Beginning with the coronavirus and the transfer of all classes to a remote learning format, progressing through the upheaval of the quiet solemnity of quarantine with civil demonstrations after the death of George Floyd and the outrage of citizens who could no longer stay home, we find ourselves in unprecedented times. As artists, our students have continued to make work, both within and outside of class that reflects individual visions of the isolation, the chaos, the hope.
While the Pierce College Art Gallery is physically closed, the Department of Art + Architecture highlights the immediacy of the moment by showcasing student work done during 2020, at the height of shared anxiety and anticipation yet reflective of wide-ranging personal interpretations, observations and creative approaches indicative of our diverse student body.
Students submitted their work virtually and the exhibition exists virtually, in noncurated form, as a reflection of the moment.
Transdisciplinary Artist Researcher, Aliona Pankina, has held exhibitions at Ex Teresa Arte Actual museum, Museo de Sitio de Chapultepec, Vértice Experimentación y Vanguardia, Teatro Lúcido, Bucareli 69, Galería Sonora 316 Centro, Vértice UNAM and Festival Movimiento en Movement, Mexico; 704 Contemporary Art, Buenos Aires; and AXW Festival, New York. She studied at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium. She resides in Mexico City. This video captures her installation/performance of 2 April, 2023, at Museo Universitario del Chopo, Ciudad de México.
(Top Left) Follow This Line, Installation view of Siah Armajani, 2019. Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
(Top Right) Photo from UNEARTHED series 2017-2019 Photo: http://www.lalehkhorramian.com/paintings
(Bottom Left) Party on the Caps , Installation view of Meriem Bennani . Image: Ben Davis
(Bottom Right) The Grotto , 2017- 2018, Polymer gypsum, fiberglass, steel, plaster, pigment, Photo: Object Studies
“MAKING IT IN AMERICA” refers to the concept of becoming successful as an immigrant, a foreigner, an entrepreneur. At the same time, as artists, these particular transplants are actual “makers,” creating highly individual work which is also undeniably steeped in the significance of heritage, history, culture.
This “Archive Project” is a virtual exhibition comprised of links to visuals, video and information already in the public sphere, selected to form a thematic context for these four artists whose work covers the expanse of architecture, sculpture, textiles, digital media, installation, film/video, painting, printmaking, collage and mixed media. Housed on the Pierce College Art Department Gallery site, the exhibition is accessible to faculty to enhance course curriculum and to students to follow their own paths of curiosity.
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