The Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation is pleased to present MFA: The Next Generation, the first annual collaborative exhibition between OCAF and the University of Georgia. Curated by OCAF and Art History graduate students, Erin Riggins, Taylor Glennon, and Emily DuVall, the show will feature artwork by second-year Master of Fine Arts candidates at UGA’s Lamar Dodd School of Art.

Kim Truesdale is featured in the exhibition with Fed Up and Questions of the Household. Truesdale’s two series reflect the artist’s continuing interest in depictions of The Future Homemakers of America she found in old scrapbooks from 1956-7. Her work examines the complex relationship between food preparation/consumption, self-worth, and body image. Truesdale satirically places food and other domestic items, such as doilies, over the portraits to draw attention to dated gender roles.

Conveying the natural beauty of Florida and evoking a nostalgia for a previous time, Cristina Echezarreta places tropical fruit and local wildlife alongside 1920s and 1950s symbols, such as spirited women and domestic objects. Nostalgic Frosting contains elements of Florida’s luscious foliage while its bundt cake shape recalls the joy and simplicity of mid-century living. Her playful imagery and art deco palette display the richness of her home state as well as its history. Echezarreta places her viewers among diverse flora and scattered memories, encouraging them to compare this glorified past with the present.

The exhibition also includes work from Yona Bondar, Laurel Fulton, Mary Gordon, Alec Kaus, and Rachel Watson.

MFA: The Next Generation runs from January 19 - February 22, 2019, with an opening reception on Friday, January 18 from 6-8 pm.