Contents for August 5th, 2024
CONTENTS (please click on the links or scroll down for complete information on each post):
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Katie Cercone, Jodie Lyn-Kee-Chow, Chun Hua Catherine Dong, Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga, FF Alumns, at Governors Island, NYC, opening Aug. 17
2. Adam Pendleton, FF Alumn, at The 8th Floor, Manhattan, Sept. 19-Dec. 7
3. Blaise Tobia, FF Alumn, at The Whitney Museum of American Art, Manhattan, Sept. 25, 2024-Feb. 9, 2025 and more
4. Nina Sobell, FF Alumn, at Kingsborough Art Museum, Brooklyn, opening Aug. 9
5. Jay Critchley, FF Alumn, at P-town, Inc. Theme Park, MA, Aug 7-8
6. Chun Hua Catherine Dong, FF Alumn, in Times Square, Manhattan, August 1-30
7. Beverly Naidus, FF Alumn, at Solarpunk Surf Club, Lexington, KY, thru Aug. 23
8. Ray Johnson, FF Alumn, at Art Institute of Chicago, IL
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Katie Cercone, Jodie Lyn-Kee-Chow, Chun Hua Catherine Dong, Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga, FF Alumns, at Governors Island, NYC, opening Aug. 17
Spiritual Machines
August 17 – September 22, 2024
Flux Factory
404A Colonels Row, Governors Island
July 12 – August 11, 2024
Opening: Saturday, August 17, 12 – 5 pm
Performances: August 17 and September 21
Exhibition Hours: Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 12 – 5 pm
For more information: spiritualmachines.neocities.org
What do we retain about our humanity through cultural shifts that leave us accelerated far beyond what our ancestors dreamed of?
Spiritual Machines, an art exhibition at Flux Factory on Governors Island, opens Saturday August 17, from noon – 5 pm. The exhibition presents interdisciplinary works by leading contemporary artists encompassing new media, video, sculpture, installation, and performance.
The works respond to our current condition of technological advancement, addressing artificial intelligence, hybrid humans, what is real in an increasingly virtual world, and what cultural practices, rituals, and artifacts we are retaining, revisiting, and evolving along with us.
Additionally, there will be performance programs on August 17 and on September 21.
Exhibiting artists include Nimrod Astarhan, Katherine Bennett, Dennis Delgado, Chun Hua Catherine Dong, [M] Dudeck, Gabe Duggan, Sherese Francis, In Her Interior (Virginia Barratt and Francesca da Rimini), Sophie Kahn, Sylvia Ke, Adelle Lin, Coralina Rodriguez Meyer, Andres Senra, Linda Sok, Carlos David Trujillo, Lee Tusman, and Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga. With performances by Katie Cercone, Malu Laet, Adelle Lin, Avital Meshi, Glenn Potter-Takata, and more!
The exhibition is curated by artists Amelia Marzec and Jodie Lyn-Kee-Chow, with curatorial writing by Julia Stachura. It is supported by Flux Factory’s Governors Island Residency.
Flux Factory’s mission is to support emerging artists through Artist-in-Residencies and Exhibitions, education and collaborative opportunities. Flux is an artist-led space that builds sustainable communities and retains creative vitality in NYC. Since 1994 Flux has hosted over 300 Artists-in-Residence, both local and international, as well as staging over 700 exhibitions across all disciplines.
Flux Factory’s building on Governors Island is located at 404A Colonels Row, Governors Island, NY 10004. For directions please visit www.govisland.com/things-to-do/ongoing-programs/flux-factory
Press Contact: Meghana Karnik, meghana@fluxfactory.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2. Adam Pendleton, FF Alumn, at The 8th Floor, Manhattan, Sept. 19-Dec. 7
Announcing our Fall Exhibition
Scrawlspace
Curated by Emily Alesandrini and Lucia Olubunmi R. Momoh
2024 Curatorial Open Call Recipients
September 19 – December 7, 2024
The 8th Floor, NYC
Steffani Jemison, WLD (content aware), 2018. UV curable inkjet print on glass, acrylic, paper, polyester film. Courtesy of the artist and Greene Naftali, New York.
The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation is pleased to present Scrawlspace, a new group exhibition curated by Emily Alesandrini and Lucia Olubunmi R. Momoh at The 8th Floor on view from September 19 through December 7, 2024. The project brings together work by artists of the African diaspora who conceptually mine and aesthetically manipulate text, writing, and language. Artists include Sadie Barnette, Lukaza Branfan-Verissimo, Sonya Clark, Tony Cokes, Renee Gladman, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Steffani Jemison, Glenn Ligon, Adam Pendleton, Jamilah Sabur, Gary Simmons, and Shinique Smith.
Scrawlspace explores the in/ability of language and writing to fully encapsulate Black experiences. Through the visual re/working, re/imagining, and de/construction of texts, Black artists examine historically charged relationships to the written word while revealing new possibilities for and beyond writing. Some render phrases and words illegible, glyphic, or coded to the point that letters and graphic gestures no longer constitute language but become images, demonstrating an opacity, complexity, and multiplicity of meanings beyond sanctioned readings and definitions. The act of annotating and obscuring words and documents often serves as an intervention into difficult histories, such as the threat and power of state documentation and unknowable silences and omissions within the archive. And yet, artists also demonstrate how language can be utilized in acts of refusal, sabotage, and liberation, serving as instruments in community and world-building, and to explore pleasure and identity.
The term “scrawlspace” appears in Fred Moten’s 2017 Black and Blur, where he credits the term to Hortense Spillers. However, Moten could not locate the word’s origin in Spillers’ published writings, citing instead poet and scholar Harryette Mullen who previously credited “scrawl space” to Spillers. Spillers herself has recently shared with the curators that she has no recollection of inventing “Scrawlspace/scrawl space.” While its source remains unresolved, given the long history of the appropriation, manipulation, and theft of Black women and queer folx’s labor and language, Moten and Mullen’s insistence on citing Spillers demonstrates a shared admiration for (and perhaps attachment to) the concept, amplifying its enchantment and use. Its movement through various texts reflects the beautifully queer and caring traditions of Black writing and research practices, while also speaking to the collective nature of the creation process and of giving meaning to words. In this way, Scrawlspace also draws attention to citation as Black liberation praxis rooted in notions of kinship, weaving together writing, research, and visual creative practices. The curators are honored to carry on the conversation with an exhibition that features work by visual artists who seek liberation in, through, and against language.
Together, the works in Scrawlspace make apparent the de/re/constructive potential of the written word. As Saidiya Hartman reminds us, “The story exceeds the words…” By illustrating the in/ability of language to truly encompass the excess that is Black life, artists expand and invent new vocabularies, definitions, and grammars, while insisting that we must keep writing.
The 8th Floor
Thursday-Saturday, 11am-6pmr
#Scrawlspace #SightGeist
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. Blaise Tobia, FF Alumn, at The Whitney Museum of American Art, Manhattan, Sept. 25, 2024-Feb. 9, 2025 and more
Blaise Tobia’s (FF Alumn 1984) photos, documenting the work that Ellsworth Ausby did as part of the Cultural Council Foundation’s CETA Artists Project in 1978, are included in “Edges of Ailey” at the Whitney Museum, September 25, 2024–February 9, 2025. <https://whitney.org/exhibitions/edges-of-ailey>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4. Nina Sobell, FF Alumn, at Kingsborough Art Museum, Brooklyn, opening Aug. 9
Opening Reception:
1950 Oriental Blvd, Bklyn, NY
Friday August 9, 5-7pm.
REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.
RSVP on Eventbrite: https://techspressionism.com/rsvp
Techspressionism is an international community of artists who meet online in monthly Salons to share their work and discuss ideas related to art and technology. It is also a widely used hashtag on social media, used on over 70k Instagram posts by artists worldwide since 2021.
Sponsored by PSC-CUNY, the Kingsborough Art Museum will display the exhibition from August 7th to September 25th, 2024.
I look forward to seeing you at the opening.
Best,
Nina
ninasobell.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5. Jay Critchley, FF Alumn, at P-town, Inc. Theme Park, MA, Aug 7-8
P-town, Inc. Theme Park and CEO Jay Critchley present Innerworkings Theater’s
“A River to the Sky: The Life of Water”
created and performed by Arvid Tomayko and Wyona Gene Tourmaline
RESERVATIONS REQUIRED
Click here to reserve your ticket
Tickets: $10-30 sliding scale
Performance Details:
Dates: Wednesday, August 7th and Thursday, August 8th, 2024
Time: Doors 7:00 pm, Tour 7:30 pm (20 min), Performance 8:00 pm (50 min)
Location: P-town, Inc. Theme Park, 7 Carnes Ln, Provincetown, MA
Provincetown, MA – P-town, Inc. Theme Park and CEO Jay Critchley present “A River to the Sky: The Life of Water,” an experimental narrative performance by Innerworkings Theater’s Arvid Tomayko and Wyona Gene Tourmaline. This 50-minute multimedia performance will take audiences on a captivating voyage through time and imagination, exploring the essence of water and our deep connection to it.
About the Show:
Created and performed by Wyona Gene Tourmaline and Arvid Tomayko, “A River to the Sky: The Life of Water” is an immersive theater experience like no other. This captivating performance combines wearable sculpture, video projection, shadow play, spoken word, and sound, all set within a mesmerizing environment crafted by visionary artist Jay Critchley.
As you move through the visually dynamic environment, you’ll find yourself experiencing a narrative that spans the ancient past to speculative futures. Before the show begins, audiences will be treated to a guided tour of the space by Critchley himself, offering a glimpse into the alchemy that brings his world of art and activism to life.
The Narrative:
Prepare to be transported through portals of light emerging from the Earth’s depths to ethereal projections of ancestral bodies of water. Tourmaline and Tomayko weave a tale that interlaces human ancestors, ancient life, climate change, and potential futures, all brought to life through interactions with Critchley’s evocative environment and sculptures. As your hosts for the performance, a gaggle of sassy, opinionated dinosaur spirits share their wisdom and humor, guiding audiences to reflect on humanity’s relationship with weather patterns, climate change, and ancestral knowledge.
Artistic Elements:
Immersive Dance and Movement: Performers interact with projectors and lights, creating an ever-shifting visual narrative that engages the senses.
Shadow Play and Wearable Sculpture: These elements blend seamlessly with the performance environment, adding depth and texture to the story.
Video Projection and Somatic Meditation: These techniques explore the impact of climate change on life, drawing parallels between contemporary struggles and ancestral conflicts over water and land.
Short Description:
Through the wit and wisdom of dinosaur spirits, audiences embark on a journey from the ancient past into the distant future, revealing water’s forgotten secrets through mirrors and apparitions. This performance invites reflection on our environmental legacy with a perfect balance of humor and profound gravity.
About the Artists:
Wyona Gene Tourmaline (aka H. Gene Thompson): Based in both Pittsburgh, PA, and New Orleans, LA, Tourmaline brings a diverse performance background in interdisciplinary art, abstract puppetry, and somatic experiences.
Arvid Tomayko: A native of Provincetown and progeny of local artists Vicky Tomayko and Jim Peters, Tomayko has deep roots in the local community. Tomayko’s expertise in video art, sound design, and expressive technology brings the show’s production to a level rarely seen at this intimate scale.
This is the third collaboration between Tomayko and Critchley which included the Herring Cove Bathroom project, Ten Days that Shook the World, and Cryptic Providence at North Burial Ground, RI.
About Innerworkings Theater:
Innerworkings Theater, founded by H. Gene Thompson and Arvid Tomayko, is dedicated to creating innovative and immersive performance experiences. Based in both Pittsburgh, PA, and New Orleans, LA, they tour their work nationally, bringing thought-provoking and sensory-rich performances to diverse audiences.
About Jay Critchley:
CEO of P-town, Inc. Theme Park, Jay Critchley is a singular artist whose work employs locally sourced materials, architecture, installation, sculpture, film, performance, and text that explore environmental, social, and political themes. His global installations and performance environments challenge audiences to reflect on contemporary issues and their impact on our world. His ongoing project, Democracy of the Land, is a genre-bending creation that views the land, now disrupted and pained, as the promise of planetary regeneration. He is founder of the Provincetown Community Compact that sponsors the Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla. For info about the space email jay@thecompact.org
Join Us:
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to experience “A River to the Sky: The Life of Water” activating Jay Critchley’s Ptown Inc. Theme Park. Join us for an unforgettable performance that will leave you reflecting on our connection to water and the environment in new and meaningful ways.
For more information about the performance and to stay updated on future events, please check out Innerworkings Theater on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/innerworkings_theater/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6. Chun Hua Catherine Dong, FF Alumn, in Times Square, Manhattan, August 1-30
Please visit this link:
http://arts.timessquarenyc.org/times-square-arts/projects/midnight-moment/mulan/index.aspx
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
7. Beverly Naidus, FF Alumn, at Solarpunk Surf Club, Lexington, KY, thru Aug. 23
ALL POWER ON EARTH COMES FROM THE SUN: An International Exhibition of Ecosocial Art
Lexington, KY – July 8, 2024 – Solarpunk Surf Club is thrilled to announce ALL POWER ON EARTH COMES FROM THE SUN, a field sampling of contemporary ecosocial art. This international group exhibition, showcasing the work of over 60 artists and collectives from 7 countries, will be held at Bolivar Gallery within the UK School of Art and Visual Studies (SAVS) in Lexington, Kentucky, from Friday, August 2nd to Friday, August 23rd.
Curated by Solarpunk Surf Club, the exhibition gathers prefigurative specimens, tracks movements in positive deviance, and maps the re-enchantment of nature in the Bluegrass and beyond to explore themes of autonomy, care, and the potential for a more free and ecological world.
“We are delighted to present the ecosocial visions of artists and organizers from the Bluegrass region and around the world within the framework of this exhibition,” stated Max Puchalsky, a member of the artist collective Solarpunk Surf Club. He elaborated, “This event transcends the traditional art exhibition; our objective is to ignite the creation of new works, foster deep, meaningful dialogues, awaken collective desires, and inspire actions that radiate outwards. Just as the sun powers all life on Earth, we hope this exhibition will be a source of empowerment for all who participate, whether through the artistic process, the collaborative curation of artworks, active engagement in workshops, or the perceptual experience of the exhibition itself as a dynamic social relation.”
Exhibition Highlights:
Summer Solstice Event: The ‘Summer of Solarpunk’ commenced with a special event to mark the Summer Solstice on June 20.
Local-to-Global Participation: Out of hundreds of open call entries, the curators selected 64 artists and collectives from 7 countries with 25% local to Kentucky.
Formal Pluralism and Affinities of Interest: the exhibition features traditional and non-traditional art genres and media, including 2-D, 3-D, moving-image art, site-specific and performance-based work, as well as community organizing initiatives, and speculative or in-progress autonomous infrastructure projects aligned with the solarpunk movement.
Exhibition Opening Reception: A celebratory opening reception will be held on August 2nd from 6–8 pm EST at Bolivar Gallery (236 Bolivar St.) featuring live performances, music, and light refreshments.
Open Hours: The exhibition will remain on view through August 23. Gallery hours are open to the public 11:00 am – 6:00 pm Fri–Mon.
Images: Promotional graphics and representative images of selected works can be found here.
Public comment: Members of the artist collective Solarpunk Surf Club are available for an interview upon request.
Participating Artists and Collectives:
D. Allen, Raphael Arar, Lacy Barry, Alex Baxter, Kit Baybrooke, Megan Bickel, Anna Campomanes, Erin Charpentier and Travis Neel, Solarpunk Surf Club, Beehive Collective, Pale Blue Dot Collective, Everything Is Collective, Electronic Entomology, Adam Farcus, Food Fellowship, bugz fraugg, Abby Friend, Haley Friesen, Ellis Gene, Chaia Heller, Fuko Ito, Dustin Jacobus, Adriene Jenik, India Johnson, Commando Jugendstil, Jonah King, Amanda Lechner, Free Lexington, Lexington Really Really Free Market, Lexington Tool Library, Ziyao Lin, Daisy Love, Anthony Mead, Mutual Menstruation, Shanna Merola, Hannah Moles, Carles Llonch Molina, Maria Molteni, Ash Capachione, Laura Campagna & Vin Caponigro, May Moreshet, Beverly Naidus, Sarah Nance, Sara Olshansky, Stephanie L. Paine, Isa Pavon-Ortiz, Nick Pedersen, CV Peterson, Everest Pipkin, Dave Puchalsky, Luke Rizzotto, Ginger Brooks Takahashi & Nica Ross, Clint Sleeper, Club SOL, Susan Solomon, So Young Song, Anna Sorokina, Eric Souther, Broke Spoke, Krista Leigh Steinke, Ky Tenants, Cassie Thornton, Rebecca West, Kiana White, Elise Wojtowicz, Jullian Young
Event Schedule:
Leading up to and throughout the exhibition, a series of participatory and educational events will take place, including:
Feminist Sewing Circles (Mutual Menstruation)
Radical Study & Skill Shares (Free Lexington)
Community Work Parties (Lexington Tool Library)
Tenants Potlucks (KY Tenants)
Queer and Femme Nights (Broke Spoke)
Pop-up Free Store (Lexington Really Really Free Market)
Artist Workshops (Beehive Collective, buggz fraugg, Nica Ross & Ginger Brooks Takahashi)
A full list of events can be found here.
About Solarpunk Surf Club:
Solarpunk Surf Club is an artist collective is an artist collective that creates and curates egalitarian platforms for surfing the waves of still-possible worlds. We elaborate on social ecological aesthetics (AKA solarpunk) in order to politicize, historicize, and demystify our collective utopian future.
Solarpunk Surf Club has presented projects internationally in galleries, museums, festivals, conferences, libraries, activist gatherings, and forest occupations. Our collective received the Future Art Award: ECOSYSTEM X from MOZAIK Philanthropy (Los Angeles) and a Games for Change Award (New York) for our artist’s game, Solarpunk Futures.
Acknowledgments
LexArts has provided funding support for ALL POWER ON EARTH COMES FROM THE SUN through its annual Fund for the Arts campaign. Additional funding has been made possible by The Puffin Foundation, Ltd. and All For Climate.
For more information, please contact:
Max Puchalsky, Member, Solarpunk Surf Club
608.695.5250
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
8. Ray Johnson, FF Alumn, at Art Institute of Chicago, IL
The William S. Wilson Collection of Ray Johnson is now available online – https://www.artic.edu/archival-collections/digital-resources/ray-johnson-collections.
The most complete holdings of Johnson’s mail art outside of the Ray Johnson Estate Archives, the Wilson Collection held by the Art Institute of Chicago’s Ryerson and Burnham Art and Architecture Archives (https://www.artic.edu/library) is the largest of eight distinct collections of Johnson’s work held by the Art Institute of Chicago’s Ryerson and Burnham Archives. Newly cataloged after a multi-year initiative, the collection is free and available to researchers for the first time via the Art Institute Chicago website (https://www.artic.edu/).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For subscriptions, un-subscriptions, queries and comments, please email mail@franklinfurnace.org
Join Franklin Furnace today:
https://franklinfurnace.org/membership-2023-24/
Goings On for Artists is compiled weekly by Varvara Lyapneva, FF Intern, Summer 2024
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~end~~
