New work by Teresa Lundgren, Jongil Ma, and Riccardo Vecchio
Curated by Lisa A. Banner
2-30 August 2016
Flatiron Project Space
School of Visual Arts
133 W 21st Street
(between 6th and 7th Avenues)
Opening reception: 8 August, 6:00 PM
INERTIA examines artistic interpretations of a property of matter defined by Sir Isaac Newton. Inertia is that property of matter by which it continues in an existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line unless that state is changed by external force. The exhibition examines facets of INERTIA through video, sculpture, and painting created by Teresa Lundgren (Pratt Institute, MFA 2016, MS History of Art and Design, anticipated 2016), Jongil Ma (SVA BFA 2002) and Riccardo Vecchio (SVA MFA 1996, SVA Faculty in Illustration BFA program).
Jongil Ma (SVA BFA 2002) demonstrates the containment of movement in sculptural constructions, and his paintings in wood, often made from the fragmented pieces of large-scale sculptural structures. His creations reflect interactions and tensions between the disparate pieces, and he uses simple gestures to interpret the effects of outside pressures upon what is contained within. The small red painting in wood, for example, illustrated here, demonstrates his extraordinary sculptural rendition of movement versus stasis.
In his paintings, Riccardo Vecchio (SVA MFA 1996, SVA Faculty in Illustration BFA program) presents aerial visions of cities, ports, and highways in frenetic and constant movement. Enhanced by compressed views of streets, highways, railroad tracks and buildings, seen from the dizzying perspective of an airplane and simultaneously from the side, as if laid out in an architectural model or on a giant play table, his paintings invite the viewer to traverse urban landscapes composed without people, seemingly composed only of lines, shapes, and blocks of color.
Through video projects Teresa Lundgren directly questions principles of physics, examining stasis and movement, and the application of force versus free will in nature and in life. A former high school teacher, Lundgren’s artistic practice focuses on philosophical and epistemological questions designed to foster critical thinking in the viewer, similar to the aims of the SVA Visual and Critical Studies program. Her work frequently consists of immersive audio and visual experiences designed to stimulate questioning responses. Her experiences teaching high school in Dubai inform her constant examination of language, education, and philosophical issues.
The Flatiron Project Space, created and founded by the Visual & Critical Studies department, is located on the ground floor of 133/141 West 21st Street. The gallery invites VCS students, along with other departments at SVA, to realize curatorial projects that highlight our rapidly expanding visual culture. Shows are held monthly and include video, performance, painting and sculptural projects.
For more information, visit vcs.sva.edu.