Taking inspiration from the iconic musical compilations, "Now That’s What I Call Love!" proposes the 2019 MFA Fine Arts thesis exhibition as a mixtape, a collection of love songs by wildly diverse artists working with unique forms, approaches and emotional undertones. Among the most pronounced interests of this class are the desire for connection, tenderness and mutual understanding; and conversely, alienation, distancing and miscommunication.

Some artworks included are earnest about their affections, demonstrating a love of materiality and form, geography or personal history. Some are more skeptical, discussing the traps of seduction, the tenuousness of meaning and the necessary distance criticality can provide in preventing us from over-associating with images. Yet others propose ways of using art to create communities around empathy and shared experience. Approaching art and art-making within the framework of love is a good way to orient the inheritance of an art education: toward one’s sense of what is important and within a community that can help to contextualize it.

Featured artists: Ferguson Amo, Eliza Boyer, Juan Leonardo Bravo, Min Ding, Latefy Dolley, Jihyun Han, Pei-ling Ho, Markus Holtby, Jieun Kim, Collette Tompkins, Bianca Lott, Sadia Fakih, Shannon Stovall, Yam Chew Oh, Owen Keogh, Jiayun Shi, Ridhima Mukim, LeeHo Yoo, William Patterson, Young Min Koh, Zitong Zhu, Hera HaeSoo Kim, Dana Robinson, Oxana Kovalchuk, Michelle Girardello, Bayin Jiang, Marianna Peragallo, Arantxa Rodríguez, Ahree Song, Zachary Thompson, Wushuang Tong, Megan Wirick and Heming Zhang.

The exhibition is located at DCTV, 87 Lafayette Street, in Chinatown, and will run from May 17 – 26, 2019. There will be an opening reception on May 17, 6:00 – 9:00pm, and a closing reception and party on May 26, 7:00 – 11:00pm. In addition to these will be a series of events developed and hosted by the 2019 cohort over the course of the exhibition. For further details, email MFA Fine Arts program coordinator Alison Kuo at akuo1@sva.edu or call 212.592.2501.

Exhibition

Now That's What I Call Love!

Reception