NAS Grad Show

Overview

From what I've observed over the years, art school is pretty hard work. You have to actually be there for amounts of time that'd shock your average undergraduate and your learning involves a lot of being told you're doing what you love and feel like you're best is wrong. There's also the whole intense range of technical skills you need to develop across media that you might dislike or find gives you calluses, and social dynamics that wouldn't sound out of place described by Sir David Attenborough.

But every year a new crop of certified, officially qualified practising artists come out of the places, and NAS, like most art schools, celebrates this with an exhibition. Bodies of work from across the disciplines of painting, drawing, ceramics, photography, printmaking and sculpture go on show representing the culmination of years of theoretical, practical and curatorial education. There's always a sense of excitement about a grad show, something to do with the accomplishment of getting the degree done and the possibilities in front of the artists. It's a chance for NAS to show work that shows that their system works.

Image: Caroline Karlsson, Vessel, 2011