Eight artists in Helen Day show

“Now You See Me: The Best of the Northeast Masters of Fine Arts, 2015,” an exhibit of the work of eight artists pursuing MFA degrees in the Northeastern regions of the U.S. and Canada, opens on Friday, June 19, with a public reception and artists’ talks from 6 to 8 p.m. at Helen Day Art Center, 90 Pond St., Stowe.

Seven of the eight exhibiting artists are expected to attend the reception, speak briefly about their work and respond to questions. The show runs through Sunday, Aug. 23.

This is Helen Day’s third biennial MFA exhibition. From a record number of submissions by artists in 28 MFA programs, three jurors — Dina Deitsch, director of curatorial projects at Goodman Taft, and two Helen Day staff members, Rachel Moore, assistant director and curator, and Nathan Suter, executive director — selected the winning eight: Bryan Hutchison, Pratt Institute, New York; Lu Heintz, Vermont College of Fine Arts, Montpelier; Gabriel Sosa, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Russell Prigodich, UMass-Dartmouth; Vincent Routhier, Concordia University, Montreal; Yi Yi Lily Chan, School of Visual Arts, New York; Christy Chow, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston; and Loretta Park, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston.

The works include Hutchinson’s installation that invites viewers to consider their relationship to notions of the mystical; Heintz’s look at the emotionally and otherwise complicated experience of parenthood in the 21st century; Sosa’s painterly drawings based on the artist’s experience as a court interpreter; Prigodich’s three-dimensional works in steel and soap; Routhier’s conceptual renderings of mathematical formulae and calculations; Chan’s work in prints and video, rooted in questions related to identity; Chow’s interactive installation that employs gaming and simulation as she draws attention to sweatshop labor; and Park’s celebratory mash-ups of cloth, vinyl, acrylic, silkscreen and woodwork.

Although the artists have shown their work across the globe — from Hong Kong to Houston, Chicago to Cincinnati, Miami to Montreal, Brooklyn to Burbank, London to Zurich — they are still considered “emerging.” Through this exhibition, the artists and the significant contemporary issues their work addresses will continue to gain visibility.

Exhibit information: Katherine Longfellow, 253-8358.

Artist information: Jennifer Cawley, guest curator, 401-261-4241, jennifercawley@gmail.com.