Watershed
Amy Chan, Brooke Inman, Jessica Langley, Theresa Marchetta, Carmen Mcleod,
Valerie Molar, Monica Palma, Alexis Semter
The gallery will host an opening reception on Saturday, February 2, 5 – 7 pm.
How did it happen? Eight out of eight. All women. Whatever the reasons, the current MFA candidates at Virginia Commonwealth University constitute a welcome inversion of the typically male dominated art and academic worlds. One thing is certain: it was not the result of affirmative action; the strongest applicants just happened to be female. Nor is it all that surprising, considering the proliferation of women artists making some of the best work today. What sets this group apart, especially with the current climate of dog-eat-dog competition, is the manner in which they behave as a unit, an old-school gang, despite their diverse backgrounds and points of view. Amid their individual triumphs and adversities, they embrace each other to move forward collectively, revealing a profound sensitivity to the issues and concerns of the world around them. Each of their contributions stands squarely on its own, but the collective exhibition of their work demonstrates how entire creative communities come into being and flourish: with the right combination of talent and luck. The fact that they are all women merely makes this transformation more vivid.
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