808 Gallery Hosts BFA Thesis Show

The 808 Gallery’s expansive plate glass windows are attracting lots of spectators at the moment, thanks to the gallery’s eye-catching series of abstract sculptures. Jagged, translucent pieces of plexiglas and lucite perch one atop another in gravity-defying ways, creating a carefully constructed pile of geometric shapes that jut this way and that. Punctuated by pops of blue, the cubist-like sculptures’ delicacy and intricacy draw viewers in.

But upon closer inspection, comes the realization that affixed to the sculptures are a series of objects that some might find repulsive—used tissues, dried flowers, latex medical gloves, even cat hair. The work, it turns out, is autobiographical, a reflection of the artist’s personal battle with allergies.

“I wanted to take control of it all,” says sculptor Emma Gluck (CFA’15), who has suffered from allergies to cat hair, pollen, and latex, and ironically, developed reactions to the plexiglas and glue she used to make the sculptures. “I wanted to make the works chaotic in the same way that having these allergies feels,” Gluck says, and the project turned out to be therapeutic.

Gluck is among 54 College of Fine Arts School of Visual Arts seniors whose work is on display in this year’s BFA Thesis Exhibition. The show, appropriately titled 54, represents the culmination of four years of intensive research and studio work in graphic design, painting, sculpture, and printmaking.

“The students mature tremendously during the process of conceiving and writing about their project,” says Deborah Cornell, a CFA associate professor of art. “What they produce is an exhibit of professional level, professional scale, professional quality, and professional ambition.”

A case in point is the graphic design thesis of Pedro Gandarias (CFA’15). Inspired by the itinerant workers of the Great Depression, the artist designed a line of simple T-shirts, sweaters, and hats that include the line’s name, HOBO Urbanwear or a set of symbols called “hobo code,” which were used by workers during the 1930s to mark houses so that others could find them. Gandarias, who minored in business administration, oversaw the production and sales of the line, which is now available for purchase worldwide. His thesis exhibition is an actual HOBO Urbanwear pop-up shop set within the gallery.

More than half of this year’s graduating School of Visual Arts students majored in graphic design, the school’s largest program, and not unexpectedly, the exhibition includes typography, books, posters, motion graphics, and installations.

The hybrid sculpture-graphic design project Beautiful Dream Forever by Rachel Ansell (CFA’15) features a point-and-click video game. To enter the installation, housed in a small storage space off the main gallery, visitors must step past a life-sized female figure Ansell fashioned from steel rods. Three of the installation’s four walls are covered with pages from comic books, Pokemon posters, and Japanese snack wrappers. Ansell, who plans to pursue a career in the video game industry after graduation, says her game was inspired by children’s paper dolls and 1990s Flash games. A naked character appears on screen next to a conveyor belt streaming with various articles of clothing. Participants dress the figure by clicking on specific pieces of clothing. “We see objects as identity and thus fashion as identity, but none of it has objective value,” Ansell says. “In the game, you battle to complete a wardrobe, but no styles are worth more or are harder to get, and that completely goes against how most video games work.”

Many of the exhibition’s works address a wide range of cultural phenomena and social themes, such as mental health, feminism, linguistics, and the environment.

Sarah Bassett (CFA’15) chose to make an interactive graphic design installation for her senior thesis project. Y/N requires participants to embark on a nonlinear decision-making process. After selecting one of the five personality types that best matches your own—choosing from motivators, guardians, visionaries, flexibles, and catalysts—you navigate a series of questions, such as, “Is it okay to look at my phone?” and “Is going to grad school worth it?” The point of the exercise, Bassett writes in her artist statement, is to get people to think more carefully about how they arrive at their daily decisions.

While many of the works use technology, others are firmly rooted in centuries-old methods. The series of three large-scale woodcut prints by Rebecca Tuohey (CFA’15) depict nude female figures, their forms crosshatched and stylized against muted green backgrounds. The images appear with another series of large woodcut prints of trees. Creating the meticulous woodcuts required carving into a half dozen two-foot-by-six-foot wooden planks that are then inked and printed. Known as relief printing, the technique can be traced back as far as 500 BC.

“The thesis work is not just a semester project, but a summary of what students have been striving for in their time here,” says Cornell. “This show’s their coming-out party.”

54: The 2015 BFA Thesis Exhibition is on display at the 808 Gallery, 808 Commonwealth Ave., through Friday, May 8. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, and 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The gallery is closed Mondays.

Paula Sokolska can be reached at ps5642@bu.edu.