Top to bottom: 1) Curators/Artists Diana McClure & Alice Mizrachi. 2) Gallery view with performance installation by Olek in foreground, and work by Lady Pink (back left) and Lichiban (back right). 3) Artists from the exhibition.

Opening night was incredible! Special thanks to Lenny, Tara, Yvette and Freddy for all their help with the installation, Mike (video), Doc (music), and Radeberger Beer!

WATCH THE OPENING NIGHT VIDEO HERE

PURPLE is on view through November 19th at Causey Contemporary gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn featuring work by:

Alice Mizrach, Diana McClure, Gilf!, Lady Pink, Lichiban, Miss Van, Olek, Priscila De Carvalho, Queen Andrea, Ritzy Periwinkle, and Sofia Maldonado.

This past summer I was invited by BRIC Contemporary Art Director, Elizabeth Ferrer, to curate a fall 2012 BRIC Short List. A project where, periodically, BRIC invites artists and arts professionals to create a Short List of some of their favorite artists in the BRIC Contemporary Artist Registry. I chose to select specific pieces from artists in the registry. Below are selections from 10 artists and a curatorial statement.

BRIC Short List

Fall 2012

The selections for this month’s BRIC Short List began with a look at Ashley Zelinskie’s Prayer Wheel (1), a rendition of a Buddhist prayer wheel inscribed with the Dalai Lama’s tweets! An amusing marriage of the quiet mind of Buddhism with the 24/7 chitchat of Twitter. From there I discovered the beautifully serene depictions of artist Jayoung Yoon’s journey on the path of meditation, Listening the Mind I (2). At this point my ideas began to coalesce into a decision to curate a body of work that explores the notion of mind control, personal power or monkey mind/mind monkey. Whether it’s psychology, philosophy, meditation, prayer or yoga, a constant inner dialogue is being engaged, by a large amount of people, most of the time. Staging My Own Death (3) by Michael Tarbi leaves plenty of room to wonder why the protagonist of this piece has chosen to die? Literally or metaphorically? Suicide or murder? What brought his mind to that decision? On the other hand we have Untitled (BRIC image #16) (4) by Ryan Peltier. An amusing group of characters dancing, admiring in particular two ladies getting their groove on. The drawing brings to mind several moments and styles of collective consciousness – 1920s flappers, avant-garde sensibilities and modern day hipsters. Matthew Wilson’s Commute (drawn while waiting) (5) is an echo to Yoon’s work, demonstrating the practice of focusing the mind or emptying it. Juxtaposition takes place when Jaret Vadera’s work Untitled III (6) is considered. Performing all three of the characters in this work, Vadera interrogates the notion of perspective while simultaneously presenting what could be read as an open-ended story of the sinister actions of an untamed mind. This BRIC Short List moves into the domain of coupledom with pieces by Rachel Selekman – The Lovers (7), Divya Mehra – The Pleasure of Hating (8) and Karyn Olivier – Doubleslide (9).  The idea of a partner as a reflection of the self, a site where the untamed mind projects its subconscious, can be read in the strangling or embracing nature of Selekman’s sculpture, The Lovers. The Pleasure of Hating by Mehra offers a comedic take on the basest use of the human mind, deftly mixing danger and humor within what seems to be the familiarity of marriage. The work also succinctly portrays contemporary culture’s simplistic branding of identity. Olivier’s Doubleslide conceptually speaks to the back and forth or ups and downs that play out in relationships, while simultaneously suggesting this same ride takes place in the individual, alone. Lastly, the work Untitled (BRIC image 18) (10) by Jeanne Tremel offers an exclamation point for this BRIC Short List. Representing the free form expression of the human mind, and emotion.  A contrast to the more cerebral work presented here, Tremel’s work in this context brings into high relief the question of how emotions get triggered, enflamed and driven to action.  Perhaps, by our thoughts?

-Diana McClure

Detail images by Lady Pink, Diana McClure and Priscila De Carvalho

Opens October 19, 2012 6-9pm! For exhibition info click here.

Purple

Eleven female contemporary artists will explore Purple as a color, word and psychological context in a freestyle exhibition where medium, formal strategies and process intersect to create original content.  Purple will be on view at Causey Contemporary Gallery, 92 Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, from October 19 – November 18, 2012, with an opening reception from 6pm – 9pm on Friday, October 19^th. Curated by Diana McClure and Alice Mizrachi, this exhibition features a group of international street, mural, urban and contemporary artists from across the United States and abroad including: Alice Mizrachi, Diana McClure, Gilf!, Lady Pink, Lichiban, Miss Van, Olek, Priscila De Carvalho, Queen Andrea, Ritzy Periwinkle, and Sofia Maldonado. From electric purple, Tyrian purple and Han purple, to purple prose, purple patches and human color psychology, the color purple has been tapped by the musician Prince, the author Alice Walker, the French art publication Purple Journal, and the ancient world, to convey a certain psychological vibration, spiritual energy or visual message.  In this exhibition, each artists’ interpretation of purple aims to unlock new readings on the visceral, intellectual, conceptual, spiritual and pleasurable aspects of the color purple.

Push, 2011 by Titus Kaphar

If you happen to be in Monaco this summer stop by Titus Kaphar’s exhibition Behind A Veil of Beauty at Sem Art Gallery.

I wrote an essay, Titus Kaphar: Shape-Shifter, for the exhibition catalog that explores the many layers of Kaphar’s work.

Installation view at WONK - Diana M. Art

Installation view at WONK - Diana M. Art

I’m participating in an open studio in Brooklyn where I will be showing my work at WONK, an eco-friendly custom furniture design company that manufactures in Brooklyn. Click here to download the SONYA (South of the Navy Yard Artists) Studio Stroll Map & Guide. Or visit www.wonknyc.com.

Emilio Sanchez Foundation

It was a pleasure working with Ann Koll, Executive Director of the Emilio Sanchez Foundation, on the organization’s 2012 Progress Report.  To find out more about the art, foundation and career of Emilio Sanchez click here to read the report.

Jaret Vadera and Diana McClure, Libertas I, 2012, C-print diptych, 12"x18"

Jaret Vadera and Diana McClure, Libertas II, 2012, C-print diptych, 12"x18"

Artist Jaret Vadera invited me to collaborate on a piece as part of his winter 2012 Transparent Studio residency at Bose Pacia gallery in Dumbo, Brooklyn. Despite the fact that it was a brisk outdoor winter performance/photograph project, it was a lot of fun to make!

In 2011 I had a solo show in Miami, Cosmic Sheness; contributed an essay, The Metaphysics of Lynching, to the University of San Diego Visual Studies art journal pros*;  and, co-curated an exhibition and programming commissioned by Sarah Lawrence College and the Yonkers Public Library.

ARCO Madrid, Murcia Trip 2010

In 2010 I worked as a professional development consultant in the arts and continued art writing on DaWire.com. I was also a guest at the ARCO Madrid art fair, where I documented my trip in a piece for DaWire. Read it here.

In January 2009 the Cultureserve.net blog was announced as a 2008 Finalist for a Creative-Capitol Warhol Foundation Arts Writers grant. In 2009 I was also a member of the Curatorial Committee for Photo Miami, a contemporary art fair for photo-based art, video & new media, and profiled Brooklyn artists in the Living Arts column for the NewYorkTimes.com/LOCAL as part of a New York Times experimental project on hyperlocal and collaborative journalism.

Precision. Clarity of line. Mood. All of these elements stand out in the portrait work of artist, Shizu Saldamando.  The intense dedication to detail and focused execution of personalities in the moment give each subject a de-objectified identity.  Even with this respect to individuality in her work there is a deep sense of the collective consciousness. Or rather, a subset of the collective.  Outwardly her subjects share a specific aesthetic.  However, emotionally they tap into something universal.

(Image: Shizu Saldamando, Maria Daniela y su Sonido Lasser Concert, Azusa CA, graphite on wood, 3×5 feet.)

A certain angst or penetrating inquisitiveness is often paired with the satisfaction found in social revelry.  The party.  If nothing else, at least we can sing, dance and get a little tipsy.  Shizu Saldamando often inhabits her own work whether through self-portraits, a series titled “Looking at Art” or her process – taking photographs while hanging out with friends and using them as a template. It’s as if the moments of life that she encounters linger on in the morning after and become timeless in her work.

(Image: Shizu Saldamando, Gerardo Posing, oil and glitter on plywood, 36 x 36 inches.)

One could argue that there is a certain ultimate dissatisfaction in the party based on the expressions of her subjects.  Or an ultimate lonely reality each individual faces simply by being isolated within one human body.  However, although they are not pictured here, Saldamando does have work that speaks to the sweet delicacy and gentleness of friendship, family and community.  It is her relentless favoring of portraits that reveal masks of discontent that ultimately push viewers to realize something interesting is going on in a certain niche of Los Angeles culture.  Something that they are either totally involved in or know absolutely nothing about.

(Images: Shizu Saldamando, Candice and a Forty, colored pencil on paper, 30 x 20 inches and Sandy and Siouxie, glitter, colored pencil on paper, 30 x 20 inches.)

Shizu Saldamando was born and raised in San Francisco’s Mission district and received her B.A. from UCLA’s School of Arts and Architecture in 2000 and her MFA degree from California Institute of the Arts in 2005. She was an Art Omi resident artist in 2002 and has exhibited work in both painting and experimental media exhibitions at museums and galleries across the country.  Shizu has lived and worked in Los Angeles for over 10 years.

(Images: Shizu Saldamando, Paño Arte: Robert Smith [left] and LaCindy [right], ball point pen on cotton handkerchief, 16 x 16 inches each.)

View more work.

(Images: Shizu Saldamando, Soni, Looking at Art, Blue ball point pen on canvas, 24 x 48 inches and photograph of Shizu Saldamando.)

On February 12th and 13th, 2009 curator Rashida Bumbray of NYC’s, The Kitchen, and artists Rashaad Newsome and Kalup Linzy, will be premiering new work that continues to explore the possibilities and intersection between video, performance and music. Newsome’s latest work, Shade Compositions, is a live performance featuring a chorus of more than twenty black women. Influenced by improvisatory orchestral music and live video-mixing, Newsome divides his performers into groups akin to instrumental sections as they enact his choreographed sound score made up of repeated sequences of culturally specific or stereotypical gestures, movements, and vocalizations. Newsome simultaneously records, loops, edits, and remixes in real-time the audio and video documentation of the performers using a hacked Nintendo® Wii™ game controller. The resulting layers of real and projected imagery investigate assumptions and constructions of identity in mainstream media and popular culture.

(Images: Kalup Linzy, courtesy of the artist. Shade Compositions, courtesy of Rashaad Newsome.)

Kalup Linzy is known for his absurdly humorous drag-performance-based videos in which he repurposes the narrative style of daytime television soaps in order to explore complicated relationships between race, class, gender, sexuality, and popular culture. For these evenings he will debut, Comedy, Tragedy, Sketches of Me, a new solo theatrical work exploring related themes, in which he plays piano, sings, and is accompanied by video projections that feature his ever-expanding cast of riotous characters.

To purchase tickets click here or call the Box Office: 212-255-5793 ext. 11!

(Image: Lisa Marie Thalhammer, Michelle Obama, 2009, oil on canvas, 86 inches x 67 inches.)

Like they say: Behind every good man, is a fantastic woman. In this case, beside. Nuff said.

This work was part of the MANIFEST HOPE: DC Art Exhibit held on Inauguration weekend 2009 in Washington, DC.

Brothers Russell, Danny and Joseph Simmons, founders of the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, and Derrick Adams, Curatorial Director of Rush Arts Gallery, are at it again. The Gold Rush Awards, another star studded celebration of the arts is on tap for Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 in New York City.  Over the last decade the organizations Art for Life East Hampton and Palm Beach benefits have raised millions of dollars to benefit underserved youth arts programming.

(Images: Gold Rush logo artwork and Rush Arts students at 5 Pointz in Queens, NY)

Through ticket sales and a silent art auction proceeds from this event will continue to support the Rush Philanthropic Foundation’s belief “…in the vital importance of lifelong exposure to the arts, nurtured in early childhood, and anchored in sustained, creative experiences throughout one’s life.”  In 2008 the InsideOut Rush Teens Curatorial Projects program paired teens with legendary graffiti artist Meres in an in-depth look at the world of curation.  The program focused on exhibition planning, artist/curator collaboration and fieldwork at urban art locations such as 5 Pointz, New York’s largest outdoor Aerosol Art exhibition space (curated by Meres).

The first annual Gold Rush Awards will honor three trailblazers in the arts that represent entertainment arts, youth arts and the fine arts: Beverly Bond, DJ and Founder of Black Girls Rock!; Sonja Okun, Founder and Executive Director of Exalt Youth Program; and, Franklin Sirmans, Curator, Writer and Lecturer. Other participants in the event include: music by DJ Cassidy; a live performance by Talib Kweli; Event Co-Chair Chris Chambers of The Chamber Group; Naomi Beckwith of the Studio Museum in Harlem; and, Vanessa Riding of Gagosian Gallery, NYC.

For more information visit: www.rushartsgallery.org.