"B-words" | Rhode Island School of Design 2021 MFA Photography Show

About

ClampArt is pleased to present an exhibition of the work created by the 2021 graduates of the RISD MFA Photography Program: Megan Christiansen, Chance DeVille, Camilla Jerome, Xinyi Mei, Steffanie Padilla, and Leah Zhang.

The exhibition title is derived from a three-channel video by Megan Christiansen in which she censors the word “bitch” in found clips in order to strip away the term’s spectacle, amplify its context, and question the harmlessness of its use on network television. Christiansen states: “There are different ‘frequencies’ associated with the word bitch, and the multiplicities of meaning in this word are reliant on its circulation and performance. Who is speaking? Who is performing this word, and to whom?”

The voices of the 2021 graduates are multifarious; differently gendered and non-gendered; in addition to international (both geographically and culturally). The simultaneous and sometimes contradictory viewpoints reflect and represent the wider world that is referenced and represented in these artworks, but is also the world into which these young artists are now launched.

All of these artists have been guided in critiques and thesis committee meetings by a rich and diverse group of faculty and guests. Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa and Alexandra Strada have led the graduate group critique. Students benefited from individual and guest critiques from artists Paul Pfeiffer, Sharon Lockhart, Yasafumi Nakamori, Erin O’Toole, Joshua Citarella, among others; and gallerist Brian Paul Clamp (ClampArt).

All graduates have completed a photobook and thesis essay—now part of the RISD photo archive, which includes work by such former graduates as Bill Burke, Talia Chetrit, Jim Dow, Linda Connor, Emmet Gowin, David Benjamin Sherry, and Francesca Woodman, among others.

For more information and images please contact Brian Paul Clamp, Director, or see www.clampart.com. Summer gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturdays are open by appointment and for special events.