MFA Thesis Show

By far, my favorite works at the MFA show were the large scaled photographs in the first room. The photographs with the woman smoking with the trail of cigarettes leading down her chest is absolutely breathtaking. The pictures was beautifully taken but the content is a tad disturbing. More thought provoking actually. Anti-smoking propaganda? Most likely. It would make an excellent series for a PSA. Having those photographs at such a large scale makes the experience almost awkward which I absolutely loved.

Besides those photographs, I was disappointed in the show. I felt that a lot of the work had an unfinished feel to it, which to me comes off as laziness or lacking talent. (Example: work by Gabe Grodin, the 8”x10” Untitled) Especially the works on the back wall which looked like scribbles in a notebook that were transferred to canvas.

I am fond of Project Space: James Hyde in the left room of the gallery. It was interesting how he used photographs of textured paint and then overlapped those photographs with actual painting. I also enjoyed Eileen Behnke and her oil painting “The Things You Do for Love” Her painting style reminds me of Lucian Freud and I love how she deals with flesh.

The exhibition space itself was set up great. The addition of the partial walls in the main gallery space was a great idea. It gave more hanging room for the artists. But I still feel that many of the artists did not deserve that wall space. Just my opinion though.