Visual Arts Briefs

This week marks the opening of “Where Is My Vote? Posters for the Green Movement in Iran,” an exhibition featuring more than 125 political posters created by graphic artists from around the world in support of the protests that took place in Iran following the 2009 presidential election. The show—on view in the Visual Arts Gallery, August 30 – September 25—is the first public viewing of these posters in printed form and was organized by designers Anita Kunz and Woody Pirtle along with Francis Di Tommaso, director of the Visual Arts Gallery, and Steven Heller, author and co-chair of the MFA Design Department.

“Where Is My Vote?” highlights the role that socially responsible designers can play in rallying support for free speech. The exhibition features posters by some of the most celebrated graphic artists working today, including R.O. Blechman, Cathie Bleck, Seymour Chwast, Ivan Chermayeff, Milton Glaser, Robert Grossman, Anita Kunz, Yossi Lemel, Jennifer Morla, István Orosz, Woody Pirtle, Andrea Rauch, Ralph Steadman, Gary Taxali, James Victore and Massimo Vignelli, among others.

Following the elections in Iran in the spring of 2009, an Iranian photographer who goes by the name of Green Bird contacted graphic artists from all over the world and asked them to create posters in support the green movement in Iran. One of the people he approached, Italian designer Andrea Rauch, volunteered to host all of the posters on SocialDesignZine, the blog of the Association of Italian Graphic Designers, where he serves as editor. More than 200 posters have been collected on the site. In the fall of 2009, Green Bird asked Kunz if she knew of a venue that would be interested in exhibiting the posters. Kunz then brought the works to the attention of SVA, and soon the planning for “Where Is My Vote?” began. The resulting exhibition presents the posters mounted on double-sided placards (echoing hand-held protest signs) clustered throughout the gallery space. The College is hosting a special reception on Thursday, September 16, 6 – 8pm, at the gallery.

Images: (top) Seymour Chwast; (bottom) Anita Kunz.

The Annual 2010 has just been published, and it features an in-depth look at the past, present and future of drawing at the College. The publication is available online at sva.edu/annual, featuring work by undergraduate and graduate students, plus interviews with students, faculty and SVA President David Rhodes, who says, “Within the diversity of departmental curricula across the College, nearly everyone here—department chairs, students, faculty members and alumni—senses that [drawing] is fundamental.”

Visitors to the SVA Facebook page can click the Photos tab to view an album of additional drawing work submitted for the publication; in addition, we are inviting readers to share their drawings with the SVA community by uploading images to the College’s Facebook page.

The Milton Glaser Design Study Center and Archives has announced the launch of its Design Study Collection (DSC), a series of acquisitions focusing on important designers and illustrators working in the field today. The first DSC holdings come from MFA Design Department faculty member Stefan Sagmeister, whose instantly recognizable visual style has appeared on CD packaging for David Byrne and Lou Reed; in the books Made You Look (Thames & Hudson, 2001) and Things I have learned in my life so far (Abrams, 2008); and on the cover of the 1994 SVA Division of Continuing Education fall bulletin.

According to Archivist Beth Kleber and Archives Assistant Zachary Sachs, Sagmeister’s collection is the first of many to come in the DSC series. In the meantime, they also recently completed processing a collection of work by illustrator James McMullan, who is best known for his book covers, magazine illustrations and theater posters for productions at Lincoln Center. More information on McMullan and his collection at the Archive can be found here.

Image: Stefan Sagmeister, Division of Continuing Education Bulletin, 2004; ©Visual Arts Press, Ltd.

Jennifer Phillips, director of the Office of  Career Development, was part of the SVA contingent attending the 2010 edition of SIGGRAPH, the premier international event on computer graphics and interactive technique. She sent this dispatch from the event in Los Angeles:

This week, a team comprised of members of the College’s MFA Computer Art Department; BFA Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects Department; Office of External Relations; and Office of Career Development attended SIGGRAPH 2010, which took place July 25 – 29 in Los Angeles, CA.

One of the conference’s many appeals is the annual “SpaceTime” exhibition and competition, which features some of the best creative computer-based work from students around the globe. Recent graduate Anis Haron (MFA 2010 Computer Art) was one of the few chosen to participate this year. Elsewhere at the conference, alumnus Isaac Kerlow (BFA 1981 Media Arts) directed this year’s Computer Animation Festival (CAF), and MFA Computer Art Department faculty member Steve Rittler was on the CAF jury.

In addition to the vibrant exhibition and festival scenes, the SVA team was part of an exclusive group of colleges and universities invited to partake in education symposiums at DreamWorks Animation Studios, Sony Pictures Imageworks and Walt Disney Animation Studios. These events allowed us to learn directly from top industry figures about new trends and technological developments that may affect the skills students need to ensure optimal success as professionals. Overall, the SIGGRAPH conference also gives the College an opportunity to promote the talent of its recent graduates to hiring managers throughout the digital arts industry.

Visit siggraph.org/s2010 for more information about SIGGRAPH, and watch videos from the event on SIGGRAPH’s YouTube channel.

Video: Anis Haron, Relations

The summer exhibition season is in full swing at SVA, and five new shows opened their doors on Tuesday, July 6. The Visual Arts Gallery, 601 West 26th Street, 15th floor, is presenting a quartet of exhibitions: “That’s Just It,” a collection of painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, video and mixed-media work by 2010 graduates of the MFA Fine Arts Department; “Serial Intentions,” showing sculpture and installation by students and recent graduates that examines the boundaries between representation and abstraction; “Camera Work,” an exhibition of film and photography by current students exploring portraiture, social commentary and organic abstraction; and “The Slow Motion Show,” which brings together drawing, video, collage and interactive performance art by recent graduates interpreting slow motion as a device used to reveal the unnoticed. All four exhibitions are on view through Monday, August 14, at the Visual Arts Gallery, and there is an opening reception on July 6, 6 – 8pm.

On the east side of the SVA campus, the SVA Gallery, 209 East 23rd Street, is hosting “In leaves no step had trodden black,” an exhibition of work by selected alumni of the BFA Photography Department. The title borrows a line from the Robert Frost poem “The Road Not Taken,” suggesting the innumerable possibilities of implied narrative within the photography included in the exhibition. “In leaves no step had trodden black” runs through Tuesday, July 20, and a reception for the artists takes place July 6, 6 – 8pm.

Images: (top) Hye Soon Hwang, Everyday, 2010, from “That’s Just It”; (bottom) Lisa Elmaleh, Mangroves, 2010, from “In leaves no step had trodden black.”

The Visual Arts Press, the in-house design studio at SVA, received two Gold Awards in the Graphis Design Annual 2011. Both Proof, the 2010 – 2011 undergraduate catalog, and issue 6 of Dear Dave, magazine were recognized.

Additionally, two promotional projects commissioned by SVA were featured in the Annual. Push the Envelope is a campaign that fashions pushable doors at SVA to look like envelopes, physically manifesting the verbal expression. Loose-Leaf Paper Bike Rack makes use of city bike racks by affixing oversized vinyl loose-leaf paper to them, visually turning combined materials into a giant notebook. Created by KNARF/New York, an agency headed by unconventional advertising instructor Frank Anselmo, both projects received Gold Awards.

Image: KNARF/New York, Push the Envelope.

On Tuesday, June 22, book lovers and designers gathered together at the Westside Gallery to celebrate the winners and finalists of The Strand Tote Bag Design Contest. Handing out the awards and prizes were Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Art Spiegelman, Masterpiece Comics creator R. Sikoryak, New Yorker art editor Francoise Mouly and Strand Book Store owner Nancy Bass Wyden.

All 20 of the finalists (including four members of the SVA community) received a $20 gift card to The Strand, along with the winning tote. The three winners shared prizes that included a $100 Think Coffee gift card and graphic novels from Drawn & Quarterly, Fantagraphics and TOON Books. Additionally, all of the winners and finalists will have their work on display in the Westside Project Space, 133/141 West 21st Street, through Monday, July 5.

Image: (top L-R) Art Spiegelman, grand prize winner Zak Foster and R. Sikoryak.; (bottom) Westside Project Space. Photos by John Wyszniewski.

Discussing the study of design in New York City and his professional triumphs and regrets, SVA Acting Chairman and longtime faculty member Milton Glaser gave a series of video interviews to Design Taxi. View the five videos or read the interview “The Doyen of American Design” on the Design Taxi Web site. Also, an article about Glaser’s posters—particularly his multicolored silhouette of Bob Dylan that was included with Dylan’s 1967 Greatest Hits album—is included in the June issue of Smithsonian.

The summer exhibition season at SVA features shows that are part of the College’s student jury program. Every year, a jury of students from a wide array of departments review artwork submitted by their peers; the artists selected by the jury are then used by Richard Brooks, assistant director of student galleries, to curate a series of exhibitions.

Two of those juried exhibitions are opening at the beginning of June. “Between,” at the Westside Gallery, 131/141 West 21st Street, June 1 – 19, features sculpture, print and video work of a meditative and contemplative nature. The show includes pieces by Emilie Rolin Jacquemyns, Tamar Latzman, Adehla Lee, Laurel Lueders and Vered Sivan; there will be an opening reception for the artists on Wednesday, June 2, 5 – 7pm.

Just a few days later, “Social” opens at the SVA Gallery, 209 West 23rd Street. On view June 5 – 26, the exhibition focuses on painting, photography and sculpture by students and recent graduates, examining current global conditions and cultural legacies. Peter Buotte, Katie Cercone, Natan Dvir, Anat Even-Or, Elektra KB, Yuri Leonov, Elizabeth Libert and Sara Macel all have work in the show, which will have its opening reception on Monday, June 7, 5 – 7pm.

Images: (top) Laurel Lueders, Untitled 2, 2009, from “Between”; (bottom) Elizabeth Libert, Dan (Lunch at the Club), 2010, from “Social.”

On Friday, May 14, the School of Visual Arts held its 35th formal commencement exercises at Manhattan’s landmark Radio City Music Hall. Family, friends and faculty joined the College’s graduating students as they received BFA, MAT, MFA and MPS degrees in a ceremony marked by lighthearted videos (created by 3D Design Chair Kevin O’Callaghan) and thoughtful speeches.

The undergraduate address was delivered by Kathryn Humphries (BFA 2010 Photography), who talked about how her father’s work as a landscape photographer had led to her interest in the field and told her fellow graduates, “Our work should begin with our own questions and lead others to ask more questions.” She was followed by Gary Osborne (MAT 2010 Art Education), whose graduate address talked about society’s great need for creative thinkers.

SVA President David Rhodes then took to the podium to deliver a probing speech that used examples of recent record-breaking art sales to question the efficacy and fairness of the United States’ system for paying artist royalties on resale of work. After putting recent headlines and policy initiatives in context, he pointed to France’s progressive system of resale royalties as a possible model for the future. The graduates and guests then heard a fast-paced and passionate address from award-winning playwright Tony Kushner. In his talk (which can be viewed in its entirety here), Kushner riffed on the difficulty of writing a speech for visual artists, spotlighted the political and social challenges of the moment (“Be citizens,” he told the graduates, “and work to fight despair.”), and weighed in on the contributions of image-makers to the society at large. “Art is the possibility of the impossible,” Kushner said, before accepting an honorary degree from SVA Board Member Walter Rivera. By the end of the ceremony, more than 1,000 graduate and undergraduate degrees were awarded to the class of 2010 by the College’s department chairs and President Rhodes.

Images: (top) SVA graduates at Radio City Music Hall; (bottom) commencement speaker Tony Kushner. Photos by Joe Sinnott.