May 23, 2012 By: yunews
Yeshiva University Museum Presents Fourth Annual Stern College Senior Art Show
Artwork by Stern College for Women students will be on display at the Yeshiva University Museum in Revelation: The Fourth Annual Stern College Senior Art Show. Presenting 38 works by graduating studio art majors, the exhibition provides a window into the art-making approach, as well as the personal observations and insights of 11 young Jewish female artists.
A rich mix of styles, techniques and technologies, Revelation includes digital photography, oil painting, stop-motion animation and stone sculpture, among other media. The wide-ranging subjects reflect the students’ intellectual and emotional curiosity, from Lauren Kahn’s striking sculptures of New York City manhole covers to Dina Wecker’s minutely detailed pen-and-ink aerial Manhattan skyline to Jordana Chernofsky’s pointillist nature paintings to Melissa Zehnwirth’s glam-inspired screen print. The show was guided by Traci Tullius, the acclaimed video and performance artist who leads Stern College’s studio art program.
This exhibition was itself designed by students through an exhibition design class at Stern College under the instruction of Yeju Choi, who is also art director at iconic retailer Barneys. The curatorial team behind Revelation includes Tullius, Adjunct Instructor in Art Mary Creede, YU Museum Director Jacob Wisse, and YU Museum Assistant Curator Zachary Paul Levine.
“Creating art is itself a revelation, both personal and artistic, and the young women in this show have shared impressive work that beautifully merges skill, technique and personal perspectives,” said Tullius. “In discovering and revealing themselves through their art, they offer us a path for the same kind of journey.”
Artists in Revelation include Michal Rakovsky, Dina Wecker, Melissa Zehnwirth, Leah Fried, Jordana Chernofsky, Jenny Goldstein, Beth Hendler, Lauren Kahn, Noa Peyser, Samantha Feldman and Jessica Levner.
“The Museum is excited and proud to showcase the work and talents of Stern’s students and to give them the opportunity to design the presentation of and frame their art in a public context,” said Wisse. “We think the work of these young women will be eye-opening for many New Yorkers and reflects powerfully on the school’s rich melding of Jewish and humanities learning.”
Revelation is complemented by a continuing exhibition at Yeshiva University Museum: Silk Stones - Works by Rochelle Rubinstein, on view through July 15, which spotlights the Canadian artist’s visual poetry in sculpture, works on paper, wood and fabric and a series of richly decorated handmade books. Rubinstein is an alumna of Stern College, where she was the school’s first studio art major in 1974.
This week, the YU Museum will also unveil a series of handmade books created by 15 Stern College for Women students under Rubinstein’s guidance. The assignment: to find an issue in Jewish law the students are grappling with or found personally “troubling.” Making use of a single format—an accordion-folded notebook—the 15 works reveal striking conceptual range and creative use of imagery from traditional Jewish sources. For more about Silk Stones, please visit http://yumuseum.tumblr.com/SilkStones.