Octet: Selected Works from the School of Visual Arts
August 13 – October 4, 2009
Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Pera Museum
Istanbul, Turkey
http://www.peramuzesi.org.tr
http://www.sva.edu
Featuring over 100 works by faculty, alumni and students from the BFA Fine Arts Department at the School of Visual Arts (SVA), “Octet” offers a wide-ranging survey of current trends and issues in contemporary art. Organized by SVA and curated by BFA Fine Arts Department Chair Suzanne Anker and faculty member Peter Hristoff, “Octet” presents an amalgam of stylistic concerns as a way to show the dynamic flow of advancing patterns within the visual arts today.
The exhibition is divided into eight thematic sections: Word and Image; Identity and Identity Politics; Post Pop Art and Tabloid Culture; The Corporeal and Divine; Material Matters; Narrative Imperatives; World Dramas; and Relational Aesthetics. The selected works reflect the preponderance of available influences in a global, media-driven society, where technology allows for instantaneous transmission of culture and access to an enormous data bank of shared images and ideas.
Artists in the exhibition include: BFA Fine Arts Department alumni Andres Basurto, Joseph Bennett, Daniel Gadd and Elif Uras; current students Felipe Garcia, Joshua Allen Harris and Steve Vega; and faculty members Lynda Benglis, Stephen Ellis, Judith Linhares, Lucio Pozzi, Jeanne Silverthorne and Tim Rollins.
Following the presentation in Istanbul, “Octet: Selected Works from the School of Visual Arts” will be on view in New York City at SVA’s Visual Arts Gallery from November 24 – December 23, 2009.
The Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Pera Museum and the Visual Arts Gallery presentations of “Octet” have been supported by the following institutions: the Turkish Culture and Tourism Office in New York, The American Turkish Society, the Moon and Stars Project and the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul.
School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City is an established leader and innovator in the education of artists. From its inception in 1947, the faculty has been comprised of professionals working in the arts and art-related fields. SVA provides an environment that nurtures creativity, inventiveness and experimentation, enabling students to develop a strong sense of identity and a clear direction of purpose.
