The Art Students League of New York is proud to present the annual Final Project Exhibition, curated by The League’s 2022 Curator-at-Large, Jillian Russo. Featuring the work of artists who have recently completed The League’s four-year Certificate Program, the Final Project Exhibition offers graduating students the opportunity to present a cohesive body of work that represents their selected discipline. This year’s exhibition, on view at the Phyllis Harriman Mason Gallery from June 9-25,2022, includes work by the six 2022 Certificate Program Graduates: Agnes Collins Hunt, Guada Luz Cruz, Kumi Hirose, Lola de Miguel, Mayumi Nakao, and Lau Nató.
“The League is honored to be able to celebrate this year’s group of Certificate Program graduates. Their work is the culmination of years of artistic ingenuity and insight, during which they’ve brought clarity to, and taken inspiration from, these uncertain times.”
Agnes Collins Hunt’s large-scale mixed-media collages explore femininity, unwanted remembrances, and the human body. Guada Luz Cruz presents still life paintings focused on symbolic but ordinary objects—from a soft-boiled egg to a skull. Kumi Hirose’s bright candy-colored collages appear playful but allude to sinister, pleasurable, and mysterious experiences. Lola de Miguel presents large-scale galactic dreams that hint at a fantastic future while reflecting a turbulent past. Mayumi Nakao’s stylized paintings are based on photos of the artist’s friends and family who moved to New York City from Ghana in the 1980s. Working across mixed-media, sculpture, and watercolor, Lau Nató’s work investigates power dynamics, violence, and consumerism.
Jillian Russo is a Brooklyn-based curator and art historian. She served as Curator for the Art Students League from 2013-2018 and as Director of Exhibitions at Hollis Taggart from 2019-2021. She has organized numerous exhibitions including Remnant Romance: Environmental Works, Idelle Weber and Aurora Robson, Knox Martin: Radical Structures, The Masters: Art Students League Teachers and their Students, and On the Front Lines: Military Veterans at the Art Students League of New York. She is a contributor to the Brooklyn Rail and has written articles for American Quarterly, CAA Reviews, and Panorama. She received her PhD in American art from the Graduate Center, CUNY.
The Art Students League’s Certificate Program is designed to cultivate growth of the individual artist’s talent within The League’s renowned atelier system. The Certificate Program consists of a prescribed course of study leading to a Certificate of Completion. The prescribed course of study is a dedicated two or four-year plan tailored to meet the artist’s professional and personal interests. Students begin this semester-based program in September or January.
The Art Students League of New York was founded in 1875 by students breaking away from the National Academy of Design. That independent spirit remains at The League today, where students pursue their work unconstrained by dogma, politics, or burdensome tuition. The League educates students in the language and process of making art in an environment where anyone who wishes to pursue arts education can realize his or her full potential. The League fulfills this mission by offering affordable, high-quality education and instruction in painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, and assemblage. Artists who have studied at The League include Georgia O’Keeffe, Norman Lewis, Robert Rauschenberg, Emilio Sanchez, Yayoi Kusama, and Ai-Weiwei, among others.
The Art Student’s League’s 2022 Final Project Exhibition will be on view from June 9 through June 25, 2022 in the Phyllis Harriman Mason Gallery at 215 West 57th Street, Second Floor, NYC.
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