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Art Mon Nov 09 2009
Fresh Paint
Last Friday, SAIC opened its doors to the public for their annual graduate open studio night-- an opportunity for every single MFA student to display their newest work amidst their personal collections of sketches, magazine clippings, sofas, mini fridges, and wacky ephemera for all to see. Hundreds of people weaved like ants through endless corridors of little white studios, armed with little plastic cups of soda and fistfuls of leftover Halloween candy, creating some pretty epic gaper's blocks. I went alone this year, a good move, I think, so I was able to efficiently weave through the crowds, spending at least a few seconds with every single piece of art on view.
The experience of seeing that much new work in so little time is mindnumbingly stimulating and inspiring. Even if some of the work is a little lame, there is plenty of amazing work to make up for it-- too much, actually. Which is why, for today, I am only going to share with you some highlights from the painting and drawing studios. Sculpture, photography, performance, etc, will come soon. Upon viewing these images and the accompanying artist's websites I think you'll find that painting is alive and well, and abstraction, either gooey or op-arty, is super hot right now.
Here are some of my personal favorites, in no particular order:
(Please note: the image at the beginning of this story is a detail of Erin Washington's painting, titled "Great Expectations.")
