WORKING SPACE: Artists employing a wide variety of media, from AAI's Rotating Studio Program Fall 2004 and Spring 2005

Nina Buxenbaum, Eunjung Hwang, Nathan See, Jeffrey Gibson, Sun K. Kwak, Mary Ting, Adam Henry, Suzanne Najarian

Organized by: Suzanne Varni with Paul Clay

At CUCHIFRITOS art gallery/project space.

July 16 - September 3, 2005

Opening reception: FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 4-6pm part of Howl! Festival 2005 www.howlfestival.com
Open daily, Monday through Saturday 12:00 noon to 5:30pm. Closed Sundays

"All creative people are empowered by an inheritance from the past, a gift that can only be repaid by dedicating a portion of our present labors toward the future." -Created Commons, Lewis Hyde."

To reaffirm our commitment to this vibrant and historically significant multicultural neighborhood, AAI sponsors the Lower East Side Rotating Studio artist residency Program with artists chosen by a panel of outside artists curators and arts professionals. The artists selected are presented here in Working Space.

Nina Buxenbaum "focuses on exploring notions of identity, race, and images, as a means of investigating the theme of changing personal identities." She reveals secrets through this exploration of material culture.

Eunjung Hwang says, regarding her work "My projects start from creating a variety of characters which root in dreams and subconscious images. The characters unfold narratives by their fantastic reality following a structure of interwoven dream logic..."

Nathan See's sculptures "influenced by Medieval and Renaissance paintings, and the philosophical parables of alchemy, borrow isolated background information such as geological and architectural elements while consciously ignoring religious narratives."

Jeffery Gibson's paintings "suggest an untamed landscape...The gestural and dimensional marks seem to crawl, sit, and slither across the surface. They merge with each other and spark new growth like an unstoppable weed or a deadly virus."

Sun K. Kwak has created "a series of masking tape drawings that were improvised in response to the energy of the architectural spaces. This rendering of invisible journey into actual 3D space offers new perception about the practical setting of its structural space".

Mary Ting's "visual language of birds, figures, limbs, poisonous creatures and organic forms are both personal and allegorical, inhabiting the realm of temporality, private obsessions and the sensual."

Adam Henry's work investigates "our system-oriented society. The work revolves around a process of splicing together various modes of systemic representation such as cartography, perspective, diagrams, and signage."

Suzanne Najarian's sculptural fabric constructions create "a rich sensual experience that is as much haptic as it is retinal. The site of this haptic experience creates a blending of viewer and art object."

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.