The Graduate School of Fine Arts Global Art Practice (GAP) course debuted in 2016. Students displaying their works this year are the fifth class to complete the program.
The 2021 GAP class has nine students with a diverse range of cultural backgrounds and interests. Despite the adversities the COVID-19 pandemic has caused, they rose to the challenges of creating digital media, painting, three-dimensional art, installations, photography, interpretive dance and other genres, and explored the interdisciplinary fields linking those categories. Intensifying both their practical and theoretical knowledge, they have inspired one another while pursuing their own creative endeavors. The students made impressive progress on various fronts through group work experiences, collaborations with overseas colleges of fine arts (a distinctive GAP characteristic) and other outstanding programs. They have clearly broken free of their shells, expanding the focus to others, human society and the world around them. During the actual creative process, however, they come to grips with their own positions and fields of choice.
Today’s increasingly divided world is spawning various problems rooted in such gulfs. Posing questions from an individual awareness of these issues is vital. This extends to the GAP vision of using mutual understanding to bridge distances while pursuing artistic endeavors to hone that perspective.
We sincerely hope that our visitors will keenly examine the works of this talented group of budding artists on this special occasion. Let us wish them continued growth and fulfillment.