One Afternoon in Your Next Reincarnation, the 2019 Low-Residency MFA in Visual Studies Thesis Exhibition
July 24, 2019
One Afternoon in Your Next Reincarnation, the 2019 Low-Residency MFA in Visual Studies Thesis Exhibition, opens Thursday, August 1, 2019 with a reception from 6pm- 8pm and runs through August 16, 2019. Curated by Srijon Chowdhury, the exhibition features work by Forest Aliya, Nicole Elaine Baker, Vanessa Briones, Joel Cleland, Marie Conner, Britt Humphrey, and Abney Wallace. There will be a publication release Wednesday, Aug 14, after the 2pm commencement ceremony.
The exhibition features works by the students in PNCA’s Low-Residency MFA in Visual Studies graduating class. Each artist has created a body of work that is the culmination of their Master of Fine Art degree.
The thesis exhibition was curated by Srijon Chowdhury. Srijon Chowdhury (b. 1987 in Bangladesh) is an artist and curator who received his MFA from Otis College of Art and Design (2013). Solo exhibitions include: Foxy Production, New York, NY (upcoming 2020); Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, CA (upcoming 2019); Antoine Levi, Paris, France; Upfor, Portland, OR. Chowdhury co-runs Chicken Coop Contemporary in Portland, Oregon.
The artists make work with widely varying concerns in many media that include paint, sound, sculpture, drawing. In conversation with the students, Chowdhury drew out threads from which he wove this statement:
Earth is speaking to you. Through retellings and translations there is loss and growth. Through your eye the land appears empty. You are projecting right now. Back in your room, alone, enveloped by all. Look at what this is made of. Don’t reduce, instead take up space and think as wide as the horizon. Wider.
The Low-Residency MFA in Visual Studies is organized to be an innovative hybrid of an MFA degree and an artist residency. The program’s flexible schedule, intensive residency periods, lower cost of attendance, and the distance-learning component make it suitable for students who are already engaged professionally. The program boasts an impressive rotation of visiting faculty and artists to engage students locally, nationally, and internationally. The Chair of the program is Aeron Bergman. Learn more about the program at https://pnca.edu/academics/graduate/lrvs