I Can Because You Do
Parsons Fine Arts
2016 MFA Thesis Exhibition

Opening: Thursday, May 5, 6:00-9:00 pm

Participant Inc.
253 E Houston St
New York, NY 10002

Parsons School of Design is pleased to announce I Can Because You Do, the 2016 Parsons Fine Arts MFA Thesis Show curated by Alhena Katsof.

The exhibition features new work by Julius John Alam, Eleana Antonaki, Fernando do Campo, Rea Chen, Leonie Cicirello, Weston Frazor, Oscar Gracida, William Lee, Umber Majeed, Liona Robyn Nyariri, Joseph Pastor, Saul Sanchez, Ryota Sato, Alex Sheriff, Vered Snear, Tao Xian, Ingrid Zhuang.

I Can Because You Do is offered as an exhibition framework to foreground artistic practice, and the myriad forms of inspiration that engender it. The phrase, borrowed from the critic and writer Jan Verwoert, comes alive in the suggestive capacity of the conjunctive. Throughout their graduate work, and especially in the artworks brought forth for this exhibition, these artists explore ideas that exist in the and, with, and through. They speak to socio-political and cultural phenomena; processes of migration and translation; systems and hierarchies; the interface between nature, humans, and technology; fantastical, textual, and visual languages. In his writing, Verwoert describes “moving towards a politics of dedication” in response to the contemporary experience of divided time. This experience–being here and elsewhere at once–is eloquently described by the theorist Paul Virilio as meeting at a distance. Virilio writes extensively about time and causality, especially as they are impacted by new technologies. Fitting references, not least of all because they speak to the experience of making art within the context of the MFA.

See finearts.parsons.edu/2016mfathesis, or contact parsonsmfathesis2016@gmail.com

Opening Reception: Thursday, May 5, 6:00-9:00 PM
Exhibition: May 6 – May 14, 2016
Gallery Hours: 12pm – 7pm

finearts.parsons.edu/2016mfathesis/