Amalgamy
Exhibition Dates: May 31 - June 23, 2024
Opening Reception: Friday, June 7, 2024 6-9 PM
Curated by Kamal Ahmad
Gallery Hours: Fridays 6-8 PM, Saturdays 12-5 PM, & Sundays 12-5 PM
Amalgamy features artworks by 27 visual artists from Boston University School of Visual Arts’ three fine art graduate programs, including current graduate students, newly minted masters of fine art, and the first full cohort of MFA Print Media & Photography students. This exhibition showcases works across various media, in the fields of painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, bookmaking, printmaking, and photography. It is the fourth collaborative exhibition between the BU School of Visual Arts and Piano Craft Gallery, a partnership supported by close alumni connections with Piano Craft President Erik Grau (CFA’10) and curator Kamal Ahmad (CFA’16).
Ahmad reflects, “The 50 artworks in the exhibition are curated to flow seamlessly, allowing each piece to be appreciated without interruption. Over the past four years, I have been continually surprised by the fresh ideas and relevant subject matters brought by each new cohort. This year, their collective familiarity, developed through working closely together at BU, offers a cohesive yet diverse viewing experience. The exhibition includes a wide range of media, from sculpture, video, and painting, to sounds, interactive works, prints, and fabrics, removing any boundaries to fully engage the students in the curatorial process. As the curator of Amalgamy, I have sought to explore the dynamic space between the students' inner and outer worlds, their profound personal experiences, and shared universal narratives. This exhibition navigates the interplay between silence and sound, softness and hardness, and the juxtaposition of the two, such as the sounds of breaking concrete alongside the gentle murmur of water. By curating this space between contrasting elements, we invite viewers to meditate and experience something deeply personal and unique.”
The works presented in this exhibition bring awareness to the breadth of collective interests across the three participating MFA programs, according to the MFA students involved. Second-year Sculpture student Joseph Metrano writes, “While the work in some cases reflects the nature of its material – be it paint, lumber, ink on paper, canvas, fabric, photographic paper, clay, salvaged electronics, or even the artists themselves, in other, perhaps most, cases, the material is instead asked to accomplish something outside the scope of its expected use, deliberately antithetical to and aware of modernist architect Louis Kahn’s oft-cited platitude of ‘letting a brick be an arch.’ As would be expected, such experimentation has fostered much formal diversity, but the commonalities cannot be ignored. It is through critical analysis of this dynamic that Amalgamy was born: a collection of seemingly disparate objects that, upon closer inspection, reveal themselves to be intimately linked via an elaborate network of conceptual, material, and practical leitmotifs, all resulting from a nearly incessant exchange of ideas during the exhibiting artists’ two years in their respective programs.”
The goal of fostering exchange is shared by Piano Craft. Ahmad reflects, “Our partnership with Boston University School of Visual Arts, now in its fourth year, has been immensely meaningful. We have tried to provide a valuable platform for students to exhibit their work beyond the confines of the school, fostering professional growth and networking opportunities within the art world. As the curator, my goal extends beyond merely showcasing student work; I aim to immerse them in the entire exhibition process, from choosing the title to participating in the installation process, thereby enriching their educational experience toward preparation for their future artistic endeavors. As a BU MFA graduate, alumni, and artist, I am honored to create these opportunities for the school that also shaped my artistic journey." Ahmad is a multidisciplinary artist, working in painting, video, and print media.
Along with an annual Piano Craft exhibition, CFA SVA has additional recurring partnerships with galleries in New York and Venice, Italy.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS,
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS INCLUDE:
Alyssa Grey – MFA Sculpture, Class of 2024
Andrea Lee Manning – MFA Painting, Class of 2025
Cody Robert Hook Bluett – MFA Painting, Class of 2024
Delaney C. Burns – MFA Print, Media & Photography, Class of 2024
Dylan F. Mintz – MFA Painting, Class of 2025
Emily Taylor Rice – MFA Print Media & Photography, Class of 2024
Hannah Stoll – MFA Painting, Class of 2025
Helena Abdelnasser – MFA Sculpture, Class of 2024
Jacob Salzer – MFA Painting, Class of 2024
Jason Parent – MFA Print Media & Photography, Class of 2025
Jerry Rodríguez Sosa – MFA Print Media & Photography, Class of 2025
J Grace Giordano – MFA Painting, Class of 2025
Joseph M. Metrano – MFA Sculpture, Class of 2025
Lemuel E. Saputra – MFA Painting, Class of 2025
Mae-Chu Lin O’Connell – MFA Sculpture, Class of 2024
Maithili Rajput – MFA Sculpture, Class of 2025
Miranda Pikul – MFA Painting, Class of 2025
Nasiri Guzman – MFA Painting, Class of 2025
Noah Wertheimer – MFA Painting, Class of 2025
Sam Bittaker – MFA Painting, Class of 2025
Shannon Johnson – MFA Print Media & Photography Class of 2025
Sidharth Shah – MFA Painting, Class of 2024
Sophie Thervil – MFA Painting, Class of 2024
Susan Swirsley – MFA Print Media & Photography, Class of 2025
Sylvie Mayer – MFA Painting, Class of 2025
Téa Chai Beer – MFA Painting, Class of 2024
Ziwei Sun – MFA Sculpture, Class of 2025
