On December 8th at The Invisible Dog, our friends from the Wassaic Project will be throwing a fabulous winter benefit party and art-matcher. We’ll be there browsing the affordable art and taking advantage of the open bar. [IMG by Ghost of a Dream]
Paloma Crousillat, 101 Telescopes
This Saturday, Recession Art participates in Brooklyn Open Studios. Visit the studios of our alumni:
Paloma Crousillat
Matthew Conradt
Megan Berk
Jess Levey
Johanna Povirk Znoy
Curator Melanie Kress will be travelling the route to talk about each artists’ work, as well as introduce her own project space, Concrete Utopia.
Catch Melanie’s talks at:
1-2 p.m. Matthew Conradt Studio (20 Grand Avenue #502, Fort Greene)
3-4 p.m. Paloma Crousillat Studio (136 Lawrence Street #3A, Downtown Brooklyn)
5-6 p.m. Concrete Utopia (39 Hampton Place, Crown Heights)
plus visit:
Megan Berk and Jess Levey (Screwball Spaces, 183 Lorraine Street, 3rd Floor, Red Hook)
and
Johanna Povirk-Znoy (513 51st Street, Apartment 2 Sunset Park)
In addition, Curator-Alum Risa Shoup will lead a tour of a diverse group of artists, chosen for their innovative use of materials in a variety of disciplines.
On Risa’s tour:
Sam Vernon & Alexandria Smith *12-6PM: 1027 Grand Street, Brooklyn, NY
Brent Owens, Jenn Brehm & Sarah Bednarek *12-6PM: 322 Troutman St., Brooklyn, NY
R. Justin Stewart *12-5PM: 925 Bergen St, Brooklyn, NY #201
Check out the studio map for details on times and locations, or RSVP on Facebook.
In addition, join us afterwards for a visit to BDG Brooklyn where alum Ian Trask will be participating in his latest group show (see flyer below for details).
See you Saturday!
In the weeks leading up to the opening of American Idolatry on October 29, we are interviewing the artists to learn more about their work.
In the weeks leading up to the opening of American Idolatry on October 29, we are interviewing the artists to learn more about their work.
Lizzie Gill
Port Chester, New York
Lizzie Gill recently graduated with a BS in Fine Art from Skidmore College. Her concentrations include oil painting, mixed media drawing and medium format film photography. She recently opened a studio/gallery in Port Chester, New York, where she continues to pursue the concept of appropriation and her interest in acknowledging the past through its visual incorporation into the present.
“I Don’t See Me In Your Eyes Anymore,” Mixed media, including collage, 23K gold leaf, aluminum screen, dollhouse furniture (2011)
Q: Tell us about your project for American Idolatry.
A: This project, for me, explores the malleability of idolatry. I consider my work reliquaries, in the sense that I deem these “false idols” fit for worship – anyone can create an idol. Reliquaries were deemed so by oral tradition, void of factuality, these are the saint’s bones, thus fit for veneration. The ceremonial aspect of religion, for me, is theatrical, resonating with the social roles of women during the 50s – the dress, the social interactions all seems meticulously staged.
Q: What is your creative background? How have you arrived at your current medium?
A: I recently graduated from Skidmore College with a BS in Fine Art. With advanced practices in several studio areas under my belt, my mixed media work is a culmination of multiple problem solving approaches to an idea.
Q: Has the recession impacted your art?
A: It has made it stronger, forcing me to focus, both financially and mentally, on my art.
Q: In your experience, do hard economic times hurt or help art?
A: Helps viewership, hurts the market. Art provides both an escape and a reminder of what we’ve overcome in the past, a reiteration we need in these times. But, people are less willing to part with their disposable income, which doesn’t help the market, but I find Recession Art’s incentive to find a medium progressive.
Q: In what way does the role of “American Idolatry” play out in your own life?
A: Twitter.
Q: How does memorializing or ceremony work into your practice?
A: Ceremony plays to both the conceptual and physical aspects of the work. I utilize gold leafing techniques to echo a monk’s work on an illuminated manuscript, because the slow and precious process both memorializes and glorifies a time gone by.
Q: What do you want the audience to take away from your work? What do you take away from it?
A: As long as I’ve got their attention, a scratch on the head and perhaps a laugh will suffice. From my work, I take away the notion of obsession, one person’s desire to glorify something that may have otherwise gone over looked.
American Idolatry will show October 29 to November 6 at the Invisible Dog Art Center in Brooklyn.
In the weeks leading up to the opening of American Idolatry on October 29, we are interviewing the artists to learn more about their work.
Jonah Emerson-Bell
Brooklyn, New York
Utopia is Gay
Jonah Emerson-Bell is a sculptor who lives and works in Brooklyn. He uses a variety of materials including found objects, bronze, and neon. Recently he was part of the Shadow Shop exhibition at the SFMOMA. His work was featured on the cover of the summer 2010 issue of Bookforum.
Letter to George Bush
Q: Tell us about your project for American Idolatry.
A: I made the “Utopia is Gay” piece with my tax rebate from George W. Bush. This was back when the economy was first going to shit and W. gave this tax rebate to try and stimulate things. It was the first time I payed taxes and I did it so I could get the money to make this piece. I treated it like a commission, and when it was finished I sent Bush a letter and a framed photograph trying to sell him the sculpture. When he didn’t reply, I sent a framed photo and a letter to John Waters asking him if he wanted to buy it. I figured, the one that bought the piece would dictate the meaning of the slogan.
Used condoms cast in bronze
Q: Has the recession impacted your art?
A: The recession, or depression, has permeated every aspect of life. It’s something that everybody feels and is together in. Not just here, the world is such nowadays that every economy is tied together and when things crumble we all feel it. I’ve never really had much money and a lot of my work deals with the separation between the rich and everyone else. One way that I like to deal with this tension is by making high class art objects out of trash. Used condoms cast in bronze, or a Hollywood sign made out of used mattresses, things like that. I don’t know if the depression has necessarily changed my art practice, but it does bring this economic rift to the forefront. These hard times gives us all a lot to think about, especially with all the protests going on on Wall Street and around the globe. This depression has definitely effected my work because it has effected life, not just mine but everyone’s, and the art and the life move through this world hand in hand.
Used condom cast in bronze
Q: In your experience, do hard economic times hurt or help art?
A: I think that hard economic times are great for art. The thing is that normal people are probably not going to by your work because they don’t have the same kind of disposable income that they would if things were going well. But making art is not about making money, we all know that, and it’s something we all have to expect going into this career. However, when things are flush, dealers and galleries, just like everyone else, are trying to make as much money as possible, so they only focus on things they know will sell. When there is an “economic downturn” or, say, a depression, then chances of selling work become slim so people tend to take chances on new work or different forms of expression, which has traditionally given emerging artists opportunities that they never would have had. One of the things that brought America out of the last great depression was ingenuity. When things get hard people have to think in new ways to make things work, to make ends meet, to put food on the table, and this goes for the production and distribution of art work as well.
American Idolatry will show October 29 to November 6 at the Invisible Dog Art Center in Brooklyn.
