In Conversation

September 9, 2024October 6, 2024

Reshaping space through photography: Anna Berenice Garner & Janila Castañeda

*Anna Berenice Garner, installation view of exhibition titled, Topografías y otras ficciones, image courtesy of Lateral gallery*

For a few months now, Anna and I have been discussing her practice in preparation for her most recent solo show in Mexico City titled Topografías y otras ficciones. As we have been navigating concepts around the notions of landscape and the role of the image in the construction of truth, our exchanges included topics such as the body and its relationship with space, methods of reshaping space through photography, as well as the potential of merging sculpture and photography to rethink the environments that construct the unquestionable truths under which we guide our existence. This interview compiles key points from our face-to-face and written exchanges while capturing insights into the artist’s current approach to her work.

August 15, 2024August 16, 2024

Jan Dickey with Amanda Millet-Sorsa

in conversation

A person sitting in a chair in a studio

Description automatically generated — Jan Dickey. Photo Credit: Farfar Studios

Jan Dickey moved to New York City during the pandemic by way of Hawaiʻi, where he completed his MFA from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. In New York, he has shown his paintings at My Pet Ram, D.D.D.D., and Below Grand gallery among other locations. Recently he completed a materials-based residency at the Sam and Adele Golden Foundation (2023) and this interview seeks to delve deeper into his unique use of hand-mixed natural painting mediums like rabbit skin glue, casein, egg tempera, and oil paint. Currently he has an exhibition of new work at Bob’s Gallery, an experimental space in Bushwick: “The Generations” on through August 18th, 2024. Dickey is also the newest member of Artcake, an art center in Sunset Park that provides artists with affordable studio spaces and artistic programming.

August 1, 2024August 2, 2024

UNCOMMITTED at Stand4 Gallery

In Conversation

A. E Chapman with Magdalena Dukiewicz, Bang Geul Han, and Georgia Lale

Install image: (left to right) Bang Geul Han’s, Warp and Weft #02 – Toilet, Warp and Weft #02 – Reading, and Warp and Weft #03 – Sleeping, all from 2022, Georgia Lale’s 404,770 on Inauguration Day, 2021, Stand4 Gallery

UNCOMMITTED at Stand4 focuses on civic literacy, engagement, and social matters which affect and reflect the daily lives of folks within Bay Ridge. This local lens also overlaps with national issues surrounding the 2024 presidential election. In particular, these artists examine concerns related to health care, migration, conflict, tensions between state and federal voting rights, the role of technology, surveillance, and advocacy. Art Spiel invited the curator of the show, A.E. Chapman, to elaborate on these concerns and their relevance within each of their works in the exhibition.

July 25, 2024July 24, 2024

Intimate Space, Entangling Threads – Sharon Liu and Hanna Hirakawa with Naomi Okubo

In Conversation

Naomi Okubo, *Little Mama – Closely Glazed Space*, 2024, acrylic on canvas, ©Naomi Okubo, courtesy of Fou Gallery

Naomi Okubo has been creating works that explore the themes of identity and relationships with others. Her paintings, sculptures, and installations often feature multiple portraits of herself in imaginary, fantasized settings full of decorative patterns and vibrant colors that blur the boundary between the self and the surrounding environment. This ambiguity regarding identity stems from her experiences of struggling to establish selfhood in relation to others during her adolescence. One of her turning points was when she developed her interest in Wardian cases or what she calls “closely glazed spaces.”

May 14, 2024July 19, 2024

Marina Kassianidou: A Partial History

in conversation

During her solo exhibition at the NARS Foundation, artist Marina Kassianidou spoke with Mary Annunziata, who previously curated Marina’s work, A Partial History, as part of the inaugural Immigrant Artist Biennial in 2020. In her exhibition at NARS, Marina presents new work inspired by her grandmother’s collection of 19th and 20th-century schoolbooks from Cyprus. On display are four photographs of selected pages from these books, four artist’s books that recreate the full original texts, and four large sculptural drawings. The show celebrates a call and response with ancestors’ material history, showcasing Marina’s time-intensive artistic process in which she works with surfaces found in her surroundings, such as walls, floors, fabrics, paper, and screens, and experiments with ways of marking that respond to the surface’s appearance, use, or history.

May 4, 2024May 4, 2024

Katie Hector & Ernesto Renda: on East & West Coast exhibitions

In conversation

Ernesto Renda and Katie Hector in their studios. Images courtesy of the artists.

Ernesto Renda and I first met on the internet, as more and more artists do. A follow turned into likes, which developed into mutual curiosity and respect for each other’s practice. Renda, who lives in New York, and I in Los Angeles, kept in touch for months, viewing miniature backlit versions of the other’s work while each suspecting there was more than met the eye. As fate would have it, Renda’s solo exhibition, The Moment of Truth, opened at Moskowitz Bayse in Los Angeles; subsequently, my solo exhibition, EGO RIP, opened at Management in New York City two weeks later. Viewing the work in person was enlightening and generated conversations around material play, intuition, and the verisimilitude of our subjects. These brief yet poignant chats inspired us to pose the questions below from the perspective of one visual practitioner to another.

April 1, 2024April 1, 2024

Among Friends

In Conversation

In the summer of 2017, Beth Dary and Patricia Fabricant visited the Museum of Modern Art to see the Robert Rauschenberg show Among Friends. As they were looking at the exhibition, they separated and later found each other at the installation of Hiccups, which consisted of ninety-seven sheets of handmade paper with original Xerox transfer collages zipped together. “At that moment, we both had the same thought—we could hand out zipper papers to our friends to create a great collaborative show,” they recall. Patty had been simultaneously talking with Alexandra Rutsch Brock, who was similarly inspired by Hiccups and had even gone so far as purchasing some zippers. They reached out to their friend groups, and it took off from there. “We had no idea how it would turn out, but we knew it would be a fun adventure,” the co-curators say. Since this art project initiative started during the Trump administration, when women’s rights were under attack. it was important for them to include a charitable component such as Planned Parenthood.

February 19, 2024February 19, 2024

Grotto: Shrine @ Soloway

In conversation with Hannah Barrett and Saul Chernick

Saul Chrnick and Hannah Barrett in front of the gallery

The Grotto: Shrine group exhibition at Soloway Gallery, curated by Hannah Barrett and Saul Chernick, featuring works by Orli Swergold, Laurel Sparks, Ben Pederson, and Saul Chernick, merges the physical with the mystical. It showcases sculptures and installations that draw on the use of scale and a diverse range of materials—obsolete electronics, dried grains, paper pulp, and glitter. These elements serve to connect viewers to celestial, underworld, ritualistic, and imaginative realms, referencing the reflective and immersive qualities of shrines and grottos.

October 30, 2023September 28, 2023

Cross-Continental dialogue: Marie-Chloé Duval and Yulia Bas

In Conversation

Yulia Bas, Barcelona 2023 and Marie-Chloé Duval, NYC 2022, credit: Keith Selby

Art’s ability to transcend borders becomes evident as two distinct artists engage in a cross-continental dialogue. Yulia Bas, hailing from the sun-soaked landscapes of Spain, and Marie-Chloé Duval, an artistic force from Canada, come together to delve into the intricacies of their creative processes. This exchange goes beyond cultural distinctions, bridging the gap between mediums. Through their conversation, Bas and Duval explore inspirations, techniques, and the universal language that connects artists worldwide.

July 5, 2023June 14, 2023

Gathering with Asianish

In Conversation

**Asianish potluck gathering (photo credit: Sara Jimenez, September 22, 2022)**

Co-curators Cecile Chong and Sophia Ma are delighted to present “Gathering,” an exhibition that showcases the connections between forty-five Asianish artists and their artwork. Asianish, an informal collective of AAPI artists and art professionals, was established in March 2018 to foster a safe and inclusive environment for a diverse community of Asian identities. Through conversations, artistic expression, and shared meals, the group explores themes such as code-switching in art contexts and the longing for a sense of belonging in their adopted homeland. The exhibition will be held at Tiger Strikes Asteroid–New York (TSA-NY) in Bushwick from June 24 to July 30, 2023, and at FiveMyles in Crown Heights from July 8 to August 13, 2023.