"Social Realms" Exhibition
SVA Gramercy Gallery
This event has ended.
School of Visual Arts (SVA) presents "Social Realms," an exhibition of photography, painting and prints by SVA students and alumni that examines cultural legacies and current global conditions. The exhibition is curated by Richard Brooks, assistant director of student galleries.
James Bascara's paintings derive from secondhand photographs of anonymous figures engaged in everyday moments. Drawing on sections from T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, the artist's worn and scraped paint surfaces evoke feelings of melancholy and longing. Bascara is a 2011 graduate of the BFA Illustration and Cartooning Department.
Christopher Patrick Ernst's color photographs of scenic landscape wallpapers located in actual commercial interiors are studies in juxtaposition and context. Drawn to sites like laundromats, diners and cafeterias across the country, the artist's keen eye finds the extraordinary in the everyday. Ernst is a 2011 graduate of the BFA Photography Department.
Elektra KB's politically charged Insurgent Women series of collages are reminiscent of John Heartfield's anti-Nazi photomontages. Using photographs printed on canvas and felt pieces stitched into patterned fabrics, the artist contrasts the brutality of war and with domestic bliss. KB is a student in the BFA Visual and Critical Studies Department.
In his series of constructed still-life photographs depicting combat scenarios, Jonas Lara comments on his recent military experiences. Titled Operation W.A.N.T., which stands for WE ARE NOT TOYS, the work depicts soldiers as pawns in a chess game. Lara is a student in the MFA Fine Arts Department.
Jenny Riffle examines her boyfriend's treasure hunting obsession in her photographic series Scavenger: Adventures in Treasure Hunting. As the artist explains, "I explore the objects he finds, what drives him to continue, and the mythology and history of the treasure hunting persona." Riffle is a 2011 graduate of the MFA Photography and Related Media Department.
In her aquatint etching series, Seven Deadly Sins, Shellyne Rodriguez uses traditional religious allegory as a medium for social critique. Appropriating vintage magazine advertisements, the artist renders each figure with a horse's bit, bridle, and blinders, symbolizing subjugation and what some might call "slavery of the senses." Rodriguez is a 2011 graduate of the BFA Visual and Critical Studies Department.
Peter Svarbein presents a series of color photographic portraits exploring the American Southwest in an effort to document and explore the lives of families who have discovered their Jewish backgrounds and are making a conscious effort to return to Judaism. "This project originally started out as a way for me to ask questions about my own background as a Latino Jew who was born and raised in El Paso, Texas, and as a way for me to explore notions of identity, memory and culture" states the artist. Svarbein is a 2011 graduate of the MFA Photography and Related Media Department.
Tony Toscani's paintings fluctuate between abstraction and representation. Using paint spontaneously, with no preconceived plan or structure, the artist's fully resolved works contain both recognizable and fragmented figures in the same picture. Toscani is a 2011 graduate of the MFA Fine Arts Department.
Joseph Varas' large-format paintings reference his 2003 Iraq military service. He enlarges documentary photographs taken during his deployment and employs several printmaking techniques as well as hand rendering to manipulate the images. The paintings' washed-out, faded and distressed surfaces are meant to reflect the artist's feelings about his wartime experiences. Varas is a 2011 graduate of the MFA Fine Arts Department.
[Image: James Bascara "Burial" (2011) Oil and acrylic on canvas, 30 x 50 in.]
Media
Schedule
from June 04, 2011 to June 30, 2011
Opening Reception on 2011-06-06 from 17:00 to 19:00