Artist and MFA Fine Arts Department faculty member Marilyn Minter is curating “The Virgins Show,” the inaugural exhibition at Family Business (520 West 21 Street), a new gallery from artworld impresario Maurizio Cattelan and New Museum Associate Director Massimiliano Gioni. Opening on February 16, “The Virgins Show” will feature work by young artists who have never exhibited outside of an academic environment. “Hence they are virgins,” Minter recently told The New York Times. The show will focus on abstract painting, with works on surfaces ranging from traditional canvases to stockings and street signs.
Participating artists include current students and alumni from SVA and Yale, where Minter also teaches. From SVA, current MFA Fine Arts students Andrew Brischler, Eric Mistretta and Rebecca Ward will exhibit paintings alongside alumni David Mramor (MFA 2008 Fine Arts) and Aïda Ruilova (MFA 1999 Photography, Video and Related Media). According to the exhibition’s press release, SVA faculty members Laurel Nakadate (BFA Photography Department) and Patty Chang (BFA Fine Arts Department), along with alumni Kate Gilmore (MFA 2002 Fine Arts) and Mika Rottenberg (BFA 2001 Fine Arts), will exhibit work as “Born Again Virgins” for the occasion.
The opening at Family Business won’t be exclusive to fine arts, though—the event will also feature a performance by the Brooklyn-based band The Virgins. “The art world takes itself too seriously,” Minter said. “We’re trying to have some fun.”
Image: Pantyhose by Eric Mistretta.
