The artists of the 2014 MA Fine Art Summer Show at Chelsea College of Arts, Millbank, London, have nothing left but their artwork – and they want you to come see it before it ends Friday 12 September 2014… it’s free and they can pretty much guarantee what you’ll see there won’t be anything like that which can be found in Tate’s galleries next door!
MA Fine Art at Chelsea deemed ‘unlike any commercial exhibition’
And this seems to be the main selling point aimed at the potential audience for this show of over 100 artists graduating from Chelsea College of Arts with their MA this year [2014], according to Olivia McEwan’s review in ArtLyst.
Perhaps some of the displays seem to lack “considered restraint” as McEwan puts it – and yet restraint is precisely one of the things that many MA students (myself included!) are sometimes trying to get away from. So in the case of this MA show, maybe an exuberant and passionately creative jumble is just what some people need in order to see what’s possible for their art practice, leaving plenty of opportunity for colouring inside the lines (if one so chooses, though for most, I hope not!) after the show.
A lot of what the MA is about is going against the grain and breaking the rules, case in point Joshua Raffell‘s installation containing huge dolls doing sexy things to each other, which artist Abigail Box thought was “naughty [and] also a lot of fun [with] a wicked sense of humour.” A sense of humour while speaking to serious matters is seen in many other works such as Francesca Ulivi‘s video installation, Box writes, which “highlights some of what is daft about certain ‘etiquettes’ and of displays of wealth and power”.
And this silent yet imposing group of three sculptures by Shaikha al-Mazrou exhibit some kind of impossibly awkward balance with large terracotta-coloured orbs pulling fruitlessly against yellow straps. Al-Mazrou uses minimal colour and form to consider the inertia of these spheres seemingly about to break free from the steel ribbons.
The small installation by Eden Lazaness is quietly present amongst a room full of works clamouring for attention, yet it successfully holds it own – it is simply two cast-bronze trumpets underneath a moving image of an eye looking about. A focal point for Lazaness’ work is centred around identity constructed, she writes, by aspects such as where one is born, one’s religious upbringing, one’s gender and so on.
These are but a very few works in this year’s show – there is so much more to see in A, B, C, and D blocks plus Cookhouse (and don’t forget to check out the Parade Ground, too) though sadly there isn’t space here to put a picture of everything! So just get on over there before it all must be taken down this weekend.
Oh and to get a quick preview, check below for an excerpt of the MA Fine Art and MRes Fine Art catalogue [PDF]. There’s also a map below in “More links and information” (cuz it can kind of be a maze over there).
More links and information
- Dates and how to get there – Chelsea MA Fine Art 2014 Summer Show
- UAL Showtime’s page for Chelsea MA Fine Art
- View/download MA Fine Art and MRes Fine Art catalogue [PDF] – does not include MA Graphic Design Communication, MA Interior and Spatial Design, or MA Textile Design pages
- List of artists and locations in the show: MA Fine Art Show exhibition guide/list [PDF]
- Here’s a map – click on the image to enlarge:
Reviews of MA Fine Art Summer Show 2014 at Chelsea College of Arts:
- Overview of the MA Fine Art 2014 show by UAL [Camberwell] alumna Abigail Box
- MA Fine Art 2014 graduate Christopher Marc Ford’s overview on WordPress
- Review: “Pazazz and the school of Emin” by Olivia McEwan for ArtLyst.com – 10 September 2014 – “It is worth seeing alone for works blissfully free from the need for marketability or earning a crust – it feels literally as if anything goes here – which is unlike any commercial exhibition you will see”
- Review by artist Jude Evans, who highlights five or six works in the MA Fine Art and Textile Design shows, with photos – 14 September 2014
Exhibition details: MA Fine Art Degree Show at Chelsea College of Arts, Millbank/ 16 John Islip Street, London SW1P 4JU, is on from 6 through 11 September 2014. (closed Sunday 7 September 2014). Free admission, step-free access.
Opening hours:
Monday – Friday: 10:00AM to 8:00PM
Saturday – Sunday: 11:00AM to 5:00PM
London SW1P 4JU
kelise soixante-douze 
Reblogged this on Christopher Marc Ford.
Reblogged this on MA Fine Art and commented:
The artists of the 2014 MA Fine Art Summer Show at Chelsea College of Arts, Millbank, London, have nothing left but their artwork – and they want you to come see it before it ends Friday 12 September 2014… it’s free and they can pretty much guarantee what you’ll see there won’t be anything like that which can be found in Tate’s galleries next door!