Scottish painter, the most overtly political of the *Glasgow School which emerged in the 1980s. Born in North Shields to Scottish parents, he studied at *Glasgow School of Art between 1978 and 1983. While a student he discovered a strain of socially committed realist painting in the work of *Dix, *Grosz, and *Rivera. His paintings deal with issues of working-class solidarity and self-improvement but also with despair at contemporary conditions. Edge of the City (1987, Manchester Art Gallery) shows an environment of derelict factories and burnt-out cars in Currie’s characteristic dark colouration and *Expressionist drawing. In 1987 Currie made a series of murals on the history of workers’ struggle in Glasgow for the People’s Palace, Glasgow, beginning with the massacre of weavers in 1787 and concluding with a future in which enlightenment is suggested by miners’ lamps. There has been some debate as to how far Currie’s murals should be taken straight and unironically, which the artist appears to claim, and how far they should be regarded as parodying a past tradition of *Social Realism.
Julia Colavita (b. 1983) is a painter and sculptor based in Brooklyn, New York. Originally from Philadelphia, PA, she received her BA in studio art from Hartwick College in 2005, after which she was invited to study with artist and activist Checo Valdez in Mexico. There, she facilitated community mural projects in Mexico City and Chiapas, returning briefly in 2009 to collaborate again with Valdez and other international artists on a Zappatista mural project. In 2006 Colavita was awarded the Maggie and Bob Allesse Fellowship with the NEAfunded organization Artrain USA, allowing her to focus on and exhibit
her own work while at the same time bringing fine arts programing to small communities nationwide. In 2010 she completed her MFA at the New York Academy of Art, though she has been working and exhibiting her art in New York since 2006.
As performers and sculptors, Catron and Outlaw are known for creating altered and displaced environments while they take on various roles, such as Jen n’ Outlaws Fish Fry Truck and Crawfish Boil, in which the artists created a hydraulically unfolding American Flag food truck serving Southern style fare in the middle of New York City. In Coming Soon, the duo acted as pilots of a hot air balloon, flying guests over New York.
In Imeday Imeday Ollarday Icklenay, Catron and Outlaw’s bold constructions and outrageous performances resulted in the transformation of Allegra LaViola Gallery into an elaborate dinner extravaganza. Guests were seated at a crystal clear table, and served decadent courses as the table rose 10 feet into the air above the onlookers. Adorning the walls were meticulous reimaginings of Old World Master paintings.
In Super Supra Diluvian, Catron and Outlaw take on roles of Artists: magnifying their fame, praising and critiquing themselves as well as the world at large. The duo’s interest in the shifting perception of reality and notoriety has led them to question what creativity and talent is, and what is rewarded. Gallery visitors will be shepherded through a gamut of activities, becoming integral to the show as they literally become the artwork. The audience as artist will take part in the celebration of themselves in an exciting, bacchanalian tour of their own success. While guests are amused, entertained, and perhaps unknowingly performing themselves, Catron and Outlaw will be engaging in a brave act of ultimate performance painfully gilding themselves as paramount figures within the art world. As the guests pretend to be the artists, so will the artists pretend to be famous.
In addition to sculpture, performance and installation, Catron and Outlaw have created a series of collages that weave together mythology, religion and contemporary culture, creating a new symbology and drawing parallels between gods and humans while skewering everyone’s desire for celebrity. Revolution and upheaval wash away stagnation, creating a new niche in today’s overwhelmed society. The show presents itself as an intermediary before drastic change and a liaison to a near future. Do not miss the spectacular moment, or you might be left behind.
Jennifer Catron & Paul Outlaw both received their MFAs from Cranbrook Academy of Art. They have exhibited at Richmond Center for the Arts, Kalamazoo, MI; MaSS MoCA, North Adams, MA; Grizzly Grizzly, Philadelphia, PA; Cranbrook Art Museum, Blooomfield Hills, MI and numerous public arenas. They have appeared in New York Magazine, Art Forum, Paper Magazine, Art Fag City, Time Out New York and The New York Times.
Charles Browning’s oil paintings are steeped in 17th- and 18th-century Dutch still lifes and floral painting—he was especially influenced by Jan van Huysum and Albert Mignon—but his allegorical narratives are set in colonial America. Browning alludes to frontier mythology, frequently commenting on excess and consumption. A painting within a painting, Browning’s well known The Big Picture (2011) depicts a man holding a paintbrush peering out from behind a canvas, whose dramatic imagery depicts a scene of Native Americans watching a group of colonists dump a cornucopia of produce into a river; overhead, a heraldic Biblical scene unfolds.
Divya Anantharaman is a self and professionally trained taxidermy artist who currently serves as taxidermist-in-residence at the Morbid Anatomy Museum. She travels locally and internationally to teach classes and workshops, and has begun competing (and winning trophies) in alternative taxidermy competitions. Featured in publications from The New York Times to Vice, and appearing on hit TV series Oddities. All animals are ethically sourced, more information on the sourcing process can be found at d-iv-y-a.com.
Tatyana Fazlalizadeh is an African-American and Iranian artist originally from Oklahoma. She has recently been acclaimed for her project Stop Telling Women To Smile which has had a national presence. Her paintings are heartfelt portraits both of herself and people in relaxed situation in her life. The painting of “James” seems mid thought in intense conversation. Fazlalizadeh’s self portraits capture her strength as a woman which is also what sparked the Stop Telling Women to Smile project.
Sylvia Maier, a native New Yorker who lives and paints in Brooklyn, paints life size figurative works in urban settings. Inspired by cultural identities, ceremonies, tolerance, and her bi-racial heritage Maier brings universal messages to her large group portrait paintings and intimate embraces of couples. Her inspirational models include; an urban African Priest, Afro-punk musicians, hand drummers in parks, and the many friends and family members that make Brooklyn’s unique tapestry. Her ongoing project Currency was recently highlighted at the Corridor Gallery Project Space in 2013.
Jas Knight, from Bloomfield, CT and now also living in Brooklyn, NY, received his BFA at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts. Knight strives to be as honest in his paintings as possible, which lead him to detailed rendering to be as universal as possible through the visual aesthetic language. His contemporary portrait Inbox 1 could be a window into any person checking their email, the gold gilded frame elevates the message by nodding to traditional portrait painting and saying hello from 21st C Brooklyn.
Kate Fauvell, born and raised in Queens, NY and currently living and working in Brooklyn paints from the heart as she says “about the heart of NYC, the greatest, roughest, most caring and careless city in the world.” For the past several years Fauvell has been a mentor for an intimate group of urban youth. She has re-experienced childhood with the group feeling the “fear, challenges, loss, inequalities, racism, fun, friendships, love, hate, violence, temptations, reality, jokes, and the search for self.” Her large group portraits are of the young people she mentors. Painted with an expressionist sensibility the paintings are raw portraits of being a contemporary urban youth.
Taha Clayton is a self taught artist residing in Brooklyn raised in Toronto, ON and born in Houston, TX. His highly rendered portraits are not only detailed portraits of people in his life and community, but a statement about our community as a city. He brings together social and political issues, spiritual virtues and above all the portraits are painted with a universal love that is seen through his technical abilities and poetic compositions. The portrait of the artist’s pregnant wife titled “Womb Man” exudes his love as a husband and a father, capturing her in glorified confidence.