Curatorial

No Nature

January 21 - March 4, 2022
Longwood Gallery @BCA, Bronx, NY

GUEST CURATOR
Rachel Sydlowski

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
Regiane Donadio | Katherine Emely Gomez | Alonsa Guevara | Jessica Maffia
Palén Obesa | Sima Schloss

The Bronx is often depicted as a critical mass of urban environments, but anyone who has traversed the depths of Van Cortlandt Park, navigated the waters of the Bronx River or walked the shores of Twin Island knows that this borough is one of dualities. One can see the geological scars of prehistory just by observing the echoes of the retreating ice age in the land’s complex elevations and topologies.   Each artist in this exhibition considers their relationship to nature and the city.  Sculptures, paintings, and site-specific artworks exist as opposing but connected strands in a double helix of seeking solace and restoration within natural environments and existing as an artist within a major metropolis. The title of this exhibition is taken from a book of poems No Nature, by Gary Snyder. Snyder’s poems are a popular companion to those seeking enlightenment and mindfulness. The poems and the artworks in this exhibition consider a reflective existence, one that weighs the lifespan of the universe and not the singular arc of ego and the emptiness of conspicuous consumption. Yet, there is a trick within the homonym of “no” and “know”. It is both that we are part of nature and also that through the act of seeking, we become better at knowing and observing the cosmic and biological systems relationships that bind us to this earth and beyond. This group of artists are apt observers and seekers, they are High Priestesses of intuition with their hand in both worlds. Their alchemy is mixing polarities of nature and the metropolis, the outcome being greater than the sum of its parts.

Patterns of Power

Empty Set, Bronx, NY
January 22 - March 19, 2022

Elizabeth Alexander, Elizabeth Castaldo,
Sarah Morejohn, Rachel Sydlowski

Patterns of Power recontextualizes patterns found in the decorative arts and addresses power structures, social and environmental issues. The desire to destroy the genteel trappings of modern life that underhandedly rewards greed, patriarchy and short-sightedness is articulated through deconstruction and maximalism. 

The resplendent qualities inherent to artworks in this exhibition, like the Pattern & Decoration movement, are equally beautiful and deceptive through their critical aims. Deconstructed wallpaper, prints and drawings that are accumulative and highly ornamental exist outside of the bounds of the familiar; their uncanniness is a potent signal to action.

LUCKY TO BE HERE

June 15, 2021 - August 18, 2021
Longwood Gallery, Bronx, NY

GUEST CURATOR
Rachel Sydlowski

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
Dionis Ortiz | Erica Bailey | Leonardo Madriz | Lizzy Alejandro | Patrick Perry Sarah Ellen Rowe | Vanezza Cruz | Yeon Ji Yoo

Archetypes of home are presented as otherworldly, nostalgic, and uncanny in this exhibition that considers the visual philology of architecture, furniture forms, family, shelter, mapping, and immigration. Artists examine the complexities of home, as explicit spaces and psychological or spiritual states. The title of this exhibition, LUCKY TO BE HERE, is borrowed from Leonardo Madriz’s video installation and the complex myths and notions of success in America. This collection of artists examines the broader question of ‘how are we here?’ How did we come to occupy this very space and time and how do we navigate the discursive set of circumstances that allow for our varied experiences to intersect on the most cosmic and banal level? Each artist explores branches of knowledge that deal with the structure, historical development, and relationships of a visual language associated with our very existence and continuation.

The works in this exhibition elicit a discourse about permanence, impermanence, history, and memory. The artists ask the viewer: “Who are the stewards of American history?”, “What is suitable for publication and what is censored?”, and “What is the nature of power and how does it inform our identity as Americans?” Questions emerge as to what has been excised, fractured, or scrambled within the narrative of American history.

Memory, history, and imagination are deeply enmeshed in this exhibition as power structures are questioned, examined, and recontextualized. As a collective whole, the artwork asks the viewer to consider the mercurial dialogue between present and past.

This exhibition challenges the traditional assumption that artists pursue one material and methodology at a time, by showing the complex dialog between print and ceramic media. Though the two disciplines each developed through independent paths, with unique histories of technique and artistic styles, artists in this exhibit embrace “a post-disciplinary spirit” that goes beyond strict roles of ceramic artist or printmaker. By blending identities the artists have opened new avenues that combine techniques from both disciplines.

Curators Sarah Rowe and Rachel Sydlowski, who both incorporate printmaking and ceramics in their own studios, have put together an exhibit that shows the results of interdisciplinary thinking between ceramics and printmaking.  The outcomes range from traditional forms of reproducibility to cast sculpture and ephemeral performance-based methods of mark-making, as well as printmaking methods such as slip-cast multiples, screen printing, decals, video, and photography.