20/20 (2022)

twenty/twenty

Cautious Optimism T

he strange energy of 2022 was strikingly man-

face of death and decay. The artist replicated several

as well. Perhaps I’m projecting, but surely, some en-

accredits to the Black Lives Matter movement. Some

ifest in the work by the School of Visual Arts’s

fungal species to scale in felt, then displayed them in

gagement with the material world, and some cathartic

examples Molesworth gives include Simone Leigh’s

graduating class. The world is probably still

a wunderkammer-like case, inviting viewers to behold

processes, were required during the four unprece-

therapeutic and clinic-oriented works from 2014 and

ending, as climate disasters continue to chip

them with a sort of playful yet rigorous curiosity. The

dented years in which these students attended the

2016, as well as Lauren Halsey’s “Kingdom Splurge

away at the planet, but the apocalypse feels a little

care with which the mushrooms were made suggested,

School of Visual Arts. Obsessive repetitions and itera-

(4),” an immersive funk fest she installed at Recess

slower—or at least, a little less acute and depressing—

to me, some reverence for the fungal kingdom. Chris

tions met playful colors in David Kim’s installations,

in Brooklyn in 2016. There is a sense, Nelson observes,

than it did a year or two ago, before vaccines. This new

Cortez’s paintings, meanwhile, celebrate a community.

for instance—his seemed like the kind of project you

that for some time, we all have been trying to work

apocalyptic temporality is reflected in the students’

The artist’s Latinx figures—rendered skillfully in rich,

could lose yourself in. Chenxi Li committed herself

through some sort of collective trauma, “which came

work. For the past decade or so, a lot of the work I’ve

bright colors—often exude a transcendent kind of joy,

to a meticulously detailed arrangement of mirror, which

to its culmination in the pandemic trauma.” She

seen in art schools has been intent on raising aware-

even when they are posed in compositions borrowed

she broke into shards and arranged in a vertical line

writes that we are just beginning to touch this trauma’s

ness, visualizing injustices, highlighting marginalized

from historical tableaux. Both artists were carving

that wrapped around corners. The process seemed

contours and figure out methods of collective healing

histories and voices, and exposing or responding to

space to enjoy and appreciate the things that make

satisfying and focused. I also imagined how easily

or care. She says that perhaps, art might have a role to

the umpteen horrors of the world we live in. This year,

life good, which, right about now, we badly need.

Abhika Pahwa got lost in the intricate patterns she

play in a kind of collective therapy—not by sweeping

The energy I felt visiting the campus—which I

created and repeated in an installation and 2D works

harsh realities under the rug, but by providing a space

though, emerging from many months of isolation, I felt this palpable, tacit assumption that everyone

keep wanting to call a “cautious optimism,” even though

that felt wholly cathartic. And Zhexing Shang was

for thoughtful, reflective, and emotionally intelligent

already knows the end is nigh.

“optimism” is too strong, or too future-oriented, of

clearly dedicated to honing his vision and technique,

ways to process the feelings we share. I felt this to be

a word—brought me back to my first museum visit after

sharpening a style that allowed him to create a world

especially true in my visit to SVA, yet I also left the cam-

we’re all pretty aware of atrocities, we’ve also grown

the lockdowns. In anticipation, I had set my expecta-

of his own—one that remains strikingly consistent

pus with the sense that this was just the beginning,

rather weary. In the graduates’ work, I found time

tions way too high. I’d been feeling wholly depleted and

across compositions. When making art is a passion,

and grew very excited for what this next generation

and again that this awareness didn’t dead end in nihil-

undernourished—you probably were too—and for some

a refuge, or even a compulsion, these sorts of visions

of artists will show us soon.

ism—after all, they kept making during difficult,

reason, I convinced myself that seeing art would be

often translate to the work—the energy seeps out

unprecedented times. Nor, generally speaking, did the

a quick fix. I craved one of those punch-you-in-the-gut,

of the work and pulls viewers in.

students wholly sidestep their very warranted frustra-

take-you-to-a-higher-place feelings of awe. I’d forgot-

tions. Walking through the displays on campus, I found

ten that, most often, art is a slow burn—many of the

a lot about something Maggie Nelson wrote in her most

myself with the sense that, for many students, art

best works of art are the ones that surprise you, but

recent book, On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and

became this special, even therapeutic space—not one

then stick with you, reminding you to look at the familiar

Restraint. In the book, Nelson reflects back on her

wholly set apart from the context in which it was made,

a little differently when you think about the things they

treatise The Art of Cruelty, which concerned represen-

but running alongside it, at a different kind of tempo.

showed you later on. Rather than grandiose aims or

tations of violence in art, and observes that the art

For some of the artists, art struck me as providing an

total transcendence, many of the works I saw seem

of this century marks a turn away from cruelty and

opportunity to experience, create, and appreciate

fixated on small wonders.

toward care. In that passage, she refers to an Artforum

So how are artists responding now? At this point,

those small miracles that keep us all going. I saw this

I got the sense from some of the work on view that

Over the past few months, I’ve been thinking

Associate Editor, Art in America, Curator, 20/20 catalog

article written by Helen Molesworth, in which the

in work by Grace Zhang, who gives us a glimpse of the

the process of making—be it tactical, repetitive, or

curator observes the emergence a new aesthetics

wonder and awe that mushrooms can inspire in the

playful—offered its makers some therapeutic benefits

of healing and care in contemporary art—one she

2 • twenty/twenty

—Emily Watlington,

3

Curator’s Choices 4 • twenty/twenty

5

Yiran Zhang

A Pair of Flies Art Mating Next to My Butter • 2019 • Video • 2min 55sec • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

6 • twenty/twenty

7

Yiran Zhang

Welcome to My Home • 2022 • Psychographical journal (40 pages), artist's apartment floor plan, clothesline, hanger retriever, hanger • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

8 • twenty/twenty

Worth it? • 2022 • Thermal printer, microcontroller unit • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

9

Yiran Zhang

A Family Recipe: Pancake • 2021 • Silkscreeen on pancake with ketchup • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Gustavo Murillo Fernandez-Valdes

"Love"(Repairing the Tofu) • 2021 • Performance • 1-2 hours • Image courtesy of Gustavo Murillo Fernandez-Valdes

10 • twenty/twenty

11

Chong Xu

Turbulence (installation view) • 2021 • 2-channel video with sound, self-made elctronic device, conductive patches, angle sensor, EMS device • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

Unable to Oppress • 2021 • Size, EEG, monitors, raspberry pi, electronic cables • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

12 • twenty/twenty

Float Soil • 2021 • Metal, soil, and monitor • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

13

Chong Xu

Fish Knows • 2022 • Machine learning, gold fish • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

14 • twenty/twenty

Fish Knows • 2022 • Machine learning, gold fish • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

15

Sining Zhu

The Another Death (Performance) • 2022 • Facial mask peel, skin texture and hair (from different people), water, and mixed media • 16 x 14 ft • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

Your Skin Your Cloth (I and II) • 2022 • Facial mask peel, skin texture and hair (from different people) • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde 16 • twenty/twenty

The Another Death (Performance) • 2022 • Facial mask peel, skin texture and hair (from different people), water, and mixed media • 16 x 14 ft • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

17

Sining Zhu

Installation view • 2022 • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

18 • twenty/twenty

Sealing the distance between us and them • 2021 • Nameless people list, paper, plastic bag, vacuum machine, sound • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

19

Rosina Sun

Constructing Consent • 2021 • Two-channel video • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

It Is Color Alone That Speaks • 2022 • Micro-controllers, displays, sensor, steel • 41.6 x 67 x 38.5" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

20 • twenty/twenty

21

Rosina Sun

This Person Does Not Exist • 2021 • Silkscreen artist book • 5 x 5.5" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

3.6 G | 20,275,200 in • 2022 • Micro-controllers, thermal printer • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde [Dis]Consensus • 2020-2021 • Music box, music notes • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde 22 • twenty/twenty

23

Chris Cortez

Miss Mesías • 2020 • Colored pencil on bristol • 20.5 x 26.5" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

Installation view • 2022 • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

24 • twenty/twenty

25

Chris Cortez

Inmaculada Concepción (detail) • 2021 • Oil on canvas • 48 x 60" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

26 • twenty/twenty

Los Enamorados (detail) • 2021 • Oil on canvas • 40 x 72" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

27

Chris Cortez

Que Vivan los Novios! • 2021 • Oil on canvas • 30 x 40" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

Installation view • 2022 • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

28 • twenty/twenty

29

Symia McKellar

Installation view • 2022 • Mixed media • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

Installation view • 2018-2022 • Mixed media • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

Hair • 2020 • Mixed media • Red clay, synthetic hair • 38 x 36 x 32" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

30 • twenty/twenty

31

Symia McKellar

Untitled • 2022 • Oil, mixed media on canvas • 35 x 45" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

32 • twenty/twenty

Hair • 2020 • Red clay, synthetic hair, fabric • 36 x 32 x 30" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

33

Symia McKellar

Installation view • 2022 • Mixed media • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

34 • twenty/twenty

35

Allison Prezioso

Installation view • 2022 • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

36 • twenty/twenty

37

Allison Prezioso

Installation view • 2022 • Image courtesy of Gustavo Murillo Fernandez-Valdes

38 • twenty/twenty

Installation view • 2022 • Image courtesy of Gustavo Murillo Fernandez-Valdes

39

Iris Hardy

Installation view • 2021-2022 • Wood, cork, fur, leather, wire, brass solder, metal, charcoal, newsprint • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

40 • twenty/twenty

Veil Drawings • 2022 • Charcoal on newsprint • 18 x 12"• Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

41

Iris Hardy

Tilted Wedge Block Sandal • 2022 • Wood, leather, metal • Size 41 • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

Installation view • 2021-2022 • Wood, cork, fur, leather, wire, brass solder, metal • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

Amphitheater Foot Massage • 2021 • Wood • Size 43 • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde 42 • twenty/twenty

43

Chris Nowak

Local Guide (Blanket) (detail) • 2022 • Woven blanket, neural net images • 51 x 60" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

Local Guide (Blanket) • 2022 • Woven blanket, neural net images • 50 x 60" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

44 • twenty/twenty

45

Chris Nowak

Installation view • 2022 • Mixed media • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Gustavo Murillo Fernandez-Valdes

The Neighborhood I-III • 2021 • Digital collage, LED panel • 8.5 x 11" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde Installation view • 2021 • Digital collage • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Gustavo Murillo Fernandez-Valdes

46 • twenty/twenty

47

Anna Kim

Passion Flower's Song • 2021 • Watercolor, color pencil, and soft pastel on watercolor paper • 24 x 36" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

48 • twenty/twenty

Yellow Cross • 2021 • Watercolor, color pencil, and soft pastel on watercolor paper • 24 x 36" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

49

Anna Kim

Dance to Me • 2021 • Watercolor, color pencil, and soft pastel on watercolor paper • 24 x 36" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde 50 • twenty/twenty

Face • 2021 • Watercolor, color pencil, and soft pastel on watercolor paper • 24 x 36" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde 51

Anna Kim

Installation view • 2022 • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

52 • twenty/twenty

53

Sefa Ozdogan

Bugday Tarlasi (Wheat Field) • 2022 • Mixed media • 96 x 120 x 22" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

54 • twenty/twenty

55

Sefa Ozdogan

Installation view • 2022

56 • twenty/twenty

Thing I Don't Understand • 2021 • Mixed media on Fabric • 62x82" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

57

Sefa Ozdogan

Sofra (Dinner Table) (Detail)• 2021 • Concrete • 40x120x9" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

Sofra (Dinner Table) • 2021 • Concrete • 40x120x9" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

Sofra (Dinner Table) (Detail)• 2021 • Concrete • 40x120x9" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

58 • twenty/twenty

59

Grace Zhang

Same Mold, Different Bread • 2022 • Bread and felted wool • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

Installation view • 2022 • Mixed media • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Gustavo Murillo Fernandez-Valdes

Lost Seeds of North America• 2022 • Cold porcelain, watercolor, found cabinet • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

60 • twenty/twenty

Partially Counterfeit Mushrooms • 2022 • Dried mushrooms, wool roving, watercolor on paper • 14x18" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

61

Grace Zhang

Detail of Journey to the 99 Ranch • 2022 • Gel ink on paper • 10x30" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

62 • twenty/twenty

63

Abhika Pahwa

Untitled (Copper Plate 2) • 2021 • Digital rendering • Image courtesy of the artist

Akbar and Jodha on Javmaica • 2022 • Acrylic and Collage on Canvas • 24x36" • Image courtesy of Gustavo Murillo Fernandez-Valdes

Oriental Organza at L-Train Vintage • 2022 • Collage on Canvas • 24x36" • Image courtesy of Gustavo Murillo Fernandez-Valdes

64 • twenty/twenty

65

Abhika Pahwa

Installation view • 2022 • Image courtesy of Gustavo Murillo Fernandez-Valdes

66 • twenty/twenty

Installation view • 2021 • Image courtesy of Gustavo Murillo Fernandez-Valdes

67

Zhexing Shang

Untitled • 2022 • Pencil on paper • 42x56" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

68 • twenty/twenty

69

Zhexing Shang

Untitled • 2021 • Pencil on paper • 15.4x21.3" each • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

Untitled • 2022 • Pencil on paper • 42x56" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde Untitled • 2021 • Pencil on paper • 15.4x21.3" each • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

70 • twenty/twenty

71

Zhexing Shang

Untitled • 2021 • Pencil on paper • 42x56" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

72 • twenty/twenty

73

Miley Huang

Installation view • 2022 • Wood • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

74 • twenty/twenty

75

Miley Huang

Untitled • 2022 • Wood • 30x5" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

Sunrise • 2021 • Wood • 120x40" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

76 • twenty/twenty

77

Miley Huang

Ferris Wheel • 2021 • Wood • 50x20" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

78 • twenty/twenty

Untitled • 2021 • Wood and metal • 15x3" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

79

David Kim

Installation view • 2021-2022 • PLA, spray paint, silicon, resin, wood, steel pipes, 3D printer, digital prints • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

80 • twenty/twenty

Untitled (Dildo Modules) • 2021-2022 • PLA, spray paint • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

81

David Kim

Untitled (Dildo Modules) • 2021-2022 • PLA, spray paint, silicon, resin • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

Untitled (Dildo Modules) • 2022 • Resin and silicon • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde Untitled (Dildo Modules) • 2021-2022 • PLA, spray paint, silicon, resin • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

82 • twenty/twenty

83

Chenxi Li

The Landing of Water • 2022 • Mirror, resin, and push pins • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

Installation view • 2022 • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

Geo-eye • 2022 • Mirror, clay, soil, and plants • 26x16" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

The Landing of Water (detail) • 2022 • Mirror, resin, and push pins • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

84 • twenty/twenty

85

Allen Wei

Installation view • 2022

86 • twenty/twenty

87

Allen Wei

Installation view • 2022 • ABS Plastic • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

The Earth • 2022 • ABS Plastic • 25x25x25" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde The Broken Earth • 2022 • ABS Plastic • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde 88 • twenty/twenty

The Broken Earth • 2022 • ABS Plastic • Dimensions variable • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde 89

Bryan Fernandez

The OGs Playing Capicua 25 • 2021 • Acrylic, tobacco, decorative paper, cardboard, gold foil, glitter, aluminum foil, and construction paper on canvas • 30x40" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

The Earth • 2021 • Acrylic, decorative paper, cardboard, fabric, construction paper, embroidery thread, and mirror tiles on canvas. • 30x40" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

Speaking Con Los Santos • 2021 • Acrylic, decorative paper, cardboard, fabric, construction paper, embroidery thread, and mirror tiles on canvas • 30x40" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

90 • twenty/twenty

91

Bryan Fernandez

Installation view • 2022 • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

Quieres Brugal? • 2021 • Mixed media on canvas • 14x18" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

92 • twenty/twenty

93

Emily Feng

Exploded • 2022 • Aluminum foil, plastic, spray paint, acrylic on canvas • 32x24" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

Vows • 2022 • Fabric and oil on canvas • 24x48" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

Blackhole • 2022 • Fabric, oil on canvas • 66x66" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

94 • twenty/twenty

95

Emily Feng

Box of Memory • 2022 • Powder prints, plastic, fabric • 26x22" • Image courtesy of Raul Valverde

96 • twenty/twenty

97

twenty/twenty Cover artwork by Allison Prezioso Inside cover artwork by Emily Feng

Essay by Emily Watlington

2

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Curator’s Choices Yiran Zhang Chong Xu Sining Zhu Rosina Sun Chris Cortez Symia McKellar Allison Prezioso Iris Hardy Chris Nowak Anna Kim Sefa Ozdogan

From figure studies to cutting-edge conceptual ap-

6 12 16 20 24 30 36 40 44 48 54

Grace Zhang

60

Abhika Pahwa

64

Zhexing Shang

68

Miley Huang

74

David Kim

78

Chenxi Li

82

Allen Wei

84

Bryan Fernandez

86

Emily Feng

90

98 • twenty/twenty

BFA Fine Arts Networking opportunities inside and outside SVA

proaches, our department prepares the fine arts

prepare our students for job placements and career

student to enter a myriad of professions and graduate

development. For example, you might land a studio job

programs. Courses in art history and contemporary

assisting an instructor or a visiting artist, which could

art theory inform creative approaches to diverse aes-

become access to a gallery, which could lead to your

thetic practices. In addition to traditional media, SVA

first show. In senior year, we invite gallery dealers and

offers experimental practices in digital sculpture and

curators to open-studio events which showcase your

the emerging field of Bio Art

work. It is a twice-yearly chance for you to make import-

The Fine Arts Department at the School of Visual

ant networking connections. In addition, we focus on

Arts is unique. At SVA , the fine arts student can choose

all avenues of creative production. Our alumni have worked

an individualized course of study. Our new Fine Arts

at top art museums, animation studios, education

Digital Lab hosts private workstations equipped with

venues, art therapy practices, public art and other allied

up-to-the-minute software and instruction. Our digital

professions.

sculpture initiative boasts computer-driven cutting

You have access to more than 90 instructors in the

machines for fabricating sculpture. Painting classes

studio art department; a number unmatched in size and

include projects in direct observation or photo-based

excellence anywhere else. These artists of stature are

imagery as well as methods for producing abstract

a vital part of the New York creative scene, whose work

and narrative work. Our faculty consists of professional

you can see in the galleries, museums and even the public

artists, critics and curators whose work has achieved

spaces of the city. Connect with the ones who inspire

both national and international recognition. In addition,

and support your creative efforts —the artists you gravi-

the Fine Arts Department sponsors many events and

tate toward will act as your mentors and help you achieve

field trips to museums, galleries and artists’ studios to

your artistic goals. Becoming a fine artist in New York

prepare the student for professional-level experience

City is to see and feel the fluent dynamics of creation as

in the arts. With Chelsea’s art scene at our back door,

an interchange of ideas and visual experiences support-

students stay tuned in to art history in the making.

ing your creative talents now and in the future.

99

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