MFA Exhibition 2020

A singular generation of SFAI MFA artists come together here for the 2020 MFA Exhibition, documenting works across media including: painting, photography, printmaking, digital technologies, sculpture, installation, video, film, and performance.

Artistic and conceptual inquiries range widely—from addressing the immediacies of this contemporary moment in its traumas of the Coronavirus, the collapse of global economies, and their impact on mobility and climate change, to new possibilities. For these students, these are not abstractions but are firmly grounded in the worlds they have inherited and which they are now entering as professional artists. Their inquiries address these concerns through fluent movements across multiple mediums that build upon and extend their histories, reflecting how art may function as a tool for depicting one’s place in the world, as much as for problem-solving and for social engagement.

We invite you to view this exhibition showcasing their works by delving into the three rooms below. These three rooms, named after SFAI’s school colors* (Gray and Clear) and mascot (Fog), are organized alphabetically by the artists’ last names per the lists below. Explore the artist’s cards and each room’s collective image gallery, discover more of the artists’ work by clicking through to their individual websites and social media, and build new connections with this new generation of unparalleled artists. And join us in congratulating the graduating class of 2020!

GRAY ROOM
Taylor Ann Berry, Cyd Bown, Lexygius Sanchez Calip, Becca Chacon, Henry Chambers, Mónica Coelho, Karl Daum, Samuel De Lemos, Colleen Donovan, Luis Flores, Giuliana Funkhouser, Christa Grenawalt, Katherine Hanover, Imani Maryahm Harrington, John James Hartford V, Whitney Humphreys, Jesse Yunho Kim, Ryan Golden Kirkpatrick, Sae Yong Lee, Jiazhen Li

CLEAR ROOM
Sang Chi Liu, Chen Lyu, Sera Mac, Katrina Magowan, Kyle Martin, Jeff Maylath, Shara Mays, Zhang Mengjiao, Mareiwa Miller, Laura Pacchini, James X Patterson, evan pettiglio, Collin Pollard, Eleanor Schnarr, Sequinette, Rebecca Sexton, Yan Shao, T Shell, Anna Sidana, Iris Slade

FOG ROOM
Collin McEachran Smith, Miles Stemp, Mimi Vitetta, Angela Gilbert Weber, Eve Werner, Christopher Williams, Lena T Wright, Jiaxing Wu, Yeting Xiong, Hansen Yang, Leyi Yang, Jane Yuan, Zahra Zare Mehrjerdi, Yourong Zhao, Yawen Zheng

* For those curious about the history of SFAI’s school colors, see the recollections below from Jeff Gunderson, SFAI’s Librarian and Archivist:

The story of the School Colors, is fairly folkloric--- a lot of truth….plenty of folk humor….and the desire for a good yarn----I do believe that the SFAI Board of Trustees did indeed approve the School Colors---Gray & Clear…. at some point in the late 1970s or early 1980s.The Board KNEW a good idea when they heard one….and they had a sense of humor……I am pretty sure that the instigators of the idea of the School Colors came from two staff members (probably in cahoots with students),  Sharon Chickanzeff who was the librarian, and her good friend and sidekick, Marcia Smith who was the Humanities Department Manager.  Both were cool cats.  Sharon from SoCal---well versed in the 1960s 1970s Cool School of LA Finish Fetish art….and all knowing of everything from Siennese Painting to Happenings, Russian Constructivism to the Situationists… Sharon is bright. She left the School to be the librarian at Parson's and then the librarian at NYU's prestigious Institute of Fine Art. Her co-culprit in the School Colors was probably Marcia Smith---Sharon’s and Marcia’s ideas were spot on …from art to the art scene, and this was one of their very Duchampian California dada-esque escapades…..inventing a palette for the SFAI’s Letter Jackets and pom-poms......and I think almost all of this is true.