2014 Parsons Fine Arts MFA Thesis Exhibition: Before

Parsons the New School for Design is pleased to announce Before, the 2014 Parsons Fine Arts MFA Thesis Show curated by Niels Van Tomme.

The exhibition features new works in a wide variety of media and artistic approaches by Hala Alhomoud, David Connolly, Lilly Handley, John Lee, Kai Margarida-Ramirez, Cara Nahaul, Angela Pulido Zorro, Rujuta Rao, Luka Rayski, Becca Jane Rubinfeld, María Margarita Sánchez U., Mark John Smith, Alona Weiss, Matt Whitman, Jian X Yi, and Alejandro Yoshii.

Presenting a reflection on a moment rather than a well structured, overarching curatorial statement, Before explores a state of perpetual yet-to-come and fragile anticipation. The exhibition playfully negotiates Jimmie Durham’s statement that the artist always works “Before Tomorrow,” before the crux of formation and before the advent of history, while laying out a provisional display of artistic gestures. Ranging from traces of transcendent encounters to explorations of social and individual memory, as well as the emergence of narrative structures and the breakdown of identity, the works featured in the exhibition reject official narratives in favor of a more open and exploratory approach to artistic processes. Taken together, they form temporal clusters that complicate a straightforward conceptualization of linearity and purpose. In doing so, Before suggests the continuous and multifaceted interplay between past, present, and future, as well as exemplifies the challenges and promises associated with graduating from an art academy in New York City.

For more information about the thesis exhibition at the Kitchen, please email [email protected] and follow us on Twitter @MFAFineArts #parsonsbefore


2014 Parsons MFA Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition

April 26 – May 3, 2014
Opening reception: April 25th, 6-8pm

The Kitchen
512 West 19th Street (between 10th Ave and 11th Ave)
New York, NY 10011
T: 212-255-5793

Public transportation serving the area are:
Subway: 14th Street A,C,E, and L trains
Bus: M14 and M11