"Horse Designed By Committee" Exhibition

WHITE BOX

poster for "Horse Designed By Committee" Exhibition

This event has ended.

An MFA show is, like a camel, an entity that is at once perfectly functional and inherently awkward. It reflects the individual trajectories of the artists whose work it represents. But it is also possible to read the ghost of a group dynamic in any MFA show as these are individuals who have been working, living and evolving in close proximity for two years as they have pursued their MFA degrees. These two readings are in potential conflict, which is best resolved by considering the show to be a whole made up of fully independent parts.

- Eleanor Heartney
Curator/Visiting Critic in Residence for MSU MFA Program 2012

The title of the show is derived from the oft-heard maxim, "a camel is a horse designed by committee," which Heartney claims to be apropos.

According to Heartney, said the students' thesis work addresses issues that range from the personal to the political to the philosophical, taking up everything from ecological threat and the shifting paradigms of science, to family dynamics and the search for existential meaning. She adds that the works reflect " the multiplicity of approaches and ideas evident in artists across the globe," which is only fitting since the MFA students "come from diverse backgrounds and bring to bear very different personal histories and intellectual concerns." Heartney notes that another issue regarding these students' work is hybridity, stating "many of the works here exist between conventional categories," she says.

Montclair State University's MFA in Studio Art is a 60-credit degree program designed to further the growth of students as practicing professional artists. Comprised of a diverse group of faculty and students who share a vision to explore, synthesize, innovate and create, the rigorous MFA is a full-time, two-year, in-residence program that fosters opportunities for critical discourse in an environment where individuals collaborate or work independently to make meaningful contributions to contemporary culture.

Over the years, the program has invited an exceptional group of artists, curators and visiting critics, such as Heartney, to the program to engage with students in in-depth capacities. Other notables have included Vito Acconci, Roberta Smith, James Rosenquist, Philip Pearlstein, Shirin Neshat and Dana Schutz.

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Schedule

from May 16, 2012 to May 27, 2012

Opening Reception on 2012-05-19 from 18:00 to 20:00

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