2019 Art Theory and Practice MFA Thesis Exhibition

shai-lee horodi, Hyun Jung Jun, Jessica Frances Martin, and Hamilton Poe—2019 Master of Fine Arts degree candidates in the Department of Art Theory and Practice at Northwestern University—present their thesis projects, concluding two years of intensive artistic development. This year's thesis exhibition is accompanied by events, programming and a publication conceived by the MFA candidates.

ARTISTS

Hamilton Poe (b.1986) studied Chinese and Visual Art at Bennington College. Poe’s art questions aesthetic structures based on claims of ‘genius’ that are commonplace in the reception of art by engaging with the quotidian ephemera of daily life: the materials and experiences that are not recognized as a part of artistic practice. He has shown work at Cranbrook Art Museum, The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit.

Jessica Frances Martin’s painting practice is figurative, focused on women and the environments they exist in. How as they merge with their environment they have more power over their image and the world they inhabit. With a particular focus on narratives of fantasy, interiority, girl culture, and processes of transformation. Martin received her BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2011.

Hyun Jung Jun (b.1989 Seoul, South Korea) currently lives and works in Chicago, IL where she received her BFA from School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2014. Through various mediums including installation, sculpture, photography, drawing and performance, Jun’s work explores the relationship between body and landscape (culture, society, and nature) in everyday life. Jun’s work has been included in various exhibitions across Chicago and has participated in the Alchemy residency in Ontario, Canada and the Vermont Studio Center residency in Johnson, VT.

shai-lee horodiwas born in 1993. She received her name in 2016. Her works are not about - and this text is not about them. Her native language offers no good translation for the word about.

This exhibition and the associated events are co-organized by the Department of Art Theory and Practice and the Block Museum at Northwestern University. Support provided by the Norton S. Walbridge Fund; the Myers Foundations; the Jerrold Loebl Fund for the Arts; and the Alsdorf Endowment.