ART :: OPENINGS PRESENTS FRENZY INTO FOLLY : VIRTUAL GALLERY II :: BERUBE, SIMON, ALDERSON, HOLLARS, RUSTERHOLZ
In celebration of Awesome Creators OPENINGS Collective upcoming group show, Frenzy into Folly, Exit Strata is currently featuring the work of the 38 participating artists weekly in anticipation of and through the run [TONIGHT, September 14 – October 26, 2012] – so that our community near and far can have an opportunity to be exposed to this work even if you aren’t able to attend.
Of course, if you’re local, please *do* join us at next week’s opening reception and celebration!
Thursday – September 20th, 7-9pm
Location : Church of St. Paul the Apostle
Corner of West 60th & Columbus Ave. (212) 265-3495
New York, New York 10019
[Open Hours: Mon – Fri 7:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., Sat – Sun 8:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.]
WITHOUT FURTHER ADO! This week’s artists: Michael Berube, Rebecca Simon, Virgil Alderson, Sarah Hollars, Tim Rusterholz
Michael Berube (New York, NY)
In this piece I wed Baroque patterning, pop-art imagery, and an interpretation of Latin American folk-craft to create a pseudo-icon that is humorous yet still contains conceptual underpinnings. By using a (frenzied) pastiche of seemingly unrelated styles, eras, and influences, it is the object itself that becomes the Folly. While remaining colorful, playful, and seductive, the pseudo-icon attempts to address the arbitrary nature of images that, as a society, we choose to elevate.
Aesthetically, it questions concepts of beauty and taste, camp and high art, the sacred and the secular, commodity and its interaction with art and popular culture, all of which subsequently engages us in a conversation about identity politics.
The piece reflects its context here in the Church of St. Paul the Apostle through sly humor by choosing as its subject Crunchy Fish Sticks, which can be interpreted as representing loaves and fishes.
website : http://michaelberube.net
Aesthetically, it questions concepts of beauty and taste, camp and high art, the sacred and the secular, commodity and its interaction with art and popular culture, all of which subsequently engages us in a conversation about identity politics.
The piece reflects its context here in the Church of St. Paul the Apostle through sly humor by choosing as its subject Crunchy Fish Sticks, which can be interpreted as representing loaves and fishes.
website : http://michaelberube.net
Rebecca Simon (Brooklyn, NY)
Rebecca Simon’s figurative paintings explore social and psychological tension. The figures depicted are often victims of circumstance, they are caught in vulnerable situations or perform actions permeated with a sense of disquiet.The work invites reflection on contemporary themes of femininity, societal norms, and power dynamics, while evoking an overall mood of uncertainty and poignancy.This work ultimately functions as metaphor for the enigmatic elements of human experience. The paintings don’t draw finite conclusions, but instead act as narrative possibilities that remain open, ambiguous, unfinished. Above all else, they are about the process of finding meaning through the medium of paint.
website: http://rebeccasimonart.com
website: http://rebeccasimonart.com
Virgil Alderson (New York, NY)
I made this so I can see for myself; I am tired of looking for others.
Il Milagro signifies for me the beauty and splendor that is Mexico.
I made it by hand, using plain old craftsmanship and technology.It is made of two thousand hand made glass tiles. Each embossed with some beauty of Mexico. The Lighting is driven by a genetic algorithm known as a One Dimensional Cellular Automata.
It means to me the “Milagro” that is Mexico, and all of its people.
website: http://www.veaidea.com/
Il Milagro signifies for me the beauty and splendor that is Mexico.
I made it by hand, using plain old craftsmanship and technology.It is made of two thousand hand made glass tiles. Each embossed with some beauty of Mexico. The Lighting is driven by a genetic algorithm known as a One Dimensional Cellular Automata.
It means to me the “Milagro” that is Mexico, and all of its people.
website: http://www.veaidea.com/
49 Spirit Houses: The houses are created to give shelter to a spirit of one sort or another. Housing an entity is the sole purpose of the structure, however, the occupation of the houses can never be physically observed or recorded in any scientifically accepted manner. Creating the structure is an act of futility and faith; the use of it can never be substantiated nor refuted. The house becomes a container for a body whose existence can never be documented to have been contained, a folly, while the sheer number of houses, 49, illustrates a frenzy entered into to prove that the vessel will contain and/or in acceptance that it does contain.
The number 49 is significant in relation to the Korean Drama 49 days which explores the Buddhist idea of there being 49 days between the physical death of a body and the soul leaving earth. This transformation exists in the same realm as the houses, there is no conclusive evidence as to existence of the soul or its lack there of and yet the 49 days are accepted by a culture. I feel a question mark should always hang in the air for nothing is ever in black and white; we should always be exploring and debating our own personal reality and beliefs.
website: http://sarahhollars.com/
The number 49 is significant in relation to the Korean Drama 49 days which explores the Buddhist idea of there being 49 days between the physical death of a body and the soul leaving earth. This transformation exists in the same realm as the houses, there is no conclusive evidence as to existence of the soul or its lack there of and yet the 49 days are accepted by a culture. I feel a question mark should always hang in the air for nothing is ever in black and white; we should always be exploring and debating our own personal reality and beliefs.
website: http://sarahhollars.
Tim Rusterholz (Philadelphia, PA)
Sculptural Group #1Plaster, Styrofoam
Life-size
Overwhelming frenzy is a pervasive theme within the walls of a Catholic Church. Notable examples lie in theatrical altarpieces and ceiling paintings of Baroque art. Master artists portrayed divinity by transcending human limits with stunning visuals of virtuosity and illusion. The history of Christian
imagery rationalizes a divine vision while art challenges logic, producing a turbulent yet poetic depiction in spiritual and aesthetic opposition. By fragmenting traditional processes of representation, my work approaches this discrepancy in language by questioning the contemporary equivalent of the theological sublime.
website:
__
__
Read more about the origins of OPENINGS and the work of this inspiring collective in our introductory post, Thriving at the Limen of Creativity and Transcendence, and check out last week’s Virtual Gallery!
We are grateful to curators Michael Berube and Keena Gonzalez, who have curated these mini online group shows, as well as to participating artist Joey Kilrain, who did such a fantastic job with video production and design, and are excited to share their work with you, as well, over the course of these weeks.
Frenzy Into Folly features work by Andrew Berardi,Anthony Santella, Araceli Cruz, Carrie Elston Tunick, Daniel Nelson, Denise Penizzotto, Dennis Santella, Garry Velletri, Iliyan Ivanov, James Vanderberg, Joey Kilrain, Johanna Bartelt, John Pavlou, Julia Whitney Barnes, Keena Gonzalez, Kenneth Walker, Lori Merhige, Marjan Moghaddam, Mark Brennan, Matthew Farrell, Meg Graham, Megan Hildebrandt, Michael Berube, Oksana Prokopenko, Patricia Bellucci, Rachel Kohn, Rebecca Simon, Robert Aitchison, Roger Geier, Sandra Mack-Valencia, Sarah Hollars, Sarah Knouse, Sherry Aliberti, Steve Palermo, Suzanne Broughel, Tim Rusterholz, Virgil Alderson, and Wen-Chi Chen.
Artists can be contacted via frenzy@openingsny.com or at artists@openingsny.com or at their websites where applicable.
