Rubbish

April 3rd - May 1st, 2004 Opening reception: Sat, April 3, 4-6pm
Open daily thereafter, Monday through Saturday 12:00 noon to 5:30pm. Closed Sundays.

 Featuring Paul Amenta, Reynard Loki and Phoebe Washburn

Curated by Rachel Gugelberger

April 3rd - May 1st, 2004
Opening reception Saturday, April 3, 4-6pm
Open daily, Monday through Saturday 12:00 noon to 5:30pm.

For more information please contact:
Rachel Gugelberger, rachelgugelberger@yahoo.com
Rubbish takes the daily functions of the Lower East Side’s Essex Street Market, in which Cuchifritos is situated, as its point of departure. Three artists - Paul Amenta, Reynard Loki and Phoebe Washburn - have used the detritus and goods produced by the market’s vendors to create new work. The materials that have already served their original and intended purpose – or have been used to serve alternate ends – now speak directly to the artistic process, as well as to their own origin.

Paul Amenta’s sculptural relief consists of a topographical representation of a lunar landscape constructed out of cardboard. The work was inspired by a poem written by Gabriel Li, a former classmate of Amenta’s who recently passed away. Li and Amenta shared many interests – among them site-specificity, conceptual practices and the use of found materials – and for some time had been discussing various ideas towards a collaboration. Here Amenta has rescued the market’s waste and imbued it with new meaning – the continuation of an interrupted dialog and friendship – resulting in a tribute to a lost friend.

Using large nails to affix the market’s trash to the wall in the form of a cross, Reynard Loki has created a symbol of great significance and power to explore the theme of transformation, one of the main concepts of Christianity. Inspired by the various handmade shrines of the Virgin Mary that he encountered during his several trips to Mexico, Loki investigates the blurred lines between devotion and blasphemy, consecration and desecration, and symbolism and materialism. Loki’s “trash cross” is the illustration of the idea on which many reliquaries are based, while also considering the after-market value of religion. Crudely constructed expressions of artistry and spirituality, their significance does not come from the materials used in their construction, but from the deeply held beliefs that bestow meaning upon a simple form.

Phoebe Washburn’s standing sculpture resonates with the repetitive activities of the market and the significance of display. On a daily basis, products are loaded into the market, sorted, stacked and then restocked. Washburn’s process of collecting building materials mirrors the regular, everyday commerce of the market. She collected what she could carry, used the product, and then gathered more based on need. Painted cups have been altered into building blocks, revealing not only the structure of their form, but also the activity that occurred during their construction.

The practice of the artists in Rubbish has typically incorporated the use of found, recycled and abandoned materials to address issues that range from site-specific examinations of memory and sculptural constructions that examine urban waste and recycling programs, to conceptual projects that challenge contemporary notions of art and the norms by which the value of art is measured. The transformation of the Essex Street Market’s trash into art explores the commerce of the market with decidedly non-commercial materials, questions the commodification of art, and elucidates the age-old saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.