“Concept:Process” Opening Reception
Thursday, May 7, 2015

6pm-8pm

Arnold and Sheila Aronson Galleries & the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery Sheila C. Johnson Design Center / 66 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10003

On view Thursday, May 7, 2015 at 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm → more dates through May 22, 2015

The cyclical nature of making, where new ideas grow from the seed bed of those recently realized, is the foundation of Concept:Process. Featuring culminating works by graduating undergraduate and associate’s degree students from across Parsons’ programs, this exhibition marks the middle point of this iterative process, giving both a sample of what has been achieved and a taste of what is to come.

Broadly grouped into thematic clusters, the included students present a variety of takes on notions of identity, sustainability, ethereality, boundary-breaking, and discovery. Unified by their diversity as well as their willingness to reimagine the world they have inherited, these students are actively giving shape to the future. Their suggestions for a greener, more hospitable, more beautiful world can be found in the prototypes, prints, garments, sculptures, videos and more that make up this exhibition.

Individually, each work presented here is the result of semesters of intense concentration, close study, and rigorous analysis. Taken as a whole they present a class of students with a commitment to inquiry, a high level of social engagement and a dedication to making the world a better place. Their work, and the work of their peers in the class of 2015, demonstrate a group willing to tackle large questions and propose new answers, confident that the road from concept to process will lead them to new ways of thinking, seeing, and imagining the world around them.

—Susie J. Silbert, Curator

Susie J. Silbert is an independent curator and design historian with a background in craft and design and a passion for interpreting the built world. Her recent projects include SPRAWL, co-curated with Anna Walker at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, the catalogue to Beyond Craft: Decorative Arts from the Leatrice S. and Melvin B. Eagle Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and a data-driven analysis for the New York Historical Society in support of the exhibition The Folk Art Collection of Elie Nadelman: Making it Modern.She has also written numerous essays on artists working in glass, ceramics, wood and metal. Silbert holds a Master’s in decorative arts, design history and material culture from the Bard Graduate Center and lectures on the history of glass at RISD. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.

This event is part of Parsons Festival 2015.