November 13, 2009 MFA Show

MFA Show

Installation of show in the gallery space:

I think the overall installation of the art works was done well. The space was used wisely. Since there was a pre-dominance of art work on the walls additional partitions made sense, by increasing the amount of wall space where art works could be hung. This was done in such a way that the largest hanging piece had an unobstructed view from a distance.

The walls allowed light pieces to be hung. They were not solid enough to have heavier pieces of art to be hung on them. The mobility was important since the location of the art piece needed to be illuminated in the proper perspective. The light could cast a shadow from the piece making it very interesting.

I am interested in land forms. The black and white photos and videos of Megan Flaherty dealt with those land forms in a wonderful way. For me, there was a feeling of sentimentality similar to "film noir" only in photo style. The photos had low-key lighting creating a chiaroscuro effect. I love this effect since it accentuates the contours of the landscape and trees. The video that was presented did not achieve the same effect, but it did provide movement of the scenery to the landscape. Importantly, the arrangement of the three unframed photos on one wall with the video on the opposite wall worked well with the longer wall with the six framed photos in between. I like the balance on this side of the room, compared to the crowded opposite side of the same room.

Christopher's Guerra's pieces of 'Spaghetti' and 'Life forms' had a lighter feeling and playfulness about it. I loved the colors, especially the intense primary colors used on the objects suspended from the ceiling. He invited me to his studio to see how he made the pieces. The processes to breakdown the newspapers to be applied to the chicken wire seems ingenious. But, what was exciting was how he built up his canvas with the processed newspaper before applying the paint. He threw the processed newspaper on to the canvas. The two of us were excited that we were both using recycled newspapers for similar environmental reasons for our art works. Actually, we came up with some ideas that may be useful to me in the future.

Overall, most of the art works were interesting. I am very optimistic about the graduate students and their abilities. They have a fertile imagination. But, some of the pieces seem to be unfinished.