Eleanor Heartney

2009-2010 MFA Critic in Residence

The struggle to find one’s voice as an artist is a lifelong process but it is particularly intense during the formal education process. Questions of personal identity and private experience bump up against larger forces in the outside world. Questions of meaning, aesthetic value, moral and ethical responsibility, cultural conditioning, and even the definition of art itself are all up for grabs today. Navigating through this terrain is not an easy process, and the eleven artists who present their work in this show have indeed, as the title of this show suggests, been engaged in a Super Passage.

They demonstrate a cross section of contemporary concerns. Among the painters here, Gavin Gewecke has been exploring the meanings and relevance of abstraction, tying his work both to the modernist tradition and his own very particular view of the world. Jiyong Kim also straddles the border between abstraction and representation, employing a vivid gestural style to create works that suggest an eerie sense of dislocation, conflict and anomie. Saydi Kaufman draws on various spiritual traditions to create modern day icons that draw the viewer into a confrontation with alternate realities. Jose Rodrigues confronts and extends the figurative tradition in paintings that revel in both the sensuality of paint and the beauty of unconventional body types. Javaria Sikander uses the motif of bone to suggest a world in constant flux and motion.

Other artists here employ media like ceramics and printmaking or explore the conceptual and expressive potential of installation and sculpture. Asha Johnson exposes the inadequacy of conventional distinctions between art and craft, creating highly expressive ceramic works that take as their starting point the tradition of the vessel. Vaidehi Kinkhabwala employs printmaking in works that mix motifs from the art of her native India with an exploration of gender, global trade and cross cultural identity. Angeles Cossio uses unconventional materials to explore issues of systemic change, perception and the interplay of natural forces. Beth Whitney employs strategies of intervention and public spectacle to expose the politics of class, commerce and urban development. Sarah Zar draws on painting, sculpture and installation to create postmodern narratives that mingle external and interior realities. And Ed Reilly makes the process of artistic creation the centerpiece of his often ephemeral works.

One of the thrilling things about teaching is that you learn as much as you impart. Serving as the instructor of Montclair State University’s MFA seminar this year has been a deeply rewarding experience. I wish to thank these students for sharing it with me.