Recess

I just finished "Quake Arch" for Recess, an art show in "closer than you think" Flushing Queens at Crossing Art. (go to the home page and check out my animated gif) Here's all the official info:

Reception & Asian Contemporary Art Week Event: Sunday May 17th, 2009 2 – 6 pm
Special Performances @ 3 pm*
Curator-led tour & Artist talk for both Exhibitions: Saturday, May 30 6 - 8 pm*
Exhibition Dates: Wednesday, April 29th – Saturday, May 30, 2009

(NEW YORK, NY- April, 2009) Crossing Art is pleased to present the group exhibition, Recess. The exhibition will subversively examine theories as of how and why the economy collapsed by examining different types of structures and systems. Recess will feature works by Chen Gang 陳剛, Chris Coffin, Carl Eckhoff, Gabert Farrar, Ben Grasso, Michael Greathouse, He Diqiu 賀棣秋, Timothy Hutchings, Scott Kiernan, Rachel Kohn, Jon Laustsen, Paris Mancini, Meridith Pingree, Patrick Resing, Adam Thompson, and Kai Vierstra.

The title, deduced from the concept of “recession,” sets the stage for an exhibition that promises to reach across the spectrum of possible interpretations. The artwork to be featured tackles the state of mind of “recess” as much as it does the questions of the modes of politics and economic recessions, bringing to the fore artists looking to break down standard structures and systems in order to further examine and understand them. The breadth of the exhibit presents the viewer with a conceptual see-saw, weaving itself through a time-space continuum of the past, present and future as it explores the urban reality of communications systems and Wall Street cultures. The physicality of our own modernity, given weight by re-contextualized images of American currency and the enduring monuments and structures of our day, is challenged, however, by the appearance of historical themes and ideas which seem to imply the fleeting nature of the status quo. With this, one is reminded of a special cultural obsession with the future, its promises and its very novelty, suggesting that as time shuffles on so do our priorities and conceptions of self undergo transformations. The layers are boundless, intimating a need for the creation of new paradigms in the face of what seems a time in which much is uncertain and left up in the air.

The whimsically aesthetic vibrancy as well as the variety of the artwork to be displayed work to intrigue the audience while encouraging discussion of the ways in which even contemporary artists and the artworld may respond to this international financial crisis. Recess aims to begin a revisionary dialogue directed at those current and accepted structures and paradigms, welcoming and inspiring the employment of a critical lens as we approach and attempt to come to terms with these times of uncertainty and imminent changes.

Recess is curated by Crossing Art Assistant Director, Jennifer Junkermeier. For further information on both exhibitions contact Jennifer Junkermeier at 212. 359. 4333 or jennifer@crossingart.com.