Recession Art

MISE EN PLACE

Recess Gallery
467 W Amsterdam Ave
(between 82nd and 83rd Streets)
Upper West Side
PHONE: 412 580 0779
Subway: 1, 2, 3 to 86th, 79th Streets

Sascha Braunig, Alana Fitzgerald, Mary Reid Kelley, Sowon Kwon, Eric Mack, Liana Moskowitz, David Muenzer, Tucker Rae-Grant, Jeffrey Stuker, Eleanor Swordy, and an unknown artist ca. 1650.

Opening March 6th, 6-10pm

Mise en place is not merely a diced onion, stacks of pappardelle, and a wooden spoon resting by the stove—it is also the very moment of readiness embodied by the placement of these objects.

Similarly, the works in this show resist reduction to either the material qualities that they exhibit or the subjects to which they often refer.

Although the name “still life” suggests inaction—even to that extreme end of activity, death—the paintings in this show instead take on an active task, approaching the still life as a continual process of arrangement and re-arrangement. The artists center their inquiry on textures, objects, and external references.

As simultaneously images of a subject and themselves the object of interest, the still-lifes in this show offer to their viewers the activity of this arrangement—in all its neurotic, pragmatic, and energetic forms—while remaining inextricably bound to its means.

Recession Artists Upcoming Events:

“Spare the POD, spoil the child”: March 5th at 8pm

Featuring Spring 2010 Recession Artist Alison Wilder

Yes, it’s back, that world-renowned, multimedia, traveling happening all the kids just call POD.  Carley and I have invited five artists whose work has blown us away of late, and they’ve agreed to present it in one fantastic exhibit/reading/screening/show.

So who’s on the bill?

Filmmaker JACK SCHURMAN will show a video that will make you smell the sawdust and droppings.

STEPHANIE HOPKINS will prose it up.  Dr. Moore recently said of her work, “God, this is really fucking good.”

Poet SHAFER HALL will—well, who am I kidding, I have no idea what he’ll do.

ALISON WILDER’s sculpture connects people in ways they don’t expect, but often discover they want.

BRENT KATZ, formerly of the Harlem Shakes and now of Thunder and Lightning, will bring the noise.

It’s all happening in a bigger space than usual, and we’re charging 5 bucks (for the space, of course–we promise the artists won’t get a penny).  Beer will be provided and plentiful; for finer things feel free to BYOB.  And bring your own wigs.

It all happens on Friday, March 5th, at 8 pm.  Performances begin at 8:30.  The address is 32D S1st st. (btw Kent and Wythe).

HE WHO BLINKS FIRST (WITH BOYS): March 4th and 5th at 9:30pm

Featuring Fall 2009 Recession Artist Lydia Bell

Choreography: Lydia Bell & Lindsay Benedict
Performers: Jack Reilly & Ben Monnie

Thu, March 4th – 9:30pm

The Tank.  354 West 45th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues), NYC.
Tickets $12: click here to purchase

A collaborative choreographic exploration of trying to be the same, and failing. Through simple gestures and interactions, HeWho Blinks First (with boys) expresses the limitations of knowing or understanding another person— can we ever be more than a witness to someone else’s experience? Dancers Reilly and Monnie re-perform the series of movements that Bell and Benedict created during the original investigation: the same piece on different bodies. The new duet plays with the notion of imitation and the perseverance of individuality.

Thanks to Megan at Insight Magazine for this great feature.  She met us at the Bull and Bear Market in December and was inspired.  We love the shots she got!

Congratulations to Recession Art No Money No Problems artist Kathleen Thum. She is this weeks Super Featured Artist on SuperHitops.com. Images of her dollar bill installation for Recession Art are showcased beside her other remarkable works. And she had this to say about us,

“[This work was] made for a show in Brooklyn by a non-profit organization called “Recession Art”.  It was a very cool show and the two girls behind it are amazing.”

Thanks Kathleen!  We think you are amazing too!

See all of Kathleen’s new work at http://www.superhitops.com/super-featured-artist-kathleen-thum/ and read our original interview with her here.

Recession Art from Ryan Tracy on Vimeo.

Photographer Danielle Scruggs was featured in Recession Art’s October 2009 exhibit, “No Money No Problems.” The Washington, DC-based artist currently writes about visual arts and conducts artist interviews for The Liberator Magazine. Her stories include a recent interview with Dawn Okoro and a profile on the Liberators comic book creator. Check out the rest of her contributions to the magazine here.

Ian Trask, who participated in Recession Art’s “No Money No Problems” and the Bull and Bear Market, is currently the artist in residence at the Invisible Dog in Cobble Hill. This Saturday, January 23, his piece “The Worm” will be presented at the Invisible Dog, along with art by Xavier Roux and Simon Courchel. Trask’s cardboard installation is described as “a new species of detritivore with a voracious appetite and a talent for consuming urban waste.” He will also be part of two upcoming exhibits in New Jersey: “the Caged Bird Sings” opening January 29 at the Alfa Art Gallery in New Brunswick and “Repurposed, Rethought” opening February 12 at the Ocean City Arts Center in Ocean City. As with his Christmas Tree made from discarded belts, these exhibits will showcase his transformations of trash into art.

David Muenzer, who participated in Recession Art’s 2009 “No Money No Problems” show, recently put together a group exhibit called “Recess!”. The pop-up gallery on the Upper West Side had a reception in December and is open through the end of the month. Works by Muenzer, along with fellow Recession Art alumnus Liana Moskowitz, are included as well as those by Elise Adibi, Noel Anderson, Hannah Burnett, Ian Campbell, Kyla Chevrier, Becket Flannery, Sharon Madanes,Tucker Rae-Grant, Michael Rae-Grant, and Jeffrey Stuker. As with his installation in “No Money No Problems,” Muenzer experimented with the artistic medium of carrot juice.

“Recess!” is at 467 Amsterdam Avenue between 82nd & 83rd. For more information and images visit Recess.

We had a blast! Over 850 people and over $2500 worth of art sold. Thanks to all who made it for the opening- to all the rest of you, we’re open all week so come see what all the fuss is about.

In anticipation of our October 3 opening, we’ve asked the No Money No Problems artists about their work and how they are influenced by the economic slump. Here’s what Lisbeth Kaufman had to say:

Lisbeth Kaufman is a photographer living in New York. She recently graduated from Yale University where she studied Chinese and spent time working and taking pictures in China. She has held a variety of positions including video store clerk, mutant child, and research analyst for a fortune 500 company. Her true love is photography. Some of her favorite subjects include the small of men’s backs and spoons.

What can you tell us about your work in No Money No Problems?

The work I’m showing at NMNP are photographs I’ve taken over the past two years. I’ve been exploring the appeal of the grotesque, particularly the simultaneous feelings of revulsion and attraction it can evoke. I use a 4×5 view camera to look intensely at still things until they reveal themselves as strange and interesting. With a 35mm camera I try to capture odd moments, flashing through everyday activity. I originally envisioned the photographs as individual pieces, but while arranging them for this show I realized they come together into some kind of evidence, like snap shots from the scene of a crime.

What keeps you going as an artist through economic hardship?

Taking pictures makes me feel good. So when I get nervous or worried about the recession and job instability, I make photographs to calm myself down. Plus, I like limits and boundaries. They force me to think creatively in order to maneuver around them. The recession is just another boundary.