New York Academy of Art – 2009 MFA Diploma Exhibition
A Figurative Reconstruction: 2009 MFA Diploma Exhibition
May 12 – May 24, 2009
New York, NY
“A Figurative Reconstruction,” an exhibition featuring the diploma work of the 2009 MFA graduates of the
New York Academy of Art, opens at the Academy with a public reception on Monday, May 11th, from 6 – 8 pm. The show will run from May 12th to May 24th, 1 – 7 pm or by appointment.
Lux Standing, by Panni Malekzadeh
“A Figurative Reconstruction” investigates diverse and arresting approaches to figurative art, in which traditional techniques such as narrative composition, chiaroscuro, linear perspective and three-dimensional modeling meld with contemporary genres like the graphic novel, gaming and digital photography, in a striking array of paintings, drawings, prints and sculpture by the 53 new graduates. Visitors will experience the figure in many articulations – from the profane to the transcendent, the abstract to the surreal, and the ‘real’ to the metaphysical. Salient throughout is a sensitivity to the historical trajectory transformed into the service of the artists’ personal visions and voices. This critical mass of talent and energy emerges onto a scene impacted by recent Academy alumni. Helen Verhoeven, J.P. Roy, Amy Bennett, Ali Banisadr, Jason Bereswill, Alyssa Monks and Bryan LeBoeuf are among the many new alumni who have had solo shows within the past year in distinguished galleries and are now represented by such prominent dealers as Leslie Tonkonow and Tony Shafrazi.
About the New York Academy of Art
The New York Academy of Art, founded twenty-seven years ago by Andy Warhol, Tom Wolfe and other art-world luminaries, is exceptional among MFA degree programs in the US in its investigation of the human figure as a basis for the creation of vital contemporary art. Nearly 1,000 artists have received the MFA degree from the Academy’s Graduate School of Figurative Art. The Academy is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational and cultural institution. For further information on the Academy, its graduate school, continuing education courses and public programs, please visit www.nyaa.edu.
