To Whom It May Concern:

An Exploration of longing, and the subjective experience of duration.

Steven Gwon, Esperanza Mayobre, Jo Mikals-Adachi, and Greg Santos

Curated by Herb Tam

At CUCHIFRITOS art gallery/project space.

November 12 - December 3, 2005

Opening reception:Saturday, November 12, 4-6pm
Open daily, Monday through Saturday 12:00 noon to 5:30pm. Closed Sundays

The selection of works in "To Whom It May Concern:" is inspired by "Perfect Lovers," a piece by Felix Gonzalez-Torres and "What Time Is It There?" a film by Tsai Ming Liang. "Perfect Lovers" is comprised of two round analog clocks hung on the wall so that they're touching; the clocks tick in perfect unison. Tsai Ming Liang's 2003 film follows the paths of two lonely characters that briefly meet in Taipei, Taiwan before one of them travels to Paris. Both works are ultimately about longing, the subjective experience of duration, and the inevitability of death.

The works in the show, like the characters in "What Time Is It There?" drift about in separate orbits, there connections slight but palpable. The situation they produce ponders the routine and ritual of waking up and going to sleep that mirrors, each day, the arc of our lives from birth to death. But in the repetition, there is the bonus metaphor of rebirth and the redeeming possibility of life after death.

Steven Gwon makes drawings that track the passing of time, day-by-day. Made on graph paper with colored pencils, the drawings record each day's sunrise and sunset in graph chart detail. Seen in large groups the drawings combine to form a field of subtly modulating color that spans the range of the color spectrum. For this show, Mr. Gwon will show one year from this series.

Esperanza Mayobre presents a clock similar to the ones used in Gonzalez-Torres's piece except that she speeds up the motor to over 100 times the speed of a normal functioning clock. Ms. Mayobre's piece will be presented next to a normal clock, running at normal speed, in a re-interpretation of "Perfect Lovers."

In a painting by Jo Mikals-Adachi, a young woman is shown sleeping on a colorfully striped bed sheet. The viewer's gaze is that of the woman's lover and the tone of the painting is affectionate and intimate.

Greg Santos, an artist based in Los Angeles presents some ideas in the form of an email exchange with the curator who lives in Queens, New York.

This exhibit was made possible by the following:

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, LMCC's Fund For Creative Communities/NYSCA, The New York City Economic Development Corporation, The Puffin Foundation, the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, The Greenwall Foundation, and the members of the Artists Alliance Incorporated.

CUCHIFRITOS is a project of Artists Alliance Inc.