Otis College of Art and Design’s Annual MFA Art Show

May 20, 2014

By Teka-Lark Fleming

Artists from the Otis College of Art and Design’s Graduate Fine Art and Public Practice programs held their annual Open Studios in April.

Among the artists shown were Inglewood artist Janet E. Dandridge and Los Angeles artist Lili Bernard.

The Public Practice program at Otis pushes students to use art as a way to engage and make social commentary.

Dandridge work confronted capitalism and its impact on gaining access to healthcare and drug abuse. It was a powerful mixed media piece which invited the audience to sit down in a chained seat in a room decorated by empty prescription bottles.

In Bernard’s studio were her painful portraits that revisited slavery not just in the U.S. but in the Caribbean and Central and South America.

It was great to see a variety of work from a diverse pool of people from the Los Angeles community.

Otis Special Annual Preview show is May 9. For more information, please call (310) 846-2553.