Re/producing Complexity

“RE/PRODUCING COMPLEXITY”

Exhibition Dates: 11 June – 10 July, 2010

RE/PRODUCING COMPLEXITY at Artlab33 | Art Space features artists Raúl Perdomo and Liz Atzberger
Exhibition Dates: 11 June – 10 July, 2010

RE/PRODUCING COMPLEXITY at Artlab33 | Art Space features artists Raúl Perdomo and Liz Atzberger. Both artist’s paintings and drawings take a similar route to reach their goals in a field of rich textures and enveloped in swirls of color.

“Re/producing Complexity” refers to Complexity Theory and Chaos Theory, systems that are too complex to accurately predict their future, but nevertheless exhibit underlying patterns that can help us cope in an increasingly complex world. Obviously, visual representations are not the same as working with mathematical computations. However, both artists continue a longstanding tradition of exploration and experimentation with abstract phenomena as the route to their ends.

Downloadable Press Release / Images – click to view

Raúl Perdomo
Casualty
Watercolor, gouache, ink, acrylic and pencil on paper
30 x 22.5 in.

Re/producing Complexity

Raúl Perdomo
Vortises (detail)
Ink on paper
10 x  7 in.

Liz Atzberger
“Xo”
mixed media on d’arches paper
84 x 42 in.

Three-by-Six (3×6) – Event Evenings

“Three-by-Six (3×6)”

Artlab33 | Art SpaceThursday, 27 May was our kickoff for our event series, “Three-by-Six (3×6).” Our summer media and performing arts event in Miami was an initial success, although we did have a technical glitch. Our borrowed video project was missing an important cable, but we made due with what we had. Everyone still enjoyed the evening.

The first program included pieces from: Tina La Porta, Alette Simmons-Jimenez, Charles Chace, Larry Caveney, and Lincoln Schatz. The second program included pieces from: Bruno Torquato, Adam Badlotto, and Onajide Shabaka.

Each evening lead to lively discussions about the works and the various processes of creation. The feeling from the majority of those in attendance was that there was much more that could be done for a time-based art project than they themselves were immediately ready to submit to the event. The intention was not so much for totally refined works but an opportunity to share more experimental works.

No limitations were placed on what type of work could be submitted except: it must be able to be projected digitally, performed, played via sound system, or some combination, each piece is limited in length to 6 minutes, and no more than 6 will be selected for any one event. The only real limitation is ones creativity.

EVENT SHOWING DATES :

Theme #1 : #phrasesihate (a twitter trending topic) – on 27 May, 2010

Theme #2: Likin’ – on 24 June, 2010

Theme #3: Obsess’n – on 29 July, 2010

SUBMISSION DEADLINES:

Program #1 – 8 May, 2010

Program #2 – 12 June, 2010

Program #3 – 12 July, 2010

[Special Thanks to Diaspora Vibe Gallery]

Three-by-Six (“3×6”)

Three-by-Six ("3×6")

Artlab33 | Art SpaceThree-by-Six (“3×6”) is a summer media arts event in Miami, Florida; a cross between an art show and a film festival. On each selected evening, six curated short video, film, performance, sound, or other time-based combination works will be presented.

Three-by-Six (“3×6”) will be held on the last Thursday of the month during the summer of 2010 (Wynwood Art District’s Last Thursdays). Artlab33 | Art Space will provide a forum for submission and curation of media artworks and build a community of participation, review, and response for both audience and practitioner. Our address is: 2085-B NW 2nd Avenue, Miami, Florida 33127.

The program title, Three-by-Six (“3×6”), refers to the structure of the program:

• Three events
• Three curators/jurors
• Three themes
• Six pieces per event
• Six minutes or less per piece
• Sixty minutes long event

No limitations are placed on what type of work can be submitted except: it must be able to be projected digitally, performed, played via sound system, or some combination, each piece is limited in length to 6 minutes, and no more than 6 will be selected for any one event.

Electronic files and support materials can be submitted via email (up to 5 MB’s), CD, DVD, or internet download. Entries with technical problems need to be resolved by the artist or will be withdrawn or rejected. Terms of submission include permission to exhibit both live and online (whether or not selected for a particular event), permission to video tape performances, and permission to include selected work in a compilation DVD. No materials will be returned. Other than these uses, the artists will retain all rights.

—–

Three-by-Six (“3×6”) Submissions:

Works must be: video, film, sound, performance, slideshow, or combination. Anything that can be projected or performed in real-time, no longer than six minutes in length. Shorter can be better!

SUBMISSION DEADLINES:

Program #1 – 8 May, 2010

Program #2 – 12 June, 2010

Program #3 – 12 July, 2010

EVENT SHOWING DATES :

Theme #1 : #phrasesihate (a twitter trending topic) – on 27 May, 2010

Theme #2: Likin’ – on 24 June, 2010

Theme #3: Obsess’n – on 29 July, 2010

We will follow up if we need more information or clarification. Your permission to post your work online, exhibit at the event, and compile into a DVD is required. Electronic files and support materials should be downloadable through a URL that you provide, emailed under separate cover to printcollection@gmail.com, or post mailed to:

Miami Art Exchange
Attn: Artlab33 | Art Space – “3×6”
PO Box 1462
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33302

Please answer all of the following questions to the best of your ability.

Required with your submission:

Your Name:

Your valid Email:

Your phone (if residing in Florida):

Title of Work *

Description of Work * Media, Emphasis, Major Points

File Size (# of kb’s, mb’s, or gb’s) *

Number and Types of Files *

Submission Delivery Method *

• URL (http://…. )

• Email (under 3MB to printcollection@gmail.com)

• CD/DVD (over 3MB through postal mail)

URL for Downloading

Permission to Post Work Online, Show and/or Videotape at Event, and Compile in DVD for Distribution * Required; Artist Retains Ownership

• I grant my permission for these uses.

Do you have other materials you would like us to be aware of? URL’s, Significant Projects or Exhibitions, Other Examples of Your Work?

Please submit by the correct deadline to be considered for each individual event date.

April 2010 Re-opening Group Exhibition

Re-opening Group Exhibition

Exhibition Dates: 10 April – 1 May, 2010

Opening: 7 pm – 10:30 pm, Saturday 10 April

What is a re-opening? Artlab33 Art Space has moved to a larger space (one door north) to 2085 NW 2nd Avenue.

Our current exhibition features some of our finest gallery artists, Christopher Skura, Paul Aho, Toyin Odutola, Bill Pusztai, and David Rohn.


“Untitled” © 2008
graphite, ink, colored pencil on paper.
Christopher Skura

Bill Pusztai, © 2008
West: Erotesis
Piezographic on archival paper
24 x 18 in. framed


“Encroaching” © 2010
Ink & Varnish on Board
16 x 20 inches
Toyin Odutola

Artlab33 | Art Space

Weekly Regular Hours: Tue.-Sat. 11-5 p.m. (or by appt.)

Late last Thursday’s every month until 8 p.m.

Open Every Second Saturday’s Wynwood Art Walk until 10:30 p.m.

Joseph Beuys: Make the Secrets Productive, New York

How is it that the name Joseph Beuys has come up so many times in the past month or so? A friend and I were talking about a project and doing further research on its development Beuys name came up. I hadn’t thought a great deal about him for a while as my personal explorations and experimentations lead me in a different, although similar, direction.

At the Saturday opening at Artlab33 | Art Space an artist or two were talking about Beuys that perked my ears. Beuys ideas seem to have some immediacy and currency.I think we saw a lot of that at the 2009 Art Basel Miami Beach activities in Wynwood with the district being covered in sanctioned graffiti, although that only partially touches upon what Beuys was about.

Joseph Beuys: Make the Secrets Productive / PaceWildenstein, New York:

“During his lifetime he was controversial, but now the German performance and installation artist, sculptor, graphic artist, art theorist, pedagogue of art and politician Joseph Beuys is regarded as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. His words ‘Every man is an artist’ are cited again and again, not only by art art lovers.

Currently, PaceWildenstein in New York presents ‘Joseph Beuys: Make the Secrets Productive’, an exhibition of twelve sculptures, dating from the 1950s through the end of his career. Over 90 black and white photographs taken by Ute Klophaus, documenting eleven of the artist’s ‘Aktion’ works, will be shown alongside four of these iconic happenings on film. The installation will also feature a separate screening room showcasing rare footage and interviews with Joseph Beuys.

In this video we have a look at this extraordinary exhibition and PaceWildenstein President Marc Glimcher and Director Birte Kleemann tell us how this show came about.

Among the works are Jeder Mensch ist ein Künstler (Make the Secrets Productive), a 1977 text-based sculpture painted on wood paneling with Braunkreuz, an earthy-looking substance Beuys created by combining household paint and hare’s blood. This important work of art indoctrinates each visitor with the Beuysian ideology that ‘every man is an artist’ and its message is the anchor for the larger exhibition, which features a number of unique sculptures that have never before been presented in the United States. Among the sculptures are Feldbett (1982), OFEN (1983-85), Tisch mit Aggregat, Tisch 2 Pole, and Doppelaggregat. For more information visit PaceWildenstein’s website.

Joseph Beuys: Make the Secrets Productive at PaceWildenstein, 25th Street, New York, runs until April 10, 2010.  A catalogue with essays by Heiner Bastian, Prof. Dr. Joachim Pissarro, Bershad Professor of Art History and Director of the Hunter College Galleries, and Prof. Dr. Eugen Blume, head of the Hamburg Bahnhof, Museum for Contemporary Art, Berlin, will accompany the exhibition. Currently, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, has dedicated one of its fourth floor galleries to an ongoing exhibition dedicated to Joseph Beuys. The focus of this installation centers on the museum’s recent acquisition of five vitrines created by the artist, with works dating from 1942 and 1982.

Joseph Beuys: Make the Secrets Productive / PaceWildenstein, New York. Private View, March 4, 2010.

PS: See also VernissageTV’s coverage of the exhibition mentioned in this segment, Joseph Beuys. We are the Revolution / Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin. Other Beuys related videos.”

> Right-click (Mac: ctrl-click) this link to download Quicktime video file.

> Click this link to watch Quicktime video in new movie window.

Related Articles:

(Via VernissageTV art tv.)

Common Ground

“Common Ground”

Exhibition Dates: 13 – 30 March, 2010

Opening: 7 – 10:30 pm, Saturday 13 March

Our upcoming exhibition features drawing contrasting the relationships between figuration and abstraction.


“Encroaching” © 2010
Ink & Varnish on Board
16 x 20 inches
Toyin Odutola

The space that our artists inhabit, between figuration and abstraction, is in the associative realm between the conscious and unconscious mind. This space is enigma, a seductive entity, suggestive of childhood memories and fantasies where we once scrawled with broken crayons. It sometimes bordering on the violent, sometimes on the sublime. We imagine it to be a malleable, liquid material that can be bent and molded at will.

Exhibiting will be Christopher Skura, Toyin Odutola, Franklin Sinanan, David Rohn, and Onajide Shabaka.

Toyin Odutola drawings are new to Miami. She says, “I am a draftswoman who deals in portraiture. Working with rudimentary tools, I desperately try to create complex entities.” Toyin Odutola’s massively strong, yet graceful figures, lyrically haunt and preoccupy our thoughts. Although still very young, Ms. Odutola invokes historical references that follow her like ghosts. They may be creations out of her imagination, but they continually creep up and out into our world with force.

There is a chilling patience in the drawings of Christopher Skura that reminds us to take note of his work. His works appear as slices, as sections in a sequence of interlocking objects. While we may be able to become lost in the smallest of spaces, between two dots on a field of yellow, we know the elastic band of reality will prevent us from falling in and free falling into infinity. Christopher Skura’s complex worlds are both organic and manufactured in a similar way as architectural building blocks and frameworks. Skura’s drawing takes us to an alternate reality enveloped in a high key golden aura.

“Untitled” © 2008
graphite, ink, colored pencil on paper.
Christopher Skura

David Rohn steps away from his performative work to show a few drawings that are both instructive and sensitive. David Rohn’s drawings have a variety of characters in different situation and different dramatic circumstances. His drawings, as blueprints, form guidelines and a map to instructive platforms of activity. They continually try to balance and push us toward a kind of accuracy and precision that is more about us than them.

Franklin Sininan’s raw vision, filled to the edges with tribal mask forms, textures, figures, loads of color, and graffiti, are what make up his painting and drawing. His Caribbean background certainly is an influence on his imagery and motifs. This tribal, motif filled art has a sense of immediacy and agency that envelopes each work in the contemporary art making process. There is a riotous abundance of color and a tendency toward optical overload that infuses his work.

Gagged
Nupastel, carbon smoke on paper
36 x 24 in.
© Onajide Shabaka

Using a fully engage working process, Onajide Shabaka’s various drawings use somewhat violent techniques in their creation by burning, erasing, rubbing, and smoking his surfaces. Not only are their emotional content highly charged, they creative process in brought about through a fully charged engagement with both the subject and medium. The burning and smoking of the drawing, though not destroying the paper’s surface, it creates a texture that mutes and highlights the line drawings, both at the same time leaving it with a translucence and aura.

Onajide Shabaka – Mami Wata

The character of Mami Wata is twofold: she is an ancient and indigenous deity, part of the widespread belief in spirits that live in the waters, but she is most often depicted as an alien creature such as a mermaid. Mami Wata is a fully African spirit.

Mami Wata is often portrayed as a light-skinned maiden with snakes curling around her breasts; the snakes represent supernatural power. As the surface and moods of fresh water and the sea are ever-changing, so are the moods of Mami Wata. She is benevolent as she works to ensure beauty, riches, a big family and a long life to those who honor her, but she also has a dangerous side that capsizes boats, strips away fertile soil and drowns unfortunate victims. This particular image incorporates imagery from colonization and demonstrates the influence of foreign culture on African art, which is organic and constantly evolving. As Africans have been exposed to Western, Islamic and Indian culture and art, the images of Mami Wata have changed over time, yet her personality has remained the same.

“Mami Wata #1
Lamba print on gatorboard
42 x 60 in.
© Onajide Shabaka

“Mami Wata #2
Lamba print on gatorboard
42 x 60 in.
© Onajide Shabaka