February 19–August 21, 2011
Courtyard Gallery, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Co-curated by students Chelsea Coon and Stephen St. Francis Decky this exhibition presents work by five Museum School artists whose highly distinct visions suggest the unlimited potential for new life forms and tap into our long history of invented beings. Sofya Belinskaya, Amanda Bonaiuto, Chelsea Coon, Stephen St. Francis Decky and Cara Mayo.
Artist Talk: March 9, 6–7 pm.
March 3–19, 2011
Lufthansa Studios
29 Sturtevant Street, Boston, MA 02122
www.lufthansastudios.wordpress.com
Saturdays 9 am–5 pm and by appointment at lufthansastudios@gmail.com
Artist Talks: Friday, March 18, 6 pm–8 pm
Daniel Cevallos, Kirk Amaral Snow, John C. Gonzalez, Garett Yahn
Showcasing the work of four graduating students from the Tufts University/School of the Museum of Fine Arts combined Master of Fine Arts program, the resulting exhibition reflects three years of interdisciplinary exploration including sculpture, performance, photography and painting. These works exist in dialogue with each other, while also reflecting the individual investigations of each artist.
Daniel Cevallos' (b. 1982, Quito, Ecuador) "Check Room" makes use of different visual vocabularies. The space is mainly conceived as a sculpture, but is activated by gestures, allowing an atmosphere for a form of cultural negotiation. The viewer's possessions are absorbed by the piece; it takes the objects, reactivating them as figures of repetitive aimless action. Evoking an eclectic examination of the absurdity of being in the world, the work suggests a strong relationship between the political being and the ontological ambiguity of the human condition. "Check Room" is a transplantation; it is a gesture that has its value in the present as an action, yet the act of transplanting is inherently done with the expectation of future growth. It is a political confrontation with death.
Kirk Amaral Snow (b. 1980, Providence, RI) will be presenting sculptural and performative works concerned with the study of artifacts of concealment. Surfaces, containers, objects, and other signs are emptied of portions of meaning; contingent objects without a present subject are treated as the remnants of the performance of such acts. Narratives are implied but fragmented; objects and situations are encountered in medias res. Emphasizing the concepts of façade and surface, these gestures draw focus to their nature as representations. They are used in the construction of a "lie" abandoning that which is being concealed.
John C. Gonzalez (b. 1980, Providence, RI) is exhibiting a collection of paintings purchased from an oil painting manufacturing company in Dafen, China. Assuming the various roles of client, artist, collector, and curator, he presents paintings made in response to his request that each artisan hand-paint a portrait of him or herself. This self-reflective task was answered with the production of 52 oil paintings, which contrast the anonymity of the individuals depicted within them against the Western construction of an aesthetic concerned with hyper-individuality that places value on individual autonomy.
Garett Yahn (b. 1981, La Crosse, WI) continues an ongoing series of performances made in collaboration with his mother and father. The body of work is based on an examination of the personal, professional, and artistic territory he shares with his parents. The performances encourage discussion about the boundaries of artistic practice and the nature of cultural production outside of cosmopolitan city centers. Also exhibited is a thematically related book entitled "Real Estate Opportunities, Fields Corner" featuring images of available commercial real estate in the Fields Corner Neighborhood of Dorchester. The book refers to the exhibition space it occupies and frames Lufthansa Studios as an art project in itself.
Lufthansa Studios is an artist studio/gallery that fuses an artists' workspace with an exhibition venue, serving as a platform for investigation in the visual arts and cultural production in the Boston area. We are accessible from public transit by the Red Line (Fields Corner) and the #19 Bus (Fields Corner Station). Street parking is also available on Sturtevant Street.
