Tag: conceptual art

Posted on , by Etty Yaniv

Katya Grokhovsky’s Rigorous Play

Katya Grokhovsky‘s performances and sculptural works embody raw energy fueled by her rigorous and uncompromising process. Grokhovsky’s work is  extreme, fearless, cohesive, and ambitious. With great agility she combines media like performance, video, drawing, and sculpture to create immersive environments that delve us deep into a chaotic unknown – the complexity of self, the duplicity of social norms, the twilight  zones of life and art. In this interview for Art Spiel Grokhovsky elaborates on her impetus, ideas, and projects as a prolific artist and curator.

Katya Grokhovsky,Bad Woman, 2017, video still

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Posted on , by Etty Yaniv

Shari Mendelson: The Beauty of Objects Left Behind

First Look: Shari Mendelson: Glasslike at UrbanGlass

Shari Mendelson, Walking Animal with Vessel in Net, 12″ x 6″ x 9″, Repurposed plastic, hot glue, acrylic polymer, metal, resin, paint, mica, 2018, photo credit: Polite Photographic

The glasslike sculptures in Shari Mendelson’s current exhibition at UrbanGlass conjure mythical narrative with an urgent sense of the present. Based on rigorous study, the artist draws upon primarily glass artifacts from ancient Rome and early Islam, to form imaginative, witty, and playful sculptures made of throwaway plastic bottles. While avoiding simple mimicking of ancient artifacts, Mendelson’s vases, urns, animals, and figures alike create forms and forge narratives that link present to past in fresh and multilayered ways, as the show curator Elizabeth Essner puts it – “the previous lives of her [Mendelson’s] materials emerge: the bottoms of bottles are reborn as faceted ornament, a milk jug becomes an animal, the visage of a figure appears, formed from the tiniest bits of plastic.” Continue reading “Shari Mendelson: The Beauty of Objects Left Behind”

Posted on , by Etty Yaniv

Laurie O’Brien – Peephole Cinema in Brooklyn, a Path towards Generosity

Martina Menegon, Splits Are Parted, Film Still, 2016, photo courtesy of the artist

Laurie O’Brien is a visual artist, teacher, and culture maker. She has just launched in Bushwick her Peephole cinema project , a free public cinema showing short, experimental silent films 24/7, through a dime-sized peephole.  In this interview with Art Spiel O’Brien talks about her experience as an artist and educator, her love of animation, and the story behind her project. Continue reading “Laurie O’Brien – Peephole Cinema in Brooklyn, a Path towards Generosity”

Posted on , by Etty Yaniv

Viviane Rombaldi Seppey – Mapping her Road

Viviane Rombaldi Seppey, “Fragile”, hand cut atlas page (The World), wire, glass dome, plastic base, diameter 6 inches, 2017. Photo credit Etienne Frossard

In her poetic and playful installations Viviane Rombaldi Seppey coalesces everyday objects and materials, altogether bringing to mind  contemporary issues of identity, culture and environment. Maps, phonebooks, and books become directly embedded in her work as drawings, collages or sculptural objects. She has recently shared in an interview with Art Spiel some of her ideas and experiences. Continue reading “Viviane Rombaldi Seppey – Mapping her Road”

Posted on , by Etty Yaniv

Martynka Wawrzyniak – Ziemia: From Warsaw to Greenpoint

Ziemia unveiled at McGolrick Park, photo credit Wojtek Kubik

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”

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Peter Gynd – Studio on the Road

Peter Gynd, Blanketed 15-003, 2017, archival inkjet print on Hahnemulhe  photo rag 308gsm, 15.875 x 23.75 inches framed, Edition of 5 +1AP , photo courtesy of the artist

Peter Gynd is a prolific artist, curator, and gallery director. As a Canadian artist who has been well immersed in the New York City art world, Gynd has a vista on both worlds from a unique perspective. We have been in dialogue for several years and this is a compilation of the issues we have touched upon in our conversations. Continue reading “Peter Gynd – Studio on the Road”

Posted on , by Etty Yaniv

Hecho en Tránsito / Made in Transit at Salena

Travis Leroy Southworth  & Lisbet Roldan Collaboration Version 3, photo courtesy of the curator

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”

Posted on , by Etty Yaniv

Pop Goes The Weasel

POP GOES THE WEASEL- An exhibition that asks the question “why not”?

POP GOES THE WEASEL, installation view, photo courtesy of the curator

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”

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Andrew Cornell Robinson – Transgressing Across Time and Line

Andrew Cornell Robinson in the studio, photographed by Alex Reyes 2017

Andrew Cornell Robinson ‘s website indicates: “art + crafts research studio.” Largely known as a prolific ceramicist, Robinson’s oeuvre embraces a wide range of craft and design methods – resulting in an extensive body of drawings and diverse mixed media installations, all the way to performance. Throughout our multiple conversations I have been increasingly intrigued by his multi faceted imagination and asked him to learn more about his visual explorations. Continue reading “Andrew Cornell Robinson – Transgressing Across Time and Line”

Posted on , by Etty Yaniv

Liminal Worlds at Trestle Gallery

Anne Polashenski , Aliens in a New Land: Josef & Francziska Podleszański (Great Grandparents), 2015, C-prints, cut paper collage & gouache on paper, 23 x 19 in, photo courtesy of the artist

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”