Wednesday, June 17, 2009

UCSD educator artfully elevates eccentricity



Professor Ernest Silva wants aspiring artists and dabblers alike to dive in, 'get dirty'
By David Coddon 2:00 a.m. May 24, 2009

An admittedly “eccentric interview style” helped artist Ernest Silva get his job teaching in the Visual Art Department at UCSD.

How eccentric? He brought a garment bag with him to the Washington, D.C., interview for a one-year position. Inside: a selection of men's suits he had painted. One of his interviewers that day, UCSD faculty member and artist Eleanor Antin, “saw it as a sort of mini-performance,” Silva recalled with a smile. Not long afterward, the Providence, R.I.-born Silva – who'd received his BFA from the University of Rhode Island and MFA from Temple University's Tyler School of Art – found himself in San Diego, joining a prestigious faculty that included not only Antin, but also the likes of Manny Farber, Patricia Patterson and Allan Kaprow. “An incredibly diverse and exciting group,” Silva said. Read more...

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