DJCAD students’ work on transatlantic journey for exhibition
Published On Thu 10 Jul 2014 by Roddy Isles
Seventeen students and graduates from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD) are showcasing their work on the international stage at a group exhibition in the United States.
The group, from the MFA Art & Humanities programme at DJCAD, part of the University of Dundee, have contributed work for the ‘Trans-send’ exhibition at Towson University in Maryland. The show takes place from 8th July – 9th August in conjunction with a city-wide Arts festival in neighbouring Baltimore.
The DJCAD contingent has mainly contributed work on paper, with a few additional pieces in digital film, embroidery and sculpture. The opportunity arose as a result of the relationship between Mary Modeen, MFA Art & Humanities Course Director, and Professor Tonia Matthews, Head of Graduate Studies in Art at Towson University.
Professor Matthews visited Dundee as a guest speaker and masterclass leader earlier this year and agreed to establish an exchange postgraduate exhibition. Students currently enrolled on the MFA course and those who graduated from the programme were invited to take part in ‘Trans-send’, and students from Towson will have an exhibition in Dundee in 2015.
“We are delighted to have established this fruitful relationship with Tonia and her students at Towson,” said Mary Modeen. “This is a great opportunity for the students to exhibit their work in another country and make connections with artists from the US, who will also benefit by showing their work at DJCAD. Lynda Watson, one of our current students, curated the exhibition of 17 of her peers from Dundee, and the art is currently in the process of being installed in Maryland.
“These postgraduate students are creative thinkers who engage with the most basic, and timely, ideas to address the important issues in life. They are artists whose practice is built on a foundation of learning and critical thinking, a feature of this course, which has attracted students from around the world, and Greek, Dutch, American and Scottish artists are exhibiting at ‘Trans-send’.”
The MFA Art & Humanities is a collaborative programme taught by staff from DJCAD and the School of Humanities. Uniquely for a Masters degree, the course allows students to tailor it precisely to their own interests.
They can select modules from Humanities and Art. Options include English, Film Studies, Philosophy, Gender Culture and Society, Theatre Studies, History, and Comics Studies, paired with work in Painting, Drawing, Printmaking, Artist Books, Photography, Sculpture, Installation, Performance Art, Sound Art, or Time Based Art & Digital Film.
Depending on the student's interest, the final output can either be an exhibition, performance, screening or a written dissertation. The purpose of the course is to introduce postgraduate students to new ways of working that augments their creativity.
Artistic practices built on a foundation of learning and critical thinking are a key feature of this course. Students will read, write and work creatively, combining academic studies in the traditional humanities with contemporary art. Two research methods, two ways of working, are synthesised by each student in distinctive skills building, research and discovery.
More information is available at https://www.dundee.ac.uk/study/pg/art-humanities/
Roddy Isles
Head of Press
TEL: 01382 384910
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E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk