No matter where, when or by whom they are mounted, MFA thesis shows conceived as group exhibitions have a generally refreshing tendency be mixed-bag affairs par excellence. In other words, they’re always, at the very least, interesting—institutionally, materially, historically, trajectorially—and at times also surprisingly, inspiringly great. That said, they’re also curiously difficult to find out about unless you’re directly involved—even, or perhaps especially, in NYC, where MFA programs and related shows are so ubiquitous and, often, off-sitedly-scattered that they can be hard to locate in time and space.
Nonetheless, our humble intention here is to cull together at least some of that info. And to tell you to pick out a few shows, or maybe more, and go. All exhibiting artists will truly appreciate your presence. You can be sure of that bit of intel, at least.
On view now: A couple more or less local thesis shows have just closed, including Stony Brook’s exhibit at the school’s Zuccaire Gallery and the first part of NYU’s two-part thesis show, but you can go right now to see a selection of works by Pratt Institute’s MFA graduates at The Boiler, in Williamsburg, at 191 North 14th St. That show was curated by Sara Reisman and runs until April 24th. Pratt also has a show of works by all of their graduating MFA students on their campus in Brooklyn. It will be up all summer.
On view soon: Columbia’s MFA graduates will be mounting their thesis exhibition off site, again at the Fisher Landau Center in Long Island City, at 38-27 30th Street, from April 27th to May 18th. Featuring 27 artists, the show will be curated by Omar López Chahoud. Hunter College breaks their thesis shows into two parts, both of them housed on campus at 205 Hudson St. The first part features eleven artists, and will run from April 24th to May 9th. SUNY Purchase has had a couple thesis shows on campus, but another show featuring work by all of their MFA graduates will come to Brooklyn, hosted by Momenta Art in the 56 Bogart building. It will run from May 1st-17th. Part II of NYU’s thesis show, at 80 Washington Square East, will feature five artists and run from April 30th to May 20th.
On view later: “Chain Reaction,” the thesis exhibit for Brooklyn College’s eleven MFA graduates, will run from May 8th-15th. It will be hosted by Signal Gallery, at 260 Johnson Avenue. The MFA thesis show for Parsons, titled “Off Pink” and curated by Tina Kukielski, will run from May 8th-16th, at The Kitchen, at 512 West 19th St. The New York Studio School, located at 8 West 8th St., will mount a thesis exhibition for their 15 MFA graduates at home, from May 6th-20th. The New York Academy will also host their thesis exhibition on site, at 111 Franklin St. The show will run from May 19th-30th. The second part of Hunter’s show, this time with 13 artists, will run from May 22nd to June 6th. Virginia Commonwealth University will bring another MFA thesis show to Brooklyn. Their exhibit, hosted by The Vazquez Building, at 93 Forrest St., will open sometime in late May and stay up for about a month.
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