Features
Regional MFA Exhibition and Warhol Show at USC Galleries
The University of Southern California is hosting two major opening receptions during CAA’s 97th Annual Conference in Los Angeles—both taking place on Friday evening, February 27, 2009.
Regional MFA Exhibition
Greg MacLaughlin, Cornering Pink, 2008, clear acrylic with spray paint and aluminum arms with u-joints, approx. 48 x 48 in., suspended in corner (artwork © Greg MacLaughlin). MacLaughlin is an MFA student artist at the Art Center College of Design
The University of Southern California’s Roski School of Fine Arts is hosting the CAA Regional MFA Exhibition, which will showcase the unique, diverse community of young artists in the Southern California region.
The exhibition will be held in the Helen Lindhurst Fine Arts Gallery and the Gayle and Ed Roski MFA Gallery and will be open to the public from Tuesday, February 24, to Saturday, February 28, 2009. The reception for the artists and CAA conference attendees takes place in Watt Hall 104 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM on Friday, February 27, with buses from the conference hotels provided (see last paragraph).
The role that art schools play in the art community of Los Angeles cannot be underestimated. Because many of the most prominent exhibiting artists of the Los Angeles area teach or have taught, there is an intergenerational dialogue among artists that is a singular aspect of the way in which art is addressed and produced in the region. Furthermore, each of the schools has a distinct pedagogic personality that contributes to the kinds of discussions and debates that occur well beyond the classroom.
To date, twelve participating MFA programs are confirmed: the USC Roski School of Fine Arts; the University of California, Los Angeles; California Institute of the Arts; the University of California, Riverside; Claire Trevor School of the Arts, University of California, Irvine; Claremont Graduate University; California State University, Long Beach; the University of California, San Diego; the University of California, Santa Barbara; Art Center College of Design; Otis College of Art and Design; and California State University, Northridge.
Matthais Merkel Hess, Crystal Kite, 2008, ceramic, approx. 36 x 36 x 36 in. (artwork © Matthais Merkel Hess). Hess is an MFA student artist at the University of California, Los Angeles
Alex Klein, the exhibition’s curator, is an artist based in Los Angeles. She received her MFA from UCLA, her MA in the history of art from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, and her BA in art history from Columbia University in New York. In spring 2007 she coorganized, with James Welling, the conference “Around Photography” at the Hammer Museum. Her photographs and writing have appeared in numerous exhbitions and publications. She has served as a visiting lecturer at UCLA and Otis College of Art and Design. Klein is currently adjunct faculty in the USC Roski School of Fine Arts and is the Ralph M. Parsons Curatorial Fellow in the Wallis Annenberg Photography Department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Transportation: Attendees can depart by bus from the Los Angeles Convention Center, West Hall entrance, at 5:00 PM on Friday, February 27; the bus leaves the Lindhurst Fine Art Gallery, Watt Hall, at 8:00 PM for return to the conference hotels, to arrive at approximately 10:00 PM. The bus is limited to the first forty-five people.
Warhol Party
After the opening reception of the Regional MFA Exhibition, stick around USC for a celebration and special viewing of Looking into Andy Warhol’s Photographic Practice at the USC Fisher Museum of Art. Hosted by the USC Department of Art History, the Contemporary Project, the International Museum Institute, the Roski School of Fine Arts, and the Visual Studies Graduate Certificate program, the opening takes place from 8:00 to 10:00 PM at Harris Hall 126, 823 Exposition Boulevard. USC alumni are especially invited to attend.
Transportation: Depart by bus from the Los Angeles Convention Center, West Hall entrance, beginning at 7:00 PM. Buses will circulate from the convention center to USC, returning to conference hotels beginning at 9:00 PM. On-campus parking is available. Enter campus at Exposition Boulevard and Watt Way.
