SVA Visual Arts Journal Spring 2012

Spring 2012

VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL

Abigail Feldman, Tantrum after Wyeth, from the series The Savage Maddoxes, 2009, inkjet print.

See Front Matter: Investment Portfolio, page 4.

SPRING 2012

Contents From the President 3 Front Matter 4 Brief takes on big stories around SVA. What’s in Store 12 New products created by SVA entrepreneurs.

Hire Ed: Representing SVA Coast to Coast 18 Whether it involves a flight to California or just a subway ride, Career Development meets with organizations interested in hiring SVA’s students and alumni.

Under the Influence 20 The relationship between fine arts faculty member Robert Murray and alumnus Tim Rollins has lasted for nearly four decades.

Portfolio: Sam Weber 22 Having once abandoned oil painting for drawing in ink, an illustrator has returned to color—digitally.

Color Commentary 30 Stephen Frailey discusses how emerging student and established artists are paired in the BFA Photography Department’s Mentors program.

At Risk 38 As a genre, performance art is a risky business. And performance artists are not afraid to take chances.

Q + A: David Caspe 44 An MFA Fine Arts alumnus talks about his second career as a writer—for feature films and for his own TV creation, Happy Endings.

Ready to Wear 50 Handmade artists’ Ts are a means of personal expression—a pop culture phenomenon, worn by everyone from students to celebrities.

Digital Publishing: Unrestricted Access 56 Rather than mourn the death of print, many visual artists are celebrating the new opportunities presented by online and mobile platforms.

Alumni Affairs 62 The Alumni Society Turns 40; 2012 Alumni Scholarship and Named Award Recipients; Alumni Benefits, Exhibitions and Notes; In Memoriam; Donors List.

From the SVA Archives 76 A short history of Words.

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From the President VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL School of Visual Arts Magazine Spring 2012 Volume 20, Number 1

Although receiving a degree from SVA is an individual accomplishment, recent educational research points convincingly to the critical role that support from peers plays in academic achievement. It is clear, I think, that relationships make the educational experience not only more successful, but more enjoyable. Whether the individuals are classmates or faculty members, these interactions provide the kinds of motivation that are indispensable for achievement.

EDITORIAL STAFF S.A. Modenstein, managing editor James S. Harrison, copy editor Dan Halm, visuals coordinator VISUAL ARTS PRESS, LTD. Anthony P. Rhodes, creative director Michael J. Walsh, art director Brian Smith, designer Sheilah Ledwidge, copy editor

This is a topic I address in speaking to students at SVA’s Orientation program, when I urge the newest members of our community to look around the room at the individuals who will one day be their professional colleagues. In truth, this is a subject that could be addressed by any of our more than 27,000 alumni. They know better than I that the relationships formed at SVA serve them well far beyond their years in school here. That fact is very much in evidence in the pages of this issue of Visual Arts Journal, where you’ll read several stories about the accomplishments that have arisen out of mutual critique and collaboration.

COVER FRONT: Sam Weber, detail from The Fisherman’s Wife, 2010, acrylic, watercolor and digital.

BACK: Sam Weber, Woods, 2011, acrylic, watercolor and digital.

CONTRIBUTORS Christopher Bussmann Katrina Chamberlin Aaron Cockle Christopher Darling Michael Grant James Grimaldi Dan Halm Samantha Hoover Aileen Kwun Carrie Lincourt Keri Murawski Lee Ann Norman Jane Nuzzo Jennifer Phillips Miranda Pierce Angela Riechers Elizabeth Stark Ken Switzer Leigh Winter © 2012, Visual Arts Press, Ltd. Visual Arts Journal is published twice a year by the Office of External Relations, School of Visual Arts, 209 East 23 Street, New York, NY 10010-3994. Milton Glaser, acting chairman; David Rhodes, president; Anthony P. Rhodes, executive vice president.

facebook.com/schoolofvisualarts @SVA_News schoolofvisualarts.tumblr.com

photo by Harry Zernike

ADVERTISING SALES 212.592.2207

In “Under the Influence,” acclaimed artist Tim Rollins, an alumnus of the BFA Fine Arts Department who now teaches in the program, pays tribute to longtime faculty member Robert Murray, who took Rollins under his wing in the 1970s, helping him to make work that is “both radical and transcendent.”

As discussed in “Digital Publishing: Unrestricted Access,” a similar ambition brought together two students in the BFA Illustration and Cartooning Department to create a comics magazine specifically for the iPad. Trent Thompson teamed up with classmate Amedeo Turturro to launch INK with the belief that, “In digital, the only thing restricting you from telling your story in the best possible manner is you, the creator.”

You’ll see the benefits of mentor-mentee relationships in “Color Commentary,” which features a selection of work by students graduating from the BFA Photography Department. Through a program begun at SVA 20 years ago, Department Chair Stephen Frailey enlists leading professionals from every corner of the New York arts community to mentor a student pro bono. The experience culminates with an annual exhibition at SVA that is notable for the quality and diversity of the work shown.

As you’ll come to understand as you read this issue, whether their medium is comics or photography, T-shirts or performance, our alumni and faculty continue to push the boundaries of their individual fields—thanks, in no small part, to the relationships formed at SVA. David Rhodes President SPRING 2012

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Front Matter

Investment Portfolio

VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL

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A group of 29 alumni from the MFA Photography, Video and Related Media Department have gotten together to create 29 x 29, a limited-edition photography portfolio intended to support The Center for Arts Education (CAE), a nonprofit organization aimed at ensuring that New York City public school students receive quality arts education all throughout their K-12 years.

Alumnus Christopher Fisher (MFA 2005 Photography, Video and Related Media) approached department chair Charles Traub with the suggestion for the CAE project which would bring his fellow classmates together, while at the same time helping out a charitable cause.

Working with alumnus Hilary Schaffner (MFA 2010 Photography, Video and Related Media), director of the Halsey Mckay Gallery in East Hampton, New York, Fisher reached out to his former classmates, alumni from the years 2004 to 2006, and invited them to participate in the project. The submissions

were selected and compiled to produce a 29-edition portfolio; proceeds from its sale will go to CAE. “Funding for the arts is usually the first thing that gets cut,” says Fisher. “We saw this project as a way we can help out and support the organization’s mission, which as artists seemed like a perfect fit.” “We were delighted to learn of this idea,” says Lori Sherman, director of development at CAE. “It’s an incredible project by a very talented and generous group of artists. We are honored and excited to be involved.”

The signed and numbered portfolios can be purchased via the project’s website mfaphoto.sva.edu/29x29.

An exhibition featuring the work of the participating artists was recently held at the Bruce Silverstein / 20 Gallery in New York City. [Keri Murawski] OPPOSITE: Thomas Holton, Holy Cow, from the series Varanasi Junction, 2009, inkjet print.

ABOVE: Rachel Feierman, Untitled, 2007, inkjet print.

SPRING 2012

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On Thursday, May 10, the SVA community will gather at Radio City Music Hall for the College’s 2012 Commencement exercises. President David Rhodes will confer BFA, MAT, MFA and MPS degrees to the approximately 1,100 members of the class of 2012, with family, friends, faculty and colleagues in attendance.

The event’s featured speaker will be well-known multimedia artist Laurie Anderson. Widely recognized as a pioneer in the use of technology in the arts, she has been an arch observer of the American scene for more than four decades through her work as a visual artist, composer, poet, photographer, filmmaker, vocalist and instrumentalist.

Anderson has toured the United States and internationally with shows ranging from simple spoken word performances to elaborate multimedia events. In 2002, she was appointed the first artist-in-residence for NASA, an experience that culminated in her 2004 touring solo performance, The End of the Moon. In 2008 she completed a twoyear worldwide tour of her performance piece Homeland, which was released to critical acclaim as an album on Nonesuch Records in 2010.

Anderson’s recording career was launched in 1980 with O Superman, a haunting single that rose to No. 2 on the British pop charts. Her album releases include Big Science (1982), Mister Heartbreak (1984), United States Live (1984), Strange Angels (1989), Bright Red (1994), and the soundtrack to her feature film Home of the Brave (1986).

As a composer, Anderson has contributed music to films by Wim Wenders and Jonathan Demme; dance pieces by Trisha Brown, Molissa Fenley and Bill T. Jones; and a theatrical production by Robert LePage. Anderson’s visual work has been presented in major museums throughout the United States and Europe and is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. Following her address to the class of 2012, Anderson will receive an honorary degree from the College.

[Michael Grant] VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL

Stage Presence

Front Matter

Commencement speaker Laurie Anderson. photo © Laurie Anderson

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Prepared to Launch

Allan Chochinov, chair, MFA Products of Design.

Leif Krinkle, director of the forthcoming Visible Futures Lab, during construction. Photo by Frank Bonomo.

In September 2012, SVA will launch a pioneering new graduate program, MFA Products of Design. Chaired by Allan Chochinov, editor in chief of Core77, the highly esteemed industrial design Web publication, the MFA will be an extensive two-year program aimed at teaching students how to reimagine systems, create new types of value, and catalyze positive change through the business of making.

“Most of the coursework will be projectbased, and we will combine emerging science and materials, social systems and business savvy to help students develop the skills and fluency necessary to create positive change,” Chochinov says.

First-year MFA Products of Design students will play a crucial role in defining the program, as they will help shape the curriculum. “The first-year studio experience will be a whirlwind of endeavor,” Chochinov says, “from soldering Arduino boards to working with NGOs; from deep immersion in research and systems thinking to environmental stewardship, manufacturing and economics.”

In addition to gaining valuable skills inside the classroom, students will attend classes off campus at the New York City offices of the design consultancy IDEO and global materials consultancy Material ConneXion. Those who enroll in the program will also be co-mingled with MFA Interaction Design students for two classes, and will occupy studio space adjacent to the new Visible Futures Lab—a state-of-the-art facility stocked with everything from high-tech 3D printers to low-tech shop tools. Says Chochinov: “We are preparing students with the training, education and networks to empower them to fill leadership positions at leading design firms and progressive corporations, to create enterprises, organizations and businesses of their own and to become lifelong ambassadors for the power of design.”

[Ken Switzer] SPRING 2012

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Front Matter

Military Service

SVA has been named to the 2012 list of Military Friendly Schools as one of the top colleges and universities for veterans in the U.S. The list is compiled by the magazine G.I. Jobs, which surveyed more than 8,000 schools across the nation to determine which institutions are most welcoming and offer the best value.

The list reflects institutional support in the form of veterans’ counselors and advisors, clubs and networking opportunities, schedule flexibility, and scholarships and tuition discounts. SVA is the only college of art and design in the state of New York to earn the designation.

In fact, SVA has a long history of being “military friendly.” When the College was founded in 1947 by the late Silas H. Rhodes, himself a World War II veteran, most of its students were on the GI Bill, the 1944 law entitling service members to an affordable education after discharge. In the decades since, SVA has counted numerous veterans on the faculty and in the student body.

Among the 48 veterans currently enrolled is Michael Schmidt, a student in the BFA Photography Department who was a search-and-rescue coordinator in the Coast Guard from 2004 to 2010, first serving in Honolulu, and then New York. The Post-9/11 GI Bill pays VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL

Schmidt’s tuition and departmental fees, and he receives a stipend for books and supplies. “I’ve always said the best thing I ever did in my life was join the military,” says Schmidt, adding, “I’m now glad to say the best thing I have ever done is follow my dreams,” in reference to his decision to study photography. Since arriving at SVA, Schmidt has had work published in The Washington Post, Popular Photography and other publications.

The Military Friendly Schools list is published in the annual Guide to Military Friendly Schools, which G.I. Jobs distributes to hundreds of thousands of active and former military personnel each fall. The list is also available as a searchable database online at www.militaryfriendlyschools.com.

[Michael Grant] LEFT: Michael Schmidt, Yves Profile, 2011, digital photograph.

RIGHT: Michael Schmidt, Spit Shine, 2011, digital photograph.

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Four Score Since 1932, the Whitney Biennial—the signature exhibition of the Whitney Museum of American Art and one of the art world’s most highly anticipated events— has kept a firm finger on the pulse of contemporary artistic practice. Of the 51 emerging and established artists whose work appears in the 2012 Biennial (on view through May 27, with additional programming continuing through June 10), four are SVA faculty or alumni—Liz Deschenes (faculty member in the MFA Photography, Video and Related Media Department), Andrea Fraser (1983 Fine Arts), Matt Hoyt (BFA 2000 Fine Arts) and Sam Lewitt (BFA 2004 Fine Arts).

Since the early 1990s, Liz Deschenes has been making work that examines the variable nature of photography. For her, abstraction seems most interesting when it is revealed through the exploration of more antiquated imaging processes.

Performance artist Andrea Fraser is most well-known for risqué and controversial works that turn a critical eye on the business of art and its institutional systems of support. “All of my work is about what we want from art, what collectors want, what artists want from collectors, what museum audiences want,” Fraser said in a 2004 New York Times article about her video Untitled (2003), in which she filmed herself having sex with an unidentified American collector.

Matt Hoyt’s unassuming sculptures are usually displayed in group­ings on wooden shelves. Although they look like rocks or broken pottery he might have collected on a trail walk, the forms are carefully and meticulously

constructed. Hoyt’s patina-covered objects—made of melted tape, plastic, resin—suggest mutability and are rendered in an intimate scale.

Photographer and sculptor Sam Lewitt explores the connection between language, images and the technologies of print production. New York Times art critic Roberta Smith describes his work as creating a “hermetic, oddly elegiac atmosphere regarding books, the storage and organization of knowledge and advertising…” and having “rather exquisite beauty as an entity.”

For more information about the Whitney Biennial 2012, visit whitney.org.

[Lee Ann Norman] Sam Lewitt, Untitled (material for Fluid Employment), 2012, digital photograph. © Sam Lewitt; courtesy the artist and Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York.

SPRING 2012

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Front Matter

Small Talk

Cheryl Heller

IN THE FALL 2012 SEMESTER, SVA PLANS TO LAUNCH A GROUNDBREAKING NEW GRADUATE PROGRAM, MFA DESIGN FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION. CHAIRED BY CHERYL HELLER, FACULTY MEMBER AND BOARD CHAIR OF INNOVATION NETWORK POPTECH AND CEO OF HELLER COMMUNICATION DESIGN, THE TWO-YEAR PROGRAM WILL TEACH STUDENTS HOW TO USE DESIGN THINKING TO BRING ABOUT POSITIVE SOCIAL CHANGE. HELLER RECENTLY DISCUSSED HER VISION FOR THE PROGRAM WITH VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL.

What kind of students do you think will apply?

Designers looking for meaningful and engaging professional work. Graduates in other disciplines who want to learn to harness the power of design to create positive impact. Social entrepreneurs who want the skills and knowledge to achieve their mission more quickly and fully. Professionals who have been working in business and want to play a more central, strategic role in their industry.

Anyone who wants to have a successful, fulfilling career by turning their good intentions into positive outcomes and use design to drive innovation in businesses, communities and cultures.

What do you hope students will get out of the program?

They will graduate knowing what aspect of design for social innovation they want to work in, because they will have experienced them all. They will have deep, diverse experiences—and relationships—that will help them attract the best jobs. Our graduates will not only be prepared to play transformative roles in business and society, they will already be skilled and experienced in doing so.

[Ken Switzer]

photo by Thatcher Cook

VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL

What are the goals of MFA Design for Social Innovation?

MFA Design for Social Innovation at SVA will prepare the next design leaders in social innovation, and accelerate the impact of social innovation everywhere through design. Social innovation design has application wherever innovation is needed: in every business, mission-based organization, community, society and government. The era of businesses controlling the future without involving society in its creation has ended. Lasting change will take place only through innovation that engages all disparate stakeholders and aligns them around a common vision that all can see, and to which they are ready and willing to contribute. This is the role of design for social innovation, and these are the next innovation leaders— the people who will help turn complex challenges into actionable opportunities, and create the integrated systems and processes that will lead to a vibrant, ethically responsible future.

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Cultural Impact

photos courtesy of the MPS Art Therapy Department

Public Service Announcement Students in the MFA Social Documentary Film Department at SVA are gaining valuable firsthand experience in the field while at the same time helping to support the efforts of half a dozen local not-for-profit organizations. Under the direction of faculty members Joshua Bennett and Bernardo Ruiz, first-year students in the Producing 1 class have been working together in small groups to research, shoot and edit three- to five-minute films about the work of these nonprofits. The organizations can then use the films for fund-raising, promotion and distribution via social media to raise awareness for their causes.

A natural fit with the mission of the MFA Social Documentary program, this ongoing departmental initiative to unite the talents of emerging filmmakers with advocacy and service organizations began last year with a class project under the direction of faculty member Michael Kantor. The project resulted in a short film made for Chess-in-the-Schools, a nonprofit that works with New York City public schoolchildren to improve academic performance through teaching

the game of chess. As Ruiz says, “This assignment has the dual benefit of allowing smart, budding documentarians to create a short film for a worthy cause and to give some nonprofits a tool to elevate their outreach through high-quality mini-documentaries.”

The organizations selected by the students for this year’s assignment included: Dance for PD, which arranges for professionally trained dancers to teach movement and stretching to people with Parkinson’s disease; Make the Road, a Brooklyn-based community building, education and social justice organization; Meaningful World, a group that organizes humanitarian outreach programs, workshops and publications; the Sadie Nash Leadership Project, an organization that focuses on mentoring and leadership training for young women; Workforce Enterprises, which offers job training programs to build careers in digital printing; and Visiting Neighbors, which offers support services to the elderly. The resulting short documentaries will be screened on campus in the SocDoc Theater this spring before circulating at fund-raisers around the city and shared across the Web. [Keri Murawski]

For three weeks in the summer of 2011, the MPS Art Therapy Department conducted an intensive internship and multicultural training program at an elementary school in the Costa Rican town of Liberia. The program—actually a three-credit graduate course—was carried out in collaboration with Asociación Artística para Niños (ASART), a community-based organization that provides arts instruction to children in need in both Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

Through the program, six MPS Art Therapy students gained international experience—part of a growing trend in the field—and were immersed in Costa Rican culture by living with families near the school. On-site and small-group supervision and multicultural coursework was provided by SVA faculty member and licensed art therapist Liz DelliCarpini; Spanish language instruction and orientation to the area was provided by ASART staff. Students explored how the culture of a Spanish-speaking Central American community affects the therapeutic process; they were provided with opportunities to reflect on their work with clients and the community and to further their development as artists-as-therapists.

Students took an active role in the peer group supervision process and spoke out about their concerns and needs as they related to their work at the school.

Culture, ethnicity, race, and economic and political factors all have profound effects on both individuals and groups; understanding how these factors influence the therapeutic process is imperative for effective assessment and clinical intervention. The MPS Art Therapy Department continues to broaden its cultural lens, focusing on social action, community outreach and global perspectives. The department’s Costa Rica program—which is open to students who have completed their first year of graduate art therapy study, as well as recent graduates—will take place again this coming summer. [Aaron Cockle] SPRING 2012

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What’s in Store

Bag the Habit Holly Tienken and Liz Long www.bagthehabit.com Various items, $7–$42 Bag the Habit was born in 2006 in a small Jersey City, New Jersey, teashop where Liz Long worked and Holly Tienken (MFA 2001 Design) was a regular customer.

The shop was a popular meeting spot for many of the city’s artistic and entrepreneurial communities, in fact the Bag the Habit logo was conceived on a bench outside and the brand was launched with an exhibition featuring bag designs by 25 local artists. The core philosophy of the company is creativity and collaboration and Tienken and Long work directly with suppliers in both the U.S. and China to try to integrate sustainable practices into the supply chain and to partner closely with brands to encourage reusability.

Bag the Habit is committed to the use of eco-textiles and was the first company to produce a full line of shopping bags using exclusively 100% recycled textiles.

Bag the Habit offers a retail line as well as custom-made bags to fit a variety of shopping needs. The retail line includes the Luxe Tote and a fivebag Market Set, both made from 100% recycled polyester. The bags—which come in a variety of patterns and colors, are washing machine friendly and have a zippered pocket that fits the entire bag inside—can hold more than 35 pounds.

There are also reusable Produce Bags that are made from Repreve yarn, a product of recycled plastic bottles and manufacturing discards. Custom orders offer all of these same features and can be dyed to match any Pantone color.

[Dan Halm]

To submit a product for What's in Store, please send information to news@sva.edu.

VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL

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Elizabeth Peyton Beach Towel Elizabeth Peyton (BFA 1987 Fine Arts) Art Production Fund 60x70” cotton beach towel, $95

Game of Thrones – The Complete First Season Director (3 episodes) Dan Minahan (BFA 1987 Film and Video) HBO Home Video DVD/Blu-ray, 5-disk box set, $59.99/$79.99

Carrier Pigeon: Illustrated Fiction and Fine Art Matt Barteluce, Kristy Caldwell, Ray Jones, Russ Spitkovsky and Bruce Waldman www.carrierpigeonmag.com and selected bookstores Softcover, $25 What started as an idea of a small group of students and faculty in the graduate illustration department at the School of Visual Arts in the spring of 2010 has developed into Carrier Pigeon: Illustrated Fiction and Fine Art, a publication being distributed four times a year both online and in more than 25 bookstores in New York City.

Through a fund-raising campaign by way of the online money-raising platform Kickstarter, Carrier Pigeon’s founders (Matt Barteluce, Kristy Caldwell, Christopher Darling, Ray Jones and Russ Spitkovsky) raised more than $10,000 to print its first issue. Editor-in-chief Spitkovsky (BFA 2003 Illustration, MFA 2009 Illustration as Visual Essay), along with SVA faculty member Bruce Waldman and a small group of others, has turned the Robert Blackburn print shop on West 39th Street into an afterhours office for the magazine. There the group gathers around giant metal tables amid rolls of newsprint and oversize presses to discuss layout, content, advertising and distribution.

Spitkovsky explained the reasons he and the others created Carrier Pigeon: “We started the magazine completely out of frustration. We were tired of complaining about everything wrong with the world, so we decided to do something that we thought would be right and we could have a realistic hand in changing. The magazine is basically aimed at everyone who likes writing and art.”

“Carrier Pigeon is a quarterly publication that merges illustration—still considered by some to be a lower art form—fiction and fine art,” says Kristy Caldwell (MFA 2010 Illustration as Visual Essay). “We pay a lot of attention to the print quality, so that each contribution looks and feels as cared for, or legitimate, as the contents of any highbrow art book. Our stance is that quality fiction can include genre fiction, and quality art can be art that is commercial. Often there is crossover between our fine artists and illustrators.”

Each issue has six illustrated pieces of writing, six artist portfolios, illustrated end sheets and a handcrafted piece of art. Art direction is limited, with the staff encouraging the artists, designers and illustrators to engage in creative exploration. Recent issues have featured the work of such legendary SVA figures as Marshall Arisman, Frances Jetter and Bruce Waldman, as well as artists from around the world.

Next time you are in a bookstore, keep an eye out for Carrier Pigeon. The staff is wrapping up its seventh issue and the result will be undeniably curious. [Christopher Darling]

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What’s in Store

DCrit Chapbooks: At Waters’ Edge, Dress, Object Lessons Lulu.com $10 each (or downloaded free of charge) Design is everywhere, or so many people say, and with good reason. But what of writing about design? As its core principle, the MFA Design Criticism program at SVA seeks to address that very concern, using a multidisciplinary approach to research, analysis and dissemination of writerly insights with the intention of informing and motivating both the design geek and the general public.

Challenging the limits of existing design writing venues goes hand-inhand with the type of work students are encouraged to explore as trainees and pioneers in this still-nascent field. In this spirit, D-Crit has initiated a series of chapbooks—small, portable collections of essays produced by students of the course.

Designed by the Walker Art Center Design Studio in Minneapolis, which also developed the D-Crit department’s identity, two books in the series have been published so far, with a third due for release later this spring.

Acting as a sort of anthology to cover the range of topics and voices found in the D-Crit program, each book is based on a different course assignment and is co-edited by a different faculty and student pairing.

The first chapbook, At Water’s Edge, was drawn from Akiko Busch’s Reading Design course and explores aspects of the New York City waterfront. Dress, which this writer co-edited with faculty member Andrea Codrington Lippke and which came out last fall, untangles the “sartorial signifiers” and unique styles of a wide range of public figures—everyone from Julian Schnabel and Dora the Explorer to Steve Jobs and Muammar Gaddafi.

The third book, Object Lessons, co-edited by D-Crit student Cheryl Yau and faculty member Steven Heller, is soon to be released. This volume will delve into the rich narratives that surround found objects—objects ranging from the ubiquitous fire extinguisher to Yorick’s skull featured in Act V of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Students discover the often surprising histories connected with these objects as they trace their provenance through the traditional, hands-on methods that Heller enforces in his course called Designing Research (duly dubbed the “No Google, no Internet course”). [Aileen Kwun]

Overkill: The Art of Tomer Hanuka Tomer Hanuka (BFA 2000 Illustration) Gingko Press Hardcover, 104 pages, $29.95

Brand Thinking and Other Noble Pursuits Debbie Millman (chair, MPS Branding Department) Allworth Press Hardcover, 256 pages, $29.95 VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL

A New Kind of Beauty Phillip Toledano, afterward W.M. Hunt (faculty, BFA Photography Department) Dewi Lewis Publishing Hardcover, 64 pages, $48

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Restless Cinematography by Harris Savides Sony Home Pictures Entertainment Two-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo, $45.99 Annabel, a beautiful and charming terminal-cancer patient, has a deep-felt love of life and the natural world. Enoch is a young man who has dropped out of the business of living after an accident claimed the life of his parents.

When these two, both outsiders, meet—at a funeral—they find unexpected common ground in the way they experience the world. For Enoch, this includes the relationship he has with his best friend, Hiroshi, who happens to be the ghost of a World War II kamikaze fighter pilot. For Annabel, it involves an admiration of Charles Darwin and an interest in how creatures live. Upon learning of Annabel’s imminent demise, Enoch offers to help her face her last days with irreverent abandon—tempting fate, tradition and even death itself.

Directed by Gus Van Sant, with cinematography by Harris Savides (BFA 1982 Film and Video), Restless follows the complex and moving journey of Annabel and Enoch as it moves toward its culmination—the couple’s acceptance of themselves. The cast includes Mia Wasikowska (The Kids Are All Right), Henry Hopper (son of actor Dennis Hopper), Jane Adams (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and Ryo Kase (Letters from Iwo Jima). The Blu-ray release is packed with many bonus features, including deleted scenes, five additional featurettes and Van Sant’s silent version of the film.

[Dan Halm]

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What’s in Store

Orcs: Forged for War Stan Nicholls (author), Joe Flood (illustrator) First Second Books Softcover, 208 pages, $17.99 Orcs: Forged for War is a graphic novel set in author Stan Nicholls’ prose world, Maras-Dantia. In this world, Orcs are intelligent, highly capable creatures far removed from the mindless brute evil stereotypes often found in fantasy. In this graphic work, as in his strictly prose novels in the Orcs series, Nicholls reinterprets the image of the Orcs, evolving them into fierce warriors dedicated to the protection of their realm from the incursion of intrusive humans. Nicholls is aided in this quest by the able pen of SVA alumnus Joe Flood (BFA 2002 Illustration), whose powerful artwork is a perfect blend of deliberate cartooniness and realistic rendering. And while there is a playful air about his art, this is not a novel for the weak of heart or stomach: impalements, beheadings, disembowelments and other forms of violence

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occur frequently and Flood is not shy about depicting these bloody goingson in close-up detail. As the Orcs fly into the frenzy of battle, it is easy to get lost in the kinetic energy of the storytelling, although sometimes at the cost of being able to keep track of the massive number of similar-looking characters. Most well-defined is Captain Stryke, commander of the Wolverines, a ruthless Orc battalion hired to transport a contingent of Goblins on a secret mission to obtain a high-powered weapon for the ruthless human dictator Queen Jennesta. As the body count rises and double-crosses unfold, readers may well wish the story could continue forever. Fantasy has always lent itself well to graphic storytelling and Orcs: Forged for War is a good romp in a totally intriguing world. [Christopher Bussmann]

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Fright Night Directed by Craig Gillespie DreamWorks Pictures DVD/Blu-ray/Blu-ray 3D, $29.99/$39.99/$49.99 Fright Night, a remake of the 1985 horror cult classic of the same name, follows the story of Charley Brewster, a high school senior who suspects that Jerry, his charming new next door neighbor, is a vampire. The film is directed by Craig Gillespie (BFA 1989 Advertising) whose previous works include Lars and the Real Girl, Mr. Woodcock and episodes of the Showtime hit United States of Tara. Fans of the original film will notice some major changes: a shift of location to a sleepy suburb of Las Vegas and—most noticeably—an alteration in the character of washed-up B-movie actor and Fright Night television host Peter Vincent to a Criss Angel-style magician.

Featuring a cast that includes Colin Farrell (A Home at the End of the World), Anton Yelchin (Star Trek), Toni Collette (The Sixth Sense), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad), David Tennant (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) and Imogen Poots (28 Weeks Later), the redo has a playful tongue-incheek tone (as did the original) with just enough horror and suspenseful moments to keep hardcore horror fans interested. With his fine use of color, lighting and the sense of isolation he creates throughout the film, Gillespie proves to be adept in this genre.

The Blu-ray release is packed with bonus features, including the mockumentary “Peter Vincent: Swim Inside My Head,” “The Official How to Make a Funny Vampire Movie Guide,” deleted scenes, a gag reel and the (uncensored) music video “No One Believes Me” by hip-hop artist Kid Cudi, also directed by Gillespie. [Dan Halm]

Bloody Chester Art by Hilary Florido (BFA 2007 Cartooning) First Second Books Softcover, 160 pages, $18.99 Yuko Shimizu Yuko Shimizu (MFA 2003 Illustration as Visual Essay) Gestalten Hardcover, 160 pages, $30

Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship Edward Hemingway (MFA 2002 Illustration as Visual Essay) Putnam Juvenile Hardcover, 32 pages, $16.99

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Hire

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Representing SVA Coast to Coast

BY JENNIFER PHILLIPS

When people think of the Office of Career Development, they most likely imagine internships, résumé writing and job search strategy workshops. While these are, of course, important services that the office provides to SVA students and alumni, there is another side to the story. Through frequent industry outreach we build relationships with external creative professionals—to familiarize them with the caliber of talent coming out of SVA and to create convenient pipelines for these employers to hire the College’s graduates. Additionally, we stay closely connected to SVA alumni who are in positions to hire graduates and are eager to support their fellow alumni.

The Career Development staff not only interacts with New York City-based employers on a daily basis but extends its outreach well beyond the New York metropolitan region—indeed, around the world. One major area of focus is the West Coast of the U.S., particularly Los Angeles. Although New York City has been called the “art capital of the world” since the 1920s, Los Angeles is now a peer in many regards—and is home to the majority of the nation’s film and animation studios.

Additionally, whether they have moved to the West Coast for career opportunities or better weather, Los Angeles and San Francisco are home to the second and third largest number of SVA alumni, respectively, after New York City.

The director of Career Development frequently organizes outreach trips to California. These trips are attended not only by Career Development personnel, but also representatives from the Office of External Relations, the Office of Alumni Affairs and two or three studio departments. This mix of SVA staff and faculty creates a team that is able to cover a great deal of territory in one week—connecting with SVA alumni and employers and bringing a wealth of knowledge and diverse backgrounds to each meeting.

During these trips, SVA representatives reacquaint themselves with alumni at intimate lunches, at studios where they work and at receptions. The goal of these interactions is to learn from alumni about their experiences after leaving the College, including the resources they took advantage of from SVA and also the tools they found on their own or learned from other alumni. Each year, the SVA team learns new ways to better support students and recent graduates. Additionally, we learn how important (or not) the SVA community has been for recent graduates and discuss ways to help them stay better connected. Sometimes these interactions bring together alumni who have worked on the same projects without realizing they shared the same alma mater.

When visiting potential employers, the goals of the SVA team shift somewhat to ensure these employers are not only familiar with the latest developments at SVA, but also that they have convenient ways to tap into the College’s talent.

These meetings allow the team to explore new opportunities to collaborate with employers on educational projects and to trade knowledge about the latest industry developments—from hiring trends to technological advances. Such information is valuable to bring back to campus and better prepare students to step into today’s dynamic workforce.

On the most recent outreach trip to Los Angeles, Career Development coordinated a week of activities for representatives from Career Development; External Relations; Alumni Affairs; BFA Film, Video and Animation; MFA Computer Art; and BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects. The trip was a great success, packed with alumni meetings and a reception in West Hollywood. Additionally, the team visited nearly a dozen studios, including DreamWorks Animation, Walt Disney Animation, Cartoon Network, Sony Pictures Imageworks and Titmouse (founded by SVA alumnus Chris Prynoski).

Whether it involves a flight to California or just a subway ride uptown, Career Development is always eager to meet with employers interested in hiring SVA’s talented students and alumni. Additionally, technology such as videoconferencing makes it easier for staff, faculty, students and alumni to stay better connected between in-person visits. Employers or alumni interested in scheduling a meeting with a representative from Career Development are encouraged to contact the office at 212.592.2370 or cd@sva.edu. ∞ SPRING 2012

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Under the Influence

BY SAMANTHA HOOVER

Robert Murray & Tim Rollins

A look at the lasting influence of a longtime SVA faculty member.

Robert Murray began teaching fine arts at SVA in 1971. “That’s the same year I bought my first airplane,” says Murray. “And 40 years later, I’m still teaching and I’m still flying.” Although Murray was trained as a painter and printmaker, he is primarily a sculptor. He is best known for his monumental abstract works of painted steel and aluminum, which can be found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., and the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.

Originally from Canada, Murray moved to New York in 1960 and was influenced by the sculptor David Smith and especially the painter Barnett Newman, who took him under his wing and introduced him to many of the well-known abstract expressionist painters and sculptors of the day. “Newman was incredibly generous,” Murray says. “He was always talking to and helping out younger artists; he would visit their studios and really spend time with them. He always said, ‘You give as good as you get’—and I always keep that in mind.”

Murray carried on this spirit of generosity as a teacher at SVA, most notably in his relationship with a young student named Tim Rollins, who transferred from the University of

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Maine to study at the College in the mid 1970s. “When Tim first arrived in New York, he was totally overwhelmed,” says Murray.

“He had never been to New York before and he was very shy. At first he really struggled to find his place at SVA.” Rollins turned to Murray for advice and the two became close. “Bob was incredibly warm and really listened to me,” Rollins recalls. “He was so porous and open. He is like his work. He makes steel look fluid—and he himself is fluid. He was ‘down home,’ which was just what I needed.”

After graduating from SVA in 1977, Rollins went on to teach art at a public school in the South Bronx, where he eventually launched an after-school program with a group of middle-school at-risk students who called themselves K.O.S. (Kids of Survival). Together they developed a collaborative strategy by which one person would read aloud from a selected text (often a literary classic) while the other members drew, relating the stories to their own experiences. The project grew rapidly; K.O.S. set up studio space in Chelsea in 1994 and then expanded their workshops to other schools and art institutions nationally and internationally. More than 20 years later, the project continues to flourish. Work done by K.O.S. is in collections of more than 95 museums worldwide and has been exhibited at such institutions as the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Tate Gallery in London; and the Museum of Modern Art. Although the work of Rollins and Murray is quite different, Rollins sees a similarity in their processes. “Bob’s work is really collaborative,” he says. “He has the idea and then works with fabricators to implement it. His work is simultaneously beautiful, classical and radical. That’s what I aim to do with K.O.S.—be both radical and transcendent.” ∞

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LEFT: (Robert Murray) photo by Cintra Lofting.

BELOW: Tim Rollins and K.O.S, Invisible Man (after Ralph Ellison), 2008, matte acrylic and book pages on canvas. Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York.

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Portfolio

BY DAN HALM

Sam Weber “Illustration is one of those weird things where you tend to build your own career depending on what it is you are inclined to show other people [in your portfolio],” says illustrator and SVA faculty member Sam Weber (MFA 2005 Illustration as Visual Essay). His artistic landscape is full of monsters, gothic adventurers, vampires, ominous myths and dark fairy tales—the darker the better, in fact, which is something he has reveled in since childhood. “Work that I consumed at least thematically when I was a child has trickled into my adult professional career,” he says. “I guess it’s a pretty conscious decision. I started doing work mainly for magazines and newspapers, but over the last couple of years, especially with the rise in young adult literature, there’s been a lot of book cover illustration work. I think those projects tend to fit my artistic voice more harmoniously.”

When Weber moved to New York City from Calgary, Alberta, to attend SVA, he was creating large-scale oil paintings and shopping them around. “I enjoyed doing them, but they weren’t getting me the recognition that I wanted, which at the time was from magazines and newspapers,” he says. “I would show my portfolio and they would say nice things, but they weren’t hiring me.”

So he decided to abandon painting—for a while—and begin making ink drawings. The response was immediate and positive. “People hired me for jobs and it was allowing me to tell stories that were more specific to the client’s needs,” he says. However, over time he began to add color, digitally, to the drawings and slowly they turned back into paintings. “I’m definitely one of those people who are afraid of sudden change,” says Weber. “First I added a little bit of paint to the ink, then a little more paint and a little less ink. Slowly, the paint replaced the ink. Now it’s mainly watercolor and acrylic, finished in Photoshop.”

Weber now uses the computer in the end stages of all his work, which allows for color alterations or revisions that the client may request. “For better or worse, a lot of clients now expect images to be very flexible,” he says. “You VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL

need to be able to change a blue dress to a red one on a whim—and relatively quickly.”

Whether tackling a book cover or a magazine illustration, Weber brings the same intensity of composition and style to all of his work, the only difference being the time frame he has to create the piece. “If you’re doing something for The New York Times you may have a couple of days, if you’re lucky,” he says. “If it’s for the op-ed page, sometimes you have an afternoon. But I still use the same language as I would with a painting that could take me a couple of weeks.”

To help in the creation of his paintings he’s been able to tap into the resources of New York City—using models and actors to portray his subjects and renting period costumes.

“I love the research that goes into the creation of an illustration,” Weber says, “And it’s nice to work with real things for reference, as opposed to just low resolution JPEGs that you find online.

You can rent a great costume and hire someone attractive to wear it, and pose them how you want, getting all the wrinkles, folds, highlights and reflected light just right.”

Weber’s illustrations have appeared on book covers for Random House, Scholastic, Penguin, DC/Vertigo Comics, Tor Books, as well as in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Playboy, Flaunt, National Geographic, and Time magazine. In addition, he worked as a concept artist for the Universal Film, Snow White and the Huntsman. He has received numerous awards from the Society of Illustrators and Spectrum Fantastic Art and in 2009 was named one of Print Magazine’s Twenty under Thirty.

“I think invariably if you want to be successful, you have to make work that speaks to you personally,” says Weber.

With that in mind the bleak, the dark, and the troubled all have a champion in Sam Weber.

To view more of Weber’s work, visit www.sampaints.com.

Sam Weber, Honey, 2010, watercolor, acrylic and digital.

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Sam Weber, Apocalypse Soon, 2011, cut paper, acrylic and digital.

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Sam Weber, The Crow Procedure, 2009, acrylic and digital.

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Sam Weber, Blood, 2010, watercolor, acrylic and digital.

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Sam Weber, Captain Beatty, 2011, watercolor, acrylic and digital.

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Sam Weber, Rotten Beast, 2011, acrylic, watercolor and digital.

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Color Commentary

BY DAN HALM

Mentors The Mentors program was established by the BFA Photography Department at SVA in 1992 to introduce new talent to the New York City arts community and to cultivate relationships between established and emerging artists. Stephen Frailey, chair of the department says, “Our mentors are from every corner of the arts community—they help inspire our students to examine and improve their work and to grow as professional photographers.”

Under this program, selected BFA Photography students are paired with a mentor that best suits their needs, personality and the type of work they produce. This year, more than 70 students were included in the program; mentors included Waris Ahluwalia, jewelry designer; photographers Tina Barney and Anthony Goicolea; writer and critic Philip Gefter; Yossi Milo, of the Yossi Milo Gallery; and Jodi Peckman, director of photography at Rolling Stone. The process of matching student to mentor is long and arduous, but has resulted in many successes, including landing work for students.

Each spring, the Mentors program culminates with an exhibition at the Visual Arts Gallery of work created during the partnerships; many different types of photography are always on display—fine art, commercial (including fashion and portraiture) and experimental. A selection of work by students involved in the program appears on the following pages, along with explanations from Frailey as to why each student was paired with his or her particular mentor.

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Student: May Lin Le Goff Mentor: Jimmy Moffat, partner, Art + Commerce Le Goff is creating some of the most playful and experimental fashion work being done in fourth year.

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Student: Samuel Dole Mentor: Dan Estabrook, photographer Both Dole and Estabrook are interested in antiquated photographic processes, historical pictorial and portrait references.

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Student: Nir Arieli Mentor: Tracy Doyle, executive creative director, Box Studios Arieli is interested in moving from still to moving images, and placing his work in a ‘commercial context’; this is a specialty of Box Studios.

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OPPOSITE AND ABOVE: Student: Chloe Beck Mentor: Kathy Ryan, photo editor, New York Times Magazine Beck’s work involves references to silent film, theater and history; Ryan is interested in complex narratives.

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Student: Sean Muller Mentor: Neil Labute, playwright Both share an urgent language and voice.

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Student: Sara Mayko Mentor: Doug Dubois, photographer As a photographer, Dubois is interested in portraiture that mines the emotional and psychological layering of family.

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Liz Magic Laser, Chase, 2009-2010, two-channel video, 2 minutes and 145 minutes.

At Risk

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BY KATRINA CHAMBERLIN

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For decades, risk-taking and creating unnerving situations— often riling up audiences in the process—have long been a part of artistic endeavors. Recall that the Armory Show of 1913, where “modern art” was first presented to Americans, caused an uproar in the press and the art world. That same year an audience riot erupted during the premiere of Igor Stravinsky and Vaslav Nijinksy’s groundbreaking The Rite of Spring. Howls of protest went up when Pablo Picasso’s seminal painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon was first exhibited in 1917. And there was a lot of talk when Chris Burden had himself shot in the arm in 1971. Memorable moments all. In fact, there are those who say that without taking risks an artist will almost always produce work that is formulaic at best.

As a genre, performance art is inherently risky business. Live, interactive art often produces a gut reaction from the members of the audience—sometimes unpleasant ones. Audience members or unwitting participants may dislike finding themselves as part of the action, although others bask in the experience.

Last year, SVA Visual and Critical Studies faculty member Liz Magic Laser was commissioned to create a piece for the highly acclaimed Performa Biennial 2011. The resulting work, I Feel Your Pain, premiered at the SVA Theatre. Inspired by the Living Newspaper performances of the Russian Bolshevik Revolution, in I Feel Your Pain, Laser directed professional actors to re-create real-life interactions and speeches by wellknown pundits and politicians. Some familiar (and awkward) interchanges between public figures are turned into romantic flirtations or spats between lovers. Instead of performing on stage, the actors were mixed in with the audience throughout the theater. To complicate the work further, the action was caught on camera and the images of both actors and audience members seated around them were live-streamed onto a big onstage screen. The whole experience created multiple layers of perception. The live camera recorded awkward flirtation from actors playing the likes of Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck, while nearby audience members looked forward to (or cowered from) seeing themselves on camera. Laser says, “I wanted to use both the audience members’ built-in expectations of the power of the silver screen and their perceptions of politicians as public ‘actor.’”

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Likewise, in her work chase from 2009–2010, Laser had actors perform versions of Bertolt Brecht’s 1926 play Man Equals Man in the ATM vestibules of neighborhood banks around New York City while customers streamed in and out.

Laser admits the piece took major risks by being so public and was inevitably subject to disruptions, including actors occasionally being ejected by security. What now seems prophetic of Occupy Wall Street protest tactics, Laser points at our condition of corporate dependence by having people experience a sophisticated theatrical event in an ATM vestibule.

It takes a lot of courage to bite the hand that feeds you, and SVA alumna Andrea Fraser (BFA 1983) risks her stature and reputation by taking jabs at the world that supports her.

Fraser is an established performance artist who has carved out a niche in what is called the Institutional Critique art movement.

Her work includes live performance art, video and writing. In her 1989 work Museum Highlights, she asked visitors to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to participate in a guided tour of that vaunted institution. The work, which is a serious monologue full of comic irony, opens up a conversation about the role of the museum, the gallery, the collector and the artist in the machinations of the art world. In the work, she speaks

Liz Magic Laser, I Feel Your Pain, 2011, performance.

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LEFT: Andrea Fraser, Museum Highlights, 1989, performance.

OPPOSITE: Élan Jurado, detail from Twine, 2011, performance.

candidly about the parts played by artists, collectors and institutions in the manufacture of successful art careers. The work reveals a complex web of money, networks, brown-nosing and all manner of scheming and dealing. As an artist whose work is shown in museums, major galleries and collected by important collectors, Fraser recognizes her own relationship to the art world and uses humor to skewer it.

Perhaps the most familiar form of risk is that which pushes physical limitations. Throughout the history of performance art, endurance has always held a treasured place in its heart. Often pushing the body to its physical limits, artists have endured gunshot wounds, year-long isolation and self-imposed restraints. Mirroring extreme censorship, political violence or the fight against disease, artists have risked their lives and safety by becoming vulnerable in front of an audience. Current SVA fine arts graduate student Élan Jurado is one such artist, taking his body to a place of pain in the same way an athlete might strain to win a race. In the work A Line Longs to Be a Circle, 2011, Jurado is suspended with a black rope contorting to create geometric shapes and lines. What appears clean and complete in the photographic or video documentation is at odds with what is gradually falling apart in real life. As he continues his routine, Jurado’s muscles are twisting and shaking, lips are turning pale blue and white and trapped blood is burning on the tips of his fingers. While full nudity and black bondage rope may seem to point at the S&M culture of pleasure through pain, VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL

Live, interactive art often produces a gut reaction from members of the audience— sometimes unpleasant ones.

Jurado prefers to view his work as strength training; he refers to grand theories of evolution to get to what he calls the “root of the gesture.” He chooses to be nude in order to display the deterioration of his body under the strain of endurance. He is interested in the visceral experience of the body. In a sense, Jurado uses his body as a visual medium and choreographs a “sport” into a precise but painful dance where “failure” is the final goal.

Artists like Liz Magic Laser, Andrea Fraser and Élan Jurado boldly use the risky nature of performance to create experiential art that requires that we witness an event to make it real. Artists take risks to make us blush on camera, to shatter our images of pure unadulterated art, and to wince in recognition of the fallibility of the human body. Author and critic Peggy Phelan writes “Performance becomes… itself through disappearance.” Perhaps the most obvious risk for live art is its being forgotten. Unless there is an audience to witness its creation and to retell the sequence of events, performance art is a temporary experience arranged and choreographed for a set time and place. Live art offers us the opportunity to participate by simply being present. ∞

Q+A: David Caspe

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It’s been a happy beginning in television for comedy writer David Caspe (MFA 2005 Fine Arts), whose first TV pitch, Happy Endings, has become a hit series on ABC. He’s also a sought-after feature film writer; his screenplay Donny’s Boy was picked up by Sony and Happy Madison Productions (and will star Adam Sandler) and is scheduled for June release. He also pitched and sold another screenplay to Charlize Theron, which she will star in and produce.

BY JAMES GRIMALDI

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photo by Ian Durney

Writing is actually a second career for Caspe, who in 2006 had solo exhibitions in New York and Los Angeles of large-format photography, videos, sculptures and mixed-media work. But at the end of that year, at age 26, Caspe switched gears and began to pursue a writing career.

Cast of Happy Endings (L-R): Zachary Knighton, Eliza Coupe, Damon Wayans Jr., Elisha Cuthbert, Adam Polly and Casey Wilson. © Craig Sjodin/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.

Am I right that you studied fine art at SVA? Yes, but the teachers pushed us in many different directions, and I started to do video art. As I started to do more videos, I would write little things for them and then put out casting calls—at SVA you get a lot of free actors—and then I got to a place where I wanted to write more than I wanted to make traditional visual art, as far as painting and drawing goes. Even though I still love it and do it all the time on my own, I don’t show at any galleries anymore.

Are there things that you learned at SVA that help you in what you’re doing today?

Many things I learned at SVA help me because it’s all really related. You have an idea and you want to put it out there in some medium, whether it’s a screenplay or a TV show or a painting or a piece of video art. I know it sounds super-cheesy, but all these things are related in that you have an idea and how do you want to show that idea. For instance, composition is a big part of shooting anything. Working with painting and drawings for so many years helped me develop a sense of where things should be in a frame, which is not so different from where things should appear in a shot on a TV show.

And then there’s the editing. All the videos I made at SVA I edited on a computer. That ended up paying off big time, because I’m heavily involved in the editing process on the show.

And having spent endless hours sitting at SVA working on some little piece of animation, just cutting frame by frame, using trial and error to figure out things like, wow, this feels like it needs a beat before he says such-and-such to make this emotion land.

All those rhythms and all that stuff is still applicable and a huge help to me.

And the great thing about the MFA at SVA is you make whatever you want. It’s not split up between painters and video artists and sculpture students. Everyone’s together. That exposed me to all these ideas. That’s a big part of sitting down to write. It can be so many different things.

What would you say inspired you most to make the change from fine art to screenwriting?

I don’t know if any one thing inspired me to make the switch.

I have to say a lot of it was luck—and moving to Los Angeles.

I’ve obviously always been a huge fan of movies, so after I finished the MFA program I decided to move to L.A. and give the movies a shot. I started writing screenplays, and wrote one that happened to get into the right hands and it sold and that started a feature-writing career. And then after a few years of that I ended up pitching a TV show. It’s kinda crazy lucky that it’s gone this far.

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What advice would you give graduating students who want to get into screenwriting?

I’d say, if you’ve got a film script that you think is good, move to L.A. and become an assistant or a PA. That way you meet other assistants—PAs and other people in the business and you can start throwing the script at everyone around you, and get anyone who will read it to read it.

Honestly, if you move out here and you’re a young person, you’re going to start hanging out with people who are your age, who are going to be assistants at agencies or production companies. You find your core group, and people feed off one another to help get their work out there. In my opinion, if you’re not in Los Angeles you’re at a huge disadvantage.

I’m not a real expert on this subject, but that is what I’d tell a student if I was having coffee with them.

But, the work has to be good. Because the bottom line is that people want to make money. People want to read a great script. Even though everyone’s first instinct out here is to say ‘no,’ every exec, every assistant, reads 15 scripts a night.

They want desperately for one of them to be great—to make a lot of money. If you focus on the work, things can happen.

In addition to writing strong screenplays, you clearly have a talent for pitching them. You pitched your TV show Happy Endings to ABC with tremendous success, and I know that you pitched your feature film script Sensei to Charlize Theron, which she agreed to produce and star in. Many screenwriting students struggle with pitching. Could you give them any advice about that?

Please tell the students: no one likes pitching. That should make them feel better right off the bat. There are some actual performing comedians who go in to pitch and crush, and are absolutely hilarious because they do improv or stand-up. But

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Still from the Happy Endings episode “The Butterfly Effect Effect.” © Mitchell Haddad/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.

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otherwise, an exec is aware that they’re hearing something from a writer. They’re not expecting the writer to put on a hilarious unbelievable performance. So writers should take that pressure off themselves.

I tend to think if the idea is strong, the pitch will work.

You should pitch it to yourself; tell the idea as short and quick as you can. If it’s a comedy, you gotta get some laughs, obviously, but if it’s a drama go in and pitch it to execs as if they’re watching a movie or you’re telling them a story. Just tell the story, and edit it with all the biggest plot elements, which will keep them into it. Try to keep it to 10 to 12 minutes.

You’ve written an upcoming Adam Sandler film I Hate You, Dad and also created your own TV series. For you as a writer, what is the biggest difference between film and TV? The role of the TV writer and the film writer are polar opposites.

In TV, the writer is the boss. In movies, the writer is more of an employee, not involved with casting or picking a director. In TV, even as a staff writer, you’re on set the entire time for the episode you wrote, giving notes to the director, pitching to the actors. You’re involved with casting, wardrobe—everything.

I had come off 15 years of painting, which is a very solitary endeavor. From that, I went to writing features, which also means being alone in a room. And suddenly I’m on this TV show together with 12 other people in the writer’s room— not to mention the entire crew and the executive producers, editors and actors. So it was a big adjustment. Writing with other people, for me, is so much better. You put 12 people into a room—especially for a comedy—trying to come up with the funniest thing for someone to say or funniest thing to happen or the funniest story. You’re just bound to get a better product with 12 people than with just one mind. Time is also an issue. No one person could come up with 22 episodes of a television series.

How do you choose writers?

I read writing samples. Traditionally, people only want to read specs [episode scripts] for existing shows—for say 30 Rock.

But I like to read original pilots, because I can see how a new writer will be funny on their own, and how they would structure a story completely on their own. Sometimes it’s harder to tell with a spec, because writers may rely on the preexisting structure of a show. You read their samples, and then you meet them, and then you decide. For features, the only thing that matters is what’s on the page. If someone comes up with a VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL

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Please tell the students: no one likes pitching.

That should make them feel better right off the bat.

great feature, it doesn’t matter who they are, how they behave, or anything. With TV, it’s different, because people spend a lot of time together in a room pitching, so it actually matters what you’re like. You can be an amazing writer, but if you’re an asshole that no one wants to work with, it’s not going to work.

A TV writing room is really an office environment.

Still from the Happy Endings episode “The Butterfly Effect Effect.” © Mitchell Haddad/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.

Your sitcom Happy Endings is visionary in its courage to break TV stereotypes. Alone, you created and pitched original characters to the network, your most original character being of course Max Blum, an openly gay man who is into sports, guns and video games. You’ve been quoted as saying you didn’t do it on purpose and that you did not have an agenda. However, Max has had an impact on popular culture, and gives hope to gay teenagers struggling with things like suicidal feelings or being bullied. I think a character like Max could save lives.

You’re actually making the world a much better place.

That’s incredibly sweet of you to say. That thought would never have entered my head, but if there’s any truth to that, it would make me feel very good. That’s more important than the show doing well and or any of the other stuff. If it’s actually helping 15-year-old kids feel better about themselves, that’s more than I assumed I would ever do with my life. And the thing I would tell all those kids is this: Try if you can just to make it to college and get out of whatever town you’re in, move to New York or L.A., because no one here gives a shit if you’re gay or straight.

I just want to end by saying that your groundbreaking TV show is already having a positive impact on society, and that you have inspired a new generation of screenwriters with your talent and your courage. ∞ SPRING 2012

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T-shirt design by M. Tony Peralta; photo by Ruben Henriquez.

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Ready to Wear The basic white cotton T-shirt, shaped like the 20th letter of the alphabet, was introduced around the time of World War I by either the British Navy or the French Army, depending on which historian you consult. In any event, American servicemen quickly adopted the T as a comfortable lightweight layer to protect tender skin from scratchy wool uniforms, and by the 1930s retailers like Hanes, Fruit of the Loom, and Sears Roebuck were selling T-shirts as underwear to the public. After World War II, when returning U.S. troops began wearing their undershirts as outerwear, the T-shirt became a wardrobe staple, jumping into the American fashion mainstream practically overnight. Then, in the 1950s, the simple, close-fitting white T saw a huge boost in popularity when Hollywood actors Marlon Brando, Paul Newman and James Dean fired up their onscreen sex appeal in this suddenly very modern-looking bit of apparel.

The democratic appeal of the T-shirt has only grown stronger over time. T-shirt design continued to advance during the volatile 1960s when Ts joined the protest poster and handout flyer as part of the vocabulary of dissent; suddenly it was chic to wear your message on your chest. The 1970s saw the rise of the concert T-shirt as a way to advertise a wearer’s love

BY ANGELA RIECHERS

for a favorite band, and during the ’80s Don Johnson rocked a T-shirt under his Armani suit jacket on the popular TV show Miami Vice. Today, limited edition handmade artists’ Ts are a means of personal expression—a pop culture phenomenon, worn by everyone from students to celebrities. Collectible yet accessible, inexpensive and easy to acquire, they are art within everyone’s reach.

Perhaps as a reaction to the wealth of well-designed but nevertheless mass-market T-shirts on offer at retailers such as Urban Outfitters, people are beginning to seek out more original wearable artwork. The trend reflects an overall renewed interest in unique handcrafted items in our ever-moretechnical world. Type “custom T-shirts” into the search box on Etsy.com, the online marketplace for handmade creations, and you get more than 25,000 hits. “Independent artists now have an opportunity to go as wild as they want to in the process of carving out a niche,” says Chappell Ellison, a 2010 graduate of SVA’s D-Crit MFA program who blogs for Etsy. “And do-ityourself screen printing kits are even available at Wal-Mart, proof that T-shirt printing has been truly democratized to an affordable level. The rise in availability of cheap, plain T-shirts has really bolstered the independent artist looking to get his or her graphics onto wearable items.”

Printmaker and illustrator Dominick Rapone is the founder of Beastly Prints Artist Editions and the manager of the print shop at the School of Visual Arts BFA Fine Arts Department. Rapone sells limited edition T-shirts based on his fine art prints—19th-century engravings of sea life, anatomical diagrams, skulls and botanicals collaged together into surrealfeeling mash-ups. The delicate shirt designs, with a macabre sense of humor, transcribe his work directly into a portable SPRING 2012

T-shirt designs by Jeffrey Everett.

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format with nothing lost in the jump from fine art to wearable goods.

Many beginning T-shirt artists use competition websites like Threadless (where viewers vote for their favorite designs and the winning designer gets a contract to produce and sell the shirts), as well as TeeFury, Design by Humans and Imperfect Articles as jumping-off points to start a business. “There’s a builtin community and social media aspect to these sites that give a helpful creative push to an artist—seeing what other designers are up to can improve the quality of the product,” Rapone says.

Collectible yet accessible, inexpensive and easy to acquire, they are art within everyone’s reach.

“And once they’ve had some success, artists can move on to more individual venues like Etsy or their own website to sell the designs exclusively.”

The ability to quickly produce a design in direct response to an event has also added to the rising popularity of artists’ Ts over the last few years. Rapone recalls one SVA student who rushed into the print studio on the morning Michael Jackson’s death was announced. She cranked out 50 memorial T-shirts, set up a small table outside of the Apollo Theater on 125th Street in Manhattan that afternoon, and sold out by that evening.

The immediacy of the production process appeals to artist M. Tony Peralta. Peralta took a number of continuing ed classes in printmaking at SVA when he realized silk screening would allow him to quickly distribute his work to a wider audience. After an overwhelmingly positive reaction to his painting Gaza Strip (aka Freedom) in a 2004 group show, Peralta screened the image onto T-shirts and sold them in New York street wear boutiques like Vault and The Brooklyn Circus.

His Ts are art as politics

T-shirt design by Jeffrey Everett.

in the best protest tradition—not content to be simply goodlooking, they’re confrontational shirts with a message. “My art is socially conscious and very direct because I don’t know how to B.S.,” he says. His most recent project, Complejo (not appearing on T-shirts as yet, though he’s considering it), takes a hard look at what it means to be Afro-Latino in America today. For inspiration, Peralta draws on a diverse group of artists, including Frida Kahlo, Aleksandr Rodchenko, Shepherd Fairey and Keith Haring, and his Ts address subjects ranging from the “theft” of Manhattan from the Lenape Indians in the 17th century to the current gentrification of uptown Manhattan. His work has a bold street-graphic quality—the anti-gentrification T shows two pistols with their barrels crossed in an X, centered within the slogan “Defend Uptown.”

Freelance artist and screen printer Jessica Crosby, who graduated from SVA’s BFA Illustration Department in 2001, generates ideas for her decorative pattern-driven T-shirts from a very different starting point. Her inspiration comes from small-run, hand-printed artists’ books (especially from The NY Art Book Fair held annually at MoMA PS1, the Museum of SPRING 2012

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OPPOSITE: Inspirational photographs from Jessica Crosby’s recent trip to Istanbul which found their way into her latest designs.

RIGHT: Tank top designs by Jessica Crosby.

Modern Art’s outpost in Queens) as well as from her travels to far-flung places around the globe. “On a recent trip to Istanbul and Abu Dhabi, I picked up a lot of pattern and graphic inspiration,” Crosby says. “It was amazing to be in mosques and palaces that dated back to the 1500s, seeing the Iznik tiles, the rugs and tapestries, the patterns and colors, and think about how to apply all of that to something new.” She uses discharge inks—similar to bleach, they remove color from the background fabric instead of adding a layer of pigment—to create a soft, well-worn feel that makes her Ts seem vintage instead of brand-new.

Jeffrey Everett, who graduated in 2004 from the MFA in Design program, started his company El Jefe Design in 2003 to produce T-shirts as his senior thesis project. El Jefe has evolved into a multidisciplinary firm that has won multiple awards from the AIGA and the Art Directors Club. Current projects for a wide variety of entertainment, corporate and nonprofit clients include band posters and, yes, T-shirts. For his master’s thesis, Everett wanted something he could produce, complete and distribute in the limited amount of time available. He also sought to create a tongue-in-cheek, no-brand brand; something funny and cute without a serious message.

So he created T-shirts based on “lorem ipsum,” the nonsensical placeholder Latin-ish text familiar to every graphic designer. Everett sold all of the shirts by offering them at a variety of stores in New York and Boston, at his graduating class’s group thesis show and online, and recouped his entire $3,000 investment for printing and supplies.

The top shirt in anyone’s collection is likely to be the one whose message or design is closest to the wearer’s heart.

Everett’s favorite is a concert shirt for the long-defunct, postpunk band Joy Division that he bought at Newbury Comics VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL

in Boston. He recalls: “I was 16 and had only been to a few concerts, and had never heard of Joy Division, but once I had the T-shirt, I went back and bought the album. And then I was like, wow, this band is so cool—and the shirt graphic captured the music perfectly.” Jessica Crosby’s most-cherished shirt is a Stevie Nicks 1986 tour T that she found under a rack in a vintage shop, complete with filthy footprint where someone had trampled on it. This writer still treasures a Ramones T-shirt from the early 1980s—not the knock-off version still available at malls across the U.S., but the genuine article from a show at the now-shuttered Manhattan rock club CBGBs. Knit cotton wasn’t meant to last for 30 years; the shirt is worn almost to the point of transparency, rendering it unworthy to be seen in polite company. For its next incarnation, maybe it will take a trip to San Francisco, where artist Ben Venom extends the life of old heavy metal and punk T-shirts by sewing them into quilts. The popularity of the graphic T seems inexhaustible, and for good reason—this versatile bit of clothing gives its wearer a stylish forum to make a political statement, crack a joke, shake things up, or express support for a favorite band or artist. That’s quite a journey: from military underwear to cultural icon in just a few decades. ∞

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Digital Publishing:

Unrestricted Access

BY KEN SWITZER

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Digital version of Yes is More. An Archicomic on Architectural Evolution.

Courtesy of Taschen Publishing.

If you are actually holding the print edition of this Journal in your hands as you read this, you may be part of a growing minority. While sales for printed publications continue to drop, sales of e-books and digital tablets (such as the iPad and Nook) are growing rapidly. Studies show that in the U.S., 35 percent of all adults now own a smart phone and spend an average of 33 hours a week online. The writing isn’t on the wall—it’s on the screens of smart phones, Kindles and laptops everywhere.

But while there are those who mourn the decline of print, many visual artists are busy celebrating the new opportunities presented by digital platforms.

The world of comics is at the forefront of this revolution, and at SVA, two current BFA Illustration and Cartooning seniors are leading the charge. In the fall of 2011, Amedeo Turturro and Trent Thompson launched INK, the world’s first 100 percent student-run, exclusively digital comics publication; it is available as a free iPad app at iTunes. Published twice a year, INK focuses primarily on showcasing the work of students from across SVA’s comics community alongside that of alumni and faculty, and provides students with the real-world experience of publishing their work.

For Turturro and Thompson, the decision to make INK an all-digital publication was a no-brainer. “With digital, you aren’t restrained by the production limitations of print, such as the color range of ink on a page,” says Turturro. “Also, in print there are a lot of issues you can run into with the final product, that, as the creator, you can’t fully control. For example, plates can shift, paper can expand or contract, the printer or distributor can lose your publication, the printer’s machines can break down.” There’s also the issue of cost—publishing digitally is significantly less expensive than mass-duplicating paper pages.

VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL

But perhaps most importantly to Turturro is the ease of accessibility that digital publishing allows. “At any moment, a person has the ability to get and read INK, at whatever time of day they want no matter where they are,” he says. “Your audience isn’t restricted by geographical location. It doesn’t matter if there isn’t a bookstore or a comics convention near them.”

Comics giants such as Marvel and DC have been publishing digital comics for several years now, and Marvel recently starting releasing digital and print publications simultaneously. What’s exciting for Turturro and Thompson is that now even a young publication like INK has the same chance of reaching a mass audience as publishers that have been around for decades. “Everyone has the same opportunity and tools at their disposal,” says Thompson. “In digital, the only thing restricting you from telling your story in the best possible manner is you, the creator.”

While the transition from print to digital may make sense for a medium like comics (comic books have traditionally been printed on low-quality paper and inexpensively priced), the switch for publications at the other end of the spectrum may seem less obvious. Take art books, for instance, which generally are expensive, large-format, “coffee table” books printed on heavy stock.

When asked how he would respond to print purists who argue that digital viewing can’t compare with the tactile experience of reading a hardbound book, Julius Wiedemann, executive editor of design and director of digital publications for art book publisher Taschen, says, “I think they are right.” But he’s also optimistic that both print and digital can live together harmoniously. “Hard copies might become more rare, but they will entail more value as well,” says Wiedemann. “The irony is

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Content from the fall 2011 issue of INK. Contributors (clockwise from top right): Eric Arroyo, Pierce Hargan, Lucretia Hoagland and Ian Bertram.

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Front cover of Taschen Magazine, Fall/Winter 2012, Adriana Lima – Vogue Paris, 2011.

Photo © Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin.

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that we used to take printed books for granted. Now, we are exercising all our creativity to make them more attractive, using special colors, different materials, innovative formats and binding.”

For the kind of publications that Taschen produces, the digital format also offers some distinct advantages. “We do a lot of heavy, highly illustrated books, which also have a lot of text content,” Wiedemann says. “Some books are hard to read in bed, for example, and the digital format is a perfect alternative.” Going digital also allows users to carry multiple titles on one device. But no matter what the format, one thing remains the same: “The key thing, in my opinion, is content,” says Wiedemann, “and we now have the opportunity of reinventing the way we enjoy it.”

With the transition from print to digital comes another key change—the role of the publisher. “Digital publishing allows us to think about content in a completely different way,” says Wiedemann. “We can have a narrative that is not linear anymore.” And this type of interaction will continue to evolve. “The control over the content will be divided between the user and the publisher. We become more mediators, and producers of a curated experience,” he says.

Not only are users engaging with digital content in different ways, more and more people are viewing content across various platforms—on smart phones, on tablets, and on laptops. For designers, this spells tremendous opportunity.

In the current semester, the MFA Design Department added a program called Digital Publishing to its curriculum. Led by Scott Dadich, vice president, content innovation at Condé Nast, and

Wyatt Mitchell, creative director of The New Yorker (the first person to hold that title in the history of the publication), students are trained on the same design system and platform that Condé Nast uses to digitally publish its magazines.

“Design matters more than it ever has,” says Dadich.

“It used to be that production values held as much sway as the design itself of, say, a print magazine—the cover stock, the quality of the paper, the printing. All of that contributed to the overall aesthetic qualities or desirability of a magazine. But now that everyone’s on the iPad, everyone is suddenly unified, so a weekly magazine that used to be printed on crappy paper is now competing against a Vanity Fair that’s always been printed on beautiful, high-gloss stock.”

Also, the concept of what a “magazine” is has changed. Digital versions feature dynamic elements such as Twitter feeds, live content and scrolling text, as well as audio, video and slide shows—all of which need to be designed for screens of various sizes. “Just because the headline is at the top of the page in print doesn’t necessarily mean that’s where the headline should be in the digital edition,” says Dadich. “And we really encourage and promote the idea that design has to hue to the form it’s being prepared for, and that’s why putting PDFs of print magazines onto tablets was never part of our aim [at Condé Nast] and really an inferior reading experience. This is about creating content that is ideally suited for the output on which it’s going to be viewed.”

With more and more people turning to digital devices for their media fixes, something else is on the rise as well—the demand for skilled designers. “Every magazine has positions to fill to create digital content,” says Dadich. “Our industry has gone from a constriction in the recession of having to lay people off and scale down in size to the opposite effect, where we can’t hire designers fast enough because there are so many new platforms and opportunities for this kind of storytelling— there’s never been a better time to be a designer.” ∞

Taschen Magazine, Fall/Winter 2012, from the article “My Favorite Taschen Book is…”

Illustrations Robert Nippoldt and Christine Goppel.

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Alumni Affairs

The Alumni Society Turns 40 The year 2012 marks the 40th anniversary of the incorporation of The Alumni Society of School of Visual Arts. Formally established in 1972 (the 25th anniversary year of the College) to serve the professional and educational interests of SVA alumni and students, the society has now grown to include more than 30,000 alumni residing in over 50 countries around the globe.

And with each new graduating class, the society’s ranks grow by approximately 1,000 people.

As it has from the start, each year The Alumni Society staff and alumni volunteers put together a variety of programs and events—lectures, panels, workshops, exhibitions, awards, reunions and networking receptions. The society also produces publications that help SVA graduates connect with one another and with the College. The Alumni Society’s programs now also include regional events, a monthly e-newsletter and a robust online presence that boasts more than 10,000 active members, including a LinkedIn group.

The College’s reputation has been built in large part by the achievements of its alumni and The Alumni Society plays an essential role in furthering this reputation. Works by SVA fine arts alums are included in the collections of major museums and its artists are represented by important galleries around the world. SVA alumni are leaders in advertising, design, interactive media, illustration, photography and related disciplines. They can be found at film and animation studios, television networks and publishing houses. Many are freelancers or run their own companies. They have won Oscars, Emmys, CLIOs, NEA and Fulbright fellowships, countless film festival awards, and have garnered national and international press recognition. Still others extend SVA’s tradition of educating artists by becoming VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL

teachers themselves. As the alumni ranks grow, the impact of its members on the world’s culture and creative economies increases as well.

Since before The Alumni Society was established, alumni have been directly involved with the College in various ways, including as faculty members, guest speakers and donors.

Beginning in 1976, The Alumni Society expanded its programs to include an annual fund designed to raise money for scholarships and give alumni the opportunity to support the next generation of artists. This annual appeal continues, and the competitive scholarships it funds are juried by panels of alumni and are awarded to students from all majors at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Since 2001 the value of these scholarships has increased from a total of $5,000 given to a handful of students to over $115,000 awarded, in 2011, to more than 70 students. In addition, The Alumni Society offers alumni and friends of the College a way to establish named scholarships that target specific areas of study; there are now 19 such funds.

The current Alumni Society Board of Directors is made up of a dynamic group of SVA alumni and administrators who have successful careers in a wide range of creative fields and are passionate about developing an ever stronger sense of community. The Alumni Society has accomplished a great deal in four decades, and with its ever expanding membership of enterprising creative individuals, the next 40 years would appear to be promising indeed. [Carrie Lincourt] To learn more about The Alumni Society visit alumni.sva.edu, email alumni@sva.edu or call 212.592.2300.

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Heidi Zito, Portrait, 2011, video still.

2012 Alumni Society Scholarship Recipients

Alumni Scholarship Awards Stephanie Andreou (MFA Computer Art), Elizabeth Baddeley (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay), Deena Beck (BFA Animation), Steven Cartoccio (BFA Fine Arts), Charles Chaisson (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay), Christopher Devito (BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation & Visual Effects), Barbara Eldredge (MFA Design Criticism), Nina Frenkel (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay), Alexandria Gist (BFA Fine Arts), M. Benjamin Herndon (BFA Fine Arts), Su Yeon Ihm (BFA Fine Arts), Lewis Ingham (MFA Photography, Video & Related Media), Jae Kyung Jeong (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay), Elektra KB (BFA Visual & Critical Studies), Anna Kealey (MFA Design Criticism), Sara Khaki (MFA Social Documentary), Anam Khan (MFA Social Documentary), Joanna Kuczek (MFA Design), Haejeon Lee (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay), Zachary Lydon (BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation & Visual Effects), John Mattiuzzi (MFA Computer Art), Brittany Neff (BFA Film & Video), Kumiko Otomo-Fong (BFA Illustration), Grace Prunoske (BFA Photography), Sari Rodrig (BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation & Visual Effects), Jennifer Santos (MFA Fine Arts), Sangchul Shin (BFA Film & Video), Lucas Smith (MFA Social Documentary), Carrie Stiens (MFA Interaction Design), John Sung (BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation & Visual Effects), Laszlo Ujvari (BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation & Visual Effects), Shendy Wu (BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation & Visual Effects), Catherine Young (MFA Interaction Design), Bruno Zalum (MFA Design), Heidi Zito (MFA Photography).

Named Fund Awards Yooin Cho (BFA Graphic Design), Robert I. Blumenthal Memorial Award; Claire Ensslin (BFA Film & Video), William C. Arkell Memorial Award; Roger Generazzo (MFA Photography, Video & Related Media), Thomas Reiss Memorial Award; Regina (Jung-Min) Hong (BFA Fine Arts), Amelia Geocos Memorial Award; Laura Knetzger (BFA Cartooning), Bob Guglielmo Memorial Award; Noa Leshem (BFA Fine Arts), Sylvia Lipson Allen Memorial Award; Nina Loschiavo (BFA Graphic Design), 727 Award; John Malta (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay), MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Award; Hanh Nguyen (BFA Cartooning), Will Eisner Sequential Art Award; Jonny Ruzzo (BFA Illustration), Jack Endewelt Memorial Award; Nicholas Storms (BFA Cartooning), BFA Illustration and Cartooning Award.

SPRING 2012

connect share create Connect with over 30,000 fellow SVA alumni and the SVA community through these online resources: The SVA Online Alumni Community

alumni.sva.edu LinkedIn Go to

alumni.sva.edu/networking and click on the LinkedIn icon

Facebook

facebook.com/schoolofvisualarts Twitter

twitter.com/sva_news

As an SVA alumnus, a variety of valuable programs and benefits are available to you, including: • Educational programs, networking mixers and special events: alumni.sva.edu/events • Monthly alumni newsletter and special departmental invitations via email • Career Development services, including workshops and the online job board • Discounts to performing arts venues, arts organizations and retailers • Continuing Education discount • Weekly model drawing sessions • Access to the Visual Arts Library • Discounts at CAVA, the SVA computer store • A subscription to Visual Arts Journal • Discounted dental plan and health, auto, home and renter’s insurance For complete details on your alumni benefits go to: alumni.sva.edu/benefits Comments? Questions? Please contact the Office of Alumni Affairs at 212.592.2300 or alumni@sva.edu

THE THE ALUMNI ALUMNI SOCIETY SOCIETY OF OF SCHOOL SCHOOL OF OF VISUAL VISUAL ARTS ARTS GRATEFULLY GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES ACKNOWLEDGES THE THE GENEROUS GENEROUS SUPPORT SUPPORT OF OF OUR OUR CORPORATE CORPORATE PARTNERS PARTNERS FOR FOR THE THE ARTS ARTS PATRONS

BENEFACTOR

Contributions from corporate partners fund The Alumni Society’s Housing Scholarship which provides on-campus housing to promising students with financial need.

For information on the Corporate Partners for the Arts program or the Alumni Society please contact Carrie Lincourt at 212.592.2304 or clincourt@sva.edu, or visit: www.sva.edu/alumnisociety

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Donors List The Alumni Society gratefully acknowledges these SVA alumni who gave to the society from July 1 to December 31, 2011.

Dean Georgious BFA 1984 Film & Video

Nanette Jiji BFA 1981 Illustration

Anonymous (1)

Erik Craddock BFA 2003 Cartooning

Andrew H. Gerndt G 1971

Yvette Kaplan BFA 1976 Animation

Cora Cronemeyer E 1966

Isolina Gerona BFA 1991 Fine Arts

Melvyn Kay 1979

Anita Cruz-Eberhard BFA 2007 Photography

Anita Giraldo MFA 2004 Photography, Video and Related Media

Alexander Knowlton BFA 1987 Graphic Design

Christine A. Aaron BFA 2011 Graphic Design Susan Woolley Abanor BFA 1979 Photography Kim Ablondi BFA 1984 Photography Victoria R. Adduci BFA 2011 Illustration Nami Ahn BFA 2005 Graphic Design Juan Alfonso E 1982 Olive Alpert E 1980 Janell Alzate BFA 1998 Illustration Adam P. Ames MFA 1997 Photography & Related Media Salvador Arditti MFA 1999 Computer Art Scott P. Ballum BFA 2005 Graphic Design Wesley A. Bedrosian MFA 1996 Illustration as Visual Essay Francis Bele BFA 1987 Advertising James R. Bomeisl BFA 1978 Graphic Design Sharon Burris-Brown BFA 1984 Illustration Carol Caputo G 1960 Hector Cardenas MFA 1994 Illustration as Visual Essay Wynter Carnevale BFA 2001 Illustration Roger M. Caruana BFA 1985 Illustration Paul Caullett BFA 2000 Graphic Design Bernard Champon Jr. G 1969 Woei-Ping Chen BFA 2003 Photography William Ciaramelli G 1967 Anne Coleman Torrey MFA 1993 Photography & Related Media Alice E. Corjescu E 1974 VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL

Marguerite Dabaie BFA 2007 Cartooning Peter S. Deak BFA 1990 Film & Video Cat Del Buono MFA 2008 Photography, Video & Related Media

Andrea M. Golden E 1985 Renee N. Gonzalez BFA 1985 Graphic Design Kim A. Grover BFA 1983 Illustration

Richard P. Deon BFA 1978 Fine Arts

Raymond Guzman BFA 1977 Fine Arts

Theresa DeSalvio BFA 1976 Fine Arts

Cristine Haft BFA 1978 Photography

Haydee Diaz BFA 1986 Graphic Design

Caryl Halpin and Denise Halpin (alumnus) BFA 1977 Graphic Design

Rael J. DiDomenico-Schwab BFA 1990 Advertising Deborah Dixler E 1977 Candace Dobro (alumnus) and Jeffrey Dobro MPS 2010 Digital Photography Timothy M. Ebneth BFA 1984 Illustration Carol D. Fabricatore MFA 1992 Illustration as Visual Essay

Melissa Hamilton BFA 1983 Fine Arts John Hamilton MFA 1985 Fine Arts Stephanie Han MFA 1999 Illustration as Visual Essay Shanon R. Hayes BFA 2002 Film & Video Meghan Healey BFA 1993 Graphic Design

Ann Farrell BFA 1991 Advertising

Christina M. Herstine BFA 2003 Graphic Design

Lynn Feinman BFA 1979 Fine Arts

Joseph Herzfeld BFA 1991 Fine Arts

Clint Fisher BFA 1996 Fine Arts

Christopher W. Hill BFA 1999 Film & Video

Miriam Fishman BFA 1984 Photography

Jared Hirsch BFA 1999 Graphic Design

Margarete Forside E 1972

Jin Hyuk Hong BFA 2005 Graphic Design

Nathan L. Fox MFA 2002 Illustration as Visual Essay

Susie Hong BFA 2011 Computer Art, Computer Animation & Visual Effects

Michael Gambino BFA 2009 Computer Art, Computer Animation & Visual Effects

James Hopkins BFA 1982 Cartooning

Thomas Gambino MFA 2010 Computer Art BFA 2007 Cartooning Kenneth Garrett MFA 1986 Fine Arts BFA 1984 Fine Arts Peter A. Geffert BFA 1990 Advertising

Mark Hriciga BFA 1985 Advertising Eliot Hubbard G 1968 Trent A. Jaklitsch BFA 1999 Film & Video Kaili Mang Jeyarajah BFA 1999 Interior Design

Jean B. Kooi BFA 1978 Media Arts Cheryl H. Korn BFA 1995 Film & Video Abby Kreh G 1962 Steven M. Langerman G 1972 Karen J. Langson-Grodntizky BFA 1989 Photography Paul F. Laone BFA 1979 Andre Laporte E 1968 J. P. Lee MFA 1991 Computer Art Jae Gil Lee BFA 1995 Photography Samantha J. Levin BFA 2001 Fine Arts Brian D. Lightbody BFA 2004 Advertising Sal A. Lombardo G 1964 Matt Lopez BFA 2009 Graphic Design Peter M. Lord BFA 1987 Graphic Design Patrick F. Loughran BFA 1980 Fine Arts David Lubarsky BFA 1979 Photography Rita Maas BFA 1981 Photography Mark J. Madias BFA 2001 Film & Video Laura Maley BFA 1978 Fine Arts Peter Malone BFA 1977 Fine Arts Samuel Martine BFA 1980 Illustration Erick B. Mercer BFA 2009 Animation Louis Mercurio E 1970 Olga Mezhibovskaya BFA 1997 Graphic Design

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Lorraine Niemela E 1964

Rena Anderson Sokolow BFA 1986 Graphic Design

Romaine B. Orthwein MFA 2003 Photography & Related Media

Skip Sorvino BFA 1994 Graphic Design

Nathan A. Overstrom BFA 2003 Computer Art Kevin Petrilak (alumnus) and Jill Petrilak BFA 1976 Animation Gary J. Petrini E 1979 Jennifer Pouech BFA 2002 Photography Steven D. Pullara BFA 1979 Fine Arts Todd L. Radom BFA 1986 Graphic Design Kristy L. Reed BFA 2006 Photography Lucy and Robert Reitzfeld BFA 1976 Illustration

We also thank the parents and friends of SVA who supported The Alumni Society.

Anonymous (1)

Michael Kahn Steve Keister Nancy Lan Do Edward Lefferman

Paul Stimson BFA 1973 Fine Arts

A&A Maintenance Enterprise, Inc.

Kevin Sweeney (alumnus) and Danielle Sweeney MFA 1999 Computer Art

Bank of America

Anthony Tallarico G 1954

Jane Beucler

Lianna Tarantin BFA 2007 Photography

Merrilea Brunell and Jeffery Brutman

Robert Todd E 1965

Richard A. Buntzen

Karen and Stephen Mills

Eugene Camali

Jeff Nesin

Judy Lynn Troilo BFA 1984 Graphic Design

Donald M. Cannavale

Mary and Dan O’Byrne

Nancy and Jay Capra

Debra and Lee Odell

Alli Truch 1989 Graphic Design

Susan and Sebastian Caudo

The O’Donoghue Family

Chermayeff & Geismar

Frances M. O’Keefe

Chubb Group of Insurance Companies

Kil Koo Paik

Kye Hui and Yun Oh Chung

Joan S. Pinhas

Anne Clark

Rosemarie Turk BFA 1980 Graphic Design

Lori Aquino Angel Banos Farrell Brickhouse

Elisa Lim Yooncheol Lim Veronica and Albert Martella Daniel Massey McGladrey & Pullen Kathleen and Edward Miller Alice and Norman Mills

Ki Ja Park

Lisa E. Rettig-Falcone BFA 1983 Advertising

Kevin G. Wailgum MFA 1991 Illustration as Visual Essay

Vernon C. Riddick G 1973

Tom Wai-Shek G 1970

Joan and Harry Clune

Sandra Gonzalez de Quintana and Cid Quintana

Dennis W. Wierl BFA 1996 Photography

David Cortes

Debra A. Raisley

Barbara Rietschel BFA 1976 Media Arts

Joseph A. Cozza

William Rednour

Michael D’Amore

Daniel Riccuito

Cynthia and Lucio Demaglie

Linda and David Richter

Joseph DeRosa

Linda and Lawrence Rodman

Douglass W. Dewing

Joyce Rowley

Donna and Joel Engelhardt

James Rudnick

Angie Wojak BFA 1990 Illustration

Daniel Evanowski

Leonard Santorelli

James Farek

Maureen and Gary Shillet

Michelle M. Zadlock BFA 1990 Advertising

Eileen and Stephen Finkelman

James Silberstein

Diana and John Fleeman

Andrew J. Stanton

Andrew Zmidzinski BFA 1975 Film & Video

Dianne and Carl Gambino

Kevin Stewart

Marie Pestana-Garcia and George Garcia

Kathleen Sutherland

Noreen and Marc Gillespie

TD Bank

Jorge L. Rodriguez BFA 1976 Fine Arts Sara R. Rotman BFA 1992 Graphic Design Marc Rubin BFA 1982 Advertising Linda Saccoccio MFA 1991 Fine Arts Evan Sandler 1976 Joel Scharf BFA 1983 Graphic Design Despina Scheck BFA 1982 Advertising

Judith Wilde MFA 1994 Illustration as Visual Essay BFA 1979 Fine Arts Mark Willis BFA 1998 Illustration

Alan H. Zwiebel G 1963

Xueying Tan

Eileen Hedy Schultz BFA 1977 Graphic Design

(E) denotes an evening program student.

Susan Ginsburg

Jeffrey Teets

Reginaldo Gomes

Charles Sforza and Mary Moran BFA 1982 Advertising BFA 1976 Graphic Design

(G) denotes a graduate of the certificate program.

Vivian Tolentino

Franca and Francesco Granata

Charles Traub

Christine and Jesse Greene

Valarie and Stephen Ubertini

Helen and John Guglielmo

Charles R. Vermilyea Jr.

Clinton A. Shaner BFA 2006 Graphic Design

Maryhelen Hendricks and Robert Lewis

Wells Fargo

Jerold M. Siegel BFA 1975 Fine Arts

Francisco E. Homs

Anita H. Simes BFA 1974 Illustration

Martha and William Irwin

Ellen Small MFA 1997 Photography & Related Media

The Ironwood Foundation, Inc. Jeremy Isenberg Glenn A. Jacobson

Hilda Werschkul Peggy Whitlock Meaghan Wilbur Michele Zackheim Louis Zaretsky

JP Morgan Chase Bank SPRING 2012

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Alumni Notes GROUP EFFORTS

Jonathan Bartlett (MFA 2009 Illustration as Visual Essay), Daniel Cassaro (BFA 2008 Graphic Design) and Daniel Kenneally (BFA 2005 Advertising) each received the Young Guns 9 award, Art Directors Club, NYC, 9/9/11.

Michael Bilsborough (MFA 2006 Illustration as Visual Essay), Pamela Fraser (BFA 1988 Fine Arts), Paul Gabrielli (BFA 2005 Fine Arts) and Lisa Kirk (BFA 1991 Fine Arts) performed in “A Project by Philip von Zweck,” Invisible Exports, NYC, as part of Performa 11, 11/12–11/13/11.

Joseph Burrascano (BFA 2002 Computer Art) and Jean Marco Ruesta (BFA 2004 Graphic Design) were featured in Graham Elliott’s documentary New York in Motion, which focuses on professionals who have helped make New York a center of the motion design industry.

SVA alumni Jennifer Kachler, David Guglielmo, Alex Chinnici, John Larkin (all BFA 2009 Film & Video) and Gio Alberti (BFA 2010 Film & Video) created a short horror film that is an entry in The ABC’s of Death feature film competition hosted

by Drafthouse Films.

1955 Cristos Gianakos’ (G Fine Arts) book Kerameikos was released by Cube Art Editions, Athens, 9/8/11.

Lydia Panas’ (BFA Photography) first major monograph, The Mark of Abel, was published by Kehrer Verlag Books in March 2012.

1960 Carol Caputo (G Graphic Design) produced and inspired the documentary film iRUBNY, which screened at the Coney Island Film Festival, NYC, 9/23–9/25/11.

Joseph Quesada (BFA Media Arts) was featured in an article headed “Espresso and the Incredible Hulk,” The New York Times, 9/30/11.

1967 Carole Feuerman (G Fine Arts) gave an artists’ talk at Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ, 11/9/11.

1974 Richard Aaron (BFA Film & Video) was featured in an interview, “Timing is Everything for a Rock Photographer,” Lowepro.com.

1977 Laurence Gartel (BFA Media Arts) was chosen to create the official artwork for the Star Gala Event, presented by the Film Recording & Entertainment Council (FREC), Miami, 11/12/11.

1978 Mark Setteducati (BFA Media Arts) was featured in an article headlined “The Trickster Behind the Magic Tricks,” Wall Street Journal, 6/26/11.

1980 David J. Kaminsky (BFA Media Arts) is now creative director at Cult Health, NYC. Joseph Petruccio (BFA Media Arts) was featured in the article “Cartoons, Commentary and a Mets Community,” The New York Times, 6/28/11.

Robert Pizzo (BFA Media Arts) was featured in the book titled Visual Marketing: 99 Proven Ways for Small Businesses to Market with Images and Design, by David Langton and Anita Campbell, released by Wiley, 9/1/11.

1982 Rosemary Dery (BFA Media Arts) recently began marketing a product called iDisplayer, idisplayer.com.

1983 Steven Petruccio (BFA Media Arts) was selected as a recipient of the 2012 Rip Van Winkle Award by School Library Media Specialists of Southeastern New York. The award recognizes an author/illustrator residing in the seven-county region for outstanding contributions in the field of children’s literature.

Elizabeth Baddeley, Untitled from A Runner’s Portrait of Central Park, 2011, silk screen.

TO SUBMIT INFORMATION AND TO VIEW A COMPLETE LIST OF ALUMNI NOTES AND EXHIBITIONS GO TO:

alumni.sva.edu VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL

1984 Lisa Argentieri (BFA Photography) was awarded a 2011 Merit Award for watercolor in the 34th annual Salmagundi Non-Members Juried Show for Painting and Sculpture, NYC, 8/19/11.

Jerry Craft (BFA Media Arts) was awarded Best Comic Strip for his series “Mama’s Boyz,” 7th Annual African American Literary Awards Show, NYC, 9/22/11.

1985 John Dilworth (BFA Animation) premiered his experimental animated comedy Bunny Bashing online, stretchfilms.com/bunnybashing, 9/20/11.

1986 Robert Gilmer’s (BFA Photography) restaurant and gallery, Dixie Quicks Public House, opened in Council Bluffs, IA, 11/1/11. The exhibition space, RNG Gallery, held the opening of its first exhibition on 11/4/11.

1987 Mamie Holst (MFA Fine Arts) was awarded a City of Ft. Myers, Florida, Individual Artist Grant for 2011 on 10/26/11.

Tricia Kim (BFA Fine Arts) was nominated for a Yak Award in the category of Best Jewelry Designer, 9/30/11.

1988 Stephen Macquignon (BFA Media Arts) illustrated Ferdinand Frog’s Flight, by Marvin Mayer, released by 4RV Publishing, 6/28/11.

Jeffrey Muhs’ (BFA Media Arts) painting “The Measure of the Fish,” 2007, was recently acquired by the GuildHall Museum, East Hampton, NY, as part of the permanent collection.

Catya Plate’s (Fine Arts) short animated film The Reading was selected

by NewFilmmakers New York and was screened as part of the NewFilmmakers Summerfest 2011 at Anthology Film Archives, NYC, 7/2/11. The film was also included in the 2nd SeMa-For Film Festival, Lodz, Poland, 9/22–9/25/11; in Lugano, Switzerland, 11/11–11/18/11; and at the Queens World Film Festival, NYC, 3/1–3/4/12.

Lisa Zilker (BFA Fine Arts) was featured in a cover story, “Paint the Noise,” Queens Courier, 9/8/11.

1989 John Simon (MFA Computer Art) was chosen to work on the “first app album,” Biophilia, created by Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk.

1991 Velvet d’Amour (BFA Media Arts) was named a “Curvy Icon” in Vogue Italia’s June 2011 issue.

1992 Dinh Quang Lê (MFA Photography & Related Media) was featured in an interview on the The Days of Yore blog, 8/22/11.

Christopher Martin (BFA Fine Arts) was featured in an article titled “WakeUp Call,” Art in America, 10/5/11.

69 Shaun Killman (BFA Graphic Design) was a finalist on the HGTV reality TV series All American Handyman.

Diana Shpungin’s (MFA Fine Arts) exhibition “(Untitled) Portrait of Dad” was reviewed in Artforum, 9/1/11. She was also interviewed by Zing Magazine, 8/1/11.

2003 Tarek Atrissi (MFA Design) worked on a book design project called We’ll Make Our Homes Here: Sudan at the Referendum, that featured the photographs of Tim McKulka and the writings of various Sudanese writers.

It was published by the United Nations Mission in Sudan.

Quenell Jones (BFA Film & Video) was the cinematographer for Joe Frazier: When the Smoke Clears, which screened at the DOC NYC Film Festival, IFC Center, NYC, 11/8/11.

Irvin Morazan (BFA Photography) gave his performance art piece “Gods of New York” at the Asya Geisberg Gallery, 9/30/11.

Roger Generazzo, Crumbling Car on Gerritsen Creek, Brooklyn, NY, 2010, c-print.

Ray Villafane (BFA Media Arts) was featured in an article headlined “The Picasso of Pumpkin Carving,” Wall Street Journal, 10/22/11.

1993 Timothy Okamura (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) was featured in an article headed “20 Years Later, Artists Apply Healing Touch to Crown Heights,” The New York Times, 8/26/11.

1994 John Ferry (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) had two paintings featured in the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art’s annual benefit auction, Overland Park, KS, 10/8/11.

Stephen Mumford’s (MFA Fine Arts) paintings were featured in Harper’s, 8/1/11.

1995 Yangsook Choi (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) taught a workshop for artists in Cambodia organized and sponsored by Room to Read, 9/5–9/9/11.

Michael De Feo (BFA Graphic Design) completed a mural at the new site of the Children’s Museum of the Arts, NYC, 7/9/11.

Cheryl Kaplan (MFA Fine Arts) wrote, co-directed and -produced a livecinema performance, “Public Notice: An Exhausted Film,” BMW Guggenheim Lab, NYC, 9/10/11.

1996 Elaine Clayton’s (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) book on art and intuition, Illuminara Intuitive Journal, was released by Schiffer Publishing in 2011. She is currently illustrating the fourth book in a series by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Jane Smiley to be published by Random House/Knopf Books for Young Readers.

Stephen Savage (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) spoke at the Society of Illustrators event “Reading Pictures: The Artist’s Voice and Vocabulary in Picture Books,” NYC, 11/14/11.

Bari Winter (BFA Film & Video) worked as an assistant editor during the first season of the ABC network drama Revenge.

1997 Eva Crebolder (BFA Fine Arts) collaborated with Amsterdam-based architect Dana Ponec to create a brick “tapestry” for a newly built city hall in Cuijk, the Netherlands. The opening ceremony and presentation took place on 11/4/11.

Joseph Nicholson (BFA Fine Arts) started a new position as a furniture designer with CCN International in Geneva, NY. 1998 Kevin Asch’s (BFA Film & Video) film Holy Rollers was screened as part of the inaugural Gold Coast International Film Festival, Great Neck-Squire Cinemas, Great Neck, NY, 6/4/11.

Genevieve Gorder (BFA Graphic Design) recently launched a new project in conjunction with the online photo-sharing service Snapfish to help clients find fun and creative ways to transform the interior of their homes easily and affordably.

Miho Suzuki (MFA Photography & Related Media) presented a lecture on her trip to tsunami-devastated Miyako City, Iwate, Japan, last summer at Open Source Gallery, NYC, 10/2/11.

1999 Janelle Lynch (MFA Photography & Related Media) has been awarded a 2011–2012 commission by Wave Hill, a public garden and cultural center in

NYC, which will culminate in an exhibition there this spring and summer.

Ryan Singer’s (BFA Photography) “Mongolia” series was featured as part of Bloomingdale’s Fashion’s Night Out, NYC, 9/8/11.

2000 Gustave Blache (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) was featured in an article titled “5 Things About Gustave” in Jet magazine, 6/13/11.

Graham Wood’s (MFA Fine Arts) exhibition “Drifting Outdated Electronics” at the Running with Scissors gallery in Portland, ME, was reviewed in an article “In the Arts: Taken to Paris and Other Worlds” that appeared in the Portland Press Herald, 9/18/11.

2001 Mika Rottenberg’s (BFA Fine Arts) book Mika Rottenberg was released

by Gregory R. Miller & Co., 8/31/11.

Amy Talluto (MFA Fine Arts) recently had a new edition of prints, Sweet William, released by Jen Bekman Projects, 10/25/11.

2002 Christopher Dimino (BFA Graphic Design) was featured in a skit on Late Show with David Letterman, 6/14/11.

Oneil Edwards (BFA Fine Arts) recently co-founded comicbooksnob.com, an online magazine covering independent, foreign and creator-owned comics and graphic novels.

Nathan Fox (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) has joined the creative team for the Image Comics series, “Haunt.”

Justin Gignac’s (BFA Advertising) project “NYC Garbage” has been featured in New York Magazine, New York Daily News, The New York Observer and on CNN, NBC and CBS.

Ashique Mostafa (BFA Film & Video) served as producer on the film Meherjann, a fictionalized account of three women affected by Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence with Pakistan. The film was screened at the 2011 Global Wake-Up Film Festival organized by the United Nations Association–USA Greater Chicago Chapter, 10/29/11.

2004 Zhi Fen Chen (BFA Animation) was featured in the article, “One Chinese or One China,” Artnet.com, 7/18/11.

Vashtie Kola (BFA Film & Video) was featured in an article headlined “Her Cool-Kid Clubhouse,” The New York Times, 5/11/11.

2005 Jeremy Cohan’s (BFA Film & Video) film After was a finalist in the 2011 Student Academy Awards competition in the documentary category.

Jeff Liao (MFA Photography, Video & Related Media) was featured in an interview in Design Arts Daily, 7/29/11.

Michelle Matson (BFA Fine Arts) made her debut on Season 2 of the Bravo reality TV series Work of Art, 10/12/11.

David Spaltro’s (BFA Film & Video) film ...Around (2008) aired on PBS Channel 13 on 9/17, 9/18 and 9/21/11.

2006 Nathan Tate’s (BFA Graphic Design) book Feeding the Dragon: a Culinary Travelogue Through China with Recipes was released by Andrews McMeel Publishing, 10/4/11.

William Wedig (BFA Film & Video) directed, edited and co-wrote the film Forged, 2011.

2007 Eric Anderson (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) organized “Bow,” a collaborative performance at the Goldman Sachs Tower, NYC, 10/3/11.

SPRING 2012

70

Laura Knetzger, Cat People, 2011, graphite on paper.

Amy Elkins’ (BFA Photography) project Black is the Day, Black is the Night was given the Lightwork Artist in Residency program award and has been exhibited at the Carnegie Art Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, and Bushwick Open Studios and Bronx Art Space, NYC. Lisa Elmaleh (BFA Photography) was awarded a 2011 Aaron Siskind Foundation Fellows grant, NYC, 8/19/11.

Timothy Goodman’s (BFA Graphic Design) mural for the Ace Hotel in Manhattan was selected as a Judge’s Choice in the 2011 Type Directors Club competition, Cooper Union, NYC, 7/19–8/10/11.

Ying-Ching (Jojo) Lai (BFA Graphic Design) introduced her womenswear collection “Free East” at a fashion show that included collections by six Taiwanese designers at Chelsea Market, NYC, 9/14/11.

2008 Catherine Del Buono’s (MFA Photography, Video & Related Media) short documentary Take My Hair screened at the Hamptons Take 2 Documentary Film Festival, East Hampton, NY, 11/19–11/20/11.

Jade Doskow (MFA Photography, Video & Related Media) is now represented by Wall Space Gallery in Santa Barbara, CA, and recently launched a photography blog on the Huffington Post.

Yva Jung (MFA Fine Arts) was awarded a jury-selected residency at the Arctic Circle Residency 2011, International territory of Svalbard; a Travel and Study Grant from the Jerome Foundation, Saint Paul, MN; and an Artist in Residence Abroad Program award from Arts Council Korea, Seoul.

Keith Lapinig’s (BFA Film & Video) “Gazer the Elf” was a new Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon in 2011. He was also featured in an article headlined “Macy’s Thanksgiving VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL

Day Parade elf balloon to be designed by 25-year-old contest winner,” New York Daily News, 9/14/11.

2009 Kristina Carroll (BFA Illustration) had a painting in Spectrum 18 – The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, released

by Underwood Books, 12/6/11. Her work was also included in Lürzer’s Archive 200 Best Illustrators worldwide 2011/2012, Volume 4, released by Walter Lürzer, 2011, and was featured on the cover of Realms of Fantasy magazine, 8/1/2011.

Aimee Walleston (née Morrissette) (MFA Art Criticism & Writing) was quoted in the article “James Franco’s Elle Shoot: A Critical Response,” Stylelist, 6/15/11.

LaNola Stone’s (MPS Digital Photography) book Photographing Childhood: The Image and the Memory was released by Focal Press, 10/5/11.

Corinne van der Borch’s (MFA Photography, Video & Related Media) feature-length documentary Girl with Black Balloons premiered in the U.S. at DOC NYC, NYC, 11/6–11/7/11.

Edwin Vazquez (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) worked as a color assistant for illustrator Peter Kuper’s “Spy v. Spy” comic strip, MAD Magazine, #511, 10/1/11.

Paul Vogeler’s (BFA Fine Arts) open studio exhibition was featured in a blog post, “The Painter’s Painter,” Stil.leben, 9/30/11.

2010 Sophia Dawson’s (BFA Fine Arts) work was featured at the 2011 Black Panther Party Film Festival, NYC, 9/29–10/8/11.

Robert DeRosa (MPS Digital Photography) was awarded first place in the Personal/Fine Art category, 2011 Alliance of Advertising and Media Professionals Awards, Atlanta, 9/28/11.

Natan Dvir’s (MFA Photography, Video & Related Media) photographs were featured in an article titled “Young Israel’s Forgotten,” Le Monde’s weekend M Magazine, Paris, 10/5/11.

Kate Humphries (BFA Photography) recently joined the cARTwheel Initiative as project director.

Robert Kolodny’s (BFA Film & Video) film Shelter was awarded a Golden Reel for Best Student Film, Tiburon International Film Festival, Tiburon, CA, 4/15/11. Shelter was screened at the NYC Filmmaker’s Festival, 10/8–10/9/11 and the First Glance Film Festival in Philadelphia, 10/16/11.

2011 Ronald Gabriel’s (MFA Design) “3-Way Street” project was featured in blog posts, “Everyday, A New Near Disaster,” The Daily Heller, Imprint, 6/10/11 and “GETOUTTAMYWAY (Thoughts on City Traffic)” on Krulwich Wonders, an NPR Science blog, 6/14/11. The project was also featured in an article headed “When Bikers Clash, the Tape Rolls,” The New York Times, 6/26/11.

Raul Gomez Valverde (MFA Photography, Video & Related Media) screened his film Eco at Anthology Film Archives, NYC, 9/13/11.

Mark Kendall’s (MFA Social Documentary) thesis film, La Camioneta, received a grant from the Sundance Documentary Fund.

Aileen Kwun (MFA Design Criticism) wrote an article titled “The Global View: An exhibition on cities reaches out to a wider audience through the United Nations,” MetropolisMag.com, 10/18/11.

Lillian Lee (MFA Design) received the Sappi Ideas That Matter grant for her project “The Grand Assembly,” which will become a curated online community allowing creative professionals

60 years of age or older to showcase their work and share their knowledge with a new generation.

Russ Maschmeyer’s (MFA Interaction Design) project “Motiv” was featured in an article headlined “With a Wave of the Hand, Improvising on Kinect,” The New York Times, 7/21/11.

Tempest NeuCollins (MFA Fine Arts) was included in VUU, Issue #2, Summer/Fall 2011.

Vera Sacchetti (MFA Design Criticism) was awarded the Postgraduate Essay Prize for her thesis paper, “Design Crusade: Considering the Shortcomings of Social Design,” Design History Society, Brighton, UK.

In Memoriam Lila Lewental (BFA 1977 Media Arts) died on August 13, 2011.

Lewental worked in New York as a graphic designer with design firms, magazines and corporations. She subsequently moved to Florida, where she specialized in enameling, metalworking, glass bead making, beading techniques and glass fusion. She was an instructor at the Boca Raton Museum of Art School and had her own design firm, lel Design.

Barry Maxon Silverstein (BFA 1973 Photography) died on October 22, 2011. After graduating from SVA, Silverstein was a photographer’s assistant at the Museum of Modern Art; he later became a freelance photographer for Sports Illustrated and a photography instructor at SVA. He worked at National Jewish Health hospital in Denver as a photographer and medical illustrator for nearly 30 years. He is survived by his life partner, Melissa Kallick, his brother, Bert Silverstein, five nieces and nephews and friends all over the country.

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SPRING 2012

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Alumni Exhibitions GROUP EFFORTS

Group exhibition, “Lost,” Smith-Stewart at Invisible Exports, NYC, 6/24–7/30/11.

Included works by Michelle Lopez (MFA 1994 Fine Arts) and Marianne Vitale (BFA 1996 Film & Video).

Group exhibition, “Bronx Calling: the First AIM Biennial,” Bronx Museum of the Arts and Wave Hill, NYC, 6/26–9/5/11. Exhibition included works by Hannah Allen (MFA 2007 Photography, Video & Related Media), Gabriela Bertiller (MFA 2001 Illustration as Visual Essay), Christopher Bors (MFA 1998 Illustration as Visual Essay), Noa Charuvi (MFA 2009 Fine Arts) and Kira Greene (MFA 2004 Fine Arts).

Group exhibition, “Ideopolis,” Ginza Graphic Gallery, Tokyo, 11/4–11/26/11.

Included works by Jennifer Glaser, Wesley Gott, Lydia Reynolds, Jules Tardy and Lauren Wolff (all MFA 2011 Design).

“CCNY Photo Benefit Auction,” 25CPW Gallery, NYC, 11/7/11. included works by Rachel Barrett (MFA 2008 Photography, Video & Related Media), Matthew Baum (MFA 2007 Photography, Video & Related Media), Margarida Correia (MFA 2004 Photography, Video & Related Media), Lauren Fleishman (BFA 2001 Photography), Keren Moscovitch (MFA 2005 Photography, Video & Related Media) and Amy Stein (MFA 2006 Photography, Video & Related Media).

1960 Carol Caputo (G Graphic Design).

Solo exhibition, “Remains of the Day,” Living Room Gallery, NYC, 8/19–9/25/11.

1963 Ellen Pliskin (G Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Monoprints,” The Funky Monkey Cafe and Gallery, Cheshire, CT, 7/1–7/31/11.

1967 Carole Feuerman (G Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Afterwards and Forward: A ten-year 9/11 reflective art exhibition,” New Jersey City University Visual Arts Gallery, Jersey City, NJ, 8/29–9/27/11.

1967 Anna Walter (G Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Paintings on Brown Paper,” Manhattan Borough President’s Office, NYC, 11/1–11/15/11.

1968 Louis Rogai (G Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, Afa Gallery, Scranton, PA, 10/5–10/29/11.

1972 Antonia Perez (E). Group exhibition, “Viva America!,” SUNY Empire State College, NYC, 10/3–12/15/11.

1974 Louise Sloane (BFA Fine Arts).

“Louise and Randy (‘Hotter than ’ell’)” Sideshow Gallery, NYC, 10/15– 11/13/11.

1975 Richard Krieger (BFA). Curatorial project, “FREESTYLE / Skateboarding Art, New York 2011,” Hudson Guild Gallery, NYC, 9/15–11/19/11.

Nachume Miller (BFA Fine Arts).

Group exhibition, “Namchume Miller vs. Danny Miller,” Benrimon Contemporary, NYC, 6/23–7/15/11.

TOP: Shendy Wu, Micho, 2011, animation.

BOTTOM: Jonny Ruzzo, Hungover, 2011, acrylic on paper.

VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL

Bill Murphy (BFA Media Arts). Group exhibition, “International Exhibition of Contemporary Works on Paper,” NY Coo Gallery, NYC, 6/9–6/25/11.

1976 Theresa DeSalvio (BFA Fine Arts).

Group exhibition, “East Meets West: The Influence of China,” Clifton Arts Center, Clifton, NJ, 6/25–7/30/11.

1977 Laurence Gartel (BFA Media Arts).

Solo exhibition, “Modern Masters,” Barry Gross Gallery, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 10/8–11/6/11.

Stewart MacFarlane (BFA Fine Arts).

Solo exhibition, “Mainland,” Australian Galleries, Melbourne, 10/18–11/6/11.

1978 Richard Deon (BFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Paradox and Conformity: Work by Richard Deon,” Foreman Gallery, Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY, 9/8–10/13/11.

Wolfgang Staehle (BFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “An Installation by Wolfgang Staehle,” Goethe-Institut Wyoming Building, NYC, 9/10–9/14/11.

1979 Peter McCaffrey (BFA Media Arts).

Solo exhibition, “markings,” John Davis Gallery, NYC, 8/18–9/11/11.

Amy Sillman (BFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Thumb Cinema,” Captain Petzel Gallery, Berlin, 11/5–12/23/11.

1981 Peter Hristoff (BFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Rotation,” Lohin Geduld Gallery, NYC, 7/13–8/26/11.

Marc Yankus (BFA Media Arts). Solo exhibition, “Call It Sleep,” ClampArt, NYC, 11/3–12/17/11.

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1982 Susan Leopold (BFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Interiors Disrupted,” Elizabeth Harris Gallery, NYC, 10/13–11/12/11.

1983 Steven Petruccio (BFA Media Arts).

Group exhibition, “American Nostalgia,” Muckenthaler Cultural Center, Fullerton, CA, 7/7–9/25/11.

1984 Lisa Argentieri (BFA Photography).

Group exhibition, “New Members’ Show,” National Association of Women Artists, Inc., NYC, 11/9–11/30/11.

Jerry Craft (BFA Media Arts). Group exhibition, “Faster Than a Speeding Bullet,” University of Connecticut, Stamford, 8/4–9/10/11.

Lydia Panas (BFA Photography). Group exhibition, “Art of the State,” State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, 6/19–9/11/11.

Donna Sharrett (BFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Night Scented Stock,” Marianne Boesky Gallery, NYC, 9/14–10/22/11.

1985 Christine Keefe (BFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, Richard J. Demato Fine Arts Gallery, NYC, 6/18–7/1/11.

Dora Riomayor (BFA Fine Arts).

Group exhibition, “Viva America!,” SUNY Empire State College, NYC, 10/3–12/15/11.

Joseph Rutt (BFA Media Arts). Group exhibition, “The Pelham Art Center Faculty Showcase,” Pelham, NY, 5/8–8/13/11.

1986 Kei Okada (BFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Unite for a Healthy Future,” New York Academy of Medicine, NYC, 9/18/11.

1987 Mamie Holst (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Chain Letter,” Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, 7/23–8/25/11.

Gary Petersen (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Assembly,” Edward Thorp Gallery, NYC, 9/16–10/22/11.

1988 Jeffrey Muhs (BFA Media Arts). Solo exhibition, “The Color of Desire,” RVS Fine Art, Southampton, NY, 6/17–6/30/11.

Mary C. Salvante (BFA Media Arts).

Curatorial project, “Cultural Constructs” at Rowan University Art Gallery, Glassboro, NJ, 11/7–12/17/11.

1988 Catya Plate (Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Multiple, Limited, Unique: Selections from the Permanent Collection of the Center for Book Arts,” Center for Book Arts, NYC, 7/6–9/10/11.

1989 Suzanne McClelland (MFA Fine Arts).

Solo exhibition, “Left,” Sue Scott Gallery, NYC, 11/3/11–1/3/12.

1990 Steven DeFrank (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “This Ain’t No Picnic,” Margaret Thatcher Projects, NYC, 9/22–10/22/11.

1991 Shisei Hashimura (BFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Where is the Arcadia?,” Gallery Lara, Tokyo, 11/2–11/12/11.

Lisa Kirk (BFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “If You See Something...,” Invisible Exports, NYC, 9/7–10/16/11.

Rafael Santiago (BFA Media Arts). Solo exhibition, “Size Matters,” Bold Hype Gallery, NYC, 6/9–7/30/11 .

1992 Johan Grimonprez (MFA Fine Arts).

Solo exhibition, “It’s a Poor Sort of Memory that Only Works Backwards,” S.M.A.K., Ghent, Belgium, 10/15/11– 8/1/12.

1993 Timothy Okamura (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Solo exhibition, “Tim Okamura,” Lyons Wier, NYC, 9/8–10/8/11.

1995 Michael De Feo (BFA Graphic Design).

Curatorial project, “On Every Street,” Samuel Owen Gallery, Greenwich, CT, 10/6–11/3/11.

Lori Earley (BFA Illustration). Group exhibition, “Rock’n’Dolls,” MondoPop International Gallery, Rome, 9/16–10/15/11.

Jane Marsching (MFA Photography & Related Media). Solo exhibition, “Ice Out,” Lucy Mackintosh Gallery, Lausanne, Switzerland, 5/6–6/11/11.

Edie Winograde (MFA Photography & Related Media). Group exhibition, “Living History,” Nicolaysen Art Museum, Casper, WY, 5/20–9/11/11.

1996 Michael Combs (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Solo exhibition, “Be All You Can’t Be,” Salomon Contemporary, NYC, 9/8–10/22/11.

Irina Danilova (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Re-Production,” Sophia Arsenal Museum for Contemporary Art, Sofia, Bulgaria, 9/9–10/2/11.

Simen Johan (BFA Photography). Solo exhibition, “Simen Johan,” Yossi Milo, NYC, 11/3–12/23/11.

1997 Kathleen Murray (BFA Photography).

Group exhibition, “Picture Consequences,” The Homefront Gallery, NYC, 6/25–8/27/11.

George Towne (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Solo exhibition, “The Company of Men,” Michael Mut Gallery, NYC, 6/2–7/9/11.

1998 Miho Suzuki (MFA Photography & Related Media). Group exhibition, “The Pleasure of Slowness,” Bertrand Delacroix Gallery, NYC, 9/8–10/8/11.

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LEFT: Kumiko Otomo-Fong, Man with Cream I, 2011, oil on canvas.

ABOVE: Charles Chaisson, Nightmares, 2011, mixed media.

1999 Mitchell Marco (BFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Distance,” curated by RadiusTwelve, Grady Alexis Gallery, NYC, 7/6–7/27/11.

Mika Rottenberg (BFA Fine Arts).

Solo exhibition, “Cheese, Squeeze and Tropical Breeze: Video works 2003–2010,” M - Museum, Leuven, Belgium, 11/4/11–2/26/12.

2003 Gregory Edwards (BFA Fine Arts).

Solo Exhibition, “Gregory Edwards: Edwards Gregory,” 47 Canal, NYC, 5/25–7/10/11.

2005 Maya Barkai (BFA Photography).

Installation, “Men at Work,” part of a tribute to the builders of the new World Trade Center, NYC.

Aaron Ribeiro (BFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “The International Bongo Bongo Brigade...meets the Haffners,” Haffner’s, Tirol, Austria, 7/8–7/30/11.

2002 Megumi Akiyoshi (MFA Fine Arts).

Group exhibition, “Delicate Matters,” Praxis International Art, NYC, 9/15–10/8/11.

Fawad Khan (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Solo exhibition, “Through the Eye of the Storm,” Galeria Leyendecker, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, 11/4/11.

Jessica Hale (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Installation, “365 Drawings by Jess Hale,” Chashama 266 Window Space, NYC, 11/1–11/5/11.

Elaine Chow (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “New Prints 2011/Autumn,” International Print Center, NYC, 11/3/11–1/7/12.

Irvin Morazan (BFA Photography).

Group exhibition, “Salvajes,” Asya Geisberg Gallery, NYC, 9/15–10/22/11.

Paul Hoppe (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Solo exhibition, “Visual Narrative,” Brooklyn Public Library, Central Branch, NYC, 9/27–12/3/11.

2004 Zhi Fen Chen (BFA Animation). Group exhibition, “Hello World,” Milavec Hakimi Gallery, NYC, 9/23–10/23/11.

Mary O’Malley (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Gobs of Lines Some Wet Some Dry,” Studio No. 1, Boston, 11/17–11/19/11.

Roy Morrison (MPS Art Therapy).

Group exhibition, “Manifest: a Conjuration of Radiance,” Museum of African American Cinema, NYC, 8/12/11–1/1/12.

Rachel Papo (MFA Photography, Video & Related Media). Solo exhibition, “Desperately Perfect,” Pictura Gallery, Bloomington, IN, 9/2–10/22/11.

2000 Katherine Bernhardt (MFA Fine Arts).

Group exhibition, “Group Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture,” MitchellInnes and Nash, NYC, 6/30–8/5/11.

Gonzalo Fuenmayor (BFA Fine Arts).

Solo exhibition, “Tropicalia,” Dotfiftyone Gallery, Miami, 9/8–11/8/11.

Matthew Mazurkiewicz (BFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Standards and Practices (A Prehumous Collection),” GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading, PA, 5/1–6/19/11.

Graham Wood (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Drifting Outdated Electronics,” Running with Scissors Art Studios, Portland, ME, 9/8–9/30/11.

2001 Shih Chieh Huang (MFA Fine Arts).

Solo Exhibition, “The Bright Beneath: The Luminous Art of Shih Chieh Huang,” Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, 9/3/11–1/8/12.

VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL

Nancy Hollinghurst (BFA Illustration).

Group exhibition, “Holiday Show,” Gallery 109, Murray, KY, 12/2/11– 1/6/12.

Timothy Mensching (BFA Illustration).

Solo exhibition, “Epithalamium,” Exile Gallery, Berlin, 10/15–11/12/11.

Diana Shpungin (MFA Fine Arts).

Group exhibition, “30; A Brooklyn Salon Celebrating 30 Years of Contemporary Art,” BRIC Rotunda Gallery, NYC, 9/14–10/29/11.

Phoebe Washburn (MFA Fine Arts).

Solo exhibition, “Phoebe Washburn: Temperatures in a Lab of Superior Specialness,” Mary Boone Gallery, NYC, 6/30–7/29/11.

Reuben Negron (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Solo exhibition, “This House of Glass,” Like the Spice, NYC, 9/9–10/9/11.

2006 Amy Chan (MFA Computer Art). Group exhibition, “Options 2011,” Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, DC, 9/15–10/29/11.

Anne Peabody (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Glasstress Stockholm,” Millesgarden Museum, Stockholm, 8/27/11–1/15/12.

Steven Walker (BFA Cartooning). Group exhibition, “International Exhibition of Contemporary Works on Paper,” NY Coo Gallery, NYC, 6/9–6/25/11.

Joseph Petrick (BFA Film & Video).

Group exhibition, “Reality Bites,” Post No Bills, Venice, CA, 9/15–10/15/11.

2007 Amy Elkins (BFA Photography).

Solo exhibition, “Elegant Violence,” Yancey Richardson Gallery, NYC, 9/8–10/22/11.

Lisa Elmaleh (BFA Photography). Solo exhibition, “Musicians,” Nashville International Airport, Nashville, TN, 9/1–12/11/11.

Hugo Fernandes (BFA Photography). Group exhibition, “Becoming: Photographs by Hugo Fernandes and Joy Scopa,” Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation, NYC, 9/27–12/15/11.

Peter Gregorio (MFA Fine Arts).

Solo exhibition, “The Many Worlds Interpretation,” ArtGate Gallery, NYC, 10/6–11/15/11.

Mu Wen Pan (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Group exhibition, “Dark Water,” Corpo Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, 11/12–12/3/11.

2008 Clayton Cotterell (MFA Photography, Video & Related Media). Group exhibition, “Canteen Magazine Presents: Hot Authors, a Photo Exhibit, Panel Discussion, and Launch Party,” 3rd Ward, NYC, 9/16/11.

Keena Gonzalez (BFA Photography).

Group exhibition, “Rumble Above the Clouds,” Church of St. Paul the Apostle, NYC, 9/29–10/27/11.

Ricardo Gonzalez (MFA Computer Art). Group exhibition, “Salvajes,” Asya Geisberg Gallery, NYC, 9/15–10/22/11.

Allison Kaufman (MFA Photography, Video & Related Media). Group exhibition, “Staged,” Mount Airy Contemporary Artists Space, Philadelphia, 10/1–11/19/11.

Joanna Wezyk (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “In Wonderland,” presented by the SCAD exhibitions department, La Galerie Pfriem, Lacoste, France, 9/15–11/25/11.

Martin Wittfooth (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Solo exhibition, “The Passions,” Lyons Weir Gallery, NYC, 10/13–11/12/11.

2009 Johanna Heldebro (MFA Photography, Video & Related Media). Group exhibition, “Wrong Address,” 4th Moscow Biennial of Contemporary Art, Moscow, 9/22–10/31/11.

Yuriko Katori (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Solo exhibition, “Bubbles, Particles,” Rabbit Hole Projects, NYC, 7/7–7/28/11.

Nu Ryu (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Solo exhibition, “Moving Forest,” Rabbit Hole Projects, NYC, 7/7–7/28/11.

2010 Kathryn Armstrong (BFA Visual & Critical Studies). Solo exhibition, “Once More,” BravinLee Programs, NYC, 9/8–10/15/11 Florencia Escudero (BFA Fine Arts).

Group exhibition, “Salvajes,” Asya Geisberg Gallery, NYC, 9/15–10/22/11.

Stanislava Georgieva (BFA Photography). Group exhibition, “Temporary Status,” Immigrant Movement International, NYC, 10/7/11.

Hye Soon Hwang (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Intangible,” Dohjidai Gallery of Art, Kyoto, 6/28–7/3/11.

Matthew Stone (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Tectonics,” Like the Spice Gallery, NYC, 6/24–7/31/11.

2011 Randall Barquero (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Viva America!,” SUNY Empire State College, NYC, 10/3–12/15/11.

Matthew Cetta (BFA Photography).

Group exhibition, “Masters on Main, Round 3: Sculptural Installations,” Greene County Council on the Arts, Catskill, NY, 10/22/11.

Alysha Colangeli (BFA Fine Arts).

Group exhibition, Governors Island Art Fair 2011, Governors Island, NYC, 9/2–9/25/11.

Kirsten Flaherty (BFA Illustration).

Curatorial project, “Visions in Print,” co-curated by Kirsten Flaherty and Bruce Waldman, Allegra LaViola Gallery, NYC 6/29–8/6/11.

Raul Gomez Valverde (MFA Photography, Video & Related Media). Solo exhibition, “2010–2030,” ventana244 Art Space, NYC, 10/14–10/23/11.

Theresa Himmer (MFA Fine Arts).

Installation, “From the Front Side,” Latitud °19, Arte Contemporaneo Festival, Mexico City, 10/13–11/3/11.

TOP: Sari Rodrig, Angler Fish, 2011, 3D rendering.

BOTTOM: Sari Rodrig, Steampunk Heart, 2011, 3D rendering.

Jayoun Ku (BFA Illustration). Group exhibition, “The Girls in the Basement,” 5 West 33 St, NYC, 7/16/11.

Yuri Leonov (BFA Illustration). Solo exhibition, “Remain,” White Rabbit’s White Box, NYC, 8/31–10/31/11.

Tempest NeuCollins (MFA Fine Arts).

Group exhibition, “Grey Matter,” Painting Center, NYC, 6/23–8/6/11.

Jonathan Rider (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Microwave, Eight,” Josée Bienvenu, NYC, 6/30–9/3/11.

TO SUBMIT INFORMATION AND TO VIEW A COMPLETE LIST OF ALUMNI NOTES AND EXHIBITIONS GO TO:

alumni.sva.edu

Miryana Todorova (MFA Fine Arts).

Group exhibition, “Temporary Status,” Immigrant Movement International, NYC, 10/7/11 SPRING 2012

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From the SVA Archives

The School of Visual Arts Archives serves as the repository for the historical records of the College; collections include posters, announcements, departmental and student publications, and other printed ephemera and artifacts dating back to SVA’s founding in 1947. To learn more visit svaarchives.org.

Cover from the first issue of Words.

Putting Words Together As former Humanities faculty member Martin Smith can best recall, it was sometime in the early ’70s or late ’60s that he first approached his department chair, Dorothy Wolfberg, with the idea of initiating a creative writing course at SVA. The goal would be to give students an additional avenue of expression apart from their major field of interest. Smith also proposed that a literary magazine be published in conjunction with the course; students’ writings would be critiqued by the instructor and the class and the best would be published in the magazine.

Wolfberg liked the idea and submitted the course/magazine proposal to the College’s founder, Silas H. Rhodes, who gave the project his approval as well as a small budget. Thus Words was born. “As for the name,” Smith says, “Words always appealed to me because it was short, sweet and to the point.”

Smith was also teaching a Humanities Department composition class and he encouraged those students to submit work for the magazine as well. Then students in other courses

VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL

also began to try to get into the magazine and Words quickly grew. At first it came out just once a year, but in the early 1980s it began to appear more often—usually two times each year.

When Smith left SVA several years later to pursue a screenwriting career, Wolfberg approached another member of her faculty, Louis Phillips, to take over the role of editor.

“Because I had edited a few literary publications, had some writing experience and learned that the job came with a small office space, I signed on,” says Phillips. Now some 30 years on, Phillips is still at the magazine’s helm and—with the support of President David Rhodes, Humanities and Sciences co-chairs Maryhelen Hendricks and Robert Milgrom and the assistance of the Visual Arts Press—the 75th issue will be released this month.

Phillips says: “I hope that Words brings pleasure to the SVA students who see their work published and to its readers who get to see the wonderful array of talents that SVA students possess.”

[Sam Modenstein]

Shuli Hallak, Solar Power, 1600 Mirrors in the Desert, Negev, Israel, 2009, inkjet print.

See Front Matter: Investment Portfolio, page 4.

Office of External Relations 209 East 23 Street, New York, NY 10010-3994 www.sva.edu

Presorted Standard U.S. Postage Paid New York, NY Permit No. 3573