> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://hyperallergic.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Highlights from the RISD MFA Painting Exhibition in Chelsea - URL: https://hyperallergic.com/highlights-from-the-risd-mfa-painting-exhibition-in-chelsea/ - Published: 2015-07-24T17:05:18.000Z - Updated: 2025-11-24T16:31:05.000Z - Description: Ten recent graduates of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) MFA Painting Program are debuting their work at Kathryn Markel Fine Arts in Chelsea. - Author: Allison Meier - Tags: Art, Review, RISD, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:08 (2014, 2015, part 2) ![Rhode Island School of Design MFA Painting Program Thesis Exhibition](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/07/risdmfa07.jpg) Irmak Canevi, “If Burkhard Heim Suspects That One Shouldn’t Fly But Fall, He May Prove Right” (2015), mixed media, on view in the Rhode Island School of Design MFA Painting Program Thesis Exhibition (all photos by the author for Hyperallergic) Ten recent graduates of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) MFA Painting Program are debuting their work at Kathryn Markel Fine Arts in Chelsea. The [thesis exhibition](http://markelfinearts.com/exhibition/95/press%5Frelease/?ref=hyperallergic.com) reveals, through a few pieces, each of the emerging artists’ perspectives. ![Rhode Island School of Design MFA Painting Program Thesis Exhibition](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/07/risdmfa01.jpg) Art by Jon Merritt (click to enlarge) The online exhibition text, which is a bit heavy on artspeak, [cites](http://markelfinearts.com/exhibition/95/press%5Frelease/?ref=hyperallergic.com) a few themes as “attempts to reverse-mirror the everyday, the felt contradiction that often what’s perceived as more personal is more easily and collectively valued when shared; a sense of social responsibility,” adding that they “seem to be trying to make sense of the world around them via art’s capacity to contest the very privilege of a worldview.” It’s a roundabout way of saying that their work is perhaps very aware of a viewer’s perception, and its place in the art world. And there does seem to be an affirmation of a lot of the dominant trends currently in contemporary art, with heavy abstraction, intensely layered and gravity-defying paint, and a playfulness with unorthodox materials while still creating within the boundaries of the right-angled traditional canvas. Viewing the exhibition, there may not be many moments of surprise or extreme experimentation, but there are several standouts. Whitney Oldenburg’s two pieces — “Unpeeled” (2015) and “Hurt” (2014) — mix everything from acrylic to rocks and car polish in huge textural assemblages that have a tactile messiness giving them a visual edge, and Irmak Canevi’s “Burkhard Heim Suspects That One Shouldn’t Fly But Fall, He May Prove Right” (2015) is a grid of found materials, some arranged in configurations like small machines, suggesting (through its name and design) the deciphering of some theoretical physics puzzle. In the back room, Anthony Bragg’s “New Fire (shelves)” (2014-15) is an illuminated tower of yule logs that contrasts its fake fires against his small, studied “Rope” (2014) of two climbers in the snowy outdoors, and just across Jon Merritt’s “Arboreal Model” series of acrylic on panel works deftly take an 8-bit style to tree totem shapes. Below are more photographs of the work on view from the recent RISD MFA painting graduates. ![Rhode Island School of Design MFA Painting Program Thesis Exhibition](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/07/risdmfa05.jpg) Art by Anthony Bragg at left and Andy Giannakakis at right ![Rhode Island School of Design MFA Painting Program Thesis Exhibition](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/07/risdmfa02.jpg) Anthony Bragg, “Rope” (2014), acrylic on canvas ![Rhode Island School of Design MFA Painting Program Thesis Exhibition](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/07/risdmfa09.jpg) Art by Whitney Oldenburg ![Rhode Island School of Design MFA Painting Program Thesis Exhibition](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/07/risdmfa03.jpg) Art by Andy Giannakakis ![Rhode Island School of Design MFA Painting Program Thesis Exhibition](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/07/risdmfa04.jpg) Art by Michael Leon ![Rhode Island School of Design MFA Painting Program Thesis Exhibition](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/07/risdmfa06.jpg) Art by Suzy Gonzalez ![Rhode Island School of Design MFA Painting Program Thesis Exhibition](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/07/risdmfa08.jpg) Art by Sarah Pater, with a sculpture by Fernando Pezzino at center ![Rhode Island School of Design MFA Painting Program Thesis Exhibition](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/07/risdmfa10.jpg) Art by Sarah Pater at left and Fernando Pezzino at right ![Rhode Island School of Design MFA Painting Program Thesis Exhibition](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/07/risdmfa11.jpg) Art by Katie Darby Slater [Rhode Island School of Design MFA Painting Program Thesis Exhibition ](http://markelfinearts.com/exhibition/95/press%5Frelease/?ref=hyperallergic.com)*continues at Kathryn Markel Fine Arts (529 West 20th Street, Suite 6W, Chelsea, Manhattan) through August 15.*