News
Spring 2023
LiftOff – SJSU MFA Thesis Exhibition 2023
Hosted by the Radius Gallery
Exhibition Dates: May 25 - June 4, 2023
Located: 1050 Riverstreet #127, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 25, 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Artist Reception: Friday, June 2, 5:00pm - 8:00pm
As a component of their degree, MFA Candidates at San Jose State University mount two exhibits housed within one of six University Galleries; one exhibition in their second year of study and a culminating Thesis Exhibition at the end of their third year. In addition to the Solo Thesis Exhibitions installed on campus, MFA Candidates have the option of participating in a group exhibition called LiftOff hosted off-site & pairing with an MA Candidate in Art History and Visual Culture to create an entry in the annual, Lift-off Catalogue.
The San José State 2022/2023 MFA cohort will be exhibiting artworks from 13 graduate student artists in this year’s annual LiftOff show. Curated by Andrew McNeely of Los Angeles the artists will fill the space of Radius Gallery in Santa Cruz, CA. The artists featured in this showcase work in a multitude of theory based themes and methods including photography, spatial art, pictorial and digital media. Students combine their in-class experiences, faculty mentorship, independent research, and individual studio practices to produce these exhibitions.
Past exhibitions have been installed at Root Division (SF), Incline Gallery (SF),
Pro Arts (Oakland), and the San Jose Institute for Contemporary Art. Recent Curatorial
advisors for the exhibition include Chris Gurnder & Cléa Massiani (Co-Directors of
Bass & Rainer, SF), Kevin Chen (Independent Curator), Marcella Faustini (co-Director
of CLOACA Projects, SF).
Please come join us!
Participating Artists
Heidi Alonzo
Karlie Anderson
Sydney Brown
Adrienne Defendi
lan Gerard Fabre
Michael Favagrossa
Monica Galvan
Rachell Hester
Katharine T. Jacobs
Josie Lepe
Natalie McBride
James William Moore
Hunter Ridenour
Lucia Znamirowski
The Natalie and James Thompson Art Gallery presents Hiding in Plain Sight by faculty Sofía Córdova and Dorothy Santos
The Natalie and James Thompson Art Gallery is delighted to present the work of Sofía Córdova and Dorothy R. Santos, artists in residence at San José State University, in an exhibition that will open on March 21, 2023, continuing on display through May 12, 2023.
In 2022, under the leadership of Assistant Professor Rhonda Holberton, the College of Humanities and the Arts at San José State University received the Grants for Arts Projects Award from the National Endowment for the Arts to support Hiding in Plain Sight.
This award allowed Sofía Córdova and Dorothy R. Santos to dedicate time to exploring historical archives, including those found at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library at San José State University to produce new bodies of work. These were aimed at unearthing the voices hiding within these archives that have been overshadowed by regional narratives dominated by the expansion of technology industries. The artists were equally encouraged to utilize SJSU’s extensive art facilities, and work with students, faculty and staff. The resulting exhibition brings together the artists’ research, avid engagement, and collaborations with partners at San José State University and beyond. This collaboration is interlaced with and filtered through their own lived experiences and acute sense of place.
DMA Professor Rhonda Holberton will exhibit, Two Handfuls of Silver Dust, a solo work at CULT | Aimee Friberg Exhibitions in San Francisco, CA.
For the exhibition Two Handfuls of Silver Dust, multimedia artist Rhonda Holberton collaborated with multiple AI models to create sculptures, paintings, and animations made by iterating ideas and prompts in and out of the machines.
The resulting forms were inspired by meditations on what it means to create, what it means to create life, what stewardship of life on this planet looks like, and what the relationship between technology and humans means to the future of life on the planet.
View the Making of: Two Hanfuls of White Dust (video)
Digital Media Art Professor Chelsea Thompto publishes "Trans (In)Visibility in Art" and "Transcode Manifesto"
"Trans (In)Visibility in Art" published in Transgender Studies Quarterly is an article wrote about the art world's relationship to trans people and trans methodologies in artistic practice through an examination of Thompto's past work. Access to the Transgender Studies Quarterly is avalable through the SJSU library.
Additionally, Thompto's work "Transcode Manifesto" was included in the recently published book Cyber Feminism Index, edited by Mindy Seuy and published by Inventory press. The online index can be found here.
Welcome Ashley Elieff!
Ashley Elieff just joined us as the new Gallery Technical Coordinator. She is a San Jose native, who developed her artistic skills in grade school and followed her creative instincts to pursue a unique career journey. After graduating high school and West Valley College, Ashley had the chance to work in the costume department on a small feature film in Los Angeles. After a decade of working in film and TV, Ashley decided to volunteer at two local museums in San Jose and on a WWII ship in Richmond, at the same time, going to SJSU to finish her undergraduate degree in Art History. Upon receiving her degree, her strong organizational skills were put to use as the Collections Manager at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles. Working there for five years, she organized collections, curated exhibitions, and a new volunteer program. Ashley also has a background in textiles, as she regularly sews costumes and her own clothing.
Please join us in welcoming Ashley to SJSU!
Photography Professor Valerie Mendoza will be presenting her work at the upcoming SPE National Conference in Denver, CO, March 18th, 2023.
When experienced in isolation, rising housing costs may represent a personal failure to those faced with the challenge of finding an affordable place to live; when considered on a global scale, it becomes clear that, far from an issue of personal planning, success or failure, this world-wide phenomenon should be attributed to larger factors. How did we get to this place? For the past 10 years, Mendoza's work has focused solely on the issue of affordable housing. Three of her recent projects offer opportunities for public discussion. "Unaffordable" will introduce this work, with the goal of expanding dialogue around this critical topic.
DMA Professor Rhonda Holberton will exhibit, A Knotted World, a solo presentation of work at the San José Institute of Contemporary Art March 31 – August 13, 2023.
In a Knotted World asks the viewer to question the current state of technology that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres. The work in the exhibition builds upon four series that explores the militarization of land and the technology that both protects the soft animal of our body and extends violence outward to places we cannot see or imagine.
Photography Professor Binh Danh publishes the monograph, The Enigma of Belonging.
His work is currently on view (until March 19, 2023) in a group show: Terra Firma @ New Museum of Los Gatos. Upcoming exhibitions include group shows: Ansel Adams in Our Time @ DeYoung Museum (April 8 – July 23, 2023) and Vietnam in Transition, 1976 – Present @ Wende Museum (April 2 – October 22, 2023).
Pictorial Arts Professor Shaun O’Dell Announced Arthur and Sheila Prensky Island Press Visiting Artist at Sam Fox School of Art and Design, Washington University in St. Louis, September 24- 30, 2022.
In 2022, O’dells work was also acquired by Museum of Fine Arts Houston and the Chazen Museum of Art at the University Of Wisconsin. See the exhibition website for more on his recent exhibition, A Foot Between the Screens of the Unforescene, Inman Gallery January 15 – February 26, 2022
Felix Quintana (MFA, '21) announced as one of 10 artists awarded the LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions) 2023 Lightning Fund Recipients.
Felix Quintana is a visual artist, educator, and first generation Salvadoran from Southeast Los Angeles. His multidisciplinary process spans drawing, photography, collage, digital media, writing, and teaching. His practice examines place, memory, and the street as a site for artistic activism, intervention, and critique. He received his MFA in Photography from San Jose State University in 2021.
Interdisciplinary faculty Lance Fung interviews with CNN Indonesia
Congratulations, Lance Fung (Interdisciplinary), on the inspiring and thoughtful interview that aired on CNN Indonesia about his curatorial project, "Constellations: Global Reflections" installed in conjunction with the Tri Hita Karana Forum / G20 Bali Summit.
Constellations: Global Reflections (CGR) channels the energy and attention from world leaders attending the G20 summit in Bali to the general public through 20 site-specific artworks reflecting on current environmental and humanitarian crises. Fung Collaboratives curator, Lance Fung, worked with the artists for a year to realize their thought provoking commissions and investigations of ecology, colonialism, and consumption amid the political arena.
Fall 2022
Welcome Sarah Mills!
The SJSU Art and Art History Department warmly welcomes new faculty member Sarah Mills in Art and Design History. She teaches courses across departments of Design and Art and Art History in the BA/BFA and MA/MFA programs. Her teaching interests include craft theory, modern design history, speculative design, textiles and technology, conceptual art and participatory practices. Her primary research focuses on global textile design, particularly the theory and practice of modern (machine) weaving.
Digital Media Art (DMA) Assistant Professor Chelsea Thompto will be joining the New Museum's 2022 Art + Code New Inc. cohort in New York, NY.
NEW INC was founded by the New Museum in 2014 and is the first museum-led cultural incubator dedicated to supporting innovation, collaboration, and entrepreneurship across art, design, and technology.
NEW INC is a creative ecosystem that aims to foster cultural value, not just capital value. The program brings together boundary-pushing professionals who are inventing new forms and pursuing new models in fields as varied as music, interactive art, fashion, gaming, architecture, film, performing arts, product design, and web development, among others.
Spring 2022
Liftoff – SJSU MFA Thesis Exhibition 2022
Hosted by the San José Institute of Contemporary Art
Opening Reception: Thur April 7 5-7pm
Exhibition Dates: April 7 - August 14, 2022
RSVP Here
As a component of their degree, MFA Candidates at San Jose State University mount two exhibits housed within one of six University Galleries; one exhibition in their second year of study and a culminating Thesis Exhibition at the end of their third year. In addition to the Solo Thesis Exhibitions installed on campus, MFA Candidates have the option of participating in a group exhibition called LiftOff hosted off-site & pairing with an MA Candidate in Art History and Visual Culture to create an entry in the annual, Lift-off Catalogue. Past exhibitions have been installed at Root Division (SF), Incline Gallery (SF), Pro Arts (Oakland), and the San Jose Institute for Contemporary Art. Recent Curatorial advisors for the exhibition include Chris Gurnder & Cléa Massiani (Co-Directors of Bass & Rainer, SF), Kevin Chen (Independent Curator), Marcella Faustini (co-Director of CLOACA Projects, SF).
Students combine their in-class experiences, faculty mentorship, independent research, and individual studio practices to produce these exhibitions.
Participating Artists:
Kelcey Bauer
Curated by:
Zoe Latzer, Curatorial and Public Programs Associate, San José Institute of Contemporary Art
Marc Mayer, Chief Curator and Director of Programs, San José Institute of Contemporary Art
Faculty Advisors:
Rhonda Holberton, Assistant Professor, Digital Media Arts & Art Graduate Program Coordinator
Alena Sauzade, Director of the Thompson Gallery, San José State University
Chelsea Thompto, Assistant Professor, Digital Media Arts
Futurefarmers in a month long artist-residency at San Jose State University - hosted together by the Dept. of Art and Art History and the Natalie and James Thompson Gallery.
Students and the faculty in the Ceramics and the Pictorial Program in the Department of Art and Art History will be collaborating with Amy Franceschini and Futurefarmers, in the Spring of 22, to produce new work to be presented in their upcoming exhibition at the Natalie and James Thompson Gallery titled Bones, Tones and Phones.
Highlights from the Archive
BFA Pictorial Art Alumnus, Titus Kaphar paints cover image for June 2020 cover of Time Magazine.
'I Cannot Sell You This Painting.' Artist Titus Kaphar on his George Floyd TIME Cover.
