Filed under: Los Angeles, MFA | Tags: Christine Wang, Jonathan Apgar, Leon Benn, Michael John Kelly, Trevor Spaulding, UCLA
As the school year draws to a close, it’s time for graduating art students to pack up their studios, take down their thesis shows, and set out on the life of financial uncertainty and critical scrutiny they have pursued so enthusiastically for the past several years. Hopefully they are equipped with as much knowledge, ability, and determination as UCLA’s graduating MFA painters Jonathan Apgar, Leon Benn, Michael John Kelly, and Christine Wang. I asked the four talented young artists about their work, their time in school, and their plans for the future. – Trevor Spaulding, Los Angeles Contributor

Jonathan Apgar | Deep Gate, Violet Black, 2013, oil on canvas, 96 x 84 inches.
We’ve been keeping an eye on Iona Rozeal Brown since she made an appearance in our 2002 MFA Annual. On Friday she was featured in the Art and Design section of the New York Times. After the jump, read the entire article. Congrats Iona!
Photo By Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times
Filed under: Competitions, MFA | Tags: competition, MFA Annual, NAP, Sandy
Because so many students and recent graduates were effected by Sandy, we have decided to extend the MFA Annual deadline to NOVEMBER 16th, Midnight, EST. Below is our original call for entries…
Attention current MFA students and 2012 graduates…
We are currently accepting submissions for what has become our most anticipated publication of the year. The MFA Annual will feature painters that are currently studying to receive a Master of Fine Arts or current year (2012) MFA graduates. Even more exciting, we have an amazing juror for this year’s competition. New American Paintings is thrilled to have Dominic Molon, Chief Curator, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, prepared to review submissions and select the best and most promising artists to watch.
If you have received your MFA in 2012 or you are a current candidate, you are eligible to enter! The New deadline is November 16th, 2012 (Midnight EST). So apply online now! Or, visit our competition page and follow the instructions. Submitting is easy! Just have four jpegs, less than 1200 pixels at their greatest dimension, and a credit card for the entry fee.

Painting (Detail) by Benjamin Rogers, Featured in New American Paintings 2012 MFA Issue.
GOOD LUCK!
Filed under: Competitions, MFA | Tags: Annual, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Dominic Molon, MFA, MFA Annual, NAP
Attention current MFA students and 2012 graduates!
We are currently accepting submissions for what has become our most anticipated publication of the year. The MFA Annual will feature painters that are currently studying to receive a Master of Fine Arts or current year (2012) MFA graduates. Even more exciting, we have an amazing juror for this year’s competition. New American Paintings is thrilled to have Dominic Molon, Chief Curator, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, prepared to review submissions and select the best and most promising artists to watch.
Dominic Molon is currently Curator at Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. Photo: Walead Beshty.
Filed under: Competitions, MFA | Tags: MFA, MFA Annual, NAP, New American Paintings
Attention current MFA students and 2012 graduates…
We are currently accepting submissions for what has become our most anticipated publication of the year. The MFA Annual will feature painters that are currently studying to receive a Master of Fine Arts or current year (2012) MFA graduates. Even more exciting, we have an amazing juror for this year’s competition. New American Paintings is thrilled to have Dominic Molon, Chief Curator, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, prepared to review submissions and select the best and most promising artists to watch.
If you have received your MFA in 2012 or you are a current candidate, you are eligible to enter! The deadline is November 10th, 2012 (Midnight EST). So apply online now! Or, visit our competition page and follow the instructions. Submitting is easy! Just have four jpegs, less than 1200 pixels at their greatest dimension, and a credit card for the entry fee.

Painting (Detail) by Benjamin Rogers, Featured in New American Paintings 2012 MFA Issue.
GOOD LUCK!
Filed under: Competitions, MFA | Tags: Alma Ruiz, competition, LA, MFA Annual, MOCA, Senior Curator
MFA ANNUAL EXTENDED DEADLINE: November 7th, 2011
We are currently accepting submissions for what has become our most anticipated publication of the year. The MFA Annual will feature painters that are currently studying to receive a Master of Fine Arts or recent MFA graduates. Even more exciting, we have an amazing juror for this year’s competition. New American Paintings is thrilled to have Alma Ruiz, Senior Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, ready to review submissions and select the best and most promising artists to watch.
If you have received your MFA in 2011 or you are a current candidate, you are eligible to enter! The extended deadline is November 7th, 2011 (Midnight EST). So apply online now! Or, visit competition page and follow the instructions. Submitting is easy! Just have four jpegs, less than 1200 pixels at their greatest dimension, and a credit card for the entry fee.
You may download a PDF of our postcard announcement here (ignore the original deadline). Good luck!
Filed under: Competitions, Los Angeles, MFA | Tags: Alma Ruiz, competition, LA, MFA Annual, MOCA, Senior Curator
MFA ANNUAL DEADLINE: October 31, 2011
We are currently accepting submissions for what has become our most anticipated publication of the year. The MFA Annual will feature painters that are currently studying to receive a Master of Fine Arts or recent MFA graduates. Even more exciting, we have an amazing juror for this year’s competition. New American Paintings is thrilled to have Alma Ruiz, Senior Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, ready to review submissions and select the best and most promising artists to watch.
If you have received your MFA in 2011 or you are a current candidate, you are eligible to enter! The deadline is October 31, 2011 (Midnight EST). So apply online now! Or, visit competition page and follow the instructions. Submitting is easy! Just have four jpegs, less than 1200 pixels at their greatest dimension, and a credit card for the entry fee.
You may download a PDF of our postcard announcement here. Good luck!
Filed under: Los Angeles, MFA, Q&A | Tags: Ellen C. Caldwell, Erin Payne, LA, MFA Annual, Payne, Piles
Erin Payne (NAP #93) paints what she terms “piles” – they are piles of jumbled and indefinable fabric and scattered memories. Upon first glance, they reminded me of many fond piles from my own life: blankets abandoned from a childhood fort, wet and sandy towels left at the beach, and the ever-growing laundry that accumulate magically by week’s end. I also saw them as shells of things that once were, but were now abandoned and I was excited to learn more about her process and inspiration. -Ellen C. Caldwell, LA Contributor

Spire, oil on canvas, 24 x 24, 2011
Filed under: Art World, DC, MFA | Tags: 93, Baltimore, Benjamin Edmiston, Bill Traylor, Bob Dylan, Captain Beefheart, Christopher Daniels, David Hockney, Devon Troy Strother, Dire Straits, Favourite Sons, Horace Pippin, Howlin' Wolf, Jockum Nordstrom, Karl Wirsum, Kim Dorland, Leon Russell, MFA Annual, NUDASHANK, Paul Wackers, Vito Acconci

Benjamin Edmiston, Boxer’s Nose, Snake Brains, 2011 | Gouache, acrylic and silkscreen on paper. Courtesy the artist.
Currently featured in #93, the MFA Annual edition of New American Paintings now on newsstands, Benjamin Edmiston‘s latest work — elaborate paintings, drawings, and collages — is also on view at Nudashank in Baltimore as part of the group show Radiant Fields (also featuring Edward Max Fendley and Steven Riddle). The show opened over the weekend, so I took the opportunity to catch up with Edmiston to play a severely abridged game of 20 Questions. His thoughts on influences, music, and beer (and lots of pictures) after the jump. —Matthew Smith, DC Contributor
Filed under: Art World, Competitions, MFA, Sneak Peeks | Tags: Adam Weir, Andrea Jensen, Andres Ortega, Benjamin Edmiston, Biff Bolen, Caetlynn Booth, Chris Reno, Cima Rahmankhah, Craig Hawkins, Doron Langberg, Emily Stout, Erin Payne, Fabian G. Tabibian, Gina Adams, Guy Ben-Ari, Helena Hsieh, Jeremy Couillard, Jody Christian, Joshua Lynn, Joyce Ho, Julie Oppermann, Katherine McCullough, Katie Kehoe, Leah Wolff, Loie Hollowell, Maciej Makalowski, Marcus Payzant, Mary Jo McGonagle, Matthew Craig, Michael Hilsman, NANO Rubio, Narangkar Glover, Nazafarin Lotfi, Njideka Akunyili, Randi Hopkins, Rebecca Volinsky, Ruth Laskey, Saori Moriizumi, Sarah Awad, Scott Robinson, Tom Betthauser, Zoe Hawk
Cover: Michael Hilsman
The MFA Annual edition of New American Paintings has quickly become our most popular issue of the year—and rightly so. For nearly two decades, our mission has been to put the work of emerging contemporary artists in the hands of readers, collectors, curators, and painting enthusiasts, and where better to find young, emerging work than in some of best studio programs the country.
We’re very proud to feature our talented friend Randi Hopkins, Associate Curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, as this edition’s juror. Randi has had extensive experience working directly with emerging artists for several years, and her selections make for one of the most exciting group of MFA candidates we’ve published to date. Also included is a Q&A with Randi in the back of the book, in which she talks Rauschenberg, Monet, and Eddie Martinez.
The Spotlight feature for this edition focuses on San Francisco’s Ruth Laskey, previously featured in the 2005 MFA Annual and a recent recipient of a prestigious SECA Art Award from SFMOMA for her handmade linen work. Laskey moved from painting to weaving during grad school, and her work elegantly re-examines the traditional practice of painting.
This is an exciting moment for contemporary painting, with artists—young and old—re-evaluating the use of their materials and investigating the limits of the medium itself. The works contained in this issue reflect some of the most talented and exciting perspectives from emerging young artists in the country. To see a complete list of the artists featured in this year’s MFA Annual, and see images of their work, click the link below to keep reading! —Evan J. Garza, Editor-at-Large










