Erin Arnold - True Romance, 2006 (detail)

Recent work by graduate painters at Tyler School of Art and Rhode Island School of Design

We are breaking down the boundaries, driving across the interstates, and bringing the newest art from the graduate painting departments of Tyler School of Art and Rhode Island School of Design to the edges of the east coast. SWAPMEET will occur as two shows in two cities. Organized by the graduate painters of RISD and Tyler as an opportunity for the two communities to create a dialogue with each other and to expose the Philadelphia and Providence communities to work being done outside the region. Both schools have a history of excellence; recent alumni of both Tyler and RISD have achieved significant recognition both nationally and internationally and have been included in numerous museum exhibitions including the Whitney Biennial ,P.S.1/MOMA, Greater New York, The Studio Museum of Harlem, Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia and can be found in numerous collections including the MOMA, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art and other prestigious institutions.

The first exhibition will feature the work of 13 graduate painters from Tyler School of Art and will run from February 10th – 20th at the ISB Gallery in Providence, Rhode Island. An opening reception will be held Saturday, February 10 from 5:30 pm to 8 pm.

SWAPMEET will be on view at the Illustration Studies Building (ISB) Gallery of RISD located at 55 Canal Street; Providence, RI 02903 and will be open Monday through Saturday from 1 pm to 6 pm. Working in various media, the 13 graduate painters from the Tyler School of Art are investigating the relationship of painting to contemporary culture using the formal qualities of painting embodied in color, light, and space. Works on view will include large-scale paintings, works in collage and mixed media, and video. Maya Allison, the assistant curator of Contemporary Art at the Rhode Island School of Design Art Museum, will be writing an essay to accompany the show of Tyler graduates in Providence. A catalog will be published later this spring.

The second exhibition will showcase the work of 20 graduate painters from Rhode Island School of Design and will run March 2nd – 20th at the Icebox Project Space in the Crane Building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. An opening reception will be held Friday, March 2 from 5:30 to 8 pm.

SWAPMEET will be shown at the Icebox Project Space in the Crane Building located at 1400 N American Street; Philadelphia, PA 19122 and will be open Wednesday through Saturday from 12 pm to 6 pm. The work by 20 MFA painters from Rhode Island School of Design employ a variety of media to explore the ideas and forms of painting. Sue Spaid, a curator and art critic currently teaching Graduate Seminar at Tyler will write an essay and lead a gallery talk at the Ice Box Project Space March 15 at 6:30 pm. This event is free and open to the public.