featured project
R+R artists’ paths converged during their 2019 residency at Millay Arts. United by their passion for sculpture and approach to life, they became fast friends committed to keeping their long-distance friendship going. E.E.E. is their inaugural project, for which they were awarded an LMCC Creative Engagement Award. Through their curatorial project, they aim to foster community by merging their NY/Miami worlds. As artists, they felt strongly about producing in-person experiences and giving their peers autonomy over their narratives—”Real people, real objects, real connections.” They envision E.E.E. to be more than just a group show. It is a home base where, for two weeks, they host events and set up communal artwork. “We hope the show will be the first step in an ongoing dialogue that does not end when the exhibition doors close,” said the show curators, Rina AC Dweck and Richard Moreno.
Tell us more about this curatorial project.
What does it mean when we are prematurely forced to reckon with mortality? Faced with the finite, we start collecting, clutching, and holding on for dear life. As soulful beings, our human connections matter most when we feel Things slipping away. We can’t take It with us, but we can undoubtedly convince ourselves that such a declaration is better ignored. The Object becomes the tangible connection to the narrative. Defining becomes an act of survival. We start labeling Articles that connect our story’s dots as precious or prized beyond replacement. Without ‘Them’, will we remember or be remembered? The Stuff, charged by its possession, is our tether to existence.
Since the beginning of time, artists have been designated storytellers and questioners. Their obsessive desire to assign ‘Things’ meaning stands out when messianic or “eschatonic” planning seems pervasive at this dystopian moment. R+R Collective has gathered an intimate and sentimental group, each with the distinct practice of embedding and elevating Objects that hold personal significance.
What are we going to see there?
We are showing a wide variety of work. Much of it is sculpture or mixed media. As artists who make sculptures, we often utilize the energy of found objects, so we chose peers who shared similar practices and concepts. We also created the structure for a communal work, R+R Collection, to focus on our theme and bring the community together creatively. Some of our artists also contributed to our R+R Market, where small works, crafts, and printed matter are for sale. We invite visitors to view the works, participate in programming, and contribute by donating a small precious trinket of their own. The gallery is our home base and where we can collectively contemplate the futility of such inherent humanistic pursuits.
Everything Ends Eventually Curated by R+R Collective-Rina AC Dweck and Richard Moreno Latchkey Gallery, 173 Henry Street, LES, NYC. Closing performance night: 8-17. Artists: Rina AC Dweck, Juan Pablo Garza, Genesis Moreno, Richard Moreno, Julia Norton, Edison Peñafiel, Rachel Klinghoffer, Megan Solis, Kate Stone, Victoria Shaheen, Armando Zamora
About the curators: Rina AC Dweck @rinadweck (b.1976) is a sculptor and mixed media artist. Her use of hair as a material signifier tethers her to explorations on identity, femininity, religion, and freedom. She was born and raised in Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn. Dweck graduated from The School of Visual Arts, MFA Fine Arts program, with honors in 2018. She earned her BS in Studio Art from New York University in 1998. She was awarded the ChaNorth solo show (2019) and has exhibited work in numerous group exhibitions, including Emily Davis Gallery-The University of Akron (OH), Microscope Gallery (NY), Paradice Palase (NY), and Platform Project Space (NY). Residencies include Ragdale (Ill), Mass MoCA (Mass), Millay Arts (NY), Portal Governors Island (NY), and Vermont Studio Center (VT). Press includes a Critic’s Page feature in the Brooklyn Rail (2021). Rina lives and works in downtown Manhattan.
Richard Moreno (b.1993) @richie666 is an artist from Miami, Florida. He is known for his large-scale sculptures and installations that blend elements of sound and light. He received his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2017 and his MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. Moreno’s artistic ethos draws inspiration from the natural world, weaving together an enchanting tapestry of spirituality and invention. His creations evoke a sense of mysticism, transporting viewers to a realm where ancient wisdom converges with contemporary interpretation. As a musician and artist he’s interested in distortion, how things can get bent, warped, and stretched inside the mind to build meaning, and moments of heightened awareness. Additionally, the artist’s upbringing within the vibrant subcultures of black and heavy metal music serves as a rich wellspring of inspiration, infusing his work with a unique blend of energy, rebellion, and cultural nuance.