Last Monday I attended the opening of the MFA show at the New York Academy of Art. I like to see what is happening in different art programs, particularly those that focus on the figure. Why the figure? The range and depth of human relations is vast and it is difficult work to successfully move beyond an academic study of the human form. An academic rendering of the human form is a beginning. But what next? Do you use the form to narrate? To convey a concept? To show a condition, or comment? To simply render and represent? The above image is a two-sided, oil on panel painting titled “The Guardians,” by Julio Stanly Flores. It stands at an impressive 11′x5′ - certainly an ambitious scale!  There were other works that caught my attention, but I found myself unable to walk away from this one. You had to walk around the painting(s) to see them both, holding one image in your mind as you take in the other. You have to walk around a 3D scuplture to take in the whole thing; a 2D painting, generally, no. But these “Guardians” clearly belong together, although they are not next to each other. I am not an art historian, nor a critic. So I won’t contextualize Flores’ painting by comparing it to other historical or contemporary works. (Faculty Chair John Jacobsmeyer did that for the MFA exhibition in his comments available at the show, check the printout available if you go). Many people feel intimidated by art. They shouldn’t. The best place to start is simply to get out and LOOK. I can argue passionately that the best path is to look everywhere you can. Observe how you feel when you encounter a specific work of art. And appreciate, at least, the sort of discipline and then daring it often requires for an artist to make and show art! That, any of us can do (appreciate, that is)!

If you have a chance in the next week, stop by 111 Franklin Street and check out the newly minted MFAs!  I am glad I did! Also, WFA will be showing the work of some former and current NYAA students as well as several from the National Academy in the gallery starting Saturday May 23, opening reception at 5. You can see for yourself how figure study progresses from drawing in class, to creating in the private studio! ~ Marie