Amy Boone-McCreesh on MICA’s Fine Art Post Bac Exhibit
Post Baccalaureate students in Graphic Design and Fine Art are currently showing at MICA, alongside the MFA thesis work of Illustration and Graphic Design. The Fine Arts work can be found in the Market building at 16 W. North Avenue.
The Fine Art Post Baccalaureate exhibition features mostly abstract works in two and three-dimensions, and installation as is the case with Seungtack Lim (pictured above). Lim presents a series of line drawings that exist on paper and in physical space using wire and thread. The work explores the many ways a line can exist, including shadow. Visitors to Lim’s work can peer through a vertical linear sculpture that gives way to a line drawing on the wall beyond. The colored threads and wires comingle with the drawn lines on paper. An additional set of lines appears on the floor as shadows and ghosts of shadows; all relating back to the original drawn line. The work shows potential for an expansion on drawing as an experience as well as an action.
Kathryn Falvo’s pastel paintings are ripe with painting history. Portions of dancing landscapes appear and disappear within swathes of color. An appreciation of gestural mark- making is present, resulting in a subtle nod to capturing motion.
Similar to Falvo, Mandy Chesney presents a series of abstract square paintings. In a row the paintings feel like studies of one space or related objects. The brush strokes are wispy and non-descript, often pairing analogous color schemes with a warm neutral. Some works in the series are more successful than others in harnessing color to create the illusion of depth and reality in otherwise vague compositions.
Evan Daniel Smith also works primarily in painting, though he dabbles in pieces driven by mathematical equations, most specifically Pi. The most visually interesting piece is Shape Equals Pi, Color Equals 355 over 113. The oil painting is large at 64” x 56” and shows a hand so steady that the work could be mistaken for something created digitally.
Marcella Casals creates work from materials like packing paper, plastic, and other found objects. The pieces presented in the Post Baccalaureate exhibition make full use of the wall and floor. Large rolled portions of brown paper creep on the wall and cascade and knot like fabric while her floor works quietly congregate in a neat pile. Together the pieces feel domestic and operate within this visual language, often revisited throughout art history.
On the third floor of the Fox building the Post Baccalaureate students in Graphic Design rival their MFA counterparts in the galleries below. The show features many reinterpretations of type in the form of posters, board games and books. In one of the only closed rooms in the gallery, Rachel Minier displays eerily Orwellian posters that tout slogans reminiscent of the Hunger Games, but not too distant from our current reality. One poster urges viewers to report suspected rebels to their local leaders and shows a suspicious graphic figure in a hat. The project titled The New Society effectively uses visual communication as a way to speak about the future of censorship.
Tiora Hackley tackles diverse personality types by attempting to embody their behavior through type. The result is an appropriately overwhelming layering of letters expressing commonly used expressions and fragments of thoughts typical of most members of society.
The Charm City Kitchen Library, a project by Miles Holstein and Louisa Liu urges us to cook our own food and provides well-designed visuals to support their plea. The idea was born from the impossibility of apartment living and common lack of choice when it comes to cooking appliances. Improvisation and a desire to eat at home trump the many obstacles of city living in the duo’s branding experiment targeting college students and young people.
Both exhibitions were on view through April 12 on the MICA campus.
On April 17th the last round of MFA thesis exhibitions opened.
Author Amy Boone-McCreesh is a Baltimore based artist and professor.
