MFA 2007

Details from the Georgia Museum of Art's exhibition page [here].
Official press release for this year's MFA exhibition (pdf file) [here].

Beth Sale's discussion from the April 11th edition of the Athens Flagpole [here].

What is it? Upon his appointment at the University of Georgia in 1939, Lamar Dodd set about organizing exhibitions, auctions, and lectures that increased the awareness of art both on campus and in the Athens community. Collaborating with Georgia Museum of Art founder Alfred H. Holbrook, Dodd also viewed the museum as a laboratory of ideas and aesthetics related to art. The 2007 Master of Fine Arts Candidates Exhibition continues the traditions instituted by Dodd at the university. By its very makeup, the annual exhibition operates as a vibrant, eclectic example of the depth and quality of the Lamar Dodd School of Art. The annual show serves as one of the most intriguing, challenging, and enjoyable spectacles during the museum’s active schedule of exhibitions. Each year, the audience of the Georgia Museum of Art gets the opportunity to respond to and to enjoy what the University of Georgia’s students are doing in the world of contemporary art.

If/when you visit the exhibition, open until May 6th, here are some general themes and/or recurring motifs to look for among the work of the 23 -- likely the most ever at the university -- graduating MFA students:

• Nostalgia, and the playing/building upon our longing and understanding of persons, situations, traditions.
• Time (and the function of time)
• Contradictions, and the assertion and creation of opposing ideas, situations, feelings, materials.
• Monochromatic work.
• Hanging/dangling objects.
• Overt and conscious lack of (clear) narrative.
• Process (especially instead of meaning and narrative).
• Personal identity and memory (as opposed to group identity).
• Interiority vs. exteriority.

Last night the museum hosted "MFA Speaks," and the students spent 2-3 minutes each on the microphone giving the general public some "talking points" about the art.

The museum created a slideshow of images to accompany the talk. The slideshow follows as a youtube video.

The artists, in slideshow order, are: Jim Norton (jewelry/metals), Kathlene Moyer (interior design), Deborah Ford (interior design), Audrey Molinare (printmaking), Rylan Steele (photography), Shawn Eisenach (printmaking), Nick Gagliardi (painting), Teddy Johnson (painting), Nara Kim (fabric design), Meghan Moser (fabric design), Brook Reynolds (photography), Susannah Zucker (ceramics), Kate Windley (painting), Andy Anzardo (sculpture), Amanda Burk (printmaking), Erin Burke (sculpture), Danielle Benson (printmaking), Chris Merz (painting), Natasha Seedorf (jewelry/metals), Zamila Karimi (interior design), Susan Gunter (fabric design), Jenn Manzella (printmaking), and Krista Coleman-Silvers (jewelry/metals).



The "opening" reception for the 2007 show is at the Georgia Museum of Art on Friday the 13th, 7 - 9pm.