Archive

May 20, 2004

Artists’ coming out party

A university education, especially at the graduate level, often ends with a paper. The graduate writes a thesis or a dissertation based on a piece of original research.

Lisa Darms is a photographer, but the work she’s doing for the exhibit is a video installation. She’ll have three endless-loop videos playing on monitors, with large lenses, like the one she holds in the photo above, embedded in a wall through which the videos will be viewed. The video consists of appropriated imagery from a 1960s French documentary in which a man performs martial arts moves. Darms has placed him in a “set” consisting of old post cards. “I think a lot about the idea of progress,” Darms said. “I think we make art because we believe it contributes to human progress, but I wonder if it isn’t a self-indulgent activity after all. So I hope my piece gives a sense of history, a sense of how everything moves in cycles.” The installation is titled, Has the World Changed or Have I Changed?

Many anxious days and weeks are spent hunched over the keyboard, fashioning the product on which one will be judged.

But if the master’s degree is in art, those days and weeks are usually devoted instead to making something for an exhibit — a painting, a sculpture, a video installation — whatever one’s specialty is. And for MFA graduates at the UW, the “coming out” exhibit is at the Henry Art Gallery.

The MFA exhibition has been a part of the Henry’s exhibition calendar for more than 20 years. It gives students the chance to work with museum staff members, and offers the public an opportunity to see new work by emerging artists. This year the exhibit is from May 29 to June 20.

The 2004 exhibit is the largest ever for the MFA program, with 30 artists represented, according to Chris Ozubko, director of the School of Art. With an average age of just over 30, most had been out of school and working for a while before returning for graduate work.

“This is the culmination of their careers here,” Ozubko said. “Many of these artists had a show at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery four months into the program, and it’s amazing the changes that have taken place since. They have really developed as artists.”

The program is designed to prepare the students, not only by improving their skills as painters, printmakers, or whatever, but also by introducing them to the world of the professional artist.

“Gallery directors are often invited in to talk to the students about the process of curation and other matters of interest to them,” Ozubko said. “There’s also a professional practice seminar that is completely about what they’ll be dealing with as professional artists.”

And then there’s the exhibit at the Henry. For many of the artists represented, Ozubko said, the exhibit marks the first time their work has appeared in a gallery outside the one at the art school.

Working with the gallery’s professional staff, the students plan the exhibit and the reception beforehand, which draws about 1,200 people. They also find the funding for and design the show’s catalog, which is sold during the exhibit.

“We invite members of the area art community and friends of the School of Art to the reception, and of course the students invite their friends and relatives,” Ozubko said. “Then, each student’s advisor talks about his or her work.”

The reception offers the graduates many opportunities to make valuable connections, and has even resulted in sales of the work. But selling isn’t the main goal at this point, Ozuboko said — the goal is to create good work and have it seen by the public. And that goal is easily fulfilled by the Henry show.

The MFA exhibit was curated for the Henry by Head Preparator and Exhibitions Designer Jim Rittimann. Admission to the Henry is always free with ID for UW faculty, staff and students.

David Rubin is a sculptor, but his piece in the exhibition doesn’t look like a sculpture. It looks like a house, because that’s what it is. In his own words, Rubin’s work is a “re-creation of a suburban plot.” It’s a 300-square-foot house with the façade of a garage and something like a yard to go with it. Called 42 Barnett Road — Rubin’s address when he was growing up — he says the piece is a fictional version of his life at a transitional moment. “There are so many things that manipulate who we become,” Rubin said, “and the dream home is one of them. We believe the person who lives there created the environment, but it’s not complete. There’s no sense of content yet.” Rubin built his “house” from materials either donated or sold to him at a reduced price, so he spent a long time just contacting vendors before he could begin work. “I’ve done work like this before but never at this magnitude,” he said. “It was daunting, but the positive response I got to the idea was really gratifying.” Rubin’s piece will be located outside at the Henry — in the courtyard under Skyspace.