Academy 2007, at Conner Contemporary Art, is the gallery’s seventh invitational survey designed to give wider exposure to recent graduates of the area’s university level fine art programs. Jamie Smith, a product of formal art academia herself, curated the show along with Karyn Miller and chose the pieces after attending area BFA/MFA exhibitions between January and June. The show is designed not only as a platform for talented artists, but also as a profile of area art programs with pieces reflecting the personality and culture of their respective institutions. The result is an exhibition of 32 pieces, by 15 up-and-coming artists, in varied media ranging from painting, video, sculpture, and photography. As one might expect, the majority of the artists come from formal art programs rather than local universities. Of the 15 artists, seven come from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and three come from the Corcoran College of Art + Design.

The standout artist, and also the most represented, is MICA graduate Christina Most, who has seven pieces on display. Her Lady Restoration (pictured above), a drawing of lilliputian workers repairing a wounded woman, is the most impressive in a series of mythical ink on paper drawings that have a South Asian or Southeast Asian feel to them. The pieces seem to tell a cyclical story of life, death, and rebirth from a feminine point of view. Most’s Lady Shrine colorfully reproduces some of these drawings and mounts them on a wooden structure that is at once a miniature home and house of worship that symbolizes the deference women should receive. Most’s collection presents clear imagery but also invites us to imagine our own connections between the pieces. This guided active participation is what makes the work so affecting.

Image courtesy of Conner Contemporary Art; copyright Christina Most.