AND GOD SAID
Solo Exhibition – Stan Squirewell
Rush Artist in Residence 2015
September 10th – September 19th 2015
Rush Arts Gallery
526 W26th St, suite 311
New York, NY 10001
212-691-9552
Rush Arts Gallery is thrilled to debut new works by Stan Squirewell in a solo exhibition AND GOD SAID Sept. 10th – Sept 19th with an opening reception Thursday, September 10th from 6-8pm. These works focus on creations that balance technology and organic, analytic and emotional, formulaic and humanness.
Squirewell’s works have moved into the third dimension including free-standing installations and mixed media wall sculptures. His background as a painter and photographer is evident through his use of composition, harmony, and balance. With the use of found materials, tubing, foam, geometric grids, wood, industrial paints and varnishes, he creates a new series of abstract works.
Many of these works are breaking the frame of traditional square formats. They engage with the space and invite visitors to interpret through our shared human experience. “All of this work is alive to me,” says Squirewell of these newly born creations.
In the past Squirewell’s paintings and photographs have explored themes of racism, classism, and masculinity as seen in his Carbon series. The new abstract forms venture outside of the artistic norm, they “do not embody the classic –isms of todays problems.” Taking influence from indigenous cultures, sacred geometry combined with binary coding, motherboards and Atari these new sacred objects focus on the spiritual sensibility connecting ancient and modern geometric patterns that have collided with organic forms.
Inspired by the sense of creation the exhibition AND GOD SAID reflects on the creation myth of the cosmos and the divine sense of childbirth and producing life. Squirewell’s seeks to bring together both male and female concepts and symbols, geometric structure and organic shapes. This exhibition is on view Sept. 10th – Sept 19th at Rush Arts Gallery, 526 W26th St #311, New York, NY a second reception and artist Q&A will be Wednesday Sept. 16th 6-8pm. The discussion with Stan Squirewell will be lead by Gallery Director Charlotte Mouquin starting at 6:30pm.
In the many nuances of meaning inherent in the idea of freedom there is always counterpoint — the state of being free rather than confined, exemption from external control, the release from ties, the power to act without restraint — this as opposed to that.
As I began to pull together this exhibition, which will kick off the Rush Education Year of FREEDOM, the range of possibilities in the topic swirled around my mind. But what really made a profound impact on my thinking is that freedom is in essence a theme that is, when enacted, a joyous one.
There are countless heroic historical acts which are fine examples of the fight to win freedom.
jc lenochan’s chalkboard-like drawing about the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation also takes inspiration from a quote from W. E. B. Du Bois, “Freedom is a state of mind, a spiritual unchoking of the wells of human power and superhuman love!” As the youngest marcher in the 1965 voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, Lynda Blackmon Lowery proved that young adults can be heroes. Jailed eleven times before her fifteenth birthday, Lowery fought alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. for the rights of African-Americans. Included in this exhibition are original illustrations by PJ Loughran from Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom, Lynda Blackmon Lowery’s memoir (Dial Books, January 8, 2015).
Perhaps the rules and symbols that have been set forth to protect our freedom are not quite as effective as they could be. In his suite of three prints Burning the US Constitution, Dread Scott presents documentation of a performance where the sole action was the burning of the U.S. Constitution. Just as Ai Weiwei’s Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn called into question culture, value, and worth, Scott’s artwork questions the success of our own Constitution in protecting Americans. My own series Liberty Clouded is a more specific critique. Liberty Clouded, a series of pale gray depictions of a barely-there Statue of Liberty, was painted for Without/Color, an exhibition at Figureworks Gallery, and is dedicated to all those suffering, as trial lawyer Norm Pattis succinctly puts it, “the gravest injustice of all: the imprisonment of an innocent person.”
Golnar Adili addresses her familial experience of exile in her sculptural text-based drawings. Adili explains that the imagery she has morphed into her art work “comes from the back of a plane ticket as the last itinerary of an eventual exit from Iran, found in my father’s papers. Having studied in the U.S., he returned to Iran in the wake of the revolution, but eventually was forced to flee.”
The idea of personal freedom can be threatened on a more intimate person-to-person level. Jennifer Dodson’s painting was created in protest of moments when women’s voices are completely disregarded and they are tricked into behaving in a way they would not willingly have done so. Wangechi Mutu takes on a broader trajectory of this topic. Mutu expounds: “A lot of my work shows these humanoid, animal-type creatures sitting/standing on top of each other, like the caste systems that we have. As much as we talk about democracy and freedom, we still have no problem mistreating and devaluing people.”
How does a human being muster up the strength to persevere? Across the top of Rodicia Prato’s illustration Flight of the Nez Perce in the children’s book Journeys for Freedom: A New Look at America’s Story, a Nez Perce survivor is quoted saying that by never surrendering she has “always been free.”
Somehow we can find ways to attain a sense of personal liberty. Tim Main’s Handmade Notebook Paper drawings appear at first glance to be printed loose-leaf paper gone wild. Main demonstrates how bending the rules to suit our own needs can be liberating. Reg Lewis and Alexandra Limpert teamed up to create a kinetic sculpture that looks at the need for the balance and mental equilibrium that can liberate us from the increasingly chaotic and pressure-filled modern world we inhabit. And now, time to meditate… Rachael Wren’s large abstract paintings hover, shimmer, and vibrate as you gaze upon them. The work invites viewers to slow down in front of it, just as one might stop and breathe more deeply in a natural environment.
Children seem to have their fingers on the pulse when it comes to the joyous reverie of a free spirit. Claudia Alvarez celebrates this in her series of watercolor paintings American Heroes. If we are lucky, or maybe if we really try, we can find a way to set our minds free. In Maho Kino’s prints, Mr. Peanut stands in for the two lobes of the human brain, either working alone sailing merrily merrily merrily along in a canoe, or in tandem bouncing colored orbs into the air or helping each other balance on top of a circus elephant. I like to think we have the power to set our minds free.
I hope once that happens we can address all the other areas in need of life, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happiness.
Meridith McNeal
Curator
In Not in Our Lifetimes, author Michael C. Dawson, argues “that achieving the dreams of racial and economic equality will require the sort of coalition-building and reaching across racial divides that have always marked successful political movements”. Through works in various media presented by a diverse group of contemporary artists, My Big Black America, curated by Mikhaile Solomon, chronicles both losses and triumphs of Black America both before and during Barack Obama presidency. The group collectively measures the instances in our history of Black America against this critical point in history where we still experience marked examples of inequality and injustice, which do not solely affect Black America but damages the structural integrity of our entire nation.
Wesley Clark’s work, including the eponymous work from which the exhibition is titled, serve as metaphorical constructs that illustrates both Black America’s contribution to building our great nation as well as the endured injustice that has historically characterized the experience of many Americans.
NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
April 9th – May 16th, 2015
#NewYorkStateofMind
Kevin Bright, Michael Paul Britto, Mitsuko Brooks, Ronny Quevedo and Jennifer Mack-Watkins
Curated by Larry Ossei-Mensah
Beyond the walls of intelligence, life is defined….. – NAS, “NY State of Mind” (1994)
New York, NY, March 26th, 2015–Rush Arts Gallery is delighted to announce New York State of Mind, a dynamic group exhibition exploring the artistic capacity to reappropriate mundane objects and utilize them as tools for query and provocation. The exhibition will feature new works from Kevin Bright, Michael Paul Britto, Mitsuko Brooks, Ronny Quevedo and Jennifer Mack-Watkins and is curated by Larry Ossei-Mensah. The show will be on view at 526 West 26th St #311 in New York City from April 9 – May 16, 2015. An opening reception will take place Thursday, April 9, 2015 from 6pm – 8pm.
New York State of Mind draws inspiration from the iconic songs by Billy Joel (Turnstiles, 1976) and Nasir “NAS” Jones (Illmatic, 1994) both of which articulated vivid allegories about New York City. The exhibition follows the tradition of storytelling through visual art and offers varying yet accurate artistic perspectives on the ebbs and flows of urban life. New York State of Mind explores the improvisational pace, rhythm, aggression and nostalgia that percolates within the collective consciousness of New York City. The city serves as metaphor questioning cultural identities, linguistic patterns and the need for greater socio-cultural awareness. The artists in this exhibition actively recontextualize and repurpose materials challenging viewers to reconsider their own relationship with the ideas expressed through these various artistic practices.
Kevin Bright is a self-taught artist fascinated by random patterns that appear in urban spaces. Bright will showcase a selection of photograms from his #SSCCAANNSS series featuring objects he finds on the street in his travels and scanned into the computer. Bright evokes a unique form of mark making by manually moving the objects under the scanner creating an array of colors and effects resulting in a conceptual composition that pulsates with vibrancy and energy. Michael Paul Britto examines the current manifestations of racial inequality, the consequences of its continuing existence in America, and the price society pays for its denial. Britto will exhibit a collection of collages that although simple in material are visually striking and confrontational in form. Mitsuko Brooks creates collages and sculptures that tap into her obsession with the nuances of the everyday and the hidden power that subtle monotonous moments can have on thoughts and decision making. Brooks will debut a new sculptural work that speaks to Freudian hair and teeth mythologies, as well as a desire to contain life. Ronny Quevedo’s work addresses concepts of displacement by focusing on the make-up of remembered environments. Quevedo will share work from his be(tunes) series, an on-going suite of drawings made with shoe polish on paper. Jennifer Mack-Watkins investigates societal conformities that isolate and confine individuals into pre-defined identities. Primarily a printmaker, Mack will debut a new installation that aims to push the boundaries of the printmaking process.
Established in the 90s, the mission of Rush Arts Gallery is to provide resources and support to early career, non-commercial artists of color who lacked representation in Chelsea’s art district. Since its establishment, this mission has been expanded to support the diverse creative practices of the entire emerging artistic community, including artists, curators and writers from around the globe. Rush Arts Gallery provides an inclusive space for new audiences and promotes experimental ventures in visual art, curatorial visions, performance art, and community involvement. www.rushphilanthropic.org/rush-arts-gallery|
Color Bars: Sophia Dawson
Opening Reception – Thursday March 12th 6-8pm
Artist Talk – Saturday March 28th 4-6pm
Rush Arts gallery is pleased to present Color Bars new work by Sophia Dawson at the Rush Arts Gallery Project space in Chelsea, NYC March 12th – March 28th 2015. Sophia Dawson is an artist, activist, and highly self-motivated African American woman. Color Bars is an exhibition of Dawson’s recent paintings and her first venture into sculpture.
Her large -scale figurative paintings depict black and white portraits of African Americans with bold vertical bars of color in the backgrounds. All visual media today is based on the balance of these colors bars. These colored stripes reference media blocks on television sets, or contemporary instagram or facebook feeds. The color bars can also be metaphors of the bars our society has formed around African American culture, specifically through law making and policing. The painting Unlawful Assembly, 2015 is part of an ongoing series of Dawson’s exploration of the history of law making and policing. “Unlawful Assembly is the law created in 1682 to prevent slaves from gathering in groups of four or more without their master being present. Punishment for committing this crime was public whipping. The gathering of four or more individuals (with the intent of engaging in violence) still stands as a law today under NY. PEN. LAW. 240.10”
Every Mother’s Son is a portrait of the mother and sister of Eric Garner. This painting expanded into a mural project on the Lower East Side. Dawson is highlighting the women who’s sons were killed due to police brutality and racism. With the non-indictments of the officers involved in the murders of both Mike Brown and Eric Garner, there have been a number of headlines and reactions. The artist aims to highlight the issue by studying the history of police brutality. Through her research Dawson exemplifies policing in America began as a way to capture a runaway slave population and later to maintain a population of free blacks.
By revisiting and comparing slave laws, fugitive slave laws, and the contemporary justice system Dawson aims to change outlooks for the future. She believes that this study of the past will better help to understand how this country has been built on principles designed to oppress people of color. Color Bars illustrates scenarios, experiences, and individual stories and the relationship with what we see occurring in our society today.
Trusted Brands: Cey Adams
Opening Reception – Thursday March 12th 6-8pm
Artist Talk – Saturday March 28th 4-6pm
Cey Adams, a New York City native, is an icon of Hip Hop and graphic design. Trusted Brands is an exhibition of his new collage works on canvas examining branding in contemporary culture. His use of collage and design principles creates rich textures of easily recognizable logos structured along subtle grids, which are becoming comparable to his signature. Adams’ delicate technique and balanced compositions celebrate the history of graffiti, graphic design, Pop Art and Hip Hop.
Trusted Brands explores icons of brands that have impacted his thinking and ideology from youth. Adams, emerged from the downtown graffiti movement and exhibited alongside fellow artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. He appeared in the historic 1982 PBS documentary Style Wars that tracks subway graffiti in New York. He was the Creative Director of Russell Simmons’ Def Jam Recordings and co-founded the Drawing Board an in-house visual design firm. He created visual identities, album covers, logos, and advertising campaigns for Run DMC, Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z and many others.
He has exhibited, lectured and taught workshops at: MoMA, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Walker Art Center, MoCA Los Angeles, Pratt Institute, Howard University, High Museum, and BAM among others. He is the co-author of DEFinition: The Art and Design of Hip-Hop, published by Harper-Collins; and the designer for Def Jam Recordings: The First 25 Years of the Last Great Record Label, published by Rizzoli. Adams was also a recent Artist in Resident at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, NE.
Cey draws inspiration from 60’s pop art, sign painting, comic books, and popular culture. His work focuses on themes including pop culture, race and gender relations, cultural and community issues. Trusted Brands transforms images and icographics that he grew up with. “These are all brands that my parents trusted and then I ended up trusting. I wanted to do something that really kind of revisits that.”
Trusted Brands new work by Cey Adams will be on view at Rush Arts Gallery, 526 W26th St Suite 311, New York, NY. The Opening Reception is Thursday March 12th from 6-8pm and there will be an artist talk on Saturday March 28th from 4-6pm. This exhibition will be paired with educational programing for high school students throughout the exhibition length.
Rush Arts Gallery
526 West 26 Street, Suite #311, New York, NY 10001
Kitchen Girls & Toy Boys
Artists Include: Sindy Butz (US), Markus Fiedler (DE), Franciscus & Franciscus (NL), Monica Germann & Daniel Lorenzi (CH), Reinhold Gottwald (DE), Sol Kjøk (US), Jenny Löbert (DE), Honey Jernquist (US), Lori Nelson (US), Jen Ray (US), Scott Snyder (US), Jonny Star (DE), Sador Weinsčlucker (DE)
Curator: Jonny Star
February 26th– March 7th, 2015
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 26th, 2015 6:00-9:00pm
Public Performance: Saturday, February 28th, 2015 2:00-5:00pm
kitchen girls & toy boys – second SUPERUSCHI show in New York
A kitchen can be more than a space for self-sustenance. It is also a place rife with gender role codifications and feminine clichés. For SUPERUSCHI Kitchen Girls, familiar everyday life situations can develop or degenerate in the kitchen. In their hands, the array of objects and appliances designed for familiar culinary use can change function and challenge our ideas about the “heart of the home”. Of course food and its accompanying baggage plays an important role in every kitchen. Its significance can be examined from different cultural and artistic perspectives. So it is with toys. In a traditional conservative view toys belong in the hands of children and at best in a toy chest. Certain toys are often associated with a certain age or sex of a child. Toy Boys have a strong traditional affinity for toys, but they tend to reinterpret and repurpose these everyday objects. They ask, how does it look when the “laws” of age, gender and function concerning toys are not complied with, or if the identity of a Toy Boy is also perceived in a sexual sense?
On February 26th, 2015 through March 7th, 2015, Berlin-based artist and curator, Jonny Star, presents a new iteration of her interdisciplinary SUPERUSCHI shows entitled kitchen girls & toy boys at Rush Arts Gallery in Chelsea, NYC. The opening reception of the show will be held on Thursday, February 26th, 2015, 6 – 9 pm at the gallery and will include live performances, additional performances are scheduled for Saturday, February 28th, 2015 from 2 – 5pm. SUPERUSCHI is a platform created by Jonny Star in 2013 for interaction and dialogue between artists and visitors in intimate spaces while exposing and working within the intersections of discipline, tradition, and space, all in the spirit of social sculpture.
For kitchen girls & toy boys, Star invited artists from Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the United States to share their stances on concepts of identity and gender roles, of femininity and masculinity. They will present us their “toy collections” and take us into their glittery self-determined worlds. The sweat, curiosity, courage and enthusiasm of the individual artists will intermingle with and cross-pollinate with the energy of the others. Men and women will slip into their “female and male roles”, to become Kitchen Girls and Toy Boys and display their art on the walls, on the floors, on their own bodies and in performances. Feel invited and be part of the show!
supported by the Berlin Senate Cultural Affairs Department
Rush Arts Gallery
526 West 26 Street, Suite #311, New York, NY 10001
“Crystal Ball, Feng Shui & Tarot”
Curator: Elga Wimmer
January 22 – February 21, 2015
Opening Reception: January 22, 6-8 pm
Panel discussion: (Tarot and Feng Shui masters talk with the artists): Jan. 24, 4pm
Artists: Mohamed El Baz (French Moroccan), Nicola L (French American), Mariko Mori (Japanese), Catya Plate (German Spanish), and Wong Kit Yi (Hong Kong Chinese)
Five international artists explore the “inexplicable,” “mysterious,” and “spiritual” aspects of experience in this exhibition. Although art affects us directly through material forms and hues, our reactions often derive not only from the visual but also from what we cannot see. Certain works evoke concepts and feelings that cannot be rationally explained. Outside the world of the visual arts, experts specialize in reading tarot cards, looking into the future through crystal balls, and configuring residential and work spaces according to feng shui. Many people search guidance and advice through these channels, and believe in the influence of star alignments, uncanny coincidences, energy flow, and “correct” arrangements of space, colors, and furnishings.
Mohamed El Baz’s “La ronde de nuit” (serigraphs on plexiglass and framed mirrors) is a realistic project … how to find in a popular card game (Ronda) all the combinations of possibilities of a better life. It involves the combinations, the strategies, the possible game settings—as money, war, soldiers, power, rest. The artist says, “In this work I change the cards into mirrors of our own situations.” The viewer is reflected in the mirrors that play the background to the symbols of the Tarot. Mohamed El Baz is presently showing this work on a larger scale in “Le Maroc Contemporain,” at the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris.
Nicola L’s work in painting, drawing, functional art, installation, performance and film has always referred to the shape of the body. Her depiction of the head, in its simplicity, reminds us of the moai statues of Easter Island. In her drawing and banner for this show thoughts in the mind are depicted inside of the shape of a head, with the 12 houses of the Tarot, symbolically enhanced by a collage of one of the most important tarot cards, “The Magician.” Nicola L is presently in a solo show at SECCA, Winston-Salem, N.C., and in the exhibition “The World Goes Pop” at Tate Modern, London, in the second half of 2015.
Mariko Mori mixes the ancient and modern, using digital technology in homage to old customs, cultures and spirituality. In her video “Miko No Inori,” she poses in Osaka’s Kansai International Airport as a futuristic, kaleidoscope-eyed visionary who gently and meaningfully caresses a crystal ball, while a haunting Japanese song plays in the background. Mori, in effect, channels an ethereal, techno/traditional shaman – a human figure who serves as medium between earth and the spiritual unknown. She is both a cyborg and a traditional Bodhisattva figure. Mori will present her solo show “Rebirth” at AGWA, Perth, Australia from February to June 2015.
Catya Plate, in a series of illustrative paperback-size drawings based on Tarot cards, shows principal characters played by plastic clothespins. The artist says about her Clothespin Freaks: “Conventional domestic and low-tech items, clothespins in particular, play a key role in my artwork Moving from clothespins as body attachments to anthropomorphized Clothespin Freaks was a natural step. The way in which the clothespins merged with the Tarot can only be explained as a freak accident or an evolutionary mishap.” Catya Plate presently has a solo show at the Indianapolis Art Center.
For Wong Kit Yi’s digital video “Feng Shui: how to be a better artist!,” the artist hired a New York-based Feng Shui master, Mr. Ye, to visit her studio, no. 403 at the Yale Sculpture Building. Based on her birthday, the Feng Shui master consulted her on how to rearrange her studio. These changes were supposed to help the artist achieve new heights in her work. Wong’s work is about letting go of control of her creation, and inviting interaction. Wong Ki Yi will show at Oil Street Art Space, Hong Kong (mid-Feb to June 2015).
Corridor Gallery
334 Grand Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238 (718) 230-5002
Santero: Sculptural Works by Jorge A. Valdes
Curated by Paul Laster
January 18th – March 1st 2015
Jorge A. Valdes, aka JAVA, is a self-taught Cuban-American artist, living in New York since 1992. Born in Santiago de Cuba in 1956, he began creating art as a teenager. Corridor Gallery will be presenting Santero: Sculptural Works by Jorge A. Valdes, curated by Paul Laster as the first solo exhibition in the Corridor Gallery Project space of 2015. The opening Reception will be held Sunday January 18th 4-6pm. In conjunction with this exhibit there will also be a special event, Ofrenda: A Peek into the Practice of Santeria held Sunday February 7th 4-6pm, as well as a closing reception Sunday March 1st 4-6pm.
The use of found objects and broken china in his work traces back to his native country, during a period when supplies were scarce. Using everything from crushed cans and broken dishes to abandoned metal and wood, JAVA has created a body of work reminiscent of the mystique and beauty of Santeria, a syncretic religion of West African and Caribbean origin that’s been influenced by Christianity. The artist’s sculptures reference the deities, animals, objects and places related to the ritualistic religion, while the exhibition’s title “Santero” alludes to the priest or maker of Santeria. JAVA’s attitude of “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” is a meaningful one, which he takes seriously in his dedication to the work.
JAVA’s art has been featured in various galleries and exhibits in the US, Cuba and Italy. He was chosen as the artist for the annual campaign of National Payroll Week, participated in the Southwest Minnesota State University Art Museum exhibit “Reclaimed” and was represented in a documentary about his life and work by DEVA International Film during a solo show at Franklin 54 Gallery in Chelsea, New York, in 2011.
In addition to his activities as a visual artist and teacher he has published poetry in “Not Black and White” (Plain View Press, 1996) and a variety of magazines. He became a 2014 Brooklyn Arts Council grantee, receiving the Local Arts Support and Community Arts Fund grants for a public commission. He currently resides in the Bronx, New York, and is active in creating public art and teaching workshops for local youth while continuing his work in the studio.
Curator, Paul Laster is a writer, editor, independent curator, artist, and lecturer. He is a New York desk editor for ArtAsiaPacific and a contributing editor at FLATT Magazine, Whitehot Magazine and artBahrain. He was the founding editor of Artkrush.com and Artspace.com; started The Daily Beast’s art section, and was previously art editor of Flavorpill.com and OneWorld Magazine. He frequently contributes to Time Out New York, Art in America, Modern Painters, ArtPulse, and The New York Observer, ArtInfo.com, and and has written for Interview, Paper Magazine, Flash Art, Newsweek, amNew York, and Artnet.com. In the late-’80s, Laster was an Adjunct Curator of Photography at PS1 Contemporary Art Center, now MoMA PS1.
Corridor Gallery
334 Grand Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238 (718) 230-5002
Hot Sauce and Brown Liquor
Curated by Oshun Layne and Charlotte Mouquin
January 18th– March 1st, 2015
Corridor Gallery is excited for this saucy exhibition, Hot Sauce and Brown Liquor, opening with a kick-off on Sunday January 18th, 4-6pm. This group exhibition brings together artists who have used “hot sauce” or “brown liquor” as a theme, symbol, or metaphor in their artworks. Ranging from drawing, printmaking, painting, sculpture, and installation this collection of artworks will excite the senses and spark conversations. Continuing the exploration of the themes, an artist talk and BYO Hot Sauce party will be held Sunday February 22nd from 4-8pm. There will also be a closing reception on the final day, Sunday, March 1st from 4-6pm. Artists include: SOL SAX, Vid Taylor, Luiza Cardenuto, Kira Nam Greene, Robin Antar, Hall Groat II, May DeViney, Naturel, and David Cahill.
Hot sauce and brown liquor, in moderation, have the ability to heat up both senses and ideas, but through mass consumption they have the power to destroy the senses and impair logic. The virtues and vices can be compared to the desires of human nature, and in a broader context, the over-saturation of popular culture through mass-consumed social, print and digital media. Sexy promises in advertisements for such products range from spicing up your life to burning down the barriers of power in our social dynamics, whether it’s a scotch on the rocks or the bottled heat of a scotch bonnet pepper.
The work of Vid Taylor exemplifies these themes as they pertain to hot sauce through print making inspired by pop icons, graphic sensibilities, and Tabasco. He has indeed written “The Hot Sauce Manifesto” that can be located through the Pop Boom Pow artist collective, brand, and salon gallery in which he is a cofounder. Kira Nam Greene uses hot sauce more poetically through her mixed media paintings exploring the dualities of her identity as a woman and an Asian-American immigrant, and an artist in New York as seen in “Cool as a Cucumber in a Bowl of Hot Sauce.”
Luiza Cardenuto combines hot sauce and brown liquor physically to create painting mediums and explore her findings through Rorschach tests. SOL SAX also explores the duality of brown liquor and hot sauce particularly through his mixed media installation relating to the Black American experience. “Big Leg Madonna,” the assemblage work of May DeViney displays a combination of Madonna and Cinderella inside an antique Scotch box.
Traditional still life oil paintings of Hall Groat II contrast the geometric contemporary vanitas-inspired work of Naturel. David Cahill captures everyday street scenes of brown bags held on the street. Robin Antar carves trompe d’oeil pop art creations in stone forever capturing the icon of Johnnie Walker. This exhibition brings new perspectives to current questions and concerns that perhaps prompt us to reevaluate our everyday scenarios, or ask “what’s your poison?”.