PAFA's annual Student Exhibition

Hope for the future at PAFA

VICTORIA SKELLY

It’s been a few years since I can honestly say that I’ve felt some excitement about the works at the Pennsylvania Academy’s annual Fine Arts Student Exhibition. Hackneyed and/or insufficiently explored themes, a disdain for craftsmanship (especially drawing), attraction to what might yield quick celebrity or shock rather than appreciation to a seasoned eye have all seemed problematic in student work at many institutions, not just PAFA.

This year upon entering the Hamilton Building of the nation’s first art school, I was jolted into all manner of amazement at what I first saw there. As I progressed through the rest of the exhibition, I encountered more and more work that visually engaged me.

I have too much wanted to feel some real excitement about new art. I was curious as to what would be the reaction to all of this from my daughter, recently returned from her foundation year at a rival art school in Baltimore. I invited her to return with me and have a look. She too was excited about much of what she saw.

Buyers who bet on the future

Being young and accustomed to the language and mores of art school critique, she was more readily able to “read” more of the “conversation” in subject matter (say, how a sculpture might reflect references to the film, Tron). Her knowledge of current innovative technique provided a deeper appreciation of what is important to the next generation of artists.

This year’s student exhibition consists of works produced by third- and fourth-year certificate students and students of the masters of fine arts program. Dozens of prizes are traditionally awarded, and it’s well known that PAFA’s teaching personnel can get into quite heated controversy over who wins what prize. Many of the paintings are sold for respectable prices, since buyers are keen on purchasing the early work of those who may develop into seasoned and accomplished artists.

Spiky sticks and pointy flags

Among the most arresting of works to this art lover are Michael Ciervo’s canvases with layered rhythms of black, white, and tones of grey, spiky sticks, pointy flags, mirage-like reflections and one mountainside composition reminiscent of a Sidney Goodman painting. One cannot miss Jordan Griska’s super sculpture (in the lobby), a tangle of tubing embossed with circuit-like pathways all lit with tiny lights.

Katelyn Greth’s doll sculptures of polymer clay convey a stageset otherworldly quality, masterfully crafted. Corey Hartman’s sculptures of twisty unlikely balances reveal a keen observational skill. Thomas Zehnder Jr.’s factoryscapes with pipes and scaffolds in Hopperlike corals, mustards, naval blues and umbers are masterfully fashioned. Bryan Guglielmi’s night scenes of City Hall in Philadelphia reveal a skillful use of light in color. John Williams’s abstractions with brightly hued and layered collages of forms and lines, some resembling sea fans, are magical to the eye.

The immaturity problem

There is more work that is quite fine, and then there are some works that clobber the viewer with a sort of “anti-craftsmanship” message. Some works have themes too loosely developed (always pressed for time in art school!), and some statements are too loudly, cheaply and immaturely intoned.

It is not useful to dwell on these flaws— these are students, after all, with only three to six years of schooling. It takes time to develop one’s mature voice, to learn the subtleties of color mixing, compositional strategies, and so on. Experimentation, failure and then improvement are essential to development. Michelangelo confessed in his 80s that he still had much to learn about art, and artists should expect no less than a lifetime of discovery.

I find it astonishing that work of the caliber of PAFA’s students can be achieved this early in students’ artistic lives. We can anticipate a great deal from them if only they have the courage and the resilience to stay with the work.

PAFA's mission statement includes the goal of becoming a leader in American fine arts education. It desires no less than world recognition of such. The quality of this year's exhibition is a very real outcome of energy applied towards this goal. Thank goodness that PAFA's stated concern for excellence is presently bearing fruit.