Lane Twitchell, Downpour , 2012, oil on cut transparent Melinex mounted to polyester film over acrylic and urethane on plexiglas mounted to pastel on panel.
4 SVA Close Up
News and events from around the College.
10 What’s in Store New products created by SVA entrepreneurs.
18
Hire Ed: Be Prepared
Tips to help ensure that artists are well protected when disaster strikes.
20 Under the Influence
Design faculty member Jose Luis Ortiz Teller and his one-time student Jessica Perilla have had a long-lasting affiliation.
22
Portfolio: Jenny Morgan
Morgan presents a sensual world of figuration in paint, giving a glimpse into her psyche.
32 Color Commentary
The College’s first MPS Fashion Photography class partners with CFDA Incubator designers.
46 For Art’s Sake
A look at the role of the arts in education over the years.
50 After the Storm
The SVA community lends a hand to the victims of Hurricane Sandy.
58 Q + A: Sarah Sze
An excerpt from a discussion between the artist and Adam Weinberg, the Alice Pratt Brown Director of the Whitney Museum of American Art.
66 Alumni Affairs
An introduction to SVA Portfolios and other alumni benefits • Exhibitions and Notes • 2013 Scholarship Recipients • In Memoriam • Donors List
80
From the SVA Archives
A moment in the history of the College.
VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL
School of Visual Arts Magazine
Spring 2013
Volume 21, Number 1
EDITORIAL STAFF
S. A. Modenstein, senior editor
James S. Harrison, managing editor
Dan Halm, visuals coordinator
VISUAL ARTS PRESS, LTD.
Anthony P. Rhodes, creative director
Michael J. Walsh, director of design and digital media
Brian Smith, art director
Sheilah Ledwidge, associate editor
COVER
FRONT: Jenny Morgan, Psychosomatic, 2011, oil on canvas.
BACK: Mitch Paster, Red on Yellow on Blue 2012, digital C-print.
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.
From the President
A music critic who writes about American history. A designer who teaches branding in terms of architecture. An installation artist who trained as a painter. A cinematographer without a style of his own. These are some of the remarkable individuals you will meet in this issue of Visual Arts Journal
Another such individual is journalist and author Greil Marcus, who will speak at SVA’s 2013 Commencement exercises. With a portfolio that would humble any music critic, he has published extensively on American film, history and literature as well as music. Versatility was also a hallmark of the career of the late Harris Savides (BFA 1982 Film and Video), a cinematographer who was revered by directors for his ability to give each film he shot its own special look, and is mentioned in the Alumni Notes section. As for mastery of the camera, this issue’s Color Commentary introduces 10 recent alumni of the MPS Fashion Photography Department—the first class to graduate from that program—who were asked by the Council of Fashion Designers of America to translate the visions of 10 emerging labels.
This issue also features the work of artist Sarah Sze (MFA 1997 Fine Arts), who will represent the United States at this year’s Venice Biennale, and Jenny Morgan (MFA 2008 Fine Arts). In an interview with Whitney Museum of American Art Director Adam Weinberg, published here in collaboration with the museum, Sze talks about the process behind her intricate site-specific installa-
tions. Like Sze, Jenny Morgan balances repetition and experimentation—only with paint on canvas— to achieve inspiring results in portraiture.
It should come as no surprise that the SVA community includes many people whose greatest accomplishments lie outside their specialty or main field of study. After all, some of the most illuminating and influential Americans in history have been multidisciplinary talents. This fact was once reflected in the curricula of our elementary, middle and high schools, where art education had its place alongside reading, writing and math. In “For Art’s Sake,” Angela Riechers (MFA 2010 Design Criticism) reports on three alumni who are doing their part to keep art education alive in New York City. Equally eye-opening is Lee Ann Norman’s (MFA 2012 Art Criticism and Writing) survey of initiatives by SVA students, faculty and alumni to assist victims of Hurricane Sandy. From creating websites to facilitate fund raising to volunteering to clear debris from homes in neighborhoods hit hardest, I’m pleased to see their efforts recognized here.
Though it has become fashionable in education to describe a program as “trans-disciplinary,” in truth, for some time now we’ve seen artists design furniture, graphic designers direct films and illustrators write books. As is revealed in this issue of the Journal, clearly they’re on to something.
David Rhodes President
photo by Harry Zernike
SVA Close Up Upon Reflection
Late this coming summer, SVA will present “The Pond, the Mirror, the Kaleidoscope,” an exhibition curated by Thomas Woodruff, chair of the BFA Illustration and Cartooning Department. The show will feature work by alumni—some of whom are also faculty—from that department, as well as from the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Department, which is chaired by Marshall Arisman. The artists in the show present the world as reflected through a distinctive lens that had its origins in the late 19th century with the Symbolists, a geographically widespread group of painters known for mythological and dreamlike imagery. Dismissed by cultural critics for decades as “bourgeois” or “mere illustration,” the Symbolists’ work resonates deeply with many young artists interested in making pictures today.
Like the original Symbolists, today’s neo-Symbolists are sometimes marginalized as “illustrators” because they work in a figurative tradition and are unbiased when it comes to content. Arguably eccentric, obsessive and obstinate, they make work that is of our time, using low-tech methods to tell new stories for a new audience. The thoughtful, personal, exquisitely made paintings and objects assembled for the exhibition are not just the products of observation or a love of detail. They are an intellectual surprise brimming with visions of the world as it is—or how it could be. Their subjects may be environmental
(“the Pond”), societal and cultural (“the Mirror”), or a post-apocalyptic, futuristic mash-up (“the Kaleidoscope”), but the intention of the artists is clear: They want the viewer to enter into a world of ideas and images that challenge and engage.
The included artists are Jean Pierre Arboleda (BFA 2004 Illustration), James Bascara (BFA 2011 Illustration), George Boorujy (MFA 2002 Illustration as Visual Essay), Michael Combs (BFA 1994 Illustration, MFA 1996 Illustration as Visual Essay), TM Davy (BFA 2002 Illustration), Steve Ellis (BFA 1994 Illustration), Scott Harrison (BFA 1990 Media Arts), James Jean (BFA 2001 Illustration), Mark Lang (MFA 1990 Illustration as Visual Essay), Sakura Maku (BFA 2004 Illustration), Alison Moritsugu (MFA 1991 Illustration as Visual Essay), Tim Okamura (MFA 1993 Illustration as Visual Essay), Mu Pan (BFA 2001 Illustration, MFA 2007 Illustration as Visual Essay), Rachel Pontious (BFA 2011 Illustration), Lane Twitchell (MFA 1995 Illustration as Visual Essay), Martin Wittfooth (MFA 2008 Illustration as Visual Essay) and Jason Bard Yarmosky (BFA 2010 Illustration). Michael Grant
Mark Lang, Abstraction, 2010, oil on canvas.
SVA Close Up
On Thursday, May 9, the SVA class of 2013 will convene at Radio City Music Hall for the College’s 2013 Commencement exercises. President David Rhodes will confer BFA, MAT, MFA and MPS degrees on more than 1,100 graduates with family, friends and faculty in attendance. The featured speaker will be Greil Marcus, the distinguished journalist, author and cultural critic best known for his scholarly and literary books and essays that place rock music in the larger context of culture, politics and academia.
Marcus’ first book, Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock ’n’ Roll Music (1975), was widely acclaimed as the best book ever written about America as seen through its music. He first began writing criticism in 1968 at Rolling Stone and remains a contributing editor there today. He has written on music, film, TV and literary topics for Politicks, Artforum, Creem, The Village Voice, Salon, Interview, The New York Times, Esquire, Die Zeit, The London Review of Books, the London Sunday Times and The Believer, where his “Real Life Top 10” is featured regularly.
Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the 20th Century (1989) was Marcus’ study of the many hidden voices of subordination and counterculture,
A Noteworthy Address
The Future of Health Care
As an assignment for the seven-week course Design in Public Spaces, a group of MFA Interaction Design Department students teamed up with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, the oldest and largest cancer care hospital in the world. The institution is in the process of building a new outpatient oncology facility, which is slated to open in 2020. The nine-floor unit will provide medical, surgical and radiology services to patients with different forms of cancer in various stages.
from Zurich and Berlin in the early 20th century to Paris in the 1950s to London in the 1970s. The book inspired a companion soundtrack by record label Rough Trade, released in 1993, and a theatrical adaptation by the Rude Mechanicals of Austin, Texas, which premiered in 1999.
Other books penned by Marcus include The Old, Weird America: The World of Bob Dylan’s Basement Tapes (1997); Double Trouble: Bill Clinton and Elvis Presley in a Land of No Alternatives (2000); The Shape of Things to Come: Prophecy and the American Voice (2006); and most recently The Doors: A Lifetime of Listening to Five Mean Years (2011). He co-edited A New Literary History of America (2009) with Werner Sollors and The Rose and the Briar: Death, Love and Liberty in the American Ballad (2004) with Sean Wilentz.
Since 2000, Marcus has taught at Princeton University, the University of Minnesota, New York University, and, most frequently, at The New School in New York City and the University of California at Berkeley. He lives in Oakland, California.
Following his address to the class of 2013, Marcus will receive an honorary degree from the College. Lisa Batchelder
Led by SVA faculty member Jill Nussbaum (executive director of product and interaction design at The Barbarian Group) and working in conjunction with the design innovation group at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, the students were asked to demonstrate how digital design and technology will benefit the new oncology center, keeping in mind how embedded sensors, personal digital technologies and patient data can be used to improve patient care.
Concepts ranged from networked lobby furniture, which connects to patient treatment rooms, to a mobile device that tracks patient information, which can be updated and shared between patients, doctors and family members. Citing the positive effects of caring for something while caring for oneself, one group of students came up with an idea for a terrace-housed community garden where plants are equipped with sensors that indicate when they’re thirsty, and interactive screens display the different seasons to help bring the outside in, especially during colder months.
“It was a challenge for the students to understand the complex issues and relationships facing cancer patients in such a short time,” said Nussbaum. “But they did a great job of responding to feedback, were generous in sharing their ideas and worked really well together.” Ken Switzer
Extracurricular Activities
For the past two years, a select group of BFA Fine Arts majors have participated in a noncredit project in addition to their regular course work. Each fall, under the guidance of Erik Guzman, director of SVA’s sculpture facilities, and sculptor Ben Keating, who owns and manages a foundry in Trenton, New Jersey, 10 students—chosen, in department chair Suzanne Anker’s words, for “their level of maturity and the level of maturity of their work”—create original works in bronze. Last fall, Anker introduced a similar initiative, bringing together another 10 students with the staff of Brooklyn Glass, a 4,000-square-foot facility and instructional space, to create original blown-, cast- and neon-glass works.
For the bronze works, students consulted with Keating on the feasibility of their designs, drafted their ideas using modeling software in SVA’s sculpture studio and printed them out, in plastic, with the studio’s 3D printer. Keating and his staff took these models to the foundry, where they were dipped in a ceramic slurry to create hard, heat-resistant molds. The plastic was then melted out and the liquid bronze, heated to about 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit, was poured in. After cooling, the molds were removed, any rough edges were ground off and
the pieces were returned to campus, where students did the final detail and patina work. For the glass sculptures, students’ preparations differed. Those bending glass tubes for neon works either used freehand sketches as blueprints or let the process itself dictate the final outcome, “free-forming as they went along,” says Alan Iwamura, Brooklyn Glass’s director of education. If students wanted to blow or cast a specific form, however, they first sculpted it in clay (or used a readymade object), then created a plaster mold of that form, into which the molten glass was poured or blown.
The resulting works from both projects ranged in subject from abstract to representational and in scale from small (none of the labor- and resourceintensive bronzes were “any bigger than a shoebox,” Keating says) to installationsize (for certain neon sculptures). Both bronze and glass forms were shown in “Sampler,” a BFA Fine Arts show at the Visual Arts Gallery last February. Anker hopes that both initiatives will continue and that new ones like them can be formed. “I’m trying to collaborate with venues that have media we do not have,” she says. “If this had been a class [the students] never would have been able to do what they did.” Greg Herbowy
photo by Luis Navarro
photo by Alan Iwamura
SVA Close Up Topping the Charts
As the readership for journalism migrates from paper to screen, many news organizations are looking to take advantage of the digital format and execute projects that would be impossible to do in print. One such organization is financial news company Bloomberg LP. In 2012, Bloomberg formed a visual data team, dedicated to creating searchable resources that present large amounts of information in multifaceted ways that are easy to explore. Headed by Lisa Strausfeld, a former partner at the wellrespected design firm Pentagram, the team includes three SVA alumni—Chris Cannon (MFA 2012 Interaction Design), Jeremy Diamond (BFA 2004 Graphic Design) and Kenton Powell (BFA 2008 Graphic Design)—and a design director, Hilla Katki, who has taught at the College.
The goal for any visual data team project, Cannon says, is for it to be “scalable, updatable and editorially relevant,” transcending the snapshot quality of a static pie chart or bar graph
to become a resource that readers regularly visit. So far, the group has released two products: State-by-State, which tracks changing economic and demographic statistics for the United States, and Billionaires Index, a storehouse of information on the world’s wealthiest individuals. A third, incorporating the work of Bloomberg’s rankings team (“They put out lists like ‘Fattest Counties,’” Cannon says), is in the works. All can be filtered and displayed in multiple ways (for example, the billionaires can be sorted by variables such as citizenship, age and financial holdings); all can be updated in real time, or close to it; all were built to be expandable, making it possible to easily add new data. Additionally, each customized view has its own URL, allowing journalists to create and link to their own specific charts.
While everyone on the team contributes to determining, designing and testing features and functionality, the members also have distinct roles.
Cannon, the senior designer, serves as an art director, working to establish a consistent feel and look for the products, which he has based on the white-texton-black-screen display of the iconic (to financial types, at least) Bloomberg terminal, a computer used by analysts worldwide. Powell, a designer, uses graphing software to play with the raw data and discover visually compelling and useful ways of sorting and displaying it. Diamond, an interaction designer, creates working prototypes of individual features in HTML and JavaScript, which are then handed to a developer to be integrated into a cohesive whole. As the team hits its stride, Cannon expects that it will be able to release a new product every three to four months and become a known brand to researchers and consumers alike. The goal, he says, “is to carve out a little niche for Bloomberg visual data.”
Greg Herbowy
Trip Advisors
When a group of SVA staff members visited an award-winning animation and film house in Tokyo last fall, they never expected to find themselves holding an Oscar in their hands. But that’s exactly what happened during a visit to Robot Communications Inc., which was playing host to SVA representatives from the external relations group. Robot had won the Academy Award for best animated short film for La Maison en Petits Cubes (The House of Small Cubes) in 2008. Apart from getting up close and personal with Oscar, the SVA team got an insider’s look at the company’s production process and met with a senior producer and recruiter to discuss professional opportunities for the College’s students and graduates. This experience was just one of the trip’s many highlights. The team also traveled to Seoul to meet with industry professionals and gather information on hiring trends there.
Career Development has made global industry outreach a priority. Not only due to the fact that more than 25 percent of SVA students are from countries outside the U.S., but also because schools in general are finding that more and more of their students are looking for employment opportunities all around the world. During the Asian trip, the SVA team visited a variety of gaming, design and animation/film production firms. Besides Robot, in Japan the group met with a team from ad agency Wieden + Kennedy’s Tokyo office as well as with representatives from Polygon Pictures. In Seoul, they met with ad agency Big Ant International, mobile games developer Com2uS, LG Electronics and Samsung. These sessions allowed the SVA team to gain a meaningful insight into the current state of Japanese and Korean visual arts industries, employers’ hiring practices and internship programs.
SVA representatives also engaged with alumni at company meetings, group luncheons and receptions. The goal of the team’s interactions was to learn from alumni about their experiences after leaving the College and to foster a professional network that may assist future SVA graduates. Angie Wojak
Open to the Public
Independent curator and SVA alumnus Lance Fung (MFA 1990 Fine Arts) is spearheading an ambitious public arts project in Atlantic City. As part of a fiveyear, five-part initiative, his organization, Fung Collaboratives, has teamed up with the Atlantic City Alliance and the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority to create ARTLANTIC, a multi-phased series of large-scale exhibitions aimed at transforming underused land into open green space and making public art available to the community year-round.
“I am over the moon to be working in such an exciting and inspiring city such as this,” Fung said of the project. “We all have a common goal of bringing leading artists to work here as well as introducing a roster of emerging artists.”
The first phase of the project, ARTLANTIC: wonder, was launched in November 2012. Taking place on two separate sites and on several acres of land, the project was inspired by such disparate elements as roller coasters and
Indonesian rice fields and features works by such acclaimed artists as Robert Barry, Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, John Roloff and Kiki Smith in collaboration with two landscape design firms: New York-based Balmori Associates and Philadelphiabased Cairone & Kaupp.
On June 20, ARTLANTIC: glorious will open, shifting the focus to the sky and from individual works to collaborative projects. The same participants of ARTLANTIC: wonder have been invited to transform a vacant block using Atlantic City’s dramatic land- and seascape as the cornerstone of its design. “I envision an elevated park that will provide a feeling of ascension and freedom,” Fung says. “The elevated space will allow the visitor to rise above the manmade boardwalk and look beyond it. This unique vantage point will stir the soul with an unobstructed view of the powerful Atlantic Ocean, and the sounds, sights and smells of nature will supplant those of the city below.”
Ken Switzer
From ARTLANTIC: wonder (left to right) Robert Barry ’s Unknown and Ilya and Emilia Kabakov ’s Devils Rage
photo by Layman Lee
What’s in Store
Emancipation Proclamation (Forever ®) Stamp
Antonio Alcalá and Gail Anderson
U.S. Postal Service
Stamp books, $1.80 – $9
To commemorate the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, the U.S. Postal Service commissioned art director Antonio Alcalá and graphic designer Gail Anderson (BFA 1984 Graphic Design) to produce a postage stamp. To evoke the look of broadsides from the Civil War era, Alcalá and Anderson worked with Hatch Show Print of Nashville, Tennessee (one of the oldest working letterpress shops in the United States). This stamp, along with two others to be released in 2013, will highlight landmarks in the African-American civil rights struggle. Dan Halm
Sprayground
David Ben David (DBD) sprayground.com
Backpacks and duffel bags, $65 – $80
From its early days as something seen being carried only by hikers and hippies traveling to Europe on cut-rate airlines, the backpack has become an almost essential part of any urban dweller’s street-wear wardrobe. Until recently, most of them were drab items of strictly functional design. But bags made by Sprayground, with their playful exterior designs and elegant interiors, have changed that. This all came about as a result of the company’s fashion-loving founder, DBD (BFA 2005 Graphic Design), having a background in street art; he intended his first bag—which looked like a giant “Hello My Name Is” sticker—to be used by graffiti taggers to lug around their spray cans (thus the company’s name).
The backpack sold well—to more than just street artists—and a number of other, equally successful designs followed. Sleekly constructed and made from durable polyester, Sprayground bags’ insides have velour laptop, tablet and sunglass compartments and other handy features. The bags also offer padded back support.
In 2012, DBD launched his “Dream Collection”—25 new designs, including bags that feature images of sharks, stacks of money, ninjas, samurai warriors, pop art lettering, gold bricks and a parental advisory explicit label. The bags have become a favorite of fashionistas as well as of celebrities—Bruno Mars, T-Pain, Justin Bieber, among others, have been seen with Sprayground bags. Both MTV and XXL magazine cited Sprayground as bag company of the year for its innovative designs.
The bags are sold in more than 350 stores across the U.S., including Nordstrom, Urban Outfitters, Champs and Foot Locker. They can also be found in Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom and Australia as well as in Virgin stores in the Middle East, Taiwan and Singapore. Dan Halm
What’s in Store
Elegantissima: The Design and Typography of Louise Fili
Louise Fili (faculty, BFA Design and MFA Design), foreword by Steven Heller (co-chair, MFA Design)
Vince Aletti, Yolanda Cuomo, Adam Gopnik, Pete Hamill and Norma Stevens
powerHouse Books
Hardcover, 192 pages, $125
The metropolis often referred to as “the city that never sleeps,” New York City is never devoid of excitement and intrigue. Especially at night. So it’s small wonder that people have always been infatuated with the energy and mystery of the city after daylight fades. New York at Night: Photography After Dark is an anthology of almost 200 images that reveal the city in some of its most vulnerable, raw and honest moments. A total of 89 photographers— both mainstream and lesser-known—along with a handful of well-respected writers, have contributed to this expansive collection.
With images spanning the 20th and 21st centuries, the book offers a reflection of a great city from a variety of perspectives. Although nothing especially new or surprising about New York is revealed here, the more the book’s pages are turned, the more involved the reader gets. A scene from a punk rock show (Eli Reed), the Chelsea Hotel’s neon sign (Paule Saviano), a group of people around a coffee table playing Monopoly (Nan Goldin), a stripper atop a polished wooden table with an elaborate chandelier dangling above (Thomas Hoepker), a half-masked Truman Capote attending his 1966 Black and White Ball at the Plaza Hotel (Elliott Erwitt), a lighted skyline behind Central Park (Paolo Pellegrin)—all are sights and locales that will be familiar (or at least seem to be) to veteran New Yorkers. The essays scattered throughout the book are equally intimate, and each author—including SVA faculty member Vince Aletti (MPS Fashion Photography), Adam Gopnik, alumnus Pete Hamill (G 1954), Patricia Marx and Norma Stevens—has written about his or her personal connection to the city after dark. For the New York enthusiast, New York at Night will provide a pleasurable coffee table experience. Adriana Fracchia
Peanut
Ayun Halliday Illustrations by Paul Hoppe (MFA 2005 Illustration as Visual Essay)
Schwartz & Wade
Softcover, 216 pages, $15.99
Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present
Direction and cinematography by Matthew Akers Music Box Films
DVD/Blu-ray, $29.95/$34.95
Over the last four decades, Serbian performance artist Marina Abramović has mutilated herself, taken psychoactive drugs, leapt through fire, publicly masturbated and filled her lungs with carbon dioxide in her quest to define art. For her 2010 retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the “grandmother of performance art” endured the most physical and spiritual test of her career. Seated in a chair for more than 700 hours, she gazed intensely at scores of spectators, one by one, for as long as they liked. No words were exchanged, no touching was allowed in these “dialogues of energy.” Many were moved to tears.
SVA graduate Matthew Akers (BFA 1998 Fine Arts) trained his camera on Abramović as she prepared for this epic performance. His 2012 documentary, Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present, captures the passion, intelligence and audacity of one of the most controversial artists of our day. Granted virtually unlimited access to the artist at home, at work and on her travels, Akers distilled over 1,400 hours of footage, including every moment of the MoMA performance, into an acclaimed 105-minute portrait of an art world icon.
As the film opens, we see Abramović in the final throes of planning for the exhibition. She is aware that the MoMA retrospective will be the most galvanizing moment of her career—it will bolster her legacy, but at the same time, she has lost patience with being a fringe artist. “It is one thing to be ‘alternative’ when you are 20 or 30 or 40,” she says to the camera. “But excuse me, I’m 63. I don’t want to be alternative anymore.”
Rich in archival material, the film traces Abramović’s career trajectory and explores the impact she has had on those around her. Interviewees include her former lover and fellow performance artist Frank Uwe Laysiepen (known as Ulay), art critic Arthur Danto, MoMA curator Klaus Biesenbach, Whitney Museum curator Chrissie Iles, writer Tom McEvilley and illusionist David Blaine, among others. What emerges is a profile of a woman driven by dedication, desperate for admiration and rife with contradictions.
The MoMA show was a wild success—more than 40,000 people lined up to see it—and so was the film. Marina Abramović The Artist Is Present made countless “critics’ choice” lists and earned honors at such venues as the Sundance Film Festival, the Berlin International Film Festival and the Independent Spirit Awards, to name a few. Sharing the honors with Akers were several SVA colleagues from the MFA Social Documentary Film Department: the project was produced by chair Maro Chermayeff and guest lecturer Jeff Dupre. Faculty member Donna Shepherd served as editor.
In a 2012 IndieWIRE interview, Akers said that he had been a bit skeptical of performance art. Then he saw the MoMA show. “I went from being a skeptic to a convert,” he says. “You don’t need to know anything about performance art or even have a particular interest in art to enjoy going on this ride.” Lisa Batchelder
Construction
Brian Finke (BFA 1998 Photography)
Decode Books
Hardcover, 80 pages, $55
What’s in Store
Mirko Ilić: Fist to Face
Dejan Kršić, author, with preface by Milton Glaser and introduction by Steven Heller Print Publications Paperback, 320 pages, $45
Fist to Face—the alliteration and the image get your attention. It sounds cool, but this book’s title doesn’t exactly fit its contents—the drawings of MFA Illustration as Visual Essay faculty member Mirko Ilić. His colleagues’ comments—scattered throughout the book—not to mention his work, show Ilić to be a graphic artist who is far too multifaceted, too layered and too subtle to be contained by a trope as one-dimensional as a fist in a face. To be sure, the imagery is fist-forceful, but the punch in an Ilić design or illustration comes from its wit, from its piercing acumen. Indeed, to judge by the output of many Eastern European artists working before glasnost (Ilić is originally from the former Yugoslavia), the social smarts imparted by an upbringing behind the Iron Curtain seem to instill a special aptitude for finessing censorship. Perhaps those who have grown up without democracy cherish its value and grasp its symbols with an urgency that surpasses that of those for whom it is a birthright.
Take for instance the illustration Ilić made of the Statue of Liberty planting a tender kiss on the mouth of the figure of Justice. Lady Liberty leans forward, like the sailor in Alfred Eisenstadt’s famous photo taken in Times Square on the day World War II ended, and Justice, like the nurse in the picture, bends backwards, surrendering to the embrace, lowering her sword and loosening her grip on the scales. Could there be more symbolism in one image? And could the image be any more provocative—scandalous, perhaps, to some, exhilarating to others? Or how about the car at a filling station where the gas pumps are coffins? Is that an affront to individual liberties, or an appeal to our collective conscience? Or what about the 9/11 illustration that reprises Milton Glaser’s famous I ❤ NY, but replaces the red “love” heart with a Purple Heart? Is the military medal for wounds sustained in combat an apt metaphor for the September 11, 2001, attack on New York?
Open this richly illustrated book and get lost in its images. Each poses a question, each demands reflection, provokes consternation, elicits marvel. (Ilić not only has ideas galore, but he can also make pictures like nobody’s business, by hand and with the computer.) You’ll be amazed at how much more than fists and faces can be found between the covers. Francis Di Tommaso
Raina Telgemeier (BFA 2002
pages, $10.99
The Complete Guide to Figure Drawing for Comics and Graphic Novels
Dan Cooney (BFA 1998
192 pages, $24.99
Must I Weep for the Dancing Bear, and Other Stories
Louis Phillips (faculty, Humanities and Sciences)
Pleasure Boat Studio: A Literary Press Softcover, 165 pages, $16
Drama
Jerusalem: A Family Portrait
Boaz Yakin (author), Nick Bertozzi (illustrator)
First Second Books
Hardcover, 400 pages, $24.99
Jerusalem, Israel’s largest city and one of the oldest on earth, has been besieged, destroyed, captured and attacked countless times in its long history. But Yakin and Bertozzi’s (faculty, BFA Illustration and Cartooning Department) new graphic novel, Jerusalem: A Family Portrait, focuses on a more recent period of trouble. It’s the story of the struggles of one large Jewish family during the chaos that engulfed Israel after World War II, as British rule was winding down and Jews from around the world were beginning to immigrate to the country—a country that Palestinian Arabs saw as their own. Into this turmoil, Jerusalem brings a family with its own share of jealousy, aggression and betrayal.
At one point in the story one of the characters refers to the discord as “blood and thunder,” which might have been an appropriate title for the book, which has as much violence as any Marvel graphic novel. While there are a few quiet moments of romance and nostalgia, most of the book deals with the difficulties that roiled the city and the family. Conflict can be found on almost every page.
Bertozzi manages to balance a playful drawing style with the harsh subject matter. His panel compositions are creative and diverse while his lines are energetic and appear to be effortless. The illustrations are high-contrast black and white with gray washes, making Jerusalem seem almost like a sophisticated storyboard for a film noir. But while the story has its share of shadows, guns and crime scenes, don’t expect any femme fatales.
Christopher Darling
The Complete Maiolica Collection
Artware Editions, design by Sol LeWitt artwareeditions.com
Dinnerware and tiles, $100 – $650
In collaboration with the estate of Sol LeWitt (G 1953), Artware Editions presents a collection of handpainted maiolica tableware and tiles. In the early 1980s, LeWitt purchased a farmhouse near Spoleto, Italy, and once, on a trip to Rome, he and his wife discovered that the maiolica pottery they admired was being produced close to their new home. Shortly after that discovery, LeWitt began creating designs for the artisans who were keeping this old Italian ceramic-making tradition alive. All the maiolica tiles and dinnerware pieces that LeWitt designed during that time are now available stateside. Dan Halm
What’s in Store
Coastermatic
Tom Harman and Tash Wong coastermatic.com
Set of four coasters, $25
Harman and Wong (second-year students, MFA Interaction Design) make it possible for you to have your own photographs from Instagram, the popular photo sharing program, digitally printed onto sandstone coasters. By following the easy instructions on the Coastermatic website, your photos will be digitally printed directly onto the stone. The circular coasters are absorbent and can be washed; they are not, however, dishwasher safe. Gift certificates are available. Dan Halm
Broderpress
Shannon Broder broderpress.com
Pillows and ornaments, $30 – $100
When Shannon Broder (BFA 2011 Visual and Critical Studies) was growing up, her mother made her a toy. Broder still has it—“just a piece of fabric stitched into a pillow shaped like an elephant, with marker dots for the eyes,” she says. This keepsake, modest but beloved, inspired Broderpress, her line of screen-printed, animal-themed contour pillows and ornaments.
Broder started Broderpress while still an undergrad, selling handmade “plush creatures” at the 2009 Degenerate Craft Fair, an annual “anti-art fair” she founded along with artist and SVA faculty member Amy Wilson. After graduating, the business became a full-time undertaking (juggled with her printmaking-tech job at SVA). Broder sells online (Etsy, Scoutmob); attends other fairs; collaborates on designs with artists like Dominick Rapone (BFA 1996 Illustration), owner of Beastly Prints Artist Editions and SVA’s printmaking manager; and offers custom-designed pillows based on photos of customers’ pets.
Last summer, retail site Fab.com featured Broderpress in a weeklong sale. It was almost too successful. Customers who couldn’t get what they wanted through Fab ordered on Broder’s Etsy site and within three days she had more than 200 orders to fill. Broder, who makes everything by hand— usually on her bed—had to enlist friends to come over and help sew. This year, Broderpress returned to Fab with two sales—one in January for custom pillows, which sold out within six hours—and one in May featuring all-new designs, including a rhino, a tapir and a lobster.
“Doing this makes me happy,” she says. “I make fine art, too, but I like to make objects that people can use in their lives. That’s really important to me.” Greg Herbowy
Me Into You
Keren Moscovitch (MFA 2005 Photography, Video and Related Media)
Self-published Softcover, 64 pages, $50
A Partial Inventory of Gustave Flaubert’s Personal Effects
Ever since Hurricane Sandy struck the U.S. last October, people across the country, from all walks of life, have been taking steps to make sure they are well-protected when future disasters strike—doing everything from putting together “go kits” and shoring up houses to reexamining their insurance policies. But different lines of work and different professions call for different preparedness needs, and artists—often working on their own and in studios—have particularly specialized concerns. And those concerns are not necessarily based on threats like those from floods and hurricanes; many artists work with materials that must be handled carefully and in places and conditions that can be dangerous. What can an artist do to make sure she or he is headed in the right direction when making preparedness choices? One place to look for help is Starting Your Career as an Artist (Allworth, 2011), by SVA Director of Career Development Angie Wojak (BFA 1990 Ilustration) and Stacy Miller, Ed.D. The book is a comprehensive manual full of sound advice for artists seeking to advance their professional careers, and when it comes to preparedness it includes an interview with Craig Nutt, an expert in the field of artists’ health and safety issues and the director of programs for the Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF+). The following is that interview, excerpted from the book.
WHAT IS THE MISSION OF CERF+?
CERF+ safeguards and sustains the careers of craft artists and provides emergency resources that benefit all artists. CERF+ accomplishes this through direct financial and educational assistance to craft artists, including emergency relief assistance, business development support, and resources and referrals on topics such as health, safety and insurance.
CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT STUDIO PROTECTOR: THE ARTIST’S GUIDE TO EMERGENCIES?
We give grants and loans to craft artists whose careers are threatened after health issues or disasters. Our experience helping artists after Hurricane Katrina cemented our commitment to disaster preparedness for artists, and we created Studio Protector as a result. Studio Protector has two parts: an interactive, quick-reference wall guide and a complementary online guide (studioprotector.org), which is a comprehensive digest of information that guides the user through all aspects of emergency management. Experts in fields such as conservation and emergency management contributed content to both pieces. The website also includes video interviews with artists who share what they have learned from having gone through emergencies. Studio Protector includes:
SAFEGUARDING
All-purpose business practices to help protect your workspace, your art, and your career DISASTER PLANNING
How to prevent and prepare for an emergency in your studio DISASTER WARNING
Things to do, if you have time, during a disaster DISASTER RELIEF
How and where to get emergency assistance within and outside your community CLEANUP
First steps to reclaiming your workspace after a disaster SALVAGE
How to save your art, assets and archives after a disaster E-SALVAGE
Retrieving electronic data and recovering electronic equipment REBOUNDING
Getting back to work and moving on
WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP ARTISTS CAN TAKE TO PROTECT THEIR WORK AND CAREER?
One of most important things an artist can do is to get business insurance. Most artists do not realize that their homeowner’s (or renter’s) insurance does not cover their art, their tools and supplies, or cover them for liability if they are in business. If you sell or offer work you are in business, as far as insurance is concerned. Homeowner’s insurance does not cover liability for business practices. If you participate in a studio tour and someone falls and breaks their leg, they or their insurance company can sue you and your homeowner’s insurance will not cover it because it happened during a business activity. Or suppose you are showing at an art fair and your booth blows over, injuring someone. A business liability policy would cover that.
Consider the cost/benefit ratio of paying a few hundred dollars a year in insurance vs. $100K in legal fees, plus a settlement if you are found to be at fault. Just as you would not drive a car without insurance, you should not operate an art studio without insurance. A manufacturer’s and contractor’s liability policy covers you anywhere you go, including craft shows and street fairs. You can often purchase a business owner’s policy that includes property and liability in a single package—and if your property value is relatively low, it may not cost that much more than liability alone.
You should be aware that regular insurance policies do not cover earthquakes or floods, so special insurance needs to be purchased if there is any chance you could be subject to those risks. Fortunately, the lower your risk, the less the insurance costs. You can find information about flood insurance and estimates at floodsmart.gov.
HOW CAN COMPUTERS BE SAFEGUARDED?
Back up your computer. Make copies of special documents and not just your tax returns. Make sure you put this in a safe location. In fact, it’s wise to keep that information in what’s called an “SOL,” or safe off-site location. That is someplace 50 or 100 miles away from your studio that is unlikely to be affected by a disaster that affects your studio.
Don’t keep all your backups in your studio. A disaster might destroy both the originals and the backups. You can back up on a digital “cloud” site like Carbonite or Mozy. A portable drive that you can take wherever you go can work as well. Try to have multiple backup strategies. Check out the blog on CERF+’s Studio Protector website, studioprotector.org, for step-by-step information on protecting your studio.
Under the Influence
A look at the lasting influence of a longtime SVA faculty member.
By James Grimaldi
Jose Luis Ortiz Tellez & Jessica Perilla
Born in Mexico City, Jose Luis Ortiz Tellez followed in the footsteps of his well-known countryman Diego Rivera, the painter and muralist, by studying at the San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts in the Mexican capital. At age 21, the 1968 Olympics enlisted him to design visual identity for the Games, catapulting him into the global spotlight. While this led Ortiz (faculty, CE Design) to South America and then to Europe, it was New York City that captured his imagination, and SVA that convinced him to share his skills by teaching design. “In 1977, Marshall Arisman brought me to SVA,” Ortiz says, “and I was the first one to propose a program in corporate identity design.” So began Ortiz’ relationship with design, education and SVA.
Discussing visual branding with Ortiz is not unlike attending a master class on global-corporate branding design; his enthusiasm for and knowledge of the subject seem bottomless. “This field is a melding of graphic design, architecture and industrial design,” he says. “You are an image maker, a writer and a creative director who develops logos, icons and signage. These are not just images, but systems; ways to find the product, to guide people via shapes, colors and messages. This is all about creating a concept with a system of visual rules, where the rules slowly become invisible, so that when a consumer concentrates on the image, they stop seeing the surface and begin to visualize a deeper image beneath.” To implement this strategy, one cannot simply choose colors and shapes because they’re attractive. Instead, Ortiz explains that he makes his students build “architectural grids to uncover the visual truth
about a product. Once they’ve discovered that truth, then they can choose the shapes and colors.”
One student who “got” this, according to Ortiz, was Jessica Perilla. Perilla (BFA 2004 Graphic Design) had enrolled in Ortiz’ Corporate Identity class in 2002 while completing her bachelor’s degree at SVA. “I remember seeing his work and being in awe of all that could be accomplished via visual identity,” Perilla says. “I remember one specific lesson where he showed us how to fearlessly explore letterforms, how to flip them, turn the letters upside down, shrink them, enlarge them, cut them apart and rebuild them.”
The feeling of respect was mutual. “She would scratch and scratch until she found the spine of the product,” Ortiz says. “She would follow that spine until she found the brain, and then she’d develop a visual language for the product.”
Ortiz says he will never forget the project for which he asked students to produce a final comprehensive design for a product’s visual identity. Most students brought in a PDF or jpeg, but Perilla arrived with a prototype—a real plastic card with imprinted numbers and logo. They argued over the lettering, down to the cursives and angles. “She looked at me with a questioning eye and didn’t agree,” he recalls, “but she said she would think about it, and I respected that in her.” When it came to creating a corporate identity manual Ortiz demanded thoroughness. Every application of the logo had to be well thought out and illustrated. Perilla adds, “He demanded from his students the quality of work that a real-world client would
Jessica Perilla, Sara Moulton mobile iPhone app design and development, 2012.
demand. By the way, I think he still carries my final project (a 20-page corporate identity manual) with him as part of his collection of past student work to guide new students.”
Over the years, Ortiz has led three design firms: Perspectiva, Ortiz Design and Botica Creativa. His clients have included Unicef, Sesame Street, Camino Real Hotels and the campaign of Jose Lopez Portillo for the Mexican presidency. Meanwhile, Jessica Perilla has followed in her mentor’s footsteps by opening her own design firm, JPD Studio, applying Ortiz’ business model to web design, social media and mobile apps, including that of celebrity chef Sara Moulton. Perilla still carries with her Ortiz’ strong principles and applies them to corporate identity projects. She even shares his lessons with the graphic designers whom she now manages.
Ortiz is proud of Perilla’s accomplishments. “Jessica has always displayed an organized brain, capable of managing a product brand,” he says. “She is a young entrepreneur, with a great deal to contribute.”
So in 2008 Ortiz brought Perilla back to SVA. “He called me one day,” Perilla says, “and told me about ¿Hablas Diseño?” ¿Hablas Diseño? [which in English means “Do you speak design?”] is a Continuing Education program at SVA that offers design courses, all taught in Spanish. The courses include graphic design, advertising, computer art, illustration and cartooning, and all respond to a growing demand for creative talent in Hispanic media and the Hispanic divisions of large ad agencies. ¿Hablas Diseño? ’s courses are tailored to the cultural
voice of Hispanic Americans and take into account the nuances of the Spanish language. Ortiz spent years promoting the program by lecturing in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Mexico and Spain. Perilla says, “When Jose Luis asked me if I would teach web design. I remember feeling both exhilarated and nervous, since I had never taught before.”
Now that mentor and student have become teaching colleagues, Perilla continues to learn from Ortiz. “After joining the ¿Hablas Diseño? program,” she says, “I saw Jose Luis’ fierce leadership side. Over the years I’ve watched the program grow, flourish and create new job opportunities for Spanish-speaking students. His commitment to the students along with his trust in his team of instructors has served as inspiration and has shaped the way I approach my role as a leader.”
Perilla has applied those leadership lessons in the design community by creating Web2Fem, a networking group for women in technology that is paving the way for women web designers and programmers. “Ever since I entered this field, I’ve been fervent about building a strong female presence,” she says. “And I am proud that JPD Studio hires all women and can also serve other women’s organizations through its web and graphic design work.”
And so, Jose Luis Ortiz Tellez and Jessica Perilla forge new opportunities for designers across the globe, whether male or female, in English or Spanish, proving that when mentor and student band together, they can push their professional landscape into new frontiers.
Jose Luis Ortiz Tellez, Polygon portfolio digital presentation, 2012.
Portfolio
By Dan Halm
Jenny Morgan
There is something quite sensual in the work of Jenny Morgan (MFA 2008 Fine Arts) and it has nothing to do with the fact that most of her work revolves around the nude female form. When looking at a Jenny Morgan painting one notices the way the paint lies on the work—the history of brushstrokes that have been washed or sanded away revealing layers of paint and the canvas beneath, or the details that give you a glimpse into the artist and sitter’s psyche. And there are other details—like a strategically placed block of color, the reduction of elements of the figure to just a simple pencil outline, or the tendrils of a subject’s hair that dance and cascade across the canvas.
One might also notice that the same woman tends to appear again and again in Morgan’s work. It is the artist herself. This repetition and self-reflection of her own image has allowed her to experiment with different techniques and tackle new methods of making work. “Artists will say a lot of self-portraits are about being [readily] available,” Morgan says. “It has turned into this level of comfort with my own image. I can really experiment on it and try new concepts and ideas without feeling like I am harming someone. For me to try something new like sanding or some other kind of destructiveness on an image of someone else feels like some form of violation.” So for Morgan, this approach allows her a safer way to work and experiment on both the painting process itself as well as psychological issues she may be confronting during the creation of the paintings. “I know I need to process something specifically, and knowing it’s a self-portrait allows me to go through these motions of talking about what that is within that image,” she adds.
In addition to her self-portraits, Morgan creates works based on people with whom she feels a kinship, and the photo shoots that precede her painting process take the form of intimate encounters. “The photographic process and the conversations we have, when people are naked in front of the lens, creates this place where they’ll talk about things you probably wouldn’t talk about in a coffee shop,” she says. It’s an exchange between artist and subject, and those stories end up becoming a part of how she paints them, and explain why
certain figures keep appearing in her work. “I’ve definitely found a group of people, especially in New York, that I really want to keep investigating. I feel like I have so much to learn, these people are interesting and it’s not necessarily that I’m nervous to ask new people, they are just still rewarding,” she says.
She tends to stay away from people she’s too close to, like boyfriends, and probably won’t paint her parents again. For her the latter experience was, in her words, “really raw” and she’s not sure she would be able to do that in a “real way” again. This past year has also seen Morgan moving away from painting the male form and almost exclusively tackling the female. “I guess I really just like female flesh,” she says. “It might be the thing of mirrors, my psychology most and what’s interesting to me as an artist.”
Painting allows Morgan to develop a spirituality that is connected to the actual energy and work of making art as well as to the relationships she has with her subjects. She starts each day with a period of meditation as a way casting away fears or self-doubt and to help tap into energy of the work ahead. Meditation allows her to use the unconscious as a guide to making work that moves beyond the figure and into abstraction. “I’m in this place where I’m trying to figure out this casual abstraction that I’m really attracted to in other work and how to apply it to the figure,” she says. While Morgan is keen on keeping anatomical structure and realism in her work, she hopes people can see beyond her impressive technique and peer into the soul and personality of her subjects.
This combination of figuration and abstraction allows Morgan to tap into a truly personal vocabulary and ever-growing spirituality. The risks she takes move this artist beyond just technical proficiency and adds multiple layers of context. These are not just beautiful women on display. Morgan captures their individual confidence and spirit and it is a marvel to behold.
Morgan’s work has been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions; she is represented by Driscoll Babcock Gallery in New York and the Plus Gallery in Denver. To see more of her work, visit jennymorganart.com.
Jenny Morgan, We Are All Setting Suns, 2011, oil on canvas.
Jenny Morgan, Practice, 2011, oil on canvas.
Jenny Morgan, Release, 2011, oil on canvas.
Jenny Morgan, Anchor 2012, oil on canvas.
Jenny Morgan, Merging the Phantom, 2012, oil on canvas.
Jenny Morgan, Let Go, 2010, oil on canvas.
Jenny Morgan, Shadow, 2012, oil on canvas.
Jenny Morgan, Clean, 2010, oil on canvas.
Jenny Morgan, Sisterhood, 2010, oil on canvas.
Color Commentary
By Michael Grant and Greg Herbowy
Fashion Incubator Partnerships
With the launch of the MPS Fashion Photography Department in the fall of 2011, SVA became the first college in the U.S. to offer a graduate-level degree in the field. Now in its second year, the department already has an active role in the fashion community, in part through an ongoing partnership with the Council of Fashion Designers of America, an association of the country’s leading fashion designers.
Through the CFDA connection, the students in the MPS Fashion Photography Department are paired with designers in the council’s Fashion Incubator, part of a selective program that offers 10 emerging labels affordable studio space, business mentoring and networking opportunities for two years. To qualify for the program, the designers must have an established business, a professional staff, substantial editorial coverage and orders from top retailers. “Photographers sink their teeth into a living, breathing business,” says Johanna Stout, professional development manager at CFDA.
Over the course of their year in the program, students, working in close collaboration with their partner designers, are expected to produce an ad campaign and a short film that translates the designers’ vision. MPS Fashion Photography
Department Co-chair Stephen Frailey says, “As fashion photography is a collaborative endeavor, it is supremely useful for students to work with a designer to forge a brand identity, brand narrative and fulfill the needs of a client without compromising their own sensibility.” As part of the process, students pitch their concept and execution strategy to Trey Laird, chief executive and creative officer at New York advertising and branding firm Laird and Partners, whose clients represent an A to Z of iconic American fashion brands. As a member of Fashion Incubator’s advisory board, Laird helps select and guides designers in the program.
Some of the students continue to work with their assigned designers after the program ends, creating look books or shooting runway shows and taking head shots. Some have gotten commissions from other designers in the Fashion Incubator or by referrals from the CFDA.
On the following pages, the 10 photographers in the first group of SVA students to work with Fashion Incubator designers—from the inaugural class of the MPS Fashion Photography Department—talk about one of the images they made.
Sonja Georgevich
Georgevich says she and designer Alice Ritter were almost instantly in sync from the moment they were introduced. Both wanted to shoot in black-and-white; both had similar visual references—“from ’90s Jil Sander ads to [19th-century photographer] Julia Margaret Cameron to [the 1969 film] The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.”
For this photo, Georgevich tried to blend the formality of bygone-era portraiture with a “sense of spontaneity” and “’60s schoolgirl vibe.” Georgevich still works with Ritter, shooting all of her look books.
Dillon Duchesne (DNA Model Management) wears a Piplette by Alice Ritter blouse.
Hair and makeup: Esther Ahn
Photo assistant: Tighe Kellner
Pictured:
Diego Zuko
JOLIBE’s designers Joel Diaz and Christina LaPens gave Zuko free rein. Since the label’s earlier campaigns had a “static and hard aesthetic,” Zuko says, “I tried to put movement and freedom in the images, to contrast with this structured vision.”
“I was obsessed with the body suit,” is how Jang explains the inspiration for this photo, shot for eyewear design team Grey Ant, who gave her “crazy freedom.” Jang drafted a friend to model glasses while sheathed entirely in black, an intentional contrast to standard eyewear ads, she says, which showcase models’ faces as much as they do the merchandise. And the matches? “Just a fun idea.”
Pictured: Delia Liu wears Grey Ant’s square putty frames.
Bon Duke
For his collaboration with women’s wear designer Prabal Gurung, Duke conceived a short film, The Erjonas, centered on the female leader of an otherwise all-male skateboarder posse in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. “Prabal always sees his clothes on a strong, sophisticated and powerful woman,” Duke says. The Erjonas can be seen on NOWNESS.com, a website of LVMH Moët Hennessey Louis Vuitton.
Pictured: Erjona Ala (Ford Models) wears Prabal Gurung’s black neoprene sweatshirt embroidered with threaded steer’s skull, vinyl roses and jet beads; black neoprene molded seam skirt; sunglasses by Prabal Gurung for Linda Farrow Projects; and shoes by Prabal Gurung for Nicholas Kirkwood in a still from The Erjonas
Director: Bon Duke
Art direction: Tyler Rose
Production: Hana Kim
Styling: Martha Violante
Hair: Martin Christopher Harper
Makeup: Stevie Hunyh
Jackie Zhang
Zhang aimed for “silent, cryptic moments” and a playfully surreal effect in her work for Shashi, a jewelry design label, posing the model with objects—in this case, a chandelier—whose forms and colors echoed those of the featured jewelry.
Pictured: Breonne Rittinger (DNA Model Management) wears Shashi’s Rosanna Skull hoop earrings and Carlita, Double Golden Nugget, Original One, Rachel Gemstone and Rosanna Skull bracelets.
Styling: Danna Kobo (Shashi)
Makeup: Yoriko Saijo
Dario Calmese, Jr.
When Calmese first met with Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne, the duo behind the Public School and Black Apple labels, the designers referenced lots of inspirations, like England’s Teddy Boy scene, that were unfamiliar to the photographer. “[So] I did my homework until I started to speak their language,” he says. He also imparted his own influence, recommending model friend Bradley Soileau for Public School’s February 2012 runway show in New York. Public School later chose Soileau for Calmese’s campaign, a photo-narrative about a heartbroken loner.
Pictured: Soileau (Red Model Management) wears Public School’s Freyberg mori moto jacket and speckled T-shirt.
Styling: Lindsey Crawford
Hair: Andrew Daum Chung
Makeup: Mimi Kamara
Flavio De Zorzi
De Zorzi found inspiration for his campaign for Black Apple, Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne’s street-wear brand, on one of the label’s T-shirts, which bears the slogan, “We lived our lives in black.” “The idea was to find spots”—like the one shown here, under the Williamsburg Bridge—“that could bring strong darkness and light,” he says. To heighten the contrast, De Zorzi took this photo when the sun was at its brightest and engineered a light-leak on the back of his camera to wash out the left side of the frame.
Pictured: Aysche Tiefenbrunner (DNA Model Management) wears a Black Apple T-shirt.
Styling: Maxwell Osborne
Hair and makeup: Juliana Narvaes
Mete Ozeren
Motions, Ozeren’s campaign for luxury women’s wear designer Bibhu Mohapatra, received an honorable mention at the 2012 International Photography Awards. Ozeren’s photographs showcased multiple views of garments from Mohapatra’s fall 2012 collection, inspired by the Chinese opera The White-Haired Girl
Pictured: Ping Hue (DNA Model Management) wears Mohapatra’s onyx-to-beige pleated chiffon dress with silk ribbon embroidery. Hair: Amit Abraham and Laura Polko (L’Oreal Professionnel)
Makeup: Joy Fennell (Maybelline)
Nails: Deana Blackwell (Zoya)
Photo assistant: Mario Delgado
Location: Fast Ashleys Studios, Brooklyn
Andrew De Francesco
Jewelry and scarf designer Waris Ahluwalia “was adamant about having the shoot take place somewhere warm,” De Francesco says, which suited the photographer he enjoys shooting in “sun-drenched” locations. De Francesco took advantage of a getaway to Palm Beach, Florida, to take this photo, which expresses the themes of “traveling, nostalgia, warmth and beauty” that Ahluwalia wanted.
Pictured: House of Waris scarves
Styling: Kat Clemens
Doron Gild
Rachel Dooley, founder and designer of Gemma Redux, wanted a “day-in-the-life” type narrative for her campaign, Gild says, documenting a stylish woman’s routine from morning to night. Gild took this photo—his favorite from the project—in Goat Town, a restaurant in the East Village.
Pictured: Mackenzie Hamilton (DNA Model Management) wears Gemma Redux’s Lomasi lapis collar necklace and Freya lapis cuff. Styling: Rachel Dooley
For Art’s Sake
BY ANGELA RIECHERS
“Without art there is an incompleteness which nothing can overcome.”
W. G. Whitford, University of Chicago School of Education professor, writing in The Elementary School Journal, October 1923
As long ago as 1749, Benjamin Franklin wrote about the importance of art education in his pamphlet Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pensilvania, yet art ed wasn’t introduced into most public school curriculums in the U.S. until 1821. At that point, art education was added mainly to teach young people a vocation or enhance their moral development, or as a way to socialize new immigrants, not because art was considered worthy of serious study in and of itself. For example, music was made part of the curriculum because it would “improve singing in the church service.” This secondary status persisted over time, with art incorporated into elementary education mainly as a means of building a wider range of cognitive, social and emotional skills in support of learning the other, more “serious” disciplines like math and science.
There is still a widespread tendency to consider the arts as leisure-time luxuries rather than useful subjects, perhaps because they often don’t lead directly to lucrative career opportunities. Consequently, in today’s dreary economic times, when schools have to fight for every dollar in their budgets, arts are often one of the first things to go. Although childhood arts education rates rose steadily throughout most of the 20th century, in its final decades they began to slip. Today, the statistics are sobering. In 1982, 65 percent of all 18-year-olds had received some art education, but by 2008 that figure had dropped to 49 percent. When broken down by race the numbers are even more depressing: over the same 25-plus-year period, the number of African-American and Hispanic students receiving art education fell by nearly half, to an average of just 27 percent (down from 50 percent).
Yet studies have consistently shown that an arts education benefits individuals in many ways, creating a deeper engagement with learning for students at risk of academic failure and even leading to higher test scores. Children who received art training are not only more likely to attend college and graduate, they are also more inclined to register to vote, get involved in volunteer work and, perhaps most important of all, be steadily employed. The Obama administration has made a gesture toward funding the arts in our schools: In May 2011 the federal government released a publication, Reinvesting in Arts Education: Winning America’s Future Through Creative Schools, that led to the creation of Turnaround Arts, a public/private initiative that will award $14.7 million over three years to eight low-performing public schools scattered across the country from Massachusetts to
Oregon. The rest of the nation’s schools will largely be left to the mercy of state and local school districts; the districts will then determine what kind of funding, if any, they can afford to allocate for arts training as well as what kind of classes the schools can offer and which teaching methodologies they will employ.
The Master of Arts in Teaching program at SVA urges graduates to keep all of this in mind as they venture into a daunting educational landscape beset, as it is, with many potential obstacles: public school hiring freezes, a generally poor economy with a high rate of unemployment, and a focus on test scores at the expense of less easily quantifiable achievements. Rose Viggiano, MAT chair, has taught at the College for more than three decades and can attest to the results of budget cuts and test-score mania on arts education. “When the economy is strong the arts thrive—they’re back in the swing,” she says. “When school budgets are cut, the arts are the first to go. In our culture the arts are not supported because schools are driven by assessments and test scores. The problem is you cannot measure the arts, and this makes non-artists nervous.”
Public start-ups and private and charter schools often offer better options for art teachers than do public schools with minimal arts requirements. In New York State, for instance, a student needs just 2 credits in art (which includes not only visual arts but also dance and music) to be eligible for a secondary school diploma. Not surprisingly, many arts educators look for positions at schools where the arts are given a larger role in the overall education picture.
Andrew Willgress received his MAT from SVA in the spring of 2007 and was able to extend his student teaching experience—a degree requirement—into full-time work right after graduation. He now teaches at the Gotham Professional Arts Academy, a New York City public high school that welcomed its first class in the fall of 2007. Gotham is a member of the New York Performance Standards Consortium, a group of schools that measure student progress via performance-based assessments rather than standardized tests, and require at least 5 arts credits for graduation. Willgress got the job despite a citywide hiring freeze because Gotham was a brand-new school. He helped develop its arts curriculum from the ground up, and after some growing pains (only 27 students instead of a projected 82 enrolled that inaugural year because the New York City Department of Education had failed to include Gotham on the list of high schools it provides to graduating middle schoolers), the school now
A CHART FROM THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL JOURNAL , OCTOBER 1923, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, “designed to show graphically the trend of art education in the United States since its introduction in 1821. The vertical lines in the center are intended to represent the ‘happy medium’ of art training, a type of art training of equal value to all pupils in the public school no matter what their future vocations may be. The serpentine line, fluctuating from one objective of art training to another, suggests where emphasis has been placed in art teaching up to the present time.”
attracts more and more students interested in attending, solely because of its focus on the arts. Features of the program include a comprehensive freshman foundation year that covers 3D design, sculpture, drawing, perspective and theater. The school maintains a close educational connection to the Whitney Museum of American Art. “The relationship we have with the Whitney is really important,” Willgress says. “I’m over there with my kids six to eight times a year, while as a school we get around 15 to 20 groups there a year. Some of the kids are there on a weekly basis, depending on which classes they’re enrolled in. Last year we had a big gala where the students presented their PBAT [performance based assessment task], which is a graduation requirement, in conjunction with the Whitney Biennial, and so they’re able to go into the museum after hours and present to a crowd almost as if they were museum educators.”
Keri Eisenberg, a former advertising agency art director, found her way to a fulfilling position as an arts educator through a very different route, one that involved some trial and error. After receiving her MAT from SVA in 2010, she used Craigslist to land her first teaching job—at the High School for Innovation and Advertising in Media, in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn. The school was created in 2008 with a mission to teach students a viable trade in advertising (similar to the 19th-century model of teaching art as a vocation), but it soon became apparent that the school culture didn’t truly nurture the arts. Students were uninterested and disruptive, and money was so tight that Eisenberg found herself stranded for three months without computers while she was supposed to be teaching a class in Photoshop. “The students were screaming at me,” Eisenberg says. “It was just so hard, and I was getting no support from the school or the principal. One of the other two tech teachers wouldn’t even talk to me. It was really challenging and I was frightened going there every day; the school is in a tough neighborhood, and I ran into some incidents on the way to work that weren’t good.”
When a friend recommended her for a position at the private Saddle River Day School in Saddle River, New Jersey, Eisenberg jumped at the chance. Classes there are small—between three and 12 students—and the kids are more engaged. As Eisenberg puts it, “They sit and they listen and they want to learn.” Budgets for the arts programs are much better, too. Eisenberg has been able to create her
When schools have to fight for every dollar, arts are often one of the first things to go.
own curriculum, teaching branding to four and fifth graders by having them design, among other things, logos for T-shirts and business cards. In nearly all her classes she stresses the importance of communication in contemporary media-rich culture. Eisenberg says, “In today’s world everything is very visual. Students need to learn how to get a message across even if they’re not going to be artists. They can be a lawyer or a doctor or businessman but they’re going to have to learn how to communicate using visuals.”
Certainly, as our culture becomes more visually driven and less text-reliant, arts training will benefit students in many important, practical ways. Buried on page 28 of Reinvesting in Arts Education is the by now familiar observation that the arts are useful because they create flexible thought processes needed in many areas of life and learning:
Many high school graduates lack the skills to make them successful in post-secondary education and later in the workforce. These are sometimes referred to as 21st-century skills, or habits of mind, and include problem solving, critical and creative thinking, dealing with ambiguity and complexity, integration of multiple skill sets, and the ability to perform cross-disciplinary work.
While any positive political attention directed toward arts education is welcome, this particular argument takes us straight back to the 19th century, when music was included in the public school curriculum so that children would sing better in church. Until the arts are recognized as valuable in and of themselves, not seen as aids to improving overall academic performance or, worse, as luxuries to be cut at the first sign of financial distress, arts educators will continue to fight an uphill battle for funding and cultural support. Fortunately, the sort of artist who decides to become a teacher also tends to be someone with enough fervor that the many logistical difficulties along the way become secondary to the greater endeavor. As French poet and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (The Little Prince) wrote, “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”
After
the Storm
BY LEE ANN NORMAN
John Mattiuzzi, Frankenstorm 2012, video still.
NEW YORK CITY IS KNOWN FOR ITS ARTS AND CULTURE, ITS FOOD, ITS EXCITEMENT AND ITS ANYTHING-GOES SPIRIT.
The city’s energy seems to crackle and to make its inhabitants walk faster, talk louder and achieve their big bold dreams at lightning speed. New York is the place where people go to become who they are. For all its vibrancy and magic, though, the city also has a reputation for being cold, impersonal and just plain hard. So, many New Yorkers have adopted a “thousand-yard stare” in order to take the edge off some of the harshness, to cope with such troubling and pervasive problems as poverty and homelessness, overcrowding, smelly garbage and crime. New Yorkers aren’t always indifferent, however. The gaze might be readjusted into a knowing smile to a fellow subway rider when an announcement is made that the G train will be shut down again for the weekend. Or the stare might break when one person chases after another to return a scarf dropped on the sidewalk. Despite their seeming inaccessibility, New Yorkers are concerned about each other—ready and willing to lend a hand. Never has this been better demonstrated than after the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy, the “superstorm” that struck the U.S. (and the Caribbean) last October.
Everyone expected that Sandy would be difficult, but like most other obstacles, we thought we could overcome her. We had heard vague reports about the destruction she brought to the Caribbean. We knew we better get ready (e.g., purchase extra water, batteries, canned food). Then we waited.
We waited for the howling winds and rain to stop. We waited to hear that it was safe to go outside again. When word finally came, we thought we would clean things up and life would be back to normal in no time. We were wrong.
Hurricane Sandy brought unprecedented storm surges that swept away cars, homes and boardwalks. Trees were uprooted, transportation infrastructure was destroyed and a ConEdison electrical transformer on 14th Street in Manhattan blew up. Long Island, Staten Island and the Coney Island, Red Hook and Rockaways sections of Brooklyn and Queens received the brunt of the damage, but all of New York City took a beating. Most of Manhattan below 39th Street was without electricity for days, while outlying areas waited in darkness for a week or more until full service was restored. When some buses began shuttling riders again as workers tried to survey the damage at their offices, service stopped at sunset because the streets were too dark to maneuver safely.
With a campus stretching practically river to river in the heart of Manhattan, SVA students, faculty and staff were in the thick
of the crisis. Some students bravely remained in their residence halls without power, and many wondered when operations and classes would resume and if the academic year would need to be extended. But most importantly, they wondered if everyone else was okay.
Although members of the SVA community were affected by the storm and it would have been easy to remain self-focused, a spirit of collective service prevailed as students, alumni, faculty and staff began to offer their time and talent to help their fellow New Yorkers. The MFA Photography, Video and Related Media Department organized several efforts to help storm victims—including a toy drive, a silent auction and print show—and gathered donations of money, food and clothing to distribute to people with the help of Occupy Sandy, an outgrowth of the Occupy Wall Street movement. “Everyone was affected,” Charles Traub, chair of the department, said. “Even if their homes weren’t destroyed or without power, their schools were closed, transit was down, and many community services were unavailable. Sandy interrupted our lives and our routines.”
Jessica Rionero (BFA 2010 Film and Video) got involved in recovery efforts through her employer, BeGracious, a New York-based nonprofit that helps victims in the aftermath of natural disasters. “My roommate [BeGracious founder Chelsea Marino] and I were unaffected by the storm, but after watching countless hours of footage about Sandy, we wanted to do something, and we decided we wanted to rebuild one house,” Rionero said. Through a partnership with the nonprofit Rebuilding Together, BeGracious plans to do just that. Rebuilding Together provides critical repairs, modifications and upgrades to homes and community centers in low-income communities at no cost to recipients. After Hurricane Katrina, the organization constructed more than a thousand houses in New Orleans. When Rionero and Marino learned that that they would need to raise at least $300,000 to rebuild a house in the area affected by Sandy, they initiated a fund-raising campaign on Indiegogo, a crowdfunding platform where people can raise money for projects of various kinds. “We have a ‘flexible’ Indiegogo campaign,” Rionero added, “which means that no matter how much money we raise, Rebuilding Together will be able to receive all of it.” (Learn more about the project and donate at begracious.org.)
While money, food, clothing and shelter were urgent needs for many, emotional support also proved critical. Although Manhattan suffered 22 fatalities, most of the deaths (50 more) occurred in the city’s other boroughs, where people witnessed storm surges upward
TOP AND BOTTOM: John Mattiuzzi, Frankenstorm, 2012, video stills.
of 14 feet. Filmmaker John Mattiuzzi (MFA 2012 Computer Art) captured the storm surge and the ConEd transformer explosion. “When I set out to film my neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the night of the hurricane, I did not anticipate to see what I was about to see,” he told Gothamist. (Mattiuzzi edited the footage into a short film called One Block’s Story.) “This film is an emotional response of what it actually felt like to be out in Hurricane Sandy.”
Many others in the SVA community offered innovative ways to help people cope with the psychological trauma of Sandy. In a post on the MFA Design Department blog, alumnus Michael Croxton (MFA 2012 Design) described what action he took following the storm. After pitching an idea to his boss at Brooklyn-based digital design firm Big Spaceship, Croxton and his team created a website, recoverfeed.com, that gathers Instagram photos with the hashtag #Sandy, and provides viewers a list of links where they can find more information about how to donate or volunteer. MFA Interaction Design Department faculty member Jill Nussbaum wrote an article for PSFK (an online source for news, trends and notices about events for creative professionals), “Empowering Digital Citizens to Deal Better with Sandy,” which offered advice on preparing for catastrophes and improving communications during times of disaster.
In addition to donating goods and supplies, fund raising and consolidating support services for others, members of the SVA community also participated in two days of service. The November 17 and December 1 volunteer events—organized by the Office of Student Affairs and the Visual Arts Student Association—were designed to help families in Staten Island and the Rockaways with the difficult
process of rebuilding their homes. “It was a powerful experience for all of us to not only see the devastating impact the storm had on so many families, but also to be a part of the team of SVA students and staff who came together to help people recover,” said Bill Martino, director of Student Affairs. “I am proud to be a part of the community of caring students and administrators that we have at SVA, and the project was evidence of just how amazing that community is.”
During the November 17 service day, a small group of students also walked through Staten Island’s Midland Beach neighborhood, talked with community residents, and distributed care packages of cookies, handmade cards and messages of support. Care packages were made on November 12 at SVA’s George Washington residence in a collaborative effort between the MPS Art Therapy Department and the Office of Student Affairs.
“I think volunteering in storm relief efforts has changed the way I see community service,” said current student ChaHyun Jik. “That really was something, delivering dog food to help people care for their pets, gloves to clean up garbage and sewage and other equipment. I felt very special to be right at the center of such an event.”
So when the chips are down, New Yorkers do, in fact, look at each other. When we break the thousand-yard stare, we remember how much we love our city and our neighbors, their diversity, quirkiness and savvy. “Even if the volunteering event had not been related to Sandy, I learned that helping others can make you feel very special and happy. I will gladly volunteer [again],” Jik continued. “It was hard work but will stay in my memories for a long time.”
Frankie Torres, Battery Park Underpass Flooded, 2012, inkjet print.
Frankie Torres, Hurricane Sandy on The Wall Street Journal, 2012, inkjet print.
Frankie Torres, Aftermath at the Stone Street Parking Garage, 2012, inkjet print.
Q+A:
BY JAMES S. HARRISON
Sarah Sze
The eighth annual Annenberg Lecture was held at the Whitney Museum of American Art early last November. It was an evening that took the form of a discussion between Adam Weinberg, Alice Pratt Brown Director of the Whitney, and the artist Sarah Sze (MFA 1997 Fine Arts). Known for large-scale installations, works on paper and wall-mounted reliefs that feature myriad everyday objects—everything from toothpicks and sponges to plastic flowers and automobiles—Sze was chosen by the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to represent the U.S. at this year’s Venice Biennale (June 1 to November 24). Sze’s “singular approach and unique vocabulary have established her as one of the most important artists working today,” says Weinberg. The following is an abridged, edited version of Weinberg and Sze’s approximately one-and-a-half-hour discussion. The entire discussion may be viewed at whitney.org/watchandlisten.
OPPOSITE: Sarah Sze, Untitled (Tokyo), 2008, mixed media, dimensions variable.
“Sarah Sze,” Maison Hermès 8F Le Forum, Tokyo, Japan, February 8 – May 11, 2008.
ADAM WEINBERG: Let’s start at the beginning. You were trained in painting and in architecture, but I think of your work as dealing more with installation and sculpture. How did that happen?
SARAH SZE: One of the things I really loved about painting was the improvisation, the idea that as you produced a painting—that every time you put down a mark—the entire painting changed. So making sculpture really was for me a kind of incremental mark-making. When I began doing sculpture I asked the question: What can an object do that a painting can’t? How does an object become valuable? And I started using materials that in some ways were the least valuable thing that you could think of. I sort of answered the question of value in terms of something that was not thought of aesthetically at all, but entirely practical.
AW: In the beginning you were actually making things—I mean, there was manufacture, in a sense, as opposed to collecting and gathering and assembling. When did you make the transition?
SS: I think in all of my work there’s always an edge between something that’s handmade or mass produced—public or private, you know, solid or falling apart. I sort of try to locate a piece right on that edge. I try to—
AW: To make it ambiguous?
SS: Yes, to make it ambiguous. Some work may seem found-objecty, but other things will be made by hand. The trick is to make it feel like a relationship is being created between the viewer and the object that’s surprising.
When I began doing sculpture I asked: What can an object do that a painting can’t?
AW: Do you have a storeroom where you keep things and always add to it, or do you go out shopping piece by piece?
SS: Both. It’s like a palette with a sort of Darwinian aspect. Some things will die out over the years and other things will stay. I think the ones that end up staying have a quality of being between many things—in other words, they can work formally, they can work for color, they can work for texture in a sort of painterly way, and they can work in terms of subject.
AW: Do you sometimes feel like something in a piece is missing and you then have to go out and find something?
SS: Oh, sure. I just did a piece at the High Museum in Atlanta. One day I went down and looked at it and realized it needed more red. So I went home and found things that made sense that had red in them. It can be that simple.
AW: Okay. I just want to ask you a little bit about site. When you’re offered an opportunity to do something, are you assigned a site? Do you ask for certain sites? Do you see your work as being site-specific, or do you see yourself as just responding to the site? Or all of the above?
SS: Usually people offer me a choice of a site, but not always. But definitely I think of the site almost as the way you approach a canvas. I was once asked to do a piece at the Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, and they said, ‘You can do it anywhere you want. You have free rein.’ And I noticed something that was kind of mind-boggling to me: They had paintings—like a Delaunay, for instance, with a safety guard over the bottom—and then about four inches away there was a lighted exit sign. And these signs were all over. So I actually put installations on the exit signs throughout the museum.
AW: That to me is an interesting example of how you make very specific decisions about a site. But what do you say when people ask, ‘Well, can you really move this? Is it possible?’
SS: When I first started making art I just decided I was going to make the work. I wasn’t going to answer questions like that until they happened. And so when work was moved, when people would say, ‘We want to own this. Can we own it?’ What I did was make a list of rules: You have to enter here. You need to have this much of an approach. You need to have natural light. You need to have a corner. But then things always surprise me. I once made a piece for a gallery in Chelsea, and then I made the same piece at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. And I actually liked the piece better in Chicago. It was not made for the space, but the space fit the requirements for it. I once had an idea of trying to make a permanent piece that would be totally flexible, one with a kind of viral quality. So I made this sort of fire escape that was basically scaled to a cat. It’s like a kit, and it has three elements—a ladder, a balcony, and a stair—and there are 12 of each. This can be taken to any location and put together like an erector set. I think that in all of my pieces, there is this kind of kit-like, temporal quality—things on wheels, things that are clamped together, things that you feel like you can sort of put together, pack up, and put up again.
AW: But at what point does it become a different piece? What I mean is, because it’s in a different place, it’s no longer precisely the same piece, and therefore we judge it as to have different qualities.
SS: Yes. It’s like when you move into a new home—when you take all your possessions and move to an entirely different location. It’s amazing how the new space still feels like your own but in a very strange new way. I love seeing the same show in different museums. For instance, seeing the Calder show here at the Whitney and then seeing it at San Francisco MOMA was like looking at two different shows, right?
AW: Absolutely. So in your work the constant is all of the changes as much as the constant elements that you have within it.
SS: Yes, I think that’s right.
ABOVE: Sarah Sze, Strange Attractor, 2000, mixed media, dimensions variable.
“2000 Whitney Biennial,” The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, March 23 – June 4, 2000.
LEFT: Sarah Sze, Capricious Invention of Prisons, 1999, mixed media, dimensions variable.
“48th International Exhibition of Contemporary Art,” Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy, June 10 – November 7, 1999.
AW: But what happens if a work has, say, Q-Tips in it or certain matchbooks or things that will not be available in 10 or 20 years and they have to be replaced? I guess the same might be asked about music, when certain musical instruments are no longer available. Is it still the same piece if it’s played on a piano and not a harpsichord?
SS: Well, you can’t really determine how a work is going to be preserved over time. Take someone like Dan Flavin. The light bulbs he originally used are not made anymore. In his case his work may become expensive enough that people will fabricate the bulbs. The biggest problem that’s come up with my work are ones that have video in them.
AW: I was at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia recently and looking at a great Matisse they have, and they were talking about how all the yellows in it had completely changed, but they couldn’t redo it even though they knew it had changed radically. But it’s still a Matisse. Maybe that’s true of all works of art. Changing the subject: Whenever I look at your work I want to get down on my hands and knees and stare at every little detail, but at the same time I’m overwhelmed by the scale. Could you talk a little about scale and size?
SS: That is a big subject, but I will just say that I’ve often been interested in this kind of radical shift in scale and that almost takes out the middle ground so that you have a very, very large view of something, and then you go right down to the minutiae. There’s a piece that I did at San Francisco MOMA that is really very strict with regard to reacting to the site. It’s actually a Jeep Cherokee that was sliced into five parts because I wanted to sort of transform it to the point where you didn’t understand it when you first saw it. Again, I was playing with the idea of change as you move through the space. And there is a sort of intimacy where your whole sense of it changes as the piece surrounds you in different ways.
AW: It’s very cinematic.
SS: Absolutely. It’s like film editing. So that it’s really the cut, the in-between space that creates the experience. It’s the anticipation or desire to see what’s coming next, of one moment leading to the next that I think is really crucial.
OPPOSITE AND LEFT:
Sarah Sze, Blue Poles, 2006, painted steel, approximately 60' high.
Permanent installation at Sidney-Pacific
Graduate Residence at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.
A Percent-for-Art Commission.
AW: So are you pretty aware of the idea of trying to get viewers to intuitively make those shifts from large to small?
SS: Yes. Intuitively. And also I’m interested in the idea—which I also think happens with film—which is that you feel as if you’re . . . you allow people to feel as if they’re wandering, but they’re actually being very directed. I’ve talked about this in terms of Japanese gardening. There are these locations in Japanese gardens that are made to mimic nature, so you feel as if you’re on a kind of meandering walk and then there’ll be a point at which you look up and the scene is completely composed in front of you. It might be a distant landscape, but you feel as if it’s something you discovered yourself. I was never interested in installation art where there’s a curtain or entryways that say, ‘Now I am entering art, and now I am leaving art.’ I want viewers somehow to find themselves in the middle of the piece.
AW: Back, for a moment, to the idea of scaling up. There’s a piece you once made for the Fondation Cartier in Paris. Could you talk about that?
SS: Since they gave me the whole ground floor I decided that I would scale the work up and have a conversation with the building. The piece was all made out of ladders. The reason I chose to work with ladders was that it was a found object that literally dealt with the scale of your body in relationship to architecture. So you sat in this location where you couldn’t figure out how far away or how big something was, but at the same time you actually knew exactly how big it was because you knew what your body’s relation to it was.
AW: Does your work ever make you laugh? I have to say there are many times when I’ve smiled or even laughed at elements in your pieces. Do you see the element of humor and joke as you’re going along? Not that it’s a joke, of course.
SS: Things are definitely funny—especially when they’re not expected to be. The best things that happen in a work are the things that you didn’t know were going to happen. But I think humor is crucial in terms of, you know, play, in every sense of that word, whether it’s giving room for play, whether it’s setting up a system and breaking it. And I think humor always has a kind of subversion to it.
Sarah Sze, Still Life with Landscape (Model for a Habitat), 2011, stainless steel, wood, 9 x 22 x 21'.
Presented by Friends of the High Line and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.
Sarah Sze, Corner Plot, 2006, mixed media, 15'9" x 16'10" x 12'10" footprint, depth of 4'.
“Corner Plot,” Doris C. Freedman Plaza, New York, May 2 – Oct. 22, 2006.
A commission for the Public Art Fund, New York.
Photo: Tom Powel
Alumni Affairs
Enhance Your Career with SVA Portfolios
SVA alumni enjoy a range of benefits—from lectures and various useful programs to social media groups and discounts on computers and insurance. But one benefit that has alumni talking more than ever is SVA Portfolios. Whether you are a designer, fine artist, photographer, or filmmaker—wherever you find yourself on the “creative” spectrum—it is a powerful resource you won’t want to be without.
Powered by Behance, an online platform for people and teams to showcase and discover creative work, SVA Portfolios is an exclusive, free, online network where SVA alumni, students and faculty can present their original work and connect with each other. Individuals’ portfolios are also featured in the larger Behance network, which attracts more than 65 million page views each month from over 10 million visitors.
SVA Portfolios is designed to feature work from all creative fields, including original animation, design, film, fine art, illustration and photography. Simply upload an unlimited number of digital files to create an online portfolio of projects for others to view and share.
More than 2,000 alumni, students and faculty members can be found on SVA Portfolios. Here is a sample of what some of our alumni are saying:
“Numerous magazines and blogs have contacted me through SVA Portfolios with requests for interviews and collaborations. In addition, several of my current clients saw my work for the first time on Behance.”
–Yulia Gorbachenko (MPS 2010 Digital Photography)
“I just got another hit from the SVA Behance site. It really works for landing jobs. First the Rubin Museum and now this offer.”
–Nicolas
Micciola (BFA 2011 Cartooning)
“Being an artist and making art is very gratifying, but the true, full experience is sharing one’s work—even if to an audience of one. It’s great to have work on a site where one or 20,000 or more can share their creations anywhere in the world.”
–LaNola Stone (MPS 2009 Digital Photography)
Behance was designed to support needs of busy professionals; projects on SVA Portfolios can be built with text, images, audio or video. Members can share tips and media, collaborate on projects, and get feedback from peers or mentors. You can also promote your work directly on Facebook and Twitter, and sync your portfolio with your LinkedIn account. Create your profile on SVA Portfolios today. Go to portfolios.sva.edu.
Carrie Lincourt
Connect with more than 30,000 fellow SVA alumni 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/schoolofvisualartsalumni
Twitter twitter.com/SVAalumni
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
• Continuing Education discount
• Weekly model drawing sessions
• Access to the Visual Arts Library
• Discounts at CAVA, the SVA computer store, for one year after graduation
• A subscription to Visual Arts Journal
• Discounts on health, auto, home, dental and renters insurance
• Discounts to performing arts venues, arts organizations and retailers
• Free membership to SVA Portfolios/Behance
• 15% discount on Moo business cards and other products
• Access to Kickstarter’s SVA-curated page
For complete details on your alumni benefits go to alumni.sva.edu/benefits Comments? Questions? Contact the Office of Alumni Affairs at 212.592.2300 or alumni@sva.edu
Alumni Society Scholarship Awards 2013
Thanks to generous contributions from alumni and supporters, The Alumni Society was able to grant a total of more than $70,000 in awards to these students in support of their thesis projects.
You can help support the next generation of artists by donating to The Alumni Society at alumni.sva.edu/give.
Be assured that 100 percent of your contribution will go to a future award recipient.
OPPOSITE CLOCKWISE FROM TOP-RIGHT
Ilona Szwarc, Gillian, NY, 2012, archival pigment print; Anna Beekman, The Encounter, 2012, inkjet print; Xun Wang, Iron Hans, 2012, still; Rovina Cai, Ravens, 2012, digital painting; Supranav Dash, Band Party, 2011, photograph; Jaime Rubin, Heavy #3 2011, plaster and graphite; Alex Rupert, Consumer, 2012, acrylic and silkscreen.
ALUMNI SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS
Anna Beeke, MFA Photography, Video and Related Media
Sofiya Brisker, BFA Photography
Molly Brooks, MFA Illustration as Visual Essay
Rovina Cai, MFA Illustration as Visual Essay
Xi Chen, BFA Photography
Minje Chung, BFA Animation
Jae Yeob Chung, BFA Film and Video
Eric Cunha, BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects
Supranav Dash, BFA Photography
Samia Kallidis, MFA Design
Tighe Kellner, BFA Film and Video
Olga Klyachina, MFA Social Documentary Film
Sara Kriendler, MFA Fine Arts
Donia Liechti, BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects
Min Liu, MFA Computer Art
Amelia Modlin, BFA Visual and Critical Studies
Mitchell Paster, BFA Photography
Iker Perez, BFA Animation
David Rhoderick, MFA Computer Art
Jennifer Rozbruch, MFA Design
Alex Rupert, BFA Illustration
Daniel Solomon, BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects
Ilona Szwarc, BFA Photography
Samantha Ulban, BFA Photography
Xun Wang, MFA Computer Art
David Woo, MFA Computer Art
Zhongyuan Zhang, MFA Computer Art
NAMED FUND AWARDS
727 Award
Seonhee Lim, BFA Illustration
William C. Arkell Memorial Award
Shubhashish Bhutiani, BFA Film and Video
BFA Illustration and Cartooning Award
Kate Drwecka, BFA Cartooning
Lily Padula, BFA Illustration
Robert I. Blumenthal Memorial Award
Kelly McGreen, BFA Design
Will Eisner Sequential Art Award
Eric Arroyo, BFA Cartooning
Jack Endewelt Memorial Award
Jensine Eckwall, BFA Illustration
Amelia Geocos Memorial Award
Alessia Resta, BFA Fine Arts
Bob Guglielmo Memorial Award
Lior Zaltzman, BFA Cartooning
James Richard Janowsky Award
Ben Federman, BFA Film and Video
Sylvia Lipson Allen Memorial Award
Jamie Rubin, BFA Fine Arts
MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Award
Keren Katz, MFA Illustration as Visual Essay
Edward Zutrau Memorial Award
Anna Paula Costa e Silva, MFA Fine Art
Donors List
The Alumni Society gratefully acknowledges these SVA alumni, who gave to the society from July 1 to December 31, 2012.
Anonymous (4)
Susan Woolley Abanor BFA 1979 Photography
Avi Abboudi
BFA 2009 Cartooning
Kim Ablondi BFA 1984 Photography
John Agujar MFA 2001 Fine Arts
Dawn E. Albore BFA 1981 Media Arts
Olive Alpert
E 1980 Illustration
Adam P. Ames
MFA 1997 Photography and Related Media
Michael J. Angley
G 1971 Advertising
Patrizia Arena
BFA 1996 Photography
Paul Basile
G 1969 Advertising
Francis Bele
BFA 1987 Media Arts
Ariel Bock
G 1972 Fine Arts
James R. Bomeisl
BFA 1978 Media Arts
Barbara A. Browne
G 1970
Rebekah B. Browning
BFA 2005 Animation
Joseph and Kate Burrascano
BFA 2002 Computer Art BFA 2004 Animation
Angelo Canitano
G 1970
Carol Caputo
G 1960 Graphic Design
Kevin J. Casey
BFA 1976 Photography
Ed Cassel
G 1970 Fine Arts
Paul Caullett
BFA 2000 Graphic Design
Woei Ping Chen
BFA 2003 Photography
William N. Ciaramelli
G 1967
Andrew M. Coppa
BFA 1994 Photography
Alice E. Meyers Corjescu
E 1974 Fine Arts
Phil A. Coyne
BFA 1986 Media Arts
Cora Cronemeyer E 1966 Fine Arts
Theresa A. Cuddy-Cerza E 1983
Charles Curcio BFA 1983 Media Arts
Therese S. Curtin BFA 1980 Media Arts
Vincent De Vito E 1968
Peter S. Deak BFA 1990 Film and Video
Cat Del Buono
MFA 2008 Photography, Video and Related Media
Theresa DeSalvio BFA 1976 Fine Arts
Haydee Diaz BFA 1986 Media Arts
Candace Dobro (alumnus) and Jeffrey Dobro
MPS 2010 Digital Photography
Derek Drymon BFA 1992 Cartooning
Marc Eisenhoff and Priscilla Cohn-Eisenhoff
G 1971 G 1971 Advertising
Eric J. Eiser
MFA 2010 Computer Art BFA 1975 Media Arts
Claire Ensslin BFA 2012 Film and Video
Gilda Everett BFA 1979 Media Arts
Carol Fabricatore MFA 1992 Illustration as Visual Essay
Ann Reinersten Farrell BFA 1991 Media Arts
Cheryl Farrington BFA 1986 Media Arts
Lynn Feinman BFA 1979 Fine Arts
Margarete Forside E 1972
Nina S. Frenkel
MFA 2012 Illustration as Visual Essay
Neil M. Gallo
BFA 1977 Media Arts
Peter A. Geffert
BFA 1990 Media Arts
Jeremy George BFA 1983 Photography
Andrew H. Gerndt
G 1971 Fine Arts
Isolina Gerona BFA 1991 Fine Arts
Catherine Gilmore-Barnes BFA 1986 Media Arts
Lynn Girardi BFA 1987 Media Arts
Christyn Gregan Godfrey BFA 1987 Media Arts
Andrea M. Golden E 1985
Robert M. Gottlieb BFA 1998 Film and Video
Dustin Grella
MFA 2009 Computer Art
Joe Guadagnino 1975 Photography
Meghan Healey
BFA 1993 Graphic Design
Diane Dawson Hearn BFA 1975
Jared A. Hirsch
BFA 1999 Graphic Design
Joanne Honigman
E 1981 Graphic Design
Lyn M. Hughes
BFA 1981 Photography
Elizabeth J. Hunter
BFA 1985 Photography
Eugene Iemola
BFA 1979
Kaili Mang Jeyarajah BFA 1999 Interior Design
Nanette Jiji BFA 1981 Media Arts
Allen Johnston E 1966 Graphic Design
R. Neville Johnston BFA 1976 Media Arts
Dionisios Kavvadias BFA 1997 Computer Art
Christine Keefe BFA 1985 Fine Arts
Jacqueline J. Kingon BFA 1980 Fine Arts
Sardi Klein
G 1970 Photography
Alex Knowlton BFA 1987 Media Arts
Jean B. Kooi
BFA 1978 Media Arts
Steven Langerman
G 1972 Photography
Andre Laporte E 1968
Irina T. Lee
MFA 2010 Design
John Lefteratos BFA 1988 Media Arts
Meredith J. Lewin
1986 Graphic Design
Sal A. Lombardo
G 1964 Graphic Design
Patrick F. Loughran
BFA 1980 Fine Arts
David Lubarsky BFA 1979 Photography
Laura Maley BFA 1978 Fine Arts
Samuel Martine BFA 1980 Media Arts
Lara McCormick MFA 2007 Design
Maureen C. Melick
1973 Fine Arts
Louis Mercurio E 1970
Eileen Meyers
BFA 1978 Media Arts
Bethanie Deeney Murguia
MFA 1998 Illustration as Visual Essay
Lauren Nelson MAT 2005 Art Education
Lorraine Niemela E 1964 Fine Arts
Sean Nixon
MFA 1992 Photography and Related Media
Renee Nyahay-Gonzalez BFA 1985 Media Arts
Karin A. Olsen BFA 1999 Photography
Romaine B. Orthwein
MFA 2003 Photography and Related Media
Edith Ostrowsky E 1972
Peter Papulis BFA 1977 Fine Arts
Kevin Petrilak (alumnus) and Jill Petrilak
BFA 1976 Animation
Elizabeth Peyton BFA 1987 Fine Arts
Steve Pullara BFA 1979 Fine Arts
Marc R. Rabinowitz
MFA 2008 Design
Todd L. Radom
BFA 1986 Media Arts
Joyce Raimondo BFA 1983 Media Arts
Lisa E. Rettig-Falcone BFA 1983 Media Arts
Vernon C. Riddick G 1973
Barbara Rietschel BFA 1976 Media Arts
Robert Risko BFA 1991 Media Arts
Eileen Robert E 1973
Jorge L. Rodriguez BFA 1976 Fine Arts
Shepard Rosenthal BFA 1975 Media Arts
Marc Rubin BFA 1982 Media Arts
Margene Milling Rubin BFA 1987 Media Arts
Evan Sandler 1976
Gae Savannah MFA 1995 Fine Arts
Herbert K. Savran BFA 1977 Film and Video
Jean A. Schapowal BFA 1987 Media Arts
Joel Scharf BFA 1983 Media Arts
Mark Schruntek BFA 1993 Advertising
Eileen Hedy Schultz BFA 1977 Media Arts
Charles Sforza and Mary Moran BFA 1982 Media Arts
BFA 1976 Media Arts
Donna H. Sharrett BFA 1984 Fine Arts
Janet E. Silkes-Pike BFA 1979 Media Arts
Mimi Silverman BFA 1989 Fine Arts
Anita H. Simes
BFA 1974 Media Arts
Joe Sinnott
BFA 1988 Photography
Ellen Small
MFA 1997 Photography and Related Media
Rena Anderson Sokolow BFA 1986 Media Arts
Skip Sorvino
BFA 1994 Graphic Design
William Sponn BFA 1985 Media Arts
LaNola K. Stone MPS 2009 Digital Photography
Kevin Sweeney (alumnus) and Danielle Sweeney MFA 1999 Computer Art
Anthony Tallarico G 1954 Illustration
Matthew E. Tarulli
BFA 2000 Advertising
Ana M. Tiburcio
BFA 1985 Media Arts
Robert Todd E 1965
Alli Truch
1989 Graphic Design
David and Claudia Tung BFA 1985 Media Arts
Rosemarie Turk BFA 1980 Media Arts
Bonnie Sue Kaplan Valentino G 1971 Advertising
Frank Wagner E 1969
Kevin “Gig” Wailgum
MFA 1991 Illustration as Visual Essay
Tom Wai-Shek
G 1970 Advertising
Dennis W. Wierl BFA 1996 Photography
Katherine A. Wignall
BFA 2010 Fine Arts
Laura M. Wilke
BFA 1977 Media Arts
Mark Willis
BFA 1998 Illustration
Aaron Q. Yanes
BFA 2001 Film and Video
Michelle M. Zadlock BFA 1990 Media Arts
Albert T. Zayat E 1969
Andy Zmidzinski
BFA 1975 Film and Video
Alan H. Zwiebel
G 1963 Advertising
(E) denotes an evening program student.
(G) denotes a graduate of the certificate program.
We also thank these parents and friends of SVA who supported
The Alumni Society.
Anonymous (3)
Frank Adamick
Lori Aquino
Sandra and Francis Archer
Bank of America
Shelly and James Bartolacci
Neil Berman
Margaret Bernstein
The Beucler Family
Karen Brown
Richard Buntzen
Rex and Leigh Ann Cabaniss
Nada Camali
Dr. and Mrs. Jay Capra
Susan and Sebastian Caudo
Children of Things
Kurt and Fiona Christoffers
Chubb Group of Insurance Companies
Harry and Joan Clune
Susan and Paul Cryan
Joseph DeRosa
Donna and Joel Engelhardt
James Farek
Stephen and Eileen Finkelman
Linda L. Florio
Nancy and Paul Franke
Neil Friedland
Milton Glaser
Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Greene Jr.
Helen Guglielmo
Junichi Hamatsuka
Francisco E. Homs
Tim and Lisa Howell
The Ironwood Foundation, Inc.
Raja Jaber
Glenn Jacobson
James R. Janowsky
Michael Kahn
D. B. Kaplan
Bruce Katen
Steve Keister
Yongeun Kim
Doug Krieger
Ye-Hsuan and Ming-Dai Kuo
Sangdon Lee
Susan and David Lee
Edward Lefferman
Gale Lilliman
Elisa Lim
Yooncheol Lim
Ginny MacKenzie
Niki Madias
Theodore Marks
Sandra and Edward Marsallo
Daniel Massey
Judy McDaniel
McGladrey & Pullen
Kathleen and Edward Miller
Alice and Norman Mills
Karen and Stephen Mills
Margrit Morley
Mary and Dan O’Byrne
Debra and Lee Odell
Jerry and Fran O’Keefe
Luis Paixao
Dr. and Mrs. Manuel Perry Jr.
William Provine
Mr. Cid S. Quintana
The Raisley Family
David and Linda Richter
Lawrence and Linda Rodman
Joyce Rowley
James Rudnick
David H. Rue
Barbara Salander
Joni Blackburn and David Sandlin
Jeanne Siegel
James B. Spillane
Andrew Stanton
Robert Sylvor
TD Bank
Vivian Tolentino
Riva Touger-Decker and Brian Decker
Loraine and Michael Ungano, Sr.
Charles B. Unger
Irra Verbitsky
Charles R. Vermilyea Jr.
W. B. Mason Company
Wendy Watson
Wells Fargo
Hilda Werschkul
Peggy Whitlock
Sophia Wien
Richard Wilde
Jinghai Yu
Michele Zackheim
Louis Zaretsky
Alumni Notes
GROUP EFFORTS
Adi Lavy (BFA 2007 Photography) and Maya Stark (BFA 2000 Film and Video) co-directed and -produced the documentary Sun Kissed, PBS Point of View, 10/18/12.
Woojung Ahn (MFA 2003 Illustration as Visual Essay), Hyun Jung Cho (BFA 2007 Illustration), Hee Jeong Kim (BFA 2011 Fine Arts), Hyungseok Kim (BFA 1993 Photography), Kyung Ja Kim (BFA 1996 Fine Arts), Mikyung Kim (BFA 2004 Fine Arts), Sang-Hee Kim (MFA 1996 Illustration as Visual Essay), Young Joo Noh (MFA 2000 Illustration as Visual Essay), Soon Hwa Oh (MFA 2002 Photography and Related Media), and Hee Young Yoo (BFA 1995 Photography) participated in the SVA booth at the Doors Art Fair, Imperial Palace Hotel, Seoul, 11/9-11/11/12.
BFA 2012 Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects alumni at the 10th edition of the NYC ACM SIGGRAPH MetroCAF, NYC, 9/28/12, received the following honors: Christopher DeVito and Danica Parry won a Jury Award for their film Ramus. Sang Ho Lee and Zachary Lydon won a Jury Award for their film Still I Breathe. Ha Na Gill screened Agape, Byunghoon Han showed Eternity, See Hun Jeon screened Encounter, Sang Joon Kim showed Distance, John Lavin screened Totem, Sari Rodrig showed Brother, Ieva Sauciunaite screened Alka, John Sung screened Spacebunnies!, Laszlo Ujvari showed Virtus Vitae and Da Suel Kim and Yun Ah Oh screened Karma.
Panelists on “Taking Custody: The Double Life of the Artist Mother,” SVA Theatre, NYC, 10/16/12, included: Katherine Bernhardt (MFA 2000 Fine Arts), Renée Cox-Chareton (MFA 1992 Photography and Related Media), Suzanne McClelland (MFA 1989 Fine Arts), Rachel Papo (MFA 2005 Photography, Video and Related Media) and Amy Stein (MFA 2006 Photography, Video and Related Media).
Kevin Slack (BFA 2008 Film and Video) wrote and directed and Nicole Scarano (BFA 2008 Film and Video) produced The Drought, one of 10 films out of 15,000 chosen as a finalist in the YouTube “Your Film Festival,” Venice, Italy, 9/2/12.
At DOC NYC, 11/10-11/15/12, MFA 2011 Social Documentary alumni screened their films: Alexandra Karolinski, Oma & Bella (2012); Mark Kendall, La Camioneta (2012); Jenni Morello, McB (2011); Bao Nguyen, Julian (2011); and David Osit, Building Babel (2011).
At the 2012 ArtPrize of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Paul Amenta (MFA 2000 Fine Arts) was Venue Winner for his curation of SiTE:LAB; Alois Kronschlaeger (MFA 2002 Fine Arts) was the winner in the two-dimensional category for “Habitat” and Gudmundur Thoroddsen (MFA 2011 Fine Arts) was on the two-dimensional short list for “Father’s Fathers.”
MFA Design alumni received the following honors at the 2012 Martha Stewart American Made Award ceremony: Joanna Kuczek (2012) won for her project “Krasula”; Jennifer Glaser-Koehler (2011) was a finalist for her project “Fuzz Bucket”; Sylvia Villada (2012) was a finalist for her project “Rock and Rad”; Jesse Yuan (2012) was a finalist for her project “Talewind.”
Brian Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky (both MFA 2006 Photography, Video and Related Media) were featured in the article, “Melanie Shatzky and Brian M. Cassidy, ‘Francine,’” in Filmmaker: The Magazine of Independent Film, 9/12/12.
Honors bestowed by the ASMP Image 12 Photo Contest, NYC, 6/1/12, included: Maria Teresa Fischer (MPS 2011 Digital Photography), winner of first and second prizes and a Judges’ Choice award in the student category; Hye Ryoung Min (MPS 2009 Digital Photography), winner of third prize in the professional category; Christopher Borrok (MPS 2012 Digital Photography), winner of Judges’ Choice and Honorable Mention in the student category.
Photographs by Anna Bauer (BFA 2005 Photography) and Miles Ladin (MFA 1993 Photography and Related Media) are included in W: The First 40 Years, Abrams, 10/23/12.
1967
Carole Feuerman (G Fine Arts) was interviewed by Tracie Strahan on New York Nightly News on WNBC, NYC, 9/6/12.
1968
Jeffrey Lieberman (Film and Video) had a film retrospective, “3 x,” at the Anthology Film Archives, NYC, 8/17-8/19/12.
1969
Andrew Marsolek (E) celebrated his 50th anniversary as a Maryknoll brother, Saints Peter and Paul Parish, Independence, WI, 8/12/12.
Nina Yankowitz (G Fine Arts) was the subject of “Nina Yankowitz: Re-Rights/Re-Writes” by Joyce Beckenstein in Women’s Art Journal, Fall/Winter 2012.
1970
Bruce Aiken (Fine Arts) was interviewed for “Nature Is the Focus for Northern Arizona University’s Artists in Residence,” KNAU, Arizona Public Radio, 10/4/12.
1974
Tina Dunkley (BFA Fine Arts) co-wrote In the Eye of Muses: Selections from the Clark Atlanta University Art Collection, Clark Atlanta University, 6/30/12.
1977
Dawoud Bey (Photography) was featured in an article headed, “’70s Portrait of Harlem, Gathered for Today,” The New York Times, Art & Design section, 7/25/12.
Peter Malone (BFA Fine Arts) wrote Back Words: One Painter’s Voice in the Conversation, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 7/22/12.
1980
Michael Halsband (BFA Photography) premiered Growing Farmers at the Hamptons International Film Festival, East Hampton, NY, 10/7/12. Jackie Kingon (BFA Fine Arts) wrote Chocolate Chocolate Moons, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 9/1/12.
1981
Lowell Handler (BFA Photography) was interviewed on “Too Much Information with Benjamen Walker” on the independent NYC-area radio station WFMU about his book Crazy and Proud, 7/9/12.
Barbara Kolo (BFA Media Arts) was chosen as a Juried Winner in Round 5 of the 2012 ArtSlant Showcase Series.
Kenny Scharf (BFA Fine Arts), in parternship with Kiehl’s, created Creme de Corps by Kenny Scharf, a limited edition moisturizing lotion; sales will benefit children’s charities around the world.
1983
Michele Carlo (BFA Media Arts) performed in “Risk: Late Blooming,” The Pit, NYC, 9/27/12.
Daniel Hauben (BFA Fine Arts) installed a public art commission, “A Sense of Place,” at the North Hall and Library at Bronx Community College, NYC, 11/4/12.
1985
Eric Haze (BFA Media Arts) was interviewed for an article headed “Q&A: Eric Haze on Going from a Graffiti Background to Designing Iconic Hip-Hop Logos,” The Village Voice, 9/11/12.
1986
Kevin McCloskey (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) taught an experimental drawing course using Marshall Arisman’s DVD Modern Mixed Media at University Benito Juarez, Oaxaca, Mexico, 7/9-12/12.
Rumiko Tsuda (MFA Fine Arts) performed “Autumn Art Ceremony” for the performane event Flux Us-Flux You, Wesbeth Community Room, NYC, 9/27/12.
1988
Kelynn Alder (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) has held a workshop for children and adults called “Art Made Here” in Chiapas, Mexico, since the early 1990s. The Lower Eastside Girls Club of New York is the sponsor.
Anton Vidokle (BFA Fine Arts) was listed as No. 12 on Art Review ’s The Power 100 List 2012, 11/12.
1991
Russell Braun (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) is included in Comics Sketchbooks: The Private Worlds of Today’s Most Creative Talents. Edited by designer and SVA department Co-chair Steven Heller, Thames & Hudson, 9/7/12.
David Reuss (BFA Media Arts) illustrated and published an ebook, The Maladetto Papers by Fey Maladetto, 10/3/12.
Kevin Gig Wailgum (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) wrote and illustrated A Visit from Santa Clops or The Fright Before Christmas, Wailgum Art Yarns, 2/21/12.
1992
Viktor Koen (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) gave a talk, “Inspiration Is for Amateurs,” TEDx, Athens, Greece, 11/24/12.
Jenny Polak (MFA Fine Arts) is a 2012-2013 Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities artist in residence, Northwestern University, Chicago, 10/24/12.
Sara Rotman (BFA Graphic Design) was interviewed for an article, “From The Truth,” Communication Arts – Insights, 8/28/12.
1993
Doug Magnuson (MFA Fine Arts) co-wrote the screenplay for Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, Foresight Unlimited, 9/22/12.
Carolyn Watson-Dubisch (BFA Illustration) had a drawing featured in “Happy Thanksgiving: The 15 Most Creative Hand Turkeys Made by Our Readers,” Huffington Post, 11/21/12.
1994
Jason Rand (BFA Graphic Design) was featured in the article headed “Harrison Rand Wins NJ Ad Club Awards,” Jersey Journal, 6/22/11.
1995
Rodrigo Corral (BFA Graphic Design) was featured in the article, “Writers Leave the Book Covers to Him,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/9/12.
Michael De Feo’s (BFA Graphic Design) work was featured on “Home by Novogratz,” Home and Garden Television, 8/11/12.
1996
Irina Danilova (MFA Fine Arts) performed “Shaving Performance/ 20 Years After,” Moscow National Center for Contemporary Art, Moscow, 8/31/12.
Stephen Savage (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) wrote and illustrated Little Tug, Neal Porter Books, Macmillan, 10/2/12.
Jonathan Torgovnik (BFA Photography) won the Discovery prize at the 2012 Rencontre d’Arles Photography Festival for Intended Consequences, Arles, France, 7/7/12.
1997
Kathleen Hayes (BFA Photography) won Best Mermaid at the Coney Island Mermaid Parade where she was dressed as “Muerte Mermaid,” NYC, 6/23/12.
George Towne (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) was featured in “5 Reproduction Feature,” The Adirondack Review, Summer 2012.
1998
Alejandro Dron (MFA Computer Art) wrote and illustrated Zohar: The Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street, Shin Productions, 3/16/12.
Christopher Schanck (BFA Fine Arts) was featured in “A Model Citizen: Christopher Schanck Finds Offbeat Creativity in Obscure Talents and Everyday Materials,” Surface magazine, September/ October 2012.
1999
Michael Roth (BFA Animation) as a supervising producer/writer, won an Outstanding Short-form Animated Program Regular Show Emmy for Eggscellent, Cartoon Network, Los Angeles, 9/15/12.
2001
Anne Lewis (BFA Film and Video) co-directed Anne Braden: Southern Patriot, a documentary about the eponymous American civil rights leader, 2012.
2002
Michael Alan (BFA Fine Arts) was featured on the Art: 21 Blog in “Creating A Visual Language: The Art of Michael Alan,” 6/22/12.
Mariam Ghani (MFA Photography and Related Media) participated in “In Conversation: Mariam Ghani and Leeza Ahmady,” Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, 7/21/12.
Emma Wilcox ’s (BFA Photography) solo show “Where It Falls” at The Print Center Philadelphia was reviewed in Art in America, 6/7/12.
2004
Zachary Cregger (BFA Computer Art) is starring in the NBC television show Guys with Kids
Minos Papas (BFA Film and Video) premiered “A Short Film About Guns” during the Arms Trade Treaty talks at the United Nations, NYC, 7/20/12.
Anne Peabody (MFA Fine Arts) was named one of the artists in “50 Artists Working in Glass Whose Work Will Be Important in the Next 50 Years” by Glass Quarterly magazine, Summer 2012.
Renata Pugh (BFA Illustration) was chosen to participate in “Model to Monument 2011-2012,” a public art program. Her piece Coalescence is installed in Riverside Park, NYC, 6/12-5/13.
Michael Townsend (BFA Cartooning) wrote and illustrated Where Do Presidents Come From?: And Other Presidential Stuff of Super Great Importance, Dial, 9/13/12.
2005
Casey Brooks (BFA Film and Video) co-edited the documentary Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himself
Lauren Castillo (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) illustrated The Reader, Amazon Children’s Publishing, 10/2/12.
Jeff Liao (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media) won the Emerging Icon in Photography award at a George Eastman House gala, “Celebrating Light and Motion,” 11/26/12.
2006
Christine Sun Kim (MFA Fine Arts) is a TED2013 fellow, NYC, 11/8/12.
Andrés Martinez (BFA Fine Arts) co-wrote and illustrated Little White
Duck, Graphic Universe; reviewed in The New York Times Sunday Book Review, 11/9/12.
Wei Shen (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media) was a winner of 2012 Photography Portfolio Competition, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 10/11/12.
2007
Timothy Goodman (BFA Graphic Design) hand-lettered a mural of lyrics by late rapper and actor Tupac Shakur at the Magic S.L.A.T.E. trade show for FlexFit Headwear, Las Vegas, 8/19-8/23/12.
Ann Oren (MFA Fine Arts) screened In Contact, Anthology Film Archives, NYC, 6/27/12.
Stephen Zlotescu (MFA Computer Art) directed True Skin, the subject of the article, “Warner Bros. Nabs Sci-fi Short ‘True Skin’ for Feature,” The Hollywood Reporter, 10/17/12.
2008
Elisabeth Alba (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) illustrated I Am #4: Martin Luther King Jr., Scholastic, 12/1/12.
Jesse Averna (BFA Film and Video) won a 2011 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Multiple Camera Editing for Sesame Street, Los Angeles, 6/17/12.
Annie Chiu (BFA Advertising) was featured in the cover story, “Attack of the Ad Nerds,” Adweek, 9/3/12.
Jade Doskow (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media) had her photography series “World’s Fair Project” on The Picture Show: Photo Stories from National Public Radio, 11/15/12.
In Memoriam
Azriel Cohen (MFA 1994 Computer Art) died unexpectedly on October 5, 2012, at age 47. Known around the world as a traveler and a healer, Cohen was best known for his installation piece Traveling Jerusalem Café. In addition to his multidisciplinary artwork, he was involved in the formation of communities dedicated to promoting peace. He helped found Ohr Olam, a spiritual center in Dharamsala, India, and was the co-founder and director of Peace Begins With Myself, a program featured in Nobel Peace Prize nominee and Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh’s book Peace Begins Here. Cohen also worked as a certified Somatic Experiencing practitioner. He is survived by his parents, Abraham and Dorothy, and his siblings Aaron, Avinoam and Shulamit.
Well-respected Hollywood cinematographer Harris Savides (BFA 1982 Film & Video) died on October 9, 2012, at age 55. A native New Yorker, Savides began his career as a fashion photographer, then moved to commercials and music videos before making the leap to motion pictures. His film work included Elephant (2003), American Gangster (2007), Milk (2008) and Greenberg (2010), among others. Elephant won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2003. His last movie was The Bling Ring (forthcoming 2013). He worked with Woody Allen, Noah Baumbach, Sofia Coppola, Ridley Scott and Gus Van Sant. He is survived by his wife, Medine (BFA 1985 Fine Arts), and his daughter, Sophie.
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Felix Gephart (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) illustrated a new edition of screenwiter and novelist Dalton Trumbo’s Johnny Got His Gun, Onkel und Onkel, Berlin, 2012.
Dongyun Lee (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) did the illustration for an article headed “Under Investigation, and Doing the Investigation,” The New York Times, 9/25/12.
Sarah Palmer (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media) won the 2011 Aperture Portfolio Prize, Aperture Foundation, NYC, 2011.
Kara Rooney (MFA Art Criticism and Writing) wrote the articles “In Conversation: Jim Leedy with Kara Rooney” and “The Parade: Nathalie Djurberg with Music by Hans Berg,” The Brooklyn Rail, 6/12.
Jessica Ruliffson (BFA Illustration) was featured in “Portraits of War,” The New York Times, 5/25/12.
2009
Robert Herman (MPS Digital Photography) had photographs featured in “Princess,” Visura Spotlight, Visura magazine, 9/12.
Anna Raff (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) illustrated Sylvia’s Spinach, Readers to Eaters, 10/16/12.
Rebecca Sugar (BFA Animation) is the creator of Steven Universe, a
television show that the Cartoon Network green-lighted for production, making her the first female cartoon creator in the network’s history, 9/11/12.
2010
Brendan Leach (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) won an Ignatz Award for Outstanding Comic for The Pterodactyl Hunters presented at the 2012 Small Press Expo, Bethesda, MD, 9/14/12.
Irina Lee (MFA Design) screened What’s Your Story: Corona Plaza Welcoming Stories at the Queens Museum of Art, NYC, 10/21/12.
Dina Litovsky (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media) won first place in the Best of Photojournalism contest, sponsored by National Press Photographer’s Association, Durham, NC, 5/29/12.
Luther Mosher (BFA Cartooning) did the illustration for Ben Folds Five’s “Do It Anyway,” Legacy Recordings, 9/14/12.
2011
Alexandra Karolinski (MFA Social Documentary) was chosen as one of Filmaker magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film, 7/19/12.
Dawn Philips (BFA Photography) organized “Restore & Renew,” an auction and fund-raiser for
Hurricane Sandy relief, Element, NYC, 11/15/12.
Jess Worby (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay) did the illustrations for the board game Guts of Glory, 2012.
2012
Evan Borja (BFA Animation) had his thesis film Ortiz selected for Cartoon Brew’s third Student Animation Festival, 6/13/12.
Anna Buchbauer (MPS Branding) was chosen as a winner of The New York Times’ Innovation Whiteboard contest for his idea to return the fizz to soda that has gone flat, 6/3/12.
Azhar Chougle (BFA Photography) launched Paper Tactics, a showcase of arts and literary publications, 2012.
John Delaney (MPS Digital Photography) had his project “Hoboken Originals – Portraits of Mom &
Pop Store Owners and Workers in Hoboken, NJ” featured on the Feature Shoot website, 9/17/12 and “Hoboken Passing,” in the British Journal of Photography, 12/12.
Polly Guo (BFA Animation) was featured in the “Artist Spotlight,” Advocate.com, 10/13/12.
Elektra KB (BFA Visual and Critical Studies) was featured in the article, “The Radical Art of Electra KB,” Société Perrier, 9/24/12.
YoonJi Lee (BFA Graphic Design) was featured on “Student Spotlight,” thedieline.com, 7/14/12.
Alfred Park (BFA Graphic Design) was featured in the article, “How Stories Make Compelling Design,” Korea Herald, 9/21/12.
Albert Pereta (MFA Design) was featured in “Exit the Classroom” for his web application project “Iceber.gs” on MetropolisMag.com, 7/20/12.
Bill Hogan (G Graphic Design). Group exhibition, “In My View,” Trenton City Museum, Trenton, NJ, 1/12-2/24/13.
1967
Anna Walter (G Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Putting It All Together: The Art of Assemblage,” Downstairs Art, NYC, 9/5-10/31/12.
1973
Marilyn Church (E Illustration). Solo exhibition, “Paintings,” Julian Beck Fine Paintings Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY, 9/22-11/30/12.
1974
Eileen Burgess (BFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “STREET,” Art in Flux Harlem, NYC, 6/1-6/28/12.
Jaime Ferreyros (BFA Media Arts).
Solo exhibition, “A Visual Diary of Jaime Ferreyros Photography Show,” The Lunch Box Gallery, Miami, 10/13-11/24/12.
1985
Marc Asnin (BFA Photography). Solo exhibition, “Marc Asnin: Uncle Charlie,” Steven Kasher, NYC, 11/812/22/12.
1987
Aleathia Brown (BFA Media Arts). Curatorial project, “Unveiled, Unlocked: My Hair Is Not My Femininity,” CCNY Community Art Gallery, NYC, 9/20-11/19/12.
Mamie Holst (MFA Fine Arts).
Matthew Craven (MFA 2010 Fine Arts) curated the group exhibition “Black Foliage,” Chinatown Arcade, NYC, 7/22-7/24/12. The exhibition included works by Samuel Adams (MFA 2009 Fine Arts), Alejandro Guzman (MFA 2009 Fine Arts), Matthew Stone (MFA 2010 Fine Arts), Trish Tillman (MFA 2009 Fine Arts), Natalia Yovane (MFA 2010 Fine Arts), and Shay Zurim (MFA 2009 Fine Arts).
Agata Bebecka (BFA 2005 Fine Arts) and Natalia Yovane (MFA 2010 Fine Arts) were in “New Yak City: 2 on 2 Invitational All Styles Dance Battle” at the Postmasters Gallery, NYC, 8/11/12.
Christopher Bors (MFA 1998 Illustration as Visual Essay) curated the group exhibition “Spacegrass,” Bloom Projects, NYC, 9/8-10/14/12. The show included works by Ketta Ioannidou (MFA 1999 Illustration as Visual Essay), Jeremiah Teipen (MFA 2001 Fine Arts) and Aaron Zimmerman (MFA 1999 Fine Arts).
“Survival,” Lambert Fine Arts, NYC, 9/15-10/7/12, included works by David Erwin (BFA 1988 Fine Arts) and Joseph Grazi (BFA 2006 Animation). Works by Moritz Hoffmann (BFA 2009 Fine Arts) and Paul Vogeler (BFA 2009 Fine Arts) were in “The New Berlin Painters,” Stattberlin, Berlin, 6/8-6/16/12.
The show “The Original Art 2012” at the Society of Illustrators, NYC, 10/24-12/22/12, contained work by Lauren Castillo (MFA 2005 Illustration as Visual Essay), Brian Floca (MFA 2001 Illustration as Visual Essay), Douglas Florian (E 1972), Edward Hemingway (MFA 2002 Illustration as Visual Essay), John Hendrix (MFA 2003 Illustration as Visual Essay), Yumi Heo-Dana (MFA 1992 Illustration as Visual Essay), Peter McCarty (BFA 1992 Illustration), Patrick McDonnell (BFA 1978 Media Arts), Tao Nyeu (MFA 2007 Illustration as Visual Essay) and Hyewon Yum (MFA 2006 Illustration as Visual Essay).
Edna Cardinale (BFA 1993 Photography) curated “The Perfect Storm” at the Julie Saul Gallery, NYC, 6/28-8/17/12. Shai Kremer (MFA 2006 Photography, Video and Related Media) and Simen Johan (BFA 1996 Photography) were in the show.
Peter Hristoff (BFA 1981 Fine Arts) and Joanna Wezyk (MFA 2008 Fine Arts) had work in the group exhibition “Blessed Are the Artists: Spirituality and Religion in Contemporary Art,” Caldwell College, Caldwell, NJ, 10/11-11/19/12.
TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION FOR ALUMNI NOTES AND EXHIBITIONS, EMAIL
1975
Thomas Teamoh (BFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “14th Annual Landscape Juried Online International Art Exhibition,” Online Upstream People Gallery, 7/1-7/31/12.
1976
Theresa DeSalvio (BFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Vignettes,” Parallax AF, NYC, 11/16-11/18/12.
1978
Richard Deon (BFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Richard Deon: Paradox and Conformity,” University of Connecticut Stamford Art Gallery, Storrs, CT, 10/22-11/30/12.
1980
Patricia Bellucci (BFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Frenzy Into Folly,” Openings, NYC, 9/14-10/26/12.
1982
David Crespo (BFA Photography). Group exhibition, “Dance Performance,” Bushwick Open Studios, Mesa Azteca Restaurant, NYC, 6/2-6/3/12.
Susan Leopold (BFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Interiors Disrupted,” Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH, 5/13-7/29/12.
1984
Lisa Argentieri (BFA Photography). Solo exhibition, “True Colors,” Jericho Public Library, Jericho, NY, 9/1-9/28/12. Group exhibition, “Catharine Lorillard Art Club Annual Exhibition,” National Arts Club, NYC, 10/2-10/26/12.
Timothy Ebneth (BFA Media Arts). Group exhibition, “Secrets of Heaven,” McDaris Fine Art, Hudson, NY, 8/25-9/23/12.
Solo exhibition, “Secrets of the Universe,” Feature Inc, NYC, 3/214/22/12. Group exhibition, “Art on Paper 2012: The 42nd Exhibition,” Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC, 10/21/12-1/13/13.
Tricia Kim (BFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Design in Textiles,” Mary Jaeger Studio, NYC, 8/1/12.
Gary Petersen (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Line and Plane,” McKenzie Fine Art, NYC, 9/510/28/12. Group exhibition,”There Are No Giants Upstairs,” THEODORE: Art, NYC, 6/16-7/29/12.
1988
Randolph Holland (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “New Work,” Lumina Gallery, Los Angeles, 11/16/12.
Jeffrey Muhs (BFA Media Arts). Group exhibition, ”Young Masters Art Prize Exhibit,” Cynthia Corbett Gallery, London, 10/9/12.
Mary Salvante (BFA Media Arts). Group exhibition, ”Movility: Movis Moves,” Rowan University Art Gallery, Glassboro, NJ, 10/15-11/17/12.
Lisa Zilker (LMZ) (BFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Operating System,” Sylvia Wald and Po Kim, NYC, 6/21-7/21/12.
1989
Katherine Criss (BFA Photography). Group exhibition, “Photography Open,” National Art League of Long Island, Dix Hills, NY, 7/9-8/4/12.
1991
Susan Graham (Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Lux Artist Resident,” Lux Art Institute, Encinitas, CA, 9/1310/27/12.
Lisa Kirk (BFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Up Against It,” Munch Gallery, NYC 7/21-8/11/12.
1992
Lili Almog (BFA Photography). Group exhibition, “The Originals: Mana Contemporary Resident Artists,” Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ, 7/15-9/14/12. Group exhibition,”Summer Solstice,” Andrea Meislin Gallery, NYC, 6/218/3/12.
Johan Grimonprez (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Experimenta Speak to Me,” Melbourne, Australia, 9/14-11/17/12.
Viktor Koen (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Solo exhibition, “Dark Peculiar Toys,” United Photo Industries, NYC, 10/4-10/28/12.
Joan Palmer (BFA Graphic Design). Group exhibition, Salmagundi Club’s “Annual Non-Members Exhibition,” Denise Bibro Fine Arts, NYC, 8/16-8/25/12.
Lynn Pauley (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Solo exhibition, “Getting to Here,” Barn at Pendle Hill, Wallingford, PA, 6/24/12.
Lisa Ruyter (BFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men,” Connersmith, Washington, DC, 9/8-10/20/12.
1993
Lauren Berkowitz (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Visceral Forms,” Utopian Slumps, Melbourne, Australia, 8/25-9/15/12.
1994
John Ferry (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Group exhibition, “Have I Been Here Before?,” La Esquina, Kansas City, MO, 11/2/12.
Leemour Pelli (BFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Global Projects: Artists at Home and Abroad,” Broadway Gallery, NYC, 8/88/31/12.
Michelle Lopez (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Blue Angels,” Christophe Gaillard Gallery, Paris, 10/18-11/24/12.
Stephen Mumford (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Painting Is History,” Winkleman Gallery, NYC, 7/11-8/10/12.
Edie Winograde (MFA Photography and Related Media). Group exhibition, “Continental Drift,” Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, 7/13-9/23/12.
1996
Barnaby Furnas (BFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “If Wishes Were Fishes,” Marianne Boesky Gallery, NYC, 11/13-12/21/12.
THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE MOUSE
Molly Herman (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Summer Rotation,” Amy Simon Fine Art, Westport, CT, 7/25-9/1/12.
Simen Johan (BFA Photography). Solo exhibition, “Until the Kingdom Comes,” David Winton Bell Gallery, Brown University, Providence, RI, 11/17-2/17/13.
1997
Karlos Carcamo (BFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Microphone Check,” Hionas, NYC, 6/8-7/7/12.
Kathleen Hayes (BFA Photography). Group exhibition, “Latin America” F-Stop magazine, online exhibition, issue 54, 8/1- 9/30/12.
Raul Manzano (BFA Illustration). Curatorial project, “¡THE AMÉRICAS! – A Celebration of Hispanic Heritage,” Livingston Gallery, Empire State College, NYC, 10/2012/20/12.
Dylan Stone (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “100 Years,” Ruth Phaneuf Fine Arts, NYC, 10/1911/18/12.
George Towne (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Solo exhibition, “George Towne: Portraits and Landscapes,” Michael Mut, NYC, 6/1-7/4/12.
1998
Alex Heilner (MFA Photography and Related Media). Group exhibition, “Baker Artist Award Show,” Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD, 9/5-10/7/12.
Irys Schenker (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Centaur & Satyrs,” Asya Geisberg Gallery, NYC, 7/12-8/17/12.
2000
Gonzalo Fuenmayor (BFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Caribbean: Crossroads of the World,” Queens Museum of Art, NYC, 6/17/121/6/13.
Eric Rhein (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Abstract Realities,” Hal Bromm, NYC, 9/19-12/21/12. Group exhibition, “The Sexuality Spectrum,” Hebrew Union College, NYC, 10/10/12-6/28/13.
2001
Shih Chieh Huang (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “ReGeneration,” New York Hall of Sciences, NYC, 10/27/12-1/13/13.
James Jean (BFA Illustration). Group exhibition, “Tiny Trifecta,” Cotton Candy Machine, NYC, 7/78/5/12.
Carlos Motta (BFA Photography). Solo exhibition, “Museum as Hub: Carlos Motta: We Who Feel Differently,” New Museum, NYC 5/16-9/8/12.
Danwen Xing (MFA Photography and Related Media). Group exhibition, “MINIMAL – Micro Size Art,” Hå gamle prestegard, Hå municipality, Norway, 6/9-8/26/12.
2002
ON megumi Akiyoshi (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Akiyoshi, Draok, Woo,” Illuminated Metropolis Gallery, NYC, 7/12-7/28/12.
Joe Fig (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Joe Fig: Cinematic Paintings,” Cristin Tierney, NYC, 9/6-10/20/12.
Aya Kakeda (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Group exhibition, “Tiny Trifecta,” Cotton Candy Machine, NYC, 7/7-8/5/12.
Diana Shpungin (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Scènes à Faire,” Dumbo Arts Center, NYC, 10/510/21/12.
Emma Wilcox (BFA Photography). Group exhibition, “FSA Photography and the New Social Realism,” Robert Miller Gallery, NYC, 9/1811/17/12.
2003
Kevin Amato (BFA Photography). Group exhibition, “Stay Lovely,” Culture Fix Gallery, NYC, 7/67/8/12.
Fawad Khan (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Group exhibition, “In What Distant Deeps or Skies,” Lu Magnus, NYC, 6/5-8/3/12.
Jade Kuei (BFA Animation). Group exhibition, “From Brooklyn to Bangkok,” Zakka Corp, NYC, 6/29/12.
Romaine Orthwein (MFA Photography and Related Media). Group exhibition, “Going Out,” Gensler, NYC, 9/12/12.
Zackary Drucker (BFA Photography). Solo exhibition, “At Least You Know You Exist,” MoMA PS1, NYC, 7/7-9/10/12.
Max Greis (BFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “I’ll Take You There: The Constructed Landscape,” Pavel Zoubok Gallery, NYC, 6/288/10. Group exhibition, “Recess,” Francesca Arcilesi Fine Art, NYC, 7/12-8/1/12.
Mary O’Malley (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Spontaneous Order,” Gallery at Porter Mill, Beverly, MA, 8/29-9/28/12.
2006
Michael Bilsborough (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Group exhibition, “Up Against It,” Munch Gallery, NYC 7/21-8/11/12.
Zofia Bogusz (BFA Illustration). Solo exhibition, “Sink with Me,” Chelsea Eye Art Gallery, NYC, 9/19-11/1/12.
John Dessereau (BFA Illustration). Solo exhibition, The Yard, NYC, 9/13-10/13/12.
Shen Wei (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media). Solo exhibition, “I Miss You Already,” Daniel Cooney Fine Art, NYC, 9/13-10/27/12.
2007
Anita Cruz-Eberhard (BFA Photography). Group exhibition, “Behind the Curtain: The Aesthetics of the Photobooth,” Le Museum du Botanique, Brussels, 6/14-8/19/12.
Amy Elkins (BFA Photography). Group exhibition, Bursa Photo Festival, Bursa, Turkey, 9/15-9/20/12.
Naho Taruishi (BFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Film Drawings,” Fellowship Gallery, A.I.R. Gallery, NYC, 11/1-12/1/12.
2008
Allison Kaufman (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media). Solo exhibition, “Temporary Arrangements,” HERE Arts Center, NYC, 7/18-8/25/12.
Robert Lawrence (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Monochrome,” Nurtureart, NYC, 9/28-10/27/12.
David Mramor (MFA Fine Arts). Group exhibition, “Chaos, Control, Chaos, Control,” Louis B. James, NYC, 6/1-6/30/12.
Kara Rooney (MFA Art Criticism and Writing). Curatorial Projects, “Fictitious Truths,” Rooster, NYC, 10/25-12/2/12.
Joanna Wezyk (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Joanna M. Wezyk,” Tina Kim Gallery, NYC, 6/7-7/13/12.
2009
Daniel Gadd (BFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Paintings,” Daniel Cooney Fine Art, NYC, 11/112/22/12.
Rich Tumang (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay). Group exhibition, “Boys Don’t Cry,” Baang + Burn Contemporary, NYC, 10/4-11/8/12.
LEFT: Shen Wei, Untitled Self-Portrait (Bent), 2009, C-print. Courtesy of the artist and Daniel Cooney Fine Art, New York.
RIGHT:
Eli Halpern, Michael 2012, oil on canvas.
2010
Jonathan Beer (BFA Illustration). Solo exhibition, “Happening & History,” Kathleen Cullen Fine Arts, NYC, 9/6-10/11/12.
Lorne Blythe (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media). Group exhibition, “Vox VIII,” Vox Populi, Philadelphia, 7/6-7/29/12.
Naoko Ito (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Holey Space,” Soho20 Chelsea Gallery, NYC, 9/4-9/29/12.
Alejandra Regalado (MPS Digital Photography). Solo exhibition, “In Reference to Mexican Women of New York,” Soho Photo Gallery, NYC, 9/5-9/30/12. Group exhibition, “Abandonment,” PowerHouse Arena, NYC, 11/1-12/2/12.
2011
Bojune Kwon (MPS Digital Photography). Group exhibition, “Photoville,” Brooklyn Bridge Park, NYC, 6/22-8/30/12.
Raul Gomez Valverde (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media). Group exhibition, “Hacer El Fracaso (Making Failure),” La Casa Encendida, Madrid, 7/5-9/23/12.
2012
Lisa Fairstein (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media). Group exhibition, “Vox VIII,” Vox Populi, Philadelphia, 7/6-7/29/12.
Eli Halpern (MFA Fine Arts). Solo exhibition, “Do It Yourself,” Sue Scott, NYC, 6/20-7/27/12.
Laura Murray (BFA Fine Arts). Curatorial project, “Artists Guarding Artists,” Family Business, NYC, 7/31-8/17/12.
gratefully acknowledges the generous support of our
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 sva.edu/alumnisociety
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.
1998
This coming fall, the MFA Design Department will celebrate its 15th anniversary. When the School of Visual Arts began offering the MFA in Design in the fall of 1998, the word “graphic” was conspicuously missing from the degree’s title. On one hand, this signaled the College’s recognition that so-called graphic designers were increasingly called upon to work in three dimensions and moving images—everything from films and CD-ROMs to websites and toys and more. More important, in leaving out the “G” word, founding co-chairs Steven Heller and Lita Talarico (then chief administrator) proposed a new role for their graduates: the designer as “authorpreneur.”
As Heller explained in the press release that announced the new program, “As new media has changed the role of the graphic designers . . . there is a need, as well as a demand, for more creative involvement with the end-product. The aim is to educate designers to do more than design and execute the ideas of others.”
The program brought together faculty members— among them, Stefan Sagmeister and Paula Scher—who epitomized this groundbreaking approach. And the curriculum included courses in writing, marketing, advertising and networking alongside typography, criticism, and book and magazine publishing. For their thesis project, students were required to come up with a marketable idea, write a proposal, develop a prototype, and sell the idea to actual backers, publishers, manufacturers or distributors.
In the years since, SVA has continued to expand the role of the designer beyond that of form-giver, with the introduction of the MFA degrees in Design for Social Innovation, Interaction Design and Products of Design; the latter two programs were co-founded by Heller. Michael Grant
Ed McCabe created these ads for the MFA Design Department, circa 1997.
See “Alumni Society Scholarship Awards 2013,” page 68.
Jensine Eckwall , animal character studies from Vladimir Dal’s Little Snow Girl 2012, watercolor and gouache.
