I went and checked out the MFA grad show at UVic today. I'm always excited to see what's in store because during the course of the year, you're able to see these ideas in development (while peeking into the various studios and crit rooms in the Visual Arts building). It's interesting to see which pieces get shown and which ones are cut.
I was particularly taken with these following pieces:
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| Megan Dyck |
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| Carley Smith |
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| Carley Smith |
I'm also interested to see what constitutes MFA level painting, so I'm glad there were a few painters in the mix. One I liked was Jereon Witvliet. As is always the case with contemporary painting, at first I always feel blocked off or unable to engage with the images. But after about 10 minutes or so with the work, the mystery starts to come forth. Questions like what am I looking at? become what do I bring to the image? What I like about these paintings is their mystery. I'm reminded of Luc Tuymans and then I start to imagine what Witvliet has omitted from these images. That reference I think is very helpful (at least to me) in interpreting the work. I also feel like I can "hear" the images, like they resonate some kind of hum or sine wave.
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| Jereon Witvliet |
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| Jereon Witvliet |
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| Jereon Witvliet |
Lastly, I was very intrigued by Ethan Lester's installation. It's easy to get overwhelmed with installation art because more than one sense is being stimulated: sight, sound, touch, but Lester was able to choreograph the experience with the right balance of each. Lester's use of coloured spotlights helps to divide the space and create different atmospheres. Naturally, I think of Louise Bourgeouis's "Cells" when I see work like this, but it really touched me because it made me think of an old high school buddies party pad: old, wrecked couch, cigarette butts, liquor bottles, they detritus of sexy times, blaring TV set, living in the moment, looking to score, getting high/buzzed/laid/whatever. I especially appreciated the small details like floor tiles missing and the holes in the couch.
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| Ethan Lester |
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| Ethan Lester |
I left the show feeling energized and motivated to push my own painting to the limits. Can painting be more visceral and engaging than an installation? Possibly not because of the whole "real/lived space" thing that object have. But a painting can transcend the laws of physics, of time, of space. I just got goosebumps thinking about that :O
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