SAIC BFA Show, 2nd Floor, Part One
So, here we go down the stairs to the 2nd floor at the SAIC BFA Show.

Sev Ucok -- interesting painting, tho don't understand if it's symbolic, or just a painting of a lamb, something that looks like a beach and something that looks like water. The marks rise upward.

Rachel Klinghoffer -- pastelly acrylic paintings. On display is a diptych of a temple scene with robed woman, clouds rising in stenciled layers, birds in sky. Painting on right similar scene, different woman, different robes, bomber planes flying in from left to right. Hard-edged, soft tones.

Aaron Delehanty -- self-portrait with red chair. Three panels that don't quite connect in "real" space, interior with painted paintings on wall. Nicely executed.

Emily Rapport -- luscious painting of Howard El lines, blue lights on snow. Also painting of buildings falling down a hillside -- earthquake followed by mud slide from 2000. Vertical hard focus white buildings at top, serene, untouched, everything disintegrates as plane falls toward viewer. Good paint handling in both.

Kate Mangold -- painted folding screen of a soccer game under extreme raking midday light. Colored shadows, differing focus as game proceeds across the field. Also showed some smaller studies.

Christopher Moore -- originally walked away from these drawings but kept thinking about them and went back to look again. Many of them were heavily patterned and painted over duct tape, or casual pencil drawings. Like the marks, exploration of material. Seems like there's less of this art student task this year as a lot of the kids seem to drive straight toward a finished, packaged product.

Sangimi Oh -- a wonderful wedding dress that I would wear if I were to get married. Plain white strapless satin bodice, silver tulle over satin, with a ripped blue jean belt/girdle. Really lovely, girly and tough at the same time.

Jean Nam -- as though a theme park burst through the wall with a giant cartoon-colored Alice in Wonderland as she grows bigger and bigger, astonishment on her face. Has to be 20 feet tall, at least. Don't have any idea how artist got the piece into the building.

Miah Lager -- this is maybe my favorite piece in the show, or at least on this floor. It's a huge quilted slipcover for David Smith's Cubi VIII, a shiny angly multiplaned sculpture. From the artist's quite thoughtful essay: "When a couch has become outdated a slipcover can be made to revive the couch. By constructing a slipcover for Cubi VIII I am continuing Smith's exploration of art materials and working toward eliminating ideas of hierarchy in these materials." It is a beautiful, brightly colored patchwork object in itself, soft and floppy, but dead on in its contrast to Smith's welded steel.
- posted by Cynthia @ 7:27 PM | | | Link |