The juried series presents outstanding multidisciplinary work by students from 11 undergraduate and graduate departments at the College.
Olivia Hang, Stellar Moments, 2023, oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inches. On view at “Next Up: Tightrope.”
Olivia Hang, Stellar Moments, 2023, oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inches. On view at “Next Up: Tightrope.”
This January, a walk among SVA’s gallery spaces becomes a guided encounter with the College’s newest voices. SVA Galleries has announced the second annual juried exhibition series, “Next Up,” consisting of three shows held in the College’s Chelsea, Gramercy, and Flatiron gallery spaces. Introduced in 2025 as a reimagining of SVA’s tradition of showcasing emerging student talent, the works in each “Next Up” exhibition are chosen by a prestigious group of notable alumni. This year, the series showcases the multidisciplinary work of 52 students representing 11 of the College’s 30 undergraduate and graduate departments.
At SVA Flatiron Gallery & Windows, “Next Up: Ripples” (Tuesday, January 15 – Saturday, January 24) features 14 artists who explore the porous boundaries between personal histories and collective memories through drawing, painting, printmaking, and photography. Distilling the patterns from nature, home, and childhood, the works on view find comfort in the past while evaluating the structures that aim to organize or contain these moments. While such arbitrary edges may provide emotions and histories with a sense of scale and shape, they cannot fully contain the expansiveness of nature and human life. At its best, generalization offers helpful labels for identification and community, but it can also perpetuate harmful stereotypes by those seeking to justify harsh judgment or ignorance. These artists evaluate the role of boundaries in their own lives, questioning the human inclination to delineate thresholds rather than build bridges to cross them. Through acts of imagination, thoughtful study, and playful depictions, the works on view represent shared pursuits of a more empathetic world.
Annette Zhan, My Childhood Dream, 2025, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches. On view at “Next Up: Ripples.”
Annette Zhan, My Childhood Dream, 2025, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches. On view at “Next Up: Ripples.”
William Gary, Schroeder Plays Beethoven, 2025, oil and mixed media on canvas, 40 x 60 inches. On view at “Next Up: Twisted Vines.”
William Gary, Schroeder Plays Beethoven, 2025, oil and mixed media on canvas, 40 x 60 inches. On view at “Next Up: Twisted Vines.”
At SVA Chelsea Gallery, “Next Up: Twisted Vines” (Wednesday, January 21 – Tuesday, February 3) presents 25 artists working across drawing, installation, painting, printmaking, and sculpture, ranging from exuberant pop culture paintings to carefully etched prints, sharply rendered pencil drawings, and mother-of-pearl inlays. Although these approximately 80 artworks cover vast conceptual and visual ground, they primarily focus on establishing peace with oneself, nature, and society. Through lived experiences and cultural traditions, these multinational artists draw on their communities’ histories as a rich source of inspiration, as well as their own perspectives on the ongoing lineages.
Elvan Sökmen, What’s In My Bag, 2025, Risograph print, 6 x 4 inches. On view at “Next Up: Tightrope.”
Elvan Sökmen, What’s In My Bag, 2025, Risograph print, 6 x 4 inches. On view at “Next Up: Tightrope.”
At SVA Gramercy Gallery, “Next Up: Tightrope” (Wednesday, January 21 – Saturday, February 7) showcases 13 artists whose work encompasses bold, material-forward pieces in design, painting, sculpture, and printmaking. Spanning a wide range of topics, including the pace of contemporary life, historical texts, psychology, resistance, and self-definition, the exhibition prompts viewers to consider the lessons taught by the past, emphasizing the interconnectedness of patterns (both conceptually and visually), play, and introspection. In a world where physicality is increasingly disconnected from the mind, as evidenced by the rapid adoption of large language models and AI-generated images, humanity’s comprehension is being reconfigured in the face of imagined and real perils all around. Through studies of cycles and stories across history, the work asserts that resilience comes from social connectedness, not isolated individualism. Approaching “what comes next” with a sense of hopeful optimism, these artists take on the challenges of creating work with clear-eyed determination in changing times.
Juried exhibitions have been a crucial part of the SVA fabric for more than 30 years, serving as a means for students’ achievements to be recognized by a group of notable alumni. Artists are selected from a large pool of applicants to the annual SVA Galleries call for entries, whose submissions undergo a rigorous examination of presented materials, including documentation of work and artist statements. “Next Up” was inspired by the “playlist” experience, with each exhibition intended to be viewed as part of a larger whole. Jurors are selected to represent the wide range of SVA’s creative community across the worlds of design, fine arts, illustration, and the moving image.
Exhibiting artists in “Next Up” include Ryan Ally (MFA Photography, Video and Related Media), Darren Arias-Montesino (BFA Design), Konstantina Xeni Asimakopoulou (BFA Fine Arts), Cindy Yining Cai (BFA Illustration), Lauryn Casey (BFA Fine Arts), Seohyun Cho (BFA Fine Arts), Sunghoon Chung (MFA Fine Arts), Yiran Cui (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay), Rafael de la Puente (BFA Illustration), Nikari Dominguez (MFA Visual Narrative), Michael Fried (BFA Fine Arts), David Fu (BFA Illustration), Nicole Fu (BFA Illustration), Xiaolan Fu (MFA Design for Social Innovation), William Gary (MFA Fine Arts), Shuwei Guan (BFA Illustration), Olivia Hang (BFA Illustration), Hilda He (BFA Fine Arts), Kori He (MPS Fashion Photography), Jin Jeong (BFA Photography and Video), Yiling Jiang (BFA Illustration), Kat L (BFA Visual and Critical Studies), Tea Laroux (BFA Photography and Video), Juwon Lee (BFA Design), Seongho Lee (BFA Illustration), Day Leon-Palma (BFA Fine Arts), Christine Lin (Lin Ting-Wan) (BFA Fine Arts), Izzy Liu (BFA Illustration), Sitong Liu (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay), Justin Angelo Martin (BFA Fine Arts), Mariajosé Monroy-Gramajo (BFA Visual and Critical Studies), Ji Young Kim (BFA Illustration), Manasi Patankar (MANU) (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay), Scillian Raaf Panepinto (BFA Illustration), Schain S. (BFA Fine Arts), Maya Satterberg (BFA Illustration), Hao Jie Sim (MFA Design for Social Innovation), Nathalie Slowak (MFA Fine Arts), Elvan Sökmen (BFA Illustration), Cree Suarez (BFA Illustration), Jade Sun (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay), I Chin Sung (MFA Fine Arts), Adelle Vincent (BFA Fine Arts), Emily Xinya Wang (BFA Illustration), Chuck White (BFA Illustration), Tao Xiong (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay), Ruby Yang (MFA Illustration as Visual Essay), Jas Yu (BFA Illustration), Annette Zhan (BFA Illustration), Haina Zhang (BFA Fine Arts), Kelsey Zhang (MFA Design for Social Innovation), and Circle Zhu (BFA Illustration).