Contemporary Art and Culture
Kelsey Shwetz’s paintings bring to mind fantastic landscapes and ornamented interior spaces at the same time. Her imagery depicts artificial environments saturated with unexpected color combinations, altogether conjuring intense psychological urgency- unsettling yet playful. In this interview with Art Spiel Shwetz shared some of her thoughts, specifically about color, narrative and style. Continue reading “Kelsey Shwetz – Other than Linear Reality”
Unveiled on June 9, 2018, the core object in the multidisciplinary public art project Ziemia (“Earth” in Polish), takes the form of a ceramic orb. The orb was created by the Greenpoint based artist Martynka Wawrzyniak in collaboration with The Polish Cultural Institute of New York, NYC Parks, and most importantly – Greenpoint residents.
Surrounded by the rolling meadow in McGolrick Park, the orb represents the collective portrait of the diverse Greenpoint community, with an emphasis on participation of the many Poles who have lived in the neighborhood for generations. Martynka Wawrzyniak shares with Art Spiel the ideas behind her intriguing public art project, as well as some thoughts regarding her overall art practice. Continue reading “Martynka Wawrzyniak – Ziemia: From Warsaw to Greenpoint”
Rosaire Appel ‘s rigorous graphic explorations reveal an acute sensibility to the elusive line between language / sound and image. Her skills as a photographer, writer and draftswoman seamlessly coalesce in her book forms. We first met when I covered her exhibition at Schema Projects in 2013 – her abstract comics engaged me with their endless imaginative iterations and I have been curious to learn how her work has evolved since. Continue reading ” Rosaire Appel – Cajoling sound and image”
Curated by LYK Art Projects,”Perfected Scene” the upcoming show at John Doe Gallery features work by Jeff Liao, Jaye Rhee and Jason River, whose photographic works share a sense of manipulated stage-like worlds. Jeff Liao creates cityscapes with Utopian undercurrents, Jaye Rhee questions authenticity in making art, and Jason River creates enigmatic spaces with bare bodies and everyday objects. Continue reading “Perfected Scene at John Doe”
What happens when artists who come from different worlds encounter one another through art? How does access to information and materials in the U.S. and the constraint and lack in Cuba affect making art? What does a dialogue look like without words? The exhibition “Hecho en Tránsito / Made in Transit” that is currently presented at the LIU Salena gallery, is posing these questions with rigor. The artwork in this show is resulting of a long term project which was designed to foster intercultural dialogue between U.S. and Cuban artists, primarily through the exchange and collaborative creation of artwork. The visual dialogue between the artists is sustained in thought provoking ways across time, place, cultural differences, and political transitions. Continue reading “Hecho en Tránsito / Made in Transit at Salena”
POP GOES THE WEASEL- An exhibition that asks the question “why not”?
The group show “Pop Goes The Weasel” at The Williamsburg Art and Historical Society brings together a group of nineteen artists from Japan and the US, fifteen women and four men who are working in seemingly disparate ways. Curator and artist William Norton presents his premise as “Why not”? Why not bring together artists who simply share their pathos, political intent, psychological depth ,a love of materials, and above all, their joy in creating art? Continue reading “Pop Goes The Weasel”
Curated by Katerina Lanfranco, “Liminal Worlds,” the upcoming show at Trestle features four artists who reflect on the fluid dividing line between the multiple realities we experience as part of the human condition. Anne Polashenski and Greg Thielker examine notions of “self and other” through ethnography, immigrant experiences, and national borders. Ashley Hope and Elizabeth Insogna explore the elusive notions of spirit and afterlife. Altogether, through their artworks, these artists invite us to venture into territories that make us contemplate not only politics, but also the potential for deeper self-awareness. Continue reading “Liminal Worlds at Trestle Gallery”
Crystalline City is an exhibition of large-scale installations by Michal Gavish, on view now at the Humanities Gallery at LIU, Brooklyn. Presented in this unique glass walled gallery akin to a large scale oval diorama, the viewer can see the works from the outside. Designed on a combination of translucent fabrics and papers, the hand made prints transmit and reflect the surrounding lights and allow for multiple full views of the installation, through and around these fabrics. Continue reading “Michal Gavish – Crystalline City at LIU”
