Fine Art Alumni Show gives 2020 graduates a long-awaited chance to exhibit their work

From 14-17 July 2022, Chelsea College of Arts hosted an exciting and historic group exhibition: the Fine Art Alumni 2020 Show brought together work by alumni from Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon Colleges of Arts who graduated in 2020 to show their work together in person for the first time.

The Show was an important opportunity to showcase work by these graduates following disruption by the pandemic in the final year of their degrees which meant that they had been unable to show their final work in a College end of year show at the time.

Sophia Phoca, Dean of Art, Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon said: “It has always been incredibly important to us to provide graduates from 2020 with an opportunity to show their work as intended before the COVID-19 pandemic had such a destabilising impact on their final year experience. Putting this exhibition together has not only provided them with a deserved platform for their incredible creativity, but has produced a remarkable showcase of resilience and innovation.

"Indeed, at the beginning of this process, our ambition for the Show was to be an authentic archive of the art work that was produced in such a significant historical moment. We understood that this meant work was often made with challenging constraints, or at times not fully realised. In offering the opportunity to revisit this unique time, we felt it was precisely these conditions that would make this Show such a meaningful testimony of that time.”

All alumni that graduated in 2020 from any Fine Art course at Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon were invited to take part in the exhibition, with more than 100 artists taking part in the final show.

Two curators, Mark Lungley and Zsuzsa Benke were appointed to work on the show. Both graduates from Chelsea College of Arts, they had worked with the College before as well as having their own established practices.

Mark’s gallery, the Lungley Gallery, opened in January 2018 with a focus on presenting the work of established and emerging UK and international artists. Zsuzsa is a London-based multidisciplinary artist, founding director of HOXTON 253 art project space, and Associate Lecturer at Chelsea College of Arts, UAL.

Of their approach to the curation of the show, Mark and Zsuzsa said:  "After such a long wait, we wanted to make all participating alumni feel proud of their work and their joint Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon Alumni Show as a whole.

"Having worked for various museums and other galleries previously, we knew from the beginning how much difference curation could make to a degree show. SInce both of us graduated from Chelsea, we initially discussed what we liked and what sort of changes we hoped to see in exhibition-making. As much as we could, our aspiration was to create a space where visitors would feel they have walked into a museum show, rather than an end of year student show.

"Together we spent a long time looking at the work, finding similarities and differences between ideas, approaches to making and display of different art works. It’s testimony to the artists who entrusted us to take their work and display it in a way they may have not considered before."

They continued: "The works questioned physical spaces in the city and how they had been transformed – from a bustling metropolis to hushed streets; how the social and working lives of many have moved digital; and ultimately, how as individuals we needed to adapt and cope with these changes.

"Throughout the process we remained sensitive to the fact that we weren’t originally familiar with the artists’ overall practices, nor we could do studio visits and meet each artist individually prior to the show.

"Particular attention was paid to try to accommodate individual requests, while bringing together different mediums from various courses to create an exciting multimedia showcase. In another building, a cross-college painting room was created with a typical museum hang, something that is quite unusual to see at Chelsea.

"It’s important to remember that the works were made outside of the institution, with no access to studios, workshops and peers. The work reflects our lives during this time. It was important our approach to curating the show reflected these concerns and new approaches to making work and questioning its place in the world."

Mark and Zsuzsa concluded: "This was an exceptional exhibition that not only reflected our lives during this time, but also the effects on society and culture, changing the very nature of what an art school is and has to offer for future generations of students.

"Both of us agreed that it is absolutely crucial to show work in real life, not only for the sake of celebrating the years of hard work and studies, but to create a much better ground for reflection and progress for the artists.

"For instance, some of the works which have been created during the lockdown, gained completely new meaning by 2022, in certain cases it even provided new socio-political perspectives and criticism. Without physical exhibitions, and discussions around the works, these important aspects might go undetected."

The exhibition opened with a private view event on Thursday 14 July. The event was introduced by artist and UAL Honouree Chila Kumari Singh Burman who spoke alongside Sophia Phoca, Dean of Art and curator Mark Lungley. They were also joined on the night by staff who worked with the Fine Art 2020 cohort.

Caroline Ingham, a 2020 graduate of MA Fine Art: Painting at Camberwell College of Arts said of participating in the Show: “Seeing my work exhibited alongside the work of other very different artists and installed in a way I hadn't imagined was brilliant. It has certainly made me reassess the pieces I made in 2020 and has given me new insights in to my work which I hope to take forward into my next project.”

Here we share more highlights from the Fine Art Alumni 2020 Show, in pictures.

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