5 into 1 – Fresh work from new graduates of Philadelphia art colleges at Moore College of Art and Design

–>Alison tells us why 5 into 1 is a show worth seeing.  The recent graduates from some of the city’s art schools — she calls them the most emerging of the emerging — demonstrate their chops at sculpture, painting, video and installation.—the Artblog editors—————————>

The annual Spring exhibition 5 into 1, created by Philadelphia Sculptors fourteen years ago and curated this year by Adam Mazur, draws together work by students newly graduated from the city’s five art schools—Moore, PAFA, Penn, Tyler and UArts.  With its timing at the end of the school year, 5 into 1 is one of the first opportunities for these newly-minted BFAs and MFAs to show their work.

Video and sculptural paintings from Tyler BFAs

“Forever Digging,” Brett Williams’ looping video of appropriated footage features a prisoner who is forced to dig his own grave (Sorry we don’t have a picture). At times the man is seen filling the hole back in when no one is watching in order to prolong his life. The video is encased in a viewing box that wraps around the viewer and suggests the claustrophobia of a grave. Kevin Mack creates works that draw on both painting and sculpture. Displayed jutting out of the wall, his canvases become three-dimensional objects, with their underlying structure visible. The artist also uses materials like beeswax and velvet, which resemble paint and add a more sculptural element.

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts MFAs use found objects

Representing PAFA, Brian Artigue’s “Stella’s Church” uses building materials to suggest an architectural environment. Jacintha Clark also incorporates found objects in her work but she alters their appearance to bring attention to the handmade and manufactured.

Moore College BFAs mine personal territory and create weaponry

In her mail art project, “50 Worries”, Aimee Gilmore sends letters to herself stating her anxieties. From feelings of self-doubt to body issues to her relationship with her mother, her concerns are common to many young women. Moore’s other recent grad, Marie Scavetti, creates an untitled work made from steel that is a fusion of welded tools. Placed on a shelf and no longer a common tool, the object resembles a weapon.  (Sorry no pictures — if we get some we will put them in)

University of the Arts BFAs focus on the body and create a shrine for contemplation

Mitchell Kay’s “A Moment of Reflection” is a sculpture of found objects that embodies contemplation and self-examination. Also from the University of the Arts, Mariah Cooper creates work that hints at a bodily presence.

Her sewn cocoon-like “Body Bag” suggests constraint and the physical limitations of the body.

University of Pennsylvania MFAs reference the digital age and the luxe life

Visible from Moore’s front window, Penn MFA graduate Dan O’Neill’s work “Abacus” is a swirling pattern of colored paper built on a grid. Inside the gallery, each piece of paper resembles a small envelope on a fishing line. In the artist’s accompanying statement, “Abacus” is characterized as a low-tech computer screen. The work recalls systems of information, data transmission and correspondence. Also representing Penn’s graduate program, Evan Narbit  tries to emulate the luxury lifestyle of a yacht party in a magazine, but with his sculpture, the closest he gets is a tanning sheet and a bottle of San Pellegrino.

The best part of 5 into 1 each year is seeing recent graduates continue their work. The show — for these most emerging of emerging artists — is on view at The Wilson Gallery at Moore College of Art and Design through July 20.