ArtForward
Curatorial
Are We There Yet?
Fourth Arts Block (FAB) presents its latest ArtUp public art program. The exhibit will display six panels of Japanese hand-cut paper and acrylic on masonite by K. Savage, mounted on the scaffolding bridge at 70 East 4th Street Cultural Center. The series represents an autobiographical account of the impact of six female artists who redefined art history and continue to influence contemporary art.
The lives of Artemisia Gentileschi, Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, Hannah Höch, Käthe Schmidt Kollwitz, Cindy Sherman and Louise Nevelson verify K. Savage’s artistic convictions. These women transformed abuse, degradation, sexuality, poverty, and anonymity into unprecedented works of art that narrowed the gender gap. K. Savage traces her own personal journey using references from the work of these groundbreaking artists’ – charting their relevance from the 1600s to present day.
Image: K. Savage, Study for “Centuries of 24 Hours, Untitled #5”, 2009
CYCLE
“CYCLE” is a collaborative mural is by Pasqualina Azzarello from Recycle-A-Bicycle (RAB) and nearly a hundred 4th and 5th grade students from The Earth School. The mural explores the word cycle as a verb in terms of process and motion that sustains the students’ interpretation of a bicycle cavalcade.
The artwork is installed on a scaffolding bridge on 70 East 4th Street, the future home of Downtown Art and Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Company. With more than $17 million in renovations to the East 4th Street Cultural District underway, ArtUp is helping to transform our construction sites and scaffolding into a street-side gallery.
Image details: Pasqualina Azzarello, RAB and Earth School Students, “CYCLE”, 2009, acrylic paint on wood panel, 36” x 96".
Exhibition Dates:
January 22 – April 22, 2010
Opens on Friday, January 22, 2010
Artist Reception and Talk: TBD
ON VIEW
ArtUp Scaffolding Bridge at the
70 E. 4th Street Cultural Center
Between Bowery and 2nd Avenue
M: 6 to Astor Place / R, W to 8th Street / F, V to 2nd Avenue
On your way to viewing "Are We There Yet" by K. Savage, warm yourselves up with a delightful hot chocolate at Bond Street Chocolate at 63 E. 4th Street b. Bowery and 2nd Avenue.
Bring an exhibition postcard or mention ArtUp and receive $1.00 discount on your hot chocolate purchase offer good until February 22, 2010.
October 21, 2009 - January 2, 2010
*Best Vantage Point is in front of Cuppa Cuppa @75 E. 4th Street
Opening Reception:
Wednesday, October 21, 2009 / 5-7PM
Fourth Street Gallery
67 East Fourth Street b.
Bowery and 2nd Avenue
Metro: F,V to 2nd Avenue /
6 to Astor Place
Note:
Guests attending the opening will receive a FREE FAB Pass; discounts to shows, readings, classes, and workshops.
Viewers should take advantage of FAB Fridays and purchase tickets to shows as low as $5 for viewing that evening.
FAB Friends will receive a complimentary open edition digital print courtesy of Alex Harsley. Please visit www.fabnyc.org/donate.php for more details on how to donate and become a FAB Friend.
Archive of Press Releases on Previously Curated Shows:
GAUGE:
When: October 22 - November 13, 2009
Where: ARTJAIL, 50 Eldridge Street, 6th Floor
Opening Reception:
Thursday, October 22, 2009 / 7-9PM
Live performance by Honne Wells
Participating artists: Tiziana Agnello, John Gagliano, Preeya Jensen, Obermeier-Kraatz with ARTJAIL COLLABORATIVE (Sarah Kuhn, Henri Shedds, David Shull and Kyle Simon)
Backcountry freedom is being able to shoot your gun, get naked, take risks, revel in the wild and face mortality. The participating artists' works consist of natural materials made of wood, metal, branches, rock, leather and bones, warped by the elements and perverted by vices. The exhibition provokes the audience to gauge the innocence as opposed to the ignorance of the proverbial redneck.
Click here for press release.
Image: Courtesy of Obermeier-Kraatz. David Kraatz with a shotgun in Clarence, NY
Between Coincidences:
When: June 19-September 19, 2009
Where: 70 East 4th Street (between Bowery and 2nd Avenue)
Fourth Arts Block (FAB) will open "Between Coincidences", an exhibition of black and white photographs by Alex Harsley.
This exhibition presents the magnetic energy of East 4th Street by introducing the viewers to community leaders, members, and ordinary moments of the past that in present day are testament to legacies of perseverance and will. A crowded Cooper Square Committee meeting, a bustling block party on East 4th Street, a stomping ground for the usual suspects, and cool fire hydrant water shooting across the street are bold images of the neighborhood. Independent from each other, Wilbert Tatum and Jean-Michel Basquiat strolled, pondered and operated on this street, while Ellen Stewart and Alex Harsley continue to do so. These photographs provide the audience with a glimpse of the vitality that existed in this petri dish that we know today as the East Village.
Image: Alex Harsley, "4th Summer", 1984, Digital Print, Open Edition, 16" x 20"
A Closer NY: When: January 24-June 7, 2009
Where: East 4th Street (between Bowery and 2nd Avenue)
Fourth Arts Block (FAB) will open “ArtUp”, its public art program, with a show titled “A Closer NY” of works by Sherry Mills and with featured artist, Amir Bey. The mission of ArtUp is to divert attention from the stodgy and dodgy look of scaffolding and re-purpose the space as an outdoor gallery.
The urban landscape consists of industrial elements and ephemeral nature. Steel, wood, concrete, plastic, and paper that weather the unseasonable climate patterns of hot and cold, wet and dry form a harmonious decomposition. As new buildings thrust upwards from the bedrock, the city’s skyline undergoes significant changes. More and more passersby become less sensitive to scaffolding and industrial equipment that commandeer sidewalks. This form of sensory adaptation debilitates aesthetic recognition. “A Closer NY” encourages the audience to seek beauty in imperfections.
Click here for the press release.
Image: Sherry Mills, Grove Street Pink, 2007, C-Print, Edition of 10, 30" x 48".
Peekskill Project: When: September 13-November 24, 2008
Where: Various locations in the city of Peekskill, NY
Public art exhibition features fifty artists who concentrate on the dualistic nature of man’s relationship to the earth. This exhibition will focus on indoor and outdoor site-specific works which use environmental and organic based materials in order to communicate this tumultuous marriage between humans and their habitat. Using Peekskill as a stage, artwork will be sited throughout the city. The project utilizes Peekskill’s train station and waterfronts, Annsville Circle, St. Mary’s Cathedral, The Hat Factory and Peekskill’s historic commercial district, as well as the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art (HVCCA).
Artists affiliated with ArtForward, Elena Bajo, Meng-Yeh Chou, Christopher Lee Kennedy, Stephanie Lempert, Tony Moore, and Joel Morrison.
Special thanks to John Curran, Peekskill Historian.
Participating artists:
Emil Alzamora, Grimanesa Amoros, Brendan Ballengee, Karen Beall, Al Bersch, Gail Biederman, Jo Ann Brody, Ryan Brown, Charles Butterly, Stefano Cagol, Alana Celii, Meng-Yeh Chou, Zachary Clement, Andrea Cote, Dana DeVito, Lorenz Estermann, Deborah Fisher, Marcy B. Freedman, Asha Ganpat, Johannes Girardoni, Leslie Grant, Joan Harmon, Alexander Harrington, Sarah Haviland, Vandana Jain, Carla Rae Johnson, Yael Kanarek, Christopher Lee Kennedy, Grace Knowlton, Miwa Koizumi, Cal Lane, Liz Magic Laser, Stephanie Lempert, Eva Mantell, Maslen/Mehra, Almagul Menlibayeva, Tony Moore, Joel Morrison, Angelo Musco, Michael Natiello, Nick and Keegan, Pamela Sunstrum Phatismo, Michael Peterson, Carolyn Salas, Ryan Schroeder, Gregg Segal, Adam Parker Smith, Christine Tarkowski, Jade Townsend, Ted Victoria, Allison Warminger, Andrew Wilkinson, Grant Willing and Brian Wondergem.
Ombretta Agro’Andruff, Evonne M. Davis and Emma Wilcox from Gallery Aferro, Michael Foley for Foley Gallery, Priska Juschka from Priska Juschka Fine Arts, Kelly Lindner from George Adams Gallery , Michael Natiello from Collaborative Concepts, Joyce Manalo of ArtForward, Thomas Werner from Parsons the New School of Design, and Livia Straus from the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art.
Click here for the press release.
IMAGE: Elena Bajo, "Neither Here or Elsewhere", 2008, mirrors, soil and weeds, 48" x 48" x 36".
EMERGENCE: Creative Pioneers in Uncharted Territory
When: May 31-July 26, 2008
Where: Governors Island / Building 14
Emergence: Creative Pioneers in Uncharted Territory is a summer exhibition of experimental, participatory art involving more than 30 artists / art collectives working in a variety of media, including, with a strong emphasis on audience and artist interaction. The ongoing exhibits will engage visitors as participants, continually changing and offering something new to see with each visit. The public is invited to visit Emergence on Saturdays and Sundays 11 am to 6 pm from now through July 26, 2008.
NEW YORK – On Saturday, May 31, 2008 Governors Island's will officially open for the season, in tandem with FIGMENT's project, "EMERGENCE". The exhibition will include 25 artists groups and collaborative projects. The focus is on the history and significance of Governors Island and revealing it through participatory art.
Artists and art collectives: Anne Arden McDonald, artcodex, Asha Ganpat, Avant Car Guard (South Africa), Chris Jordan, Casper Electronics, Christian Nerf/Barend de Wet/Douglas Gimberg (South Africa), Damon Hamm, Dana Salisbury, Erik Fabian, Eugenia Yu, Friendly Falcons & Their Friend the Snake, G-77, Jason Van Anden & Nate Hawks, John Krill (South Africa), John Walter, Michael Alan, Monica Muller, Peripheral Media Projects, Pornj Diamond Cell, Sarah Phillips, Saviour Scraps, Tara Parsons, Tim & Martin Dockery, Triangle Project (Denmark, Istanbul), and Urban Homesteading Project.
The EMERGENCE Curatorial Committee: Johan Kritzinger, Joyce Manalo, Elke Dehner and Audrey Boguchwal.
Click here for the press release.
IMAGE: "Summer Homestead" by Urban Homesteading Project
The Ides Of March
When: May 31-July 26, 2008
Where: ABC No Rio
The 6th Biannual Ides of March in 2008 also marks the 30th anniversary of Collaborative Projects (“Colab”). The objective of Colab is to “function as a group of artists with complementary resources and skills providing a solid ground for collaborative work directed to the needs of the community-at-large”. The founding elements of Colab are the resonant theme of this year’s group exhibition; the process of collaboration among existing collectives and artist groups.
Today, individual aesthetic is the most common practice known for artistic contribution and appreciation. However, it is important to note that collaboration among artists have existed as early as the 17th century. Although it is not new, the attention on artistic collaboration is becoming more conspicuous. Furthermore, it is contributing a profound effect on new practices in art making. Technological advances and use of image editing software, e-mail, photo and video sharing websites, and live video feeds, elevate the rise in cross-border virtual communities where collaborations become more accessible, transparent, efficient, and familiar.
Challenges are considerably intensified when working with multiple individuals as opposed to working on one’s own. Despite the fact that this process is ridden with ego, criticism, and undefined boundaries, the reward is great, a tangible piece of creative amelioration begot through vision coalescence and beneficial compromise. Upon execution, a collaborative piece achieves a radical status when it fluidly sustains the integrity of each artist’s perspective and visual language. The outcome is less predictable but nevertheless more anticipated by both creator and audience.
Ides of March 2008 has over 30 projects with reverberating themes that include the impact of the real estate industry on an art community; immigration and the de-objectification of people, ecological and biological sustainability; global transfer of experience and knowledge; and Doomsday destruction in terms of war, patriotism, community mobilization and escapism. The hope is to cultivate the consciousness of our current political, economic, and social state and to inspire future artistic mobilization and participatory autonomy.
Ides of March Artists: artcodex / Bartolomeu, Catbagan, Dunne, Ksel & Horton / Berenbaum, Ciarleglio & Haske / Broadthinking / Collective Gesture / Cueva & Wells / E.Y.E. (Erase Your Ego) / Endless Love Crew / Flux Factory / G-77 / Genefree / Greenwald, et al. / Harrah & Kipp / it/EQ / JustSeeds/Visual Resistance / Kokoronis, Heller & Weeks / Kretschmar, Brown & Mayton / Liz-N-Val / Mail/Art Global Collaborative / Matles & Baracz / Mcgill, Harrington & Edison / Mcternan & Goldstine / PerfectEight / Porter & Bautista / Porter & Suma / Ridge Street Gallery / Shepperson, Stein & Radford / Shit TV / Subject To Change / The Friendly Falcons & Their Friend the Snake / The Pipeline Project / Three Wise Goats / Zuvuya Collective
The Ides of March Curatorial Committee: Michael Cataldi, Steven Englander, Michael Estabrook, Vandana Jain, Vikki Law, Joyce Manalo, and Scott Seaboldt.
Click here for the press release
Image: "What Makes an Artist Collaborative Start Fires?", 2008, Subject to Change, mixed media, various dimensions
Logistics of Space
When: February 9 - March 5, 2008
Where: Collective Gallery 173-171
“Logistics of Space” is a group show of photography, mixed media art and video by Leah Oates, Virginie Sommet and Pierre St-Jacques. Amidst a metropolis of thousands of people, multitudes of social situations, and a handful of empathic moments, survival becomes a complicated undertaking. The pieces concurrently epitomizes human predicament in urban life that challenge the logistics of space.
Pierre St-Jacques’ nine-part video series describes how, like the crowded metropolis, an interior space can provide a difficult topography in the navigation of the every day. Feelings of claustrophobia, anxiety, and estrangement envelop the theme. Leah Oates photographed the beauty of barren landscapes, abandoned structures and forgotten objects in Newfoundland, Canada and Turku, Finland. This journey to a place of silence and peace represents a physical escape. Virginie Sommet’s three-dimensional pieces, truly reflects a suspension of space and time that enables existence in one’s living space despite the nature of urban environment’s interruptions and dissolutions. The meditative element of her pieces offers a resolution in finding internal peace, independent from locale.
Artists: Leah Oates, Virginie Sommet, and Pierre St-Jacques
Image: "Pool House", 2005, Leah Oates, C-Print, 20" x 24"
"Countenance"
When: January 10-February 21, 2008
Where: Mazi's Cafe, Lower East Side
She represents various characters with faces as part of her subjects that are reminiscent of African art’s expression of human essence within an object. Faces reveal themselves with contemplative and yet aware lowered eyes. Characters within the impermanent landscape are symbolic of obscure personal references pointing towards a self-realization.
The audience is awarded for letting their eyes oscillate from line to line. Forms begin to appear and disappear. Faces become apparent with the free-flowing paint. Birds migrate towards a direction that is driven by instinct. Mountains freshly emerge out of the surface. Twigg presents this world as a manifestation of the psyche that embodies derivations of countenance as it relates to behavior and identity.
Image: "Hollowed", 2005, india ink, enamel, acrylic on canvas 30" x 80"
"All Bets Are Off"
When: November 16-
December 20, 2007
Where: Mazi's Cafe, Lower East Side
John Gagliano’s paintings are a promulgation of various emotions. Betting is a visceral act. The body is running on adrenaline, where the highs are highs and the lows are bottomless. The backgrounds of each scene, suggest colors of the subject’s adrenaline pumping euphoria and despair. “Pimlico is More Important” depicts a man who is on the verge of winning, unconsciously knowing that he’s also on the verge of losing. Gagliano’s hue of red and green is maddening, referencing Vincent Van Gogh's color choices to reveal emotion. Van Gogh said, “I have tried to express the terrible passions of humanity by means of red and green”.
2007 marks Gagliano’s five-year anniversary at the OTB. His major piece, “Oak Tree at Santa Anita” reveals various characters he has met over the years. There are 14 men that come from all walks of life. They are rich and poor, young and old, drunk and sober. Despite differences, they are all regulars as the horses that run the race. These characters are floating within the canvas, resembling the feeling of weightlessness while gambling. OTB is indeed, an abysmal place, one cannot escape those live feed televisions. The feeds exist outside the OTB. Bukowski once said, “if you're losing your soul and you know it, then you've still got a soul left to lose”. With a life of addiction, all bets are off.
Click here for press release
New works by Chris Georgalas
When: September 21 - October 31, 2007
Where: Mazi's Cafe, Lower East Side
Please join us in celebrating Chris Georgalas solo show of six new works. His pieces are multi-dimensional in medium and nostalgic references. This artist's canvas is made up of attentively chosen “found objects”. The process of drawing, painting, sculpture and collage are all apparent in his works. The recurring subject of his pieces plays on the audience's recollection of virility in classical movies, art history, and childhood.
"The Grass is Greener on the Other Side..So What?"
When: June 23-August 31, 2007
Where: Leo Fortuna Gallery, Hudson, NY
Leo Fortuna gallery is pleased to announce an independently curated show of painting and photography that reveals the commonality and charm of people, places and objects in poor, middle-class and affluent neighborhoods. Our memories of shopkeepers, street corners, and benches in the park vary widely due to differences in our socioeconomic backgrounds. From time to time, we become susceptible to futile attempts on meaningless comparisons and biases. This psychosis of discontent is resolved through acceptance of benefits and detriment in distinct local environs.
Artists: Justin Allen, Yayoi Asoma, Kevin Cooley, David Faust, and Lisa Krivacka
Curator: Joyce Manalo
Image: "2 Pondfield (view from Breitches)", 2007, Yayoi Asoma, acrylic on canvas, 96” x 144”
Click here for Press Release
For additional exhibition materials and artist information
please e-mail joyce@art-forward.com
