CAA News Today
2011 Regional MFA Exhibition at Hunter College
posted by Christopher Howard — January 25, 2011
Graduate students currently enrolled in MFA programs at twenty schools within one hundred miles of New York will participate in the College Art Association New York Area MFA Exhibition, on view February 9–April 9, 2011, at the spacious Hunter College/Times Square Gallery. Held concurrently with the 99th Annual Conference and Centennial Kickoff in New York, the exhibition marks the seventh time that Hunter College will host this expansive survey exhibition.
An opening reception for the artists, their professors, and CAA conference attendees will take place on Friday evening, February 11, 6:00–9:00 PM. Free and open to the public, the Hunter College/Times Square Gallery is located at 450 West 41st Street, between Ninth and Tenth Avenues—a short walk or cab ride from the Hilton New York. Regular gallery hours are Tuesday–Saturday, 1:00–6:00 PM. CAA is also sponsoring the College Art Association Regional BFA Exhibition, which opens on the same evening at the New York Center for Art and Media Studies (NYCAMS).
RSVP to the exhibition on Facebook.
Participating Schools
Participating institutions are: Bard College, Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts; Long Island University, C.W. Post Campus; Montclair State University; New Jersey City University; New York Academy of Art; Parsons the New School for Design; Pratt Institute; Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts; School of Visual Arts; Temple University, Tyler School of Art; University of Connecticut, Storrs; and Yale University, Yale School of Art.
In addition, five art departments in the City University of New York system are participating: Brooklyn College; City College of New York; Hunter College; Herbert H. Lehman College; and Queens College.
Two art departments and one school in the State University of New York system are also sending artists: Purchase College, School of Art and Design; State University of New York, New Paltz; and Stony Brook University.
Hunter College Art Galleries
The Hunter MFA CAA Curatorial Committee comprises three MA students in the art-history program—Sophia Marisa Lucas, Valentina Spalten, and Annie Wischmeyer—and three MFA alumni who are adjunct faculty in the Department of Art: Selena Kimball, Eric Lee, and Nicole Tschampel.
On view at Hunter’s second space, the Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Art Gallery, is Objects of Devotion and Desire: Medieval Relic to Contemporary Art, organized by Cynthia Hahn, professor of art history at Hunter, with the assistance of MA and MFA students from Hunter and PhD students from the Graduate Center. The exhibition sets up a dialogue between five medieval reliquaries from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and works by postwar artists such as Christian Boltanski, Hannah Wilke, and Joseph Beuys, and by contemporary practitioners Gayil Nalls, Nate Larson, and Jeffrey Mongrain, among others. Hahn also includes examples of early photography in the mix.
The Leubsdorf Gallery is located in the West Lobby at Hunter College, on the southwest corner of East 68th Street and Lexington Avenue; no admission fee is required. The exhibition dates are January 27–April 30, 2011.
CAA Deplores Pressure to Remove Artwork at the National Portrait Gallery
posted by Christopher Howard — December 07, 2010
The Executive Committee of the CAA Board of Directors adopted the following statement on December 7, 2010. At the bottom of the page is information about a special session at the upcoming CAA Annual Conference, chaired by Jonathan Katz, a scholar and the cocurator of Hide/Seek.
CAA Statement
The College Art Association regrets the removal of David Wojnarowicz’s A Fire in My Belly (1987) from the exhibition Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, on display at the National Portrait Gallery. It was taken out on November 30 by G. Wayne Clough, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, in response to outside pressure. CAA further expresses profound disappointment that the House speaker–designate, John A. Boehner of Ohio, and the incoming majority leader, Eric Cantor of Virginia, have used their positions to question future funding for the Smithsonian Institution.
CAA applauds the National Portrait Gallery for its groundbreaking exhibition, which presents the long-suppressed subject of same-sex orientation. Furthermore, CAA commends the thorough, pioneering scholarship and the challenging curatorial judgment made by the organizers of Hide/Seek—David C. Ward, a historian at the museum, and Jonathan Katz, director of the Visual Studies Doctoral Program at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. That the work of everyone involved has been heedlessly compromised is deeply troubling. The pressure brought to bear on the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian sounds a familiar note from 1989, when direct federal funding to artists was ended due to political pressure. Then as now, CAA strongly protests such tactics.
Government has a long tradition of supporting universities, museums, and libraries—institutions that have produced research that expresses a variety of positions on all subjects. Freedom of expression is one of the great strengths of American democracy and one that our country holds up as a model for emerging democracies elsewhere. Americans understand that ideas expressed in books and artworks are those of their makers, not of the institutions that house them, and certainly do not represent public policy.
CAA urges all members to let your senators and representatives know of your support for the exhibition, its curators, and the National Portrait Gallery. You may also use advocacy tools provided by the National Humanities Alliance or Americans for the Arts.
Special Conference Session
This week CAA invited Jonathan Katz, cocurator of Hide/Seek, to chair a special Centennial session at the 2011 Annual Conference in New York. He will present “Against Acknowledgement: Sexuality and the Instrumentalization of Knowledge” on Wednesday, February 9, 2011, 9:30 AM–NOON in the Rendezvous Trianon Room at the Hilton New York. Please check the conference website soon for a list of panelists, their institutional affiliations, and topics of discussion.
Statements on the National Portrait Gallery from People and Organizations
posted by Christopher Howard — December 07, 2010
In the past week, numerous art and museum associations, advocacy groups, nonprofit and commercial galleries, art critics, and newspapers have spoken out against the removal of an artwork by David Wojnarowicz that was on view in an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. CAA is compiling a list of organizations, companies, and people who have published official statements, editorials, and letters to the editor.
Organizations
- College Art Association
- Association of Art Museum Directors (PDF)
- Transformer in Washington, DC, which is screening A Fire in My Belly
- Association of Art Museum Curators
- National Coalition Against Censorship (a joint statement with thirteen other groups, including the First Amendment Project, Catholics for Choice, the Association of American Publishers, and the International Association of Art Critics, United States Section)
- American Association of Museums
- American Civil Liberties Union
- Washington Project for the Arts
- Fluent~Collaborative
- Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
Critics, Journalists, Scholars, and Curators
- Jonathan D. Katz, scholar and curator of Hide/Seek with David C. Ward
- Tyler Green, Modern Art Notes, who has an archive of events and commentary since November 30
- Lee Rosenbaum, CultureGrrl, who also has covered the story with news and editorials
- Blake Gopnik, the Washington Post
- Christopher Knight, the Los Angeles Times
Museums and Galleries
- PPOW Gallery in New York, which represents the Estate of David Wojnarowicz
- Arlington Arts Center in Virginia
Press and Publishing
Social Networking and Web Resources
- Hide/Seek.org
- Support Hide/Seek on Facebook
- Hide/Seek.org on Twitter
The above list will be cumulative. If you would like to send CAA a link to an official or organizational statement, please write to Christopher Howard, CAA managing editor.
November Picks from the Committee on Women in the Arts
posted by Christopher Howard — November 10, 2010
Each month, CAA’s Committee on Women in the Arts produces a curated list, called CWA Picks, of recommended exhibitions and events related to feminist art and scholarship from North America and around the world.
Two CWA Picks for November 2010 focus on conference sessions and a symposium taking place this week. At the National Women’s Studies Association Conference, which starts today in Denver, two Friday sessions explore art and film by women since the 1970s. On Saturday, the American Folk Art Museum in New York is hosting a daylong event broadly examining the role of women in culture from antiquity to the present.
CWA Picks also include four exhibitions. Sally Mann is showing new photographs at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and Lynda Benglis’s touring show stops at the Rhode Island School of Design. Two institutions in Connecticut are presenting historical presentations of needlework and embroidery.
Check out past CWA Picks archived at the bottom of the page, as exhibitions highlighted in previous months are often still on view.
Image: Chandler Family, canvas work with pastoral scene, 1758, wool and silk on linen, 15¾ x 22 7/8 in. Private Collection, Woodstock, Connecticut (artwork in the public domain)
October Picks of Exhibitions and Events from CAA’s Committee on Women in the Arts
posted by Christopher Howard — October 14, 2010
Each month, CAA’s Committee on Women in the Arts produces a curated list, called CWA Picks, of recommended exhibitions and events related to feminist art and scholarship from North America and around the world.
Three CWA Picks for October 2010 focus on Washington, DC, where the first annual Feminist Art History Conference, called “Continuing the Legacy: Honoring the Work of Norma Broude and Mary D. Garrard,” takes place at American University in early November. The free event has an October 22 registration deadline, so sign up now. If you’re in our nation’s capitol, two exhibitions are worth checking out: Loïs Mailou Jones: A Life in Vibrant Color and Books without Words: The Visual Poetry of Elisabetta Gut, both at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
In New York, the Jewish Museum offers Shifting the Gaze: Painting and Feminism, featuring work made after 1960 by major contemporary artists. In addition, the Brooklyn Museum, which is hosting Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists, 1958–1968, a CWA Pick from September, will present a panel discussion titled “So Different, So Appealing: Women and the Pop Art Movement.”
Check out past CWA Picks archived at the bottom of the page, as exhibitions highlighted in previous months are often still on view.
Image: Elisabetta Gut, Libro-nido (Nest-book), 1982, found bird nest, paper, string, and sealing wax, 6¾ x 7 x 1 in. (artwork © Elisabetta Gut)
Exhibit Your Work in ARTexchange at the 2011 Annual Conference in New York
posted by Christopher Howard — September 13, 2010
CAA’s Services to Artists Committee invites artist members to participate in ARTexchange, an open forum for sharing work at the 2011 Annual Conference in New York. To be held on Friday evening, February 11, at the Hilton New York, ARTexchange is free and open to the public; a cash bar will be available.
The space on, above, and beneath a six-foot-long table is available for each artist’s exhibition of prints, paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, and small installations; performance, sound, and spoken word are also welcome. Previous ARTexchange participants have found that this parameter sparked creative displays, and the committee looks forward to surprises and inspiring solutions at the upcoming conference. Please note that artwork cannot be hung on walls, and it is not possible to run power cords from laptops or other electronic devices to outlets—bring fully charged batteries.
To participate in the New York event, please write to the ARTexchange coordinators with the subject line “CAA ARTexchange.” Include your member number and a brief description of what you plan to present. If you are presenting performance or sound art, spoken word, or technology-based work, including laptop presentations, please outline your plans. Artists will receive an email confirmation. Because ARTexchange is a popular venue and participation is based on available space, early applicants are given preference.
Participants are responsible for their work; CAA is not liable for losses or damages. Sales of work are not permitted. Deadline: December 17, 2010.
Image: Diane Fox, an artist, designer, and lecturer at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville (left), shows her work to a fellow ARTexchange artist (photograph by Bradley Marks)
CAA’s Committee on Women in the Arts Presents Its September Picks
posted by Christopher Howard — September 02, 2010
Each month, CAA’s Committee on Women in the Arts produces a curated list, called CWA Picks, of recommended exhibitions and events related to feminist art and scholarship from North America and around the world.
The CWA Picks for September 2010 include “Heritage and Hope,” an international symposium on women in higher education, with a focus on the global, to be held at Bryn Mawr College from September 23 to 25. Four special exhibitions on view this month—featuring women Pop artists, the photographer Catherine Opie, female artists from the Hudson River School, and women’s contributions to Fluxus—round out the selections for this month.
Check out past CWA Picks archived at the bottom of the page, as exhibitions highlighted in previous months are often still on view.
Call for Video of Performance Works for Times, Interludes, and Action at the 2011 Conference
posted by Christopher Howard — August 25, 2010
The first decade of the twenty-first century has given rise to new possibilities, new questions, and new challenges. With continued globalization and technological innovation, new platforms for human interaction and exchange have emerged. Simultaneously, we have witnessed an increase in terrorism, an energy crisis, and global economic instability. These problems have generated heated political debate about how we should best prepare for the future. Can we continue to employ the same solutions that worked in the past, or must we fundamentally change the way that we understand and approach these issues? How will this decade be remembered in the future?
To commemorate the tenth anniversary of ARTspace and the Centennial of CAA, the Services to Artists Committee invites artists to submit action-based works that respond in some way to the first decade of this new millennium. These performance works, to be collectively presented as Times, Interludes, and Action, will be displayed in the form of video documentation in the ARTspace Media Lounge at the 2011 Annual Conference in New York.
To be considered, please submit the video that you would like to include; or you may submit a written proposal for a work not completed, along with a portfolio. Please also send your artist statement, résumé, and contact information.
Email submissions limited to three or fewer works are preferred. Video may be sent either as a small email attachment (5 MB or less) or as a link to a website. Please send your submission to both Jeffrey Bird and Joseph Meiser. If an emailed submission is not possible, you can send a CD or DVD along with hard copies of your documents to: Joseph Meiser, Dept. of Art and Art History, Art Bldg., Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA 17837. Deadline for emailed proposals: October 1, 2010. Mailed items must be postmarked by September 24, 2010.
August Picks from CAA’s Committee on Women in the Arts
posted by Christopher Howard — July 29, 2010
Each month, CAA’s Committee on Women in the Arts produces a curated list, called CWA Picks, of recommended exhibitions and events related to feminist art and scholarship from North America and around the world.
The CWA Picks for August 2010 include two exhibitions of folk art: works by American women in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries presented at the American Folk Art Museum in New York, and by contemporary practitioners from around the world, displayed at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Columbia College Chicago is hosting a panel of five women at the forefront of gaming theory and practice, called “3G Summit: The Future of Girls, Gaming and Gender.” Lastly, closing this month at the Guggenheim Museum in New York is an exhibition devoted to the art-education practices of Hilla Rebay, the first curator and director of the Museum of Non-Objective Painting.
Check out past CWA Picks archived at the bottom of the page, as exhibitions highlighted in previous months are often still on view.
CAA’s Committee on Women in the Arts Publishes Its July Picks
posted by Christopher Howard — June 29, 2010
CAA’s Committee on Women in the Arts (CWA) has inaugurated a new section of the CAA website, called CWA Picks. Each month, the committee will produce a curated list of exhibitions, conferences and symposia, panels, lectures, and other events related to the art and scholarship of women.
The CWA Picks for July 2010 include an exhibition of prints by June Wayne in Washington, DC; screenings of films by Sally Potter at the Museum of Modern Art in New York; and a forum on women working in glass art in Seattle. In addition, all five exhibitions in the CWA Picks for June are still on view.