immigration – Page 3

April 16, 2021November 2, 2022, by Anna Mikaela Ekstrand

Katya Grokhovsky: FANTASYLAND at Smack Mellon

In Dialogue with Katya Grokhovsky

A picture containing clothes, cluttered

Description automatically generated — Katya Grokhovsky, Fantasyland, 2021. Images courtesy of Smack Mellon. Photos: Etienne Frossard

Katya Grokhovsky ‘s site-specific installation FANTASYLAND at Smack Mellon explores the rise and fall of a fantastical empire and its uncertain future. Giant plush toys, inflatable beach balls, deconstructed and re-assembled mannequins, an unfinished carousel structure, recycled parachute canopies, wallpaper, a glowing neon sign, and performance videos, altogether underscore American society’s surplus of objects, and unbridled desire for material possessions, ironically, the capitalist symbol of freedom. The artist scrutinizes the American Dream through an immigrant lens, exposing a desirable yet unattainable mirage. Katya Grokhovsky’s work is currently on view in the solo exhibition FANTASYLAND at Smack Mellon, through May 2^nd, 2021.

December 19, 2020November 2, 2022, by Anna Mikaela Ekstrand

The Immigrant Artist Biennial: Priyanka Dasgupta & Chad Marshall

Priyanka Dasgupta & Chad Marshall, *The Silk & Spice Tour: Calcutta,* 2020, Ink on Paper, 17 X 24.5 inches, ©Priyanka Dasgupta & Chad Marshall

The Immigrant Artist Biennial (TIAB) is a volunteer, female-led, artist-run project. TIAB 2020 launched in March in New York City at Brooklyn Museum, and continued in September through December at EFA Project Space, Greenwood Cemetery, and virtually, presenting 60+ artists. This interview series features 10 participating artists.

Priyanka Dasgupta and Chad Marshall’s practice draws from sociological conventions, archival texts, and postcolonial studies to examine power and disenfranchisement in the US and their relationship to appearance. Recent exhibitions of their work include ‘Uptown Triennial’ (2020), ‘The Immigrant Biennial’ (2020), ‘Pigeonhole,’ Knockdown Center, NY (2019), Dodd Galleries, UGA, Athens (2019), Sunroom Project: Paradise, WaveHill, NY (2018), In Practice: Another Echo, SculptureCenter, NY (2018). Residencies include Artist Studio Program, Smack Mellon (2018-19) and AIRspace, Abrons Arts Center (2018). Dasgupta and Marshall’s work has been reviewed in various publications. They are recipients of the Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, 2019-20.

December 17, 2020November 2, 2022, by Anna Mikaela Ekstrand

The Immigrant Artist Biennial: Georgia Lale

Georgia Lale, “3”, 2020, performance, photo by Petros Lales

Georgia Lale is Greek visual artist with Anatolian heritage, based in New York City. She received her MFA from the School of Visual Arts, NYC, and her BFA from the Athens School of Fine Arts, Greece. She is the recipient of several awards and fellowships. Her work has been shown internationally in Berlin, Venice, Brussels, Izmir, and Athens, among others. She has presented her work in major performance festivals, such as the Venice International Performance Art Week and Nuit Blanche Festival in Brussels. Lale’s work has been exhibited in the New York City area, including Smack Mellon, Shiva Gallery, and The Hole. She has been invited to talk about her work by Yale University, the Dedalus Foundation, and MoMA. Her public performance #OrangeVest was presented at the Greek Pavilion at the 15th Venice Architecture Biennale.

December 15, 2020November 2, 2022, by Anna Mikaela Ekstrand

The Immigrant Artist Biennial: Renana Neuman

Renana Neuman, Temporarily Removed, Part 1, Daydreaming, installation view, 2019, photo courtesy the artist

Renana Neuman is a Brooklyn-based artist, producer, and curator born in Israel. In her artistic practice, Renana makes media-installations that mash together eras, continents, and modes of consciousness. She combines video, animation, and text to describe the emotion-driven political ambiguities of our contemporary moment. Renana’s works invoke the ghosts of our cultures and invite them to haunt us, to tell us their stories, to play.

December 10, 2020November 2, 2022, by Anna Mikaela Ekstrand

The Immigrant Artist Biennial: Nazanin Noroozi

A picture containing water, sitting, holding, person

Description automatically generated — Nazanin Noroozi, The Rip Tide, 2020. Cyanotype, pastel and ink on paper, 20 x 28 inches, photo courtesy the artist

Nazanin Noroozi works predominantly in the medium of printmaking, but also incorporates moving images and alternative photography processes exploring new ways to represent the notions of collective memory, displacement and diaspora. Noroozi’s work has been widely exhibited in both Iran and the United States, including the Museum of Russian Art, Noyes Museum of Art, NY Live Arts, Prizm Art Fair, and Columbia University. She is the recipient of awards and fellowships from , Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, NYFA IAP 2018, Mass MoCA Residency, North Adams, MA and Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts Residency, Ithaca, NY and the winner of “Selection of A New Generation” competition. She is an editor-at-large of Kaarnamaa, a Journal of Art History and Criticism. Noroozi completed her MFA in painting and drawing from Pratt Institute in 2015. Her works have been featured in various publications including Elephant Magazine, Financial Times, and Brooklyn Rail.

December 1, 2020November 2, 2022, by Anna Mikaela Ekstrand

The Immigrant Artist Biennial: Sari Nordman

Sari Nordman, Assembling on Ancient Towers, 2020, video, video still courtesy the artist

Sari Nordman, a native of Finland, is a NYC-based interdisciplinary artist working with dance, video and installation. She loves to travel to the isolated parts of the world to reflect on nature, history and female experience, the recurring themes in her works. She continues developing Torni-Tower, an installation work which has received support from the Catwalk Institute and NYU, The Immigrant Artist Biennial, The Amsterdam Collective and Tohmajärvi Residency, for Jamaica Flux: Workspaces and Windows 2021 exhibition and Performance Mix Festival. She worked as a performer with choreographer Dean Moss in 2009-2018, and holds a M.F.A. from NYU/Tisch School of The Arts.

November 28, 2020November 2, 2022, by Anna Mikaela Ekstrand

The Immigrant Artist Biennial: Bianca Abdi-Boragi

Bianca Abdi-Boragi, Barbary Fig, still, short film, 17 min

Bianca Abdi-Boragi is a French-Algerian/American interdisciplinary artist who received her MFA from Yale School of Art, Sculpture, in 2017 and obtained her BFA from ENSAPC. Her solo shows include “The Heel of the Loaf” at Border Project Space and a presentation at CADAF Art Fair, she has exhibited with the Immigrant Artist Biennial, NARS Foundation, Border Project Space, VCU Arts, NURTUREart Gallery, Chashama Gallery, Field Project Gallery, Galerie Protégé, and The Clemente Soto Velez Center NY, among others.

November 24, 2020November 2, 2022, by Anna Mikaela Ekstrand

The Immigrant Artist Biennial: Jorge Rojas

Jorge Rojas performing tether, Performance Art Festival (PAF), Salt Lake City Public Library, 2018. Photo credit: Adelaide Ryder. Courtesy of the artist

Jorge Rojas is an artist from Cuautla, Morelos, México. He is interested in cultural, social, spiritual and mediated forms of communication. Rojas uses performance to bring people together through participation, interaction, and active engagement. His interests include spiritual histories, interpretations of ancient rites and customs, institutional critique, and responding to abuses of power.

November 18, 2020November 18, 2020, by Etty Yaniv

Americans Looking In at The Center for Book Arts

In Dialogue with Emilie Ahern and Sherri Littlefield

The curators, Emilie Ahern (left) and Sherri Littlefield (right), stand in the exhibition space among the works from Americans Looking In. Photo credit: Andrew Littlefield

In the thought-provoking group show Americans Looking In at the Center for Book Arts the curators Emilie Ahern and Sherri Littlefield explore what it means to be “American” mostly through media such as photography, book art, sculpture and prints. Their personal experience of coming from multicultural backgrounds and growing up in the States has prompted them to ask the question – What is American culture today, and what does an American look like?

November 17, 2020November 2, 2022, by Anna Mikaela Ekstrand

The Immigrant Artist Biennial: Yikui (Coy) Gu

Yikui (Coy) Gu, *Oriental Flavor*. 2019. Gouache, charcoal, acrylic, gouache on photograph, chopsticks. Ramen noodle packaging & flavoring pack on bristol board.

The Immigrant Artist Biennial (TIAB) is a volunteer, female-led, artist-run project. TIAB 2020 launched in March in New York City at Brooklyn Museum, and continues in September through December at EFA Project Space, Greenwood Cemetery, and virtually, presenting 60+ artists. This interview series features 10 participating artists.

Yikui (Coy) Gu was born in 1983 in Nantong, China and emigrated to the United States at the age of seven, growing up in Albany, NY. Yikui (Coy) Gu has a BFA from Long Island University and an MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He has exhibited his work nationally in New York, Miami, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Boston, and St. Louis; and internationally in London, Berlin, and Siena, Italy. His work has been reviewed in the Washington Post, KunstForum International, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Yale Daily News. His work has appeared on the cover of the Lower East Side Review, and in Fresh Paint and Art Maze. He resides in Philadelphia and teaches as Associate Professor of Art at the College of Southern Maryland. He is currently plotting in his South Philly studio, while remaining mostly harmless.