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Ararat: Artists Coming Together in a Time of Crisis


Ararat Collective zoom session screen capture; Clockwise from left: Tusia Dabrowska, Orly Noa Rabiniyan, Jon Adam Ross, Diana Wyenn, Noa Charuvi, Randy Ginsburg, Agustin Jais and Robyn Awend

A new art collective was born out of the need to find purpose and connection during the shut down period caused by the Covid 19 pandemic. Now the collective members launch a webzine that invites everyone to peer into their minds, get inspired and think of the various ways creativity has a potential to help cope with a global disaster.

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Christopher Ulivo: The Present is Nonsense

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Christopher Ulivo, installation shot

Christopher Ulivo, the LA based painter, takes us in his vivid paintings to imaginary places, from time travel to ancestral family spirits to rewritten myths and histories. His worlds are filled with idiosyncratic, wildly imaginative narratives, where you can sense the painter’s presence as a prolific storyteller.

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Artists on Coping: Cheryl Wing-Zi Wong

During the Coronavirus pandemic, Art Spiel is reaching out to artists to learn how they are coping.


Constellation, 2017-2018. Installed at Seward Park Library, Lower East Side, NY.

Cheryl Wing-Zi Wong is a New York-based artist and trained architect working at the boundary of art, architecture and social practice. Cheryl investigates the transformation of shared space over time through sculpture, installation, performance and site-specific architectural interventions. Cheryl received her B.A. in Art and Italian at the University of California at Berkeley, studied sculpture at Brera Academy and earned her Master of Architecture from Columbia University GSAPP. Cheryl’s work has been commissioned by NYC Parks and DC Percent for Art and she has exhibited at Triangle Arts Association, NYFA, Istanbul Design Biennial, Taliesin West, Venice Biennale, Berkeley Art Museum, Museo della Permanente.

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Artists On Coping: Katelyn Alain

During the Coronavirus pandemic, Art Spiel is reaching out to artists to learn how they are coping.

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Abyss, 2020, in Alain’s studio

In her work, Katelyn Alain searches for new myths and archetypes that reflect the way we live now. She has been in solo and group shows throughout the United States, including Arcilesi Homberg Fine Art in New York, the Curtis Gallery in New Canaan, CT, the Skotia Gallery in Santa Fe, Thinkspace in Los Angeles, and the Dedee Shattuck Gallery in Westport, MA. Her work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, American Art Collector Magazine, Studio Visit Magazine, and Juxtapoz. She was recently a guest lecturer/visiting artist at Brooklyn College and is represented by Marloe Gallery in Brooklyn.

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Spotlight: “On Collecting Works of Art- An interview with Yelena Ambartsumian and Miroslav Grajewski”

Yelena Ambartsumian and Miroslav Grajewski at their home with work by Andre Butzer. Image courtesy of collectors and author.

Yelena Ambartsumian and Miroslav Grajewski are two young collectors who are passionate about contemporary art. They both have a sharpened sensibility of the art market. With a keen understanding of the auction prices, one of the things that separates them from other collectors is they firmly believe in going after the work they feel is most important to them. If there is such a thing as destiny their story would define it. Fittingly, they first met at the Museum of Modern Art in 2016. Six months into their relationship they purchased their first work of art together. They got married and continue to actively appreciate art and collect as a couple. I conducted an interview with them this past summer. I narrowed the field of questions to the nature of collecting; what interests them, and; the advice they would provide to other young collectors. The following is a transcribed interview.

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Laura Karetzky: The Action of Looking

Laura Karetzky, Embedded Brexit, 2019, oil on wood, 14” x 11”, photo: James Wade

Selfies in domestic interiors, mobile phones, and computer screens are ubiquitous throughout Laura Karetzky‘s paintings. Her fragmented figures inhabit familiar interior spaces such as a bedroom or a work space, resonating altogether the uncanny in our daily experiences in this digital age, where the boundaries between space, time, self and other become increasingly blurred and at times even disorienting. In
this interview with Art Spiel Laura Karetzky reflects on her figurative painting roots, her process, and her upcoming projects.

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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”