March 25, 2011. 7-9pm: QCMFA Group Exhibition at NYStudio Gallery

Crosscurrents:
Queens College MFA Group Exhibition at The NY Studio Gallery
Curated by: Omar Lopez-Chahoud
Opening Reception: Friday, March 25, 2011 from 7-9pm
M FA Creative Writing Reading: Saturday, March 26, 2011 *time TBA*
Exhibition: Wednesday, March 23 through Saturday, April 2, 2011
NY Studio Gallery
154 Stanton St.
@ Suffolk in the LES
JMZ or F trains to Delancey / Essex
New York, NY 10002
www.nystudiogallery.com
212.627.3276

The Queens College CUNY MFA Program presents “Crosscurrents,” an exhibition of nineteen Master of Fine Arts degree candidates. The show will be on view from March 23 to April 2, 2011, and the Opening Reception will be held on Friday, March 25, from 7:00- 9:00pm. Embracing methods of drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, performance, and video, the works of these emerging artists reflect the innovative and interdisciplinary spirit of the Queens College CUNY MFA Program.

Curated by Omar Lopez-Chahoud, the exhibition showcases work by Lisa Candage, James Cassidy, Joyce Chan, Pansum Cheng, Karen Cintron, Becky Franco, Matthew F. Greco, Patty Harris, Osaretin Ighile, Kaitlin M. Kelty, Henry Kielmanowicz, Thea Lanzisero, Matthew Palmer, Antonia A. Perez, Aaron Schraeter, Kim Sheridan, Willliam Steinman, Joanna Sztencel, and Debra Zechowski.

A “crosscurrent” is defined as a current flowing into or across another current. Similarly, the artists at Queens College represent a culturally and ethnically diverse group working within one of the most cosmopolitan areas within the United States. Their wide-ranging approaches in art-making, coupled with a strong interest in the neighborhood’s local communities, allowed them a unique opportunity in their creative processes – processes that occur at the intersection of the profoundly new and the traditional, that invert the private and domestic space into the public sphere, and that reconstitute and transform cast-off materials.

For example, Osaretin Ighile's industrial debris collected from garbage dumpsters morph into beautiful sculptures such as the portrait of President Obama. Antonia A. Perez's assemblages of everyday consumer products transform into formal, delicate, abstract works. Artists such as Joyce Chan and Karen Citron explore traditional materials such as paper through weaving and collage. Becky Franco's haunting paintings of domestic spaces blur the line between the familiar and the unfamiliar. Indeed, the Queens College location is a fertile ground for these artists to emerge.