design Education. While at Oregon State University she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting with a minor in Art History. Hines has shown extensively throughout the U.S. including recent exhibitions at Electric Celluloid Film Festival, MI, NurtureArt, NY and the Patchogue Biennial, NY. Her work has also been shown internationally. Recently she performed at 98weeks, Beirut and has screened her videos at tina b. Prague Contemporary Art Festival.