Works by six Florida State University art studio graduates are on display at New York’s renowned Pen + Brush Gallery as part of a group exhibition in honor of Women’s History Month.
Hit Me with Your Best Shot aims to highlight how women, as well as non-binary and female-identified transgender artists, are changing the art world and the world at large. The exhibition features works by the 2023 graduating cohort of FSU MFA alumni—Jenae Christopher, Camille Modesto, nik rye, Chayse Sampy, AnnaBrooke Greene, and Chansong Woo—along with well-known contemporary artists such as Mierle Laderman Ukeles and Lola Flash. Woo and Green are also assistant professors in the art department.
“I have had the good fortune to work with all six of these incredibly talented artists since they started at FSU,” said Jeff Beekman, associate professor and chair of the art department. “I witnessed their tenacity, their support for each other and I was so impressed with their development. The results absolutely speak for themselves and all the luck that comes their way is well deserved.”
Founded in 1894, Pen + Brush was one of the first non-profit organizations dedicated to supporting women artists. The exhibition will be on display at Pen + Brush Gallery at 29 East 22nd Street, New York, until April 20.
When Pen + Brush asked FSU Assistant Professor of Art and Curator Grace Aneiza Ali to select a visionary artist and artwork for the 2024 exhibition in honor of Women’s History Month, she immediately thought of her students—all six .
“These six amazing young women have given me the gift of being their teacher as they all faced the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the hardships in their own lives with courage and resilience,” Ali said. “Their work is bold and brilliant and shows that they are poised to shape the future of the field.”
For Woo, the work of this group of students, showcasing artistic influences from four countries, was a perfect fit for an exhibition that aims to honor women in art. The work presented touches on these themes and is influenced by the feedback and support of the cohort throughout their time in the MFA program.
“My creative cohort and our amazing professors, including Grace (Ali), really pushed us,” Wu said. “Not just to sharpen our skills, but to find our own focus and artistic language. Through the program, we built very strong bonds with each other and grew a lot as artists.”
Four of the six artists traveled to New York to attend the opening of the exhibition on March 7. As the first exhibition in New York for each of these artists, it marks a special milestone in their artistic careers.
“It was incredibly meaningful not only to exhibit my work in New York, but to be seen as a collective with my cohort,” Green said. “That sense of community and solidarity was special, especially when we were engaging with a completely different audience around the work.”
The MFA Studio Art program at FSU is a rigorous and in-depth three-year residency that trains students to become successful artists.
For more information about the program, visit art.fsu.edu/graduate. For more information about the exhibit, visit penandbrush.org.