Juror’s <strong>Comments</strong> Raphaela Platow The Alice and Harris Weston Director and Chief Curator, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH To the winners of the MFA Annual competion, It is a pleasure to see the abun- dance of excellent paintings being produced in art programs around the country. Selecting work for this issue of <strong>New</strong> Amer- ican <strong>Paintings</strong> was an intriguing, joyful, and yet challenging task for me. The absence of direct contact with you and your work did not allow for the dialogue and sense of immediacy I value. The works I chose for this edition captivated me in different ways; they made me think or dream, laugh or wonder, shiver or scream. At the same time, I marveled at the versatility with which brushes, fingers, tools, and varieties of paint were handled. I found aston- ishing worlds, surfaces, and textures that I wanted to dive into, caress, or brush up against. Looking through the submissions, I reflected on what it might mean to attend an art school, to be part of an MFA program. I have always believed that education is more than devel- oping knowledge, expertise, or craftsmanship in a particular area. The time spent in school is also about getting to know better who we are as people, the kind of role we want to play in a culture, a society, an economy. I imagine that your decision to enroll in an MFA program was not simply about earning a degree. You chose a path that reflects how you want to participate in the world— your way of being. No matter what combination of courses you selected, you decided to put your imagination, your ideas, and your creativity at the center of who you are, and to communicate this to others. What you have chosen to do is not easy, it requires audacity and unwavering faith in yourself. But by making this choice, you gain the power to imagine reality differently, to pursue every task, every issue, every question in a new way, and to see and look at all things freshly. You have spent a few years learning and growing at a great school. You have had the luxury of trying out a variety of classes, seminars, and workshops. You have met like-minded yet unique people, found mentors in your teachers whom you will never forget. You have probably had good times and bad times, had fun and struggled, laughed and cried, and learned more and more about who you really are. Stay connected with yourself and your creativity. Continue to express yourself in whichever way is best for you. We all want to be accomplished, we hope to succeed as artists or professionals in other fields, we want to be respected and recog- nized for what we do. And we should be. The art world is extremely competitive, and many of you will wonder and worry about how to get your career started and how to make a living once you do. How- ever, being an artist, a creator, is always a challenge. It has to be. I am not here to tell you that everything will fall neatly in place. All I can tell you is that creativity stems from integrity, the wholeness of what you have to say. Do not become distracted by what other people think you should be doing, what’s fashionable, marketable, or what pleases. Do your work because you really want to, because you have no other choice. Follow your heart, your intuition—they will never fail you. Go to the places that scare you, investigate them thoroughly, try to stay in that space and see what happens. Burnett p24 Crawley p38 Purvey p105 Deakins p42 McFarlane p78 Ilchi p54 “I am not here to tell you that everything will fall neatly in place...creativity stems from integrity, the wholeness of what you have to say.” Allow yourself to fail, to screw up. When he was 74, Robert Rauschenberg said, “Screwing things up is a virtue. Being correct is never the point. Being right can stop all the momentum of a very interesting idea.” It is this attitude that will allow you to see beyond what others and even you yourself have decided should be the limits of art or other forms of creativity. It will help you see outside the box, beyond the possible. In 1965, Sol Lewitt wrote the following encouragement to a then young Eva Hesse, counseling her to stop over-thinking her art and to allow herself to fail, saying, “Learn to say ‘fuck you’ to the world once in a while. You have every right to. Just stop thinking, worrying, looking over your shoulder wondering, doubting, fearing, hurting, hoping for some easy way out, struggling, confusing, itching, scratching, mumbling, bumbling, grumbling, humbling, stumbling, numbling, rambling, gambling, tumbling, scumbling, scrambling, hitching, hatching, bitching, moaning, groaning, honing, boning, horse-shitting, hair-splitting, nit-picking, nose-sticking, ass- gouging, eyeball-poking, finger-pointing, alleyway-sneaking, long waiting, small stepping, evil eyeing, back-scratching, searching, perching, besmirching, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding away at yourself. Stop it and just DO!” Keep up your good work! n Q Who is the first painter who made an impact on you? A Franz Marc Q If you could have any artist paint your portrait who would it be? A Agnes Martin or Marilyn Minter Q What painting would you most like to live with? A Lucio Fontana Q What has the greatest effect on contemporary painting: the Internet, MFA programs, or photography? A Both photography and the internet. One before the other. In addition, art education in the Western world plays an integral part of the art system. For decades, it has provided artists with a foundation. Q Besides being a curator, what job would you most like to have? A Meditation teacher Q Name three emerging painters to watch? A Dasha Shishkin, Tauba Auerbach, Christine Gray Q&A