The studio can be a place of solitude and even confinement. No matter what a studio practice looks like, there is an extensive amount of time spent in contemplation — the hope to move forward. This time allows an artist to investigate his or her own beliefs and delve deep into ideas while being exposed to his or her strengths and weaknesses. It can be rewarding and harrowing — often slow and steady, sometimes cyclical movement that brings an artist from one place to another.

Though this alone time is pivotal for the artist, so is the time committed to building a community of peers. Camaraderie among artists sets forth endless opportunities to discuss, deliberate, chew over, consider, challenge, dispute, stimulate, galvanize, motivate and inspire. This necessary push-pull is only capable when relationships are nurtured within the studio as trust and respect develops from friends and colleagues. New York City is a wonderful place to be an artist. Some say it is the only place to be an artist. Though I do not agree with that sentiment, I do think it can be a lonely place to exist as an artist. Without an active studio practice, there can’t be activity around the studio. For there to be activity outside the studio an artist must put him or herself out into the world to be challenged.

At this place and in this time we all find ourselves here — at Brooklyn College. This Art Department’s history is inspired — Rothko, Reinhardt, Murray and Pearlstein, among so many others, have roamed this halls, critiqued our studios. Today we continue to entrust our practices to a supportive faculty and staff of caring and passionate artists. Most importantly, however, we have each other. Students looking for a space to work and time to focus have also found companionship among their fellow students. This compassion ignites our time here and will help carve out this moment in the Department’s history.

*You Are Here represents but a small sample of the devotion of the MFA Art students here at Brooklyn College. Though our timing may be coincidental, our passion elevates to a foundation of devotion and respect. The works in this exhibition speak to the entire MFA Art community and remark on what makes this moment special. The synergy of balance and diversity between these students working together creates the pulse that is the lifeblood to our success.

Common themes stitch throughout this exhibition. Stephanie and Mitch approach the moment of essence defined by the materials they use. To them, material is of utmost importance and activates their message with specificity. From specific moments to time in a more general sense, Anna and Kate carve out space as if using time as a medium. There is something about the collection of material and media that emphasizes this point in their rendering of a time line of sorts. All inclusive of memory — yesterday and today.

On an even broader scale, Julie, Anthony & Fernando all approach their practice with the discovery of how their surroundings shape their environments. Careful placement and precise marks bring the viewer inward and begin to form a formal and figurative landscape of surrounding moments — the placement of objects in space reacted to. Finally, Sasha and I approach our immediate surrounds by way of the minutia of the everyday. There is a precision centered then pushed to the periphery — a moment that brings the immediate, the forgotten and all time on the same plane.

Though approaches and images may differ in material and affect, they all respond to their specific place in time. Brooklyn College is that place and now is that time. Together we work and together we will succeed.

galleryELL

New York City

you are here