Have we got talent!

 

Above: “Living Aboveground”, monotype relief, 2003, by second-year MFA student Ellen Shattuck

Visual Arts students are strutting their stuff at The Gallery, Joan & Martin Goldfarb Centre for Fine Arts.

The Gallery launched into the new year with back-to-back group exhibitions by students in the Graduate Program in Visual Arts. The talented first-year students in the program had their art on display last week. This week, to Jan. 17, it is the turn of the second-year graduate students.

Right: “Jingle Dress”, paper, 2002, by first-year MFA student E. Maria Hupfield

The show serves as a rare chance for the York community to see the creative explorations of the up-and-coming artists in this MFA program. Works range from drawing, painting and photography techniques to installation pieces, print works, sculpture, digital video and large-scale mixed media.

One of the most intriguing and potent projects on view in last week”s show featuring projects by first-year students was sculptor E. Maria Hupfield”s textile work, “Jingle Dress” inspired by a ceremonial First Nations dress.

Currently on view is an eclectic mix of works on paper, organic sculpture, mixed media, installation and conceptual art projects that will evolve into the MFA thesis exhibitions in the spring.

The MFA Program in Visual Arts stresses a multi-media approach to artmaking in keeping with contemporary ideas and current trends within the art world. It combines studio practice and art-related theory and criticism. MFA students choose advisors who share common theoretical interests and can guide them in the realization of their visual projects.

The Gallery showcases the work of students in the Faculty of Fine Arts in weekly exhibitions throughout the academic year.

Gallery hours: Mon.– Fri., 9am-4:30pm. Admission free. For more information call ext. 55187.

Below: “cusp”, bronze GI Joe, fir plywood, sandbag, 2002-2003, by second-year MFA student P. Roch Smith