Student Art: NYU's Jason Leinwand

NYU's Jason Leinwand

Courtesy of the artist

Jason Leinwand, "Chilled Monkey Brains" (2006)

Courtesy of the artist

Jason Leinwand, "War of the World" (2006)

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Jason Leinwand
MFA Awarded May 2006
New York University/Steinhardt
New York

Artist's Contact:

Artist's Statement:

There is a sacred space that exists for ritual. This space looks like bubblegum and chocolate, but smells otherwise. This space is created with lasers and the energy and radiance of the spirit. This space is guarded by demons, knights, ghosts, bloodsuckers and sickness. This space houses the eternal and the primordial. This space exists in landscapes, temples, graveyards, outer space or inside of fortune cookies.

Every collage shows this space, its creation, the path to it and its destruction. Every collage represents a moment, which spans 1,000 years. Every collage presents the viewer with a path of transcendence along its symmetrical axis, while exposing the binaries of knowledge (Right and Wrong, Man and Woman, Birth and Death), obtained from the Tree. Every collage presents multiple paths for the viewer to follow. Every path is transcendent. Every collage will gladly take your death as a sacrifice. Spirituality always requires a sacrifice. Limbs, flesh, skulls or blood.

UFOs fly from outer space, enter our heavens, and beam massive light rays filled with knowledge. This knowledge is filled with both Good and Evil, and they are equal. Symbols and iconography attempt to simplify this knowledge, but ultimately they serve as distractions from the truth. This knowledge will not be found in form, a journey is required. Every collage shows this journey from birth, through life, to death, and the transitions that follow into the everlasting.

Myth and stories contain the truth of our knowledge. Indiana Jones is the greatest seeker of this truth, and not even the Nazi Party or Cult of Thuggee could stop him.

Artist's Bio:

The artist, born in 1979, graduated from Wesleyan University in 2001. He lives and works in New York.

About NYU's MFA in Studio Art Program:

Candidates in the MFA in Studio Art program (which is part of NYU's Steinhardt School of Education) pursue a richly diverse course of study and demonstrate an interest in studio art beyond the boundaries of a specific medium. A lively intellectual exchange and a supportive community are established through the core Graduate Studio Critique course required of all students each semester.

Students interested in photography and new media may take courses in media studies at the International Center for Photography (ICP). Through access to the resources and faculty of the ICP, students can explore photographically based art forms while continuing to pursue work in other media here in the department.

Required internships enhance the student's access to the professional possibilities of this great cosmopolitan art center. The semester of Internship in College Teaching pairs MFA candidates with faculty members teaching in the undergraduate program. This gives graduate students an opportunity to explore the theory and practice of studio pedagogy, while they provide an important mentoring experience for the undergraduates.

The MFA is the terminal professional degree for artists and is required for those who are pursuing a college-level teaching career.