Gallery
Otis MFA Group Exhibition, May 2020
Opticks, and Things to Talk About at Dinner
MFA group exhibitions are all the same: Despite efforts to somehow “curate” them, the works do not have much in common except that the artists happen to be graduating together. Indeed, we take pride in the fact that each student’s work is different and does not follow some pre-conceived curatorial idea.
However, I want to argue that this year’s Otis MFA group exhibition, Opticks, and Things to Talk About at Dinner, is different (not just because it’s online instead of the Bolsky Gallery): in a twist on the democratic idea of voting and majority rule, the students decided on the title above, but also decided to list all the suggested titles separated by slashes. As you know, in postmodernism, the slash represents both a boundary and the blurring of that boundary; it is very different from a comma or a semicolon. That slash in itself, is, in my opinion, the best portrait of the personality of the Otis MFA class of 2020.
Here are the “other” titles:
Archie/Community/Time & Place/Our Studios/Operations in Place/TBD: an exhibition/Jefferson Stop/ otisathome.mfa / Please Do Not Touch/ 2ndChance/ Six Degrees of Mandatory Separation/ Virus Proof/ various small viruses/ adaptability/ Woodstock Meets Jeffersonstock/ infinite x nowhere/ Myspace/ UNLTD LOL/ 2 years in 4 images/ In defiance of physicality/ the suggestion of a show/ Impossible relationships/ suggested relations
Please zoom in and enjoy the works, then zoom out and ponder the big picture. Then zoom back in.
Please view the MFA Fine Arts Thesis Exhibitions 2020
Annetta Kapon
Interim Chair
MFA FA