Linguini versus Spaghetti

MFA Thesis Exhibition Alternative Views

Q: What's one of the best places for both new collectors and experienced ones to "discover" new artists early on their careers?


A: Student art shows!

American University's MFA Thesis Exhibition Alternative Views Opens April 29, 2017

AU's Department of Art presents the work of their Masters of Fine Art Thesis candidates: Mills Brown, Aaron Eckstein, Yaroslav Koporulin, Sarah Norman, Sarah O'Donoghue, Jen Smith, and Zarina Zuparkhodjaeva. 

American University Department of Art presents the work of current first and second year Studio Art MFA candidates in a two-part exhibition. From April 1-April 19, MFA First year students present work completed during their first year, followed by the thesis presentation of MFA second year students from April 29-May 28. Collectively, these emerging artists represent study, experimentation, and reflection while also providing a window into each artist’s individual artistic practice.

Gallery Talk from 5-6 pm and Opening Reception from 6-8 pm in the museum on April 29.

While you're there, in the DMV's most beautiful museum space (with plenty of parking!) make sure that you see Frida Larios' Maya Alphabet of Modern Times (through May 28):

Maya Alphabet of Modern Times intends to re-codify a small part of the Maya mythic narrative, giving the artistic tradition new graphic form. In the Maya Alphabet of Modern Times typo-graphic works, Frida Larios, a native of El Salvador, has borrowed directly from the logo-graphic language of the ancestral Maya scribes, but speaking to and for the Indigenous Maya of today. Since finishing her master thesis in London in 2005, Larios has regenerated nearly 100 new designs that have been integrated into diverse media: books, works on paper, installations, sculptures, garments, jewels and toys. These new artifacts carry through the Pre-Columbian heritage to a contemporary audience of every age, thus intending that the Meso American script is preserved to see a new generation.

Also The Summerford Legacy:

Ben L. Summerford (1924-2015) taught at American University's Department of Art from 1951-1987. All of the artists in Summerford Legacy studied under Professor Summerford and took different aspects of his teaching to heart. Some stayed close to their artistic roots in AU's Department of Arts, and some used those roots to support far-flung but personal explorations. All of the artists exhibit the artistic integrity embodied by their teacher, and approach their art as an act of discovery. 

Free Parking: A salon-style conversation with former students of Ben L. Summerford.  April 27, 2017.  RSVP