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Myritza Castillo at Weaving In & Out- No Longer an Empty Space
124th and 2nd Ave in East Harlem
June 15th to August 30, 2010
Wednesday- Sataturday, 12 – 7pm
Grimanesa Amoros | Mequitta Ahuja | Blanka Amezkua | Isidro Blasco | Myritza Castillo | Carolina Caycedo | David Antonio Cruz | Helen Dennis | Alexis Duque | Eleni Kamma | Fabienne Lasserre | Cristobal Lehyt | Olek | Lina Puerta | Manny Vega | Carol Warner | Marela Zacarias
No Longer Empty is pleased to present Weaving In & Out, a collaborative exhibition in a new green development in East Harlem. The exhibit, opening on June 15th, will take over the raw ground floor space of a residential property called Tapestry located at 245 East 124th St. The exhibition is free and open to the public Wed-Sat 12-7pm, running until late August.
In keeping with No Longer Empty’s curatorial practice of site specificity, this exhibition explores the interactions between this particular space and its surrounding physical and cultural contexts. “Weaving” appears in the title as a metaphor for the interconnected artistic actions, and the intertwining of people, projects and ideas here.
Multi-media works participate in a critical dialogue with the space, as well as its relationship to the outside. Olek and Helen Dennis both start from the building’s physical location to draw aesthetic and literal connections: Olek through her performance on 125th street culminating at the building and Dennis through her large-scale drawing presenting the network of bridges and infrastructure visible from the space.
In Weaving In & Out, artists grapple with the current state of urban environmentalism, and allow for multiple, subjective experiences to coexist. Isidro Blasco in particular presents his personal view on spaces in transition and being in a state of infinite potential. Using radically different materials, Savona Bailey, Richard Gonzalez and Manuel Mansylla’s GhostNetsculpture explores the link between plastic marine debris and art, architecture and design. A projection of the work in West Harlem will connect both communities, as well as the larger environmental world.
Other artists respond to the material reality of the space. Through her installation, Lina Puerta cultivates botanical life indoors, calling attention to Tapestry’s green features beneath the concrete surface. Fabienne Lasserre’s organic forms composed of raw wool applied directly to the wall highlight the contrast between the warm materials of the artist and the industrial quality of the space.
The presence of the community and cultural practices of East Harlem—the human environment is reflected in the works ofGrimanesa Amoros, Carolina Caycedo and Manny Vega. All summer long there will be many special programs held in the space including a draw-a-thon, capoieira event, student-led tours and environmental activism events, as a means of engaging the community in a meaningful and strongly memorable way.
The project is made possible by Jonathan Rose Companies. Curated by Jodie Dinapoli, Ella Levitt and Manon Slome with the essential curatorial advice of Trinidad Fombella from El Museo del Barrio. The exhibition and accompanying programming were organized in collaboration with The Artist Pension Trust, Art for Change, El Museo del Barrio and The West Harlem Arts Fund.
Weaving In & OUT- No Longer an Empty Space
