EMCVPA

Mutual Gallery's Art Fresh and the School of Visual Arts Faculty Show 2012 are both on show this month. Art Fresh showcases the work of upcoming artists, and many have been taught by the SVA faculty. Visiting both exhibitions, it's tempting to compare one with the other to see how the students match up to their teachers. This year, it looks as though SVA's faculty have the edge, and their show is surprisingly fresher than Art Fresh. Maybe this is because the work displayed is from faculty who are themselves quite young, some having only graduated in the past decade but it's also an indication that the SVA is going through a generational shift and benefitting from its new hires. Whereas the SVA's old-guard stalwarts such as jeweler Garth Sanguinetti (Innovative Lace, 2012), painter Hope Brooks (Backra Pickney, 2010) and printmaker Eugenio D'Mellon (The Magician, 2012) are all well represented with handsome pieces that show craftsmanship and professionalism, it's the work by newer teachers such as Marlon James' series Mark Samuels (2011) and Olivia McGilchrist's Cement Works (2009), the meticulous installations by Paula Daley and Jean Chiang and digital collages by Phillip Thomas Seh Weh Yu a Seh Becaa Wi Knuo Weh Wi a Seh (2012) that prove most innovative and engaging. In fact, Olivia McGilchrist can be commended having been selected for both exhibitions with photographic portraits such as the Dear Daddy series (shown her) that display her conceptual range and technical accomplishment. The one flaw in the SVA show is scale. The works of all fourteen staff fit too neatly into the college art gallery's small space suggesting that these teachers are somehow constrained – if not by age then perhaps, circumstance.

Despite the rain hundreds of young people showed up at the Edna Manley College's School of Visual Art's graduation exhibition recently to support their friends. There were a few parents and older well-wishers too but it was good to see generation X and Y enjoying the celebration and responding so positively to the work on show. And they were not disappointed. The exhibition this year is exciting, with numerous high points in all the departments, suggesting that the school's more inter-disciplinary approach to their curriculum is finally paying off. In fairness to the college, it has always had a history of being multidisciplinary ever since the 1970s, when students were required to work their way through its departments such as painting, sculpture, textiles, jewelry, graphics and ceramics before choosing an area of specialization. Today, departments are even more fused with new names such Visual Communication, or design courses that incorporate fashion. In this sense, the school is in step with post-modern trends to bridge the arts by not viewing them as separate forms. This can be enormously liberating for students who can develop a more holistic approach to their craft by learning and borrowing from other disciplines. The benefits of this sharing are evidenced in this year's show, where painting students are working in 3D and a textile designer's display can take the form of a theatre set with live models and funky clothing. In the old sculpture studio, a ceramics student has created an installation that mimics a butcher's shop -only with human body parts - and the fine arts student's studios have Vis.Com displays with jewelery showcases. It's a real mash-up of creative ideas suggesting that these younger artists are finally delivering on the school's original intentions. Visit the gallery to view the exhibition's highlights.