Aljira Emerge 9 by Aljira, A Center for Contemporary Art

Aljira Emerge 9 Exhibition July 24 â&#x20AC;&#x201C;October 26, 2009 Curated by Christopher Y. Lew

Newark, New Jersey

Published on the occasion of the E9: Aljira Emerge 9 Exhibition Copyright ÂŠ 2009

591 Broad Street Newark, New Jersey 07102 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the permission of the publisher. ISBN 0-9774354-4-X Catalog design: Aljira Design We gratefully acknowledge the generosity of The Joan Mitchell Foundation for its support of the E9 catalog. Aljiraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s operations and programs are made possible, in part, by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; Bank of America; JPMorgan Chase; the City of Newark; New Jersey Council for the Humanities; the New Jersey Cultural Trust; The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey; The Prudential Foundation; The Starry Night Fund of Tides Foundation; The Turrell Fund; The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; and individual contributions.

TTY: 1 800 852-7899

available on request

on cover: Swati Khurana, Sent and Received from the series Ten Years Later, 2008 Letters, string, and birdcage, 37 1/2 x 18 x 18.

contents

Foreword

Here. Now.

Participating Artists

Biographies

Checklist

E9 Lecture Series

Aljira Board of Trustees and Staff

Foreword

From its inception in 1999, Aljira Emerge has recognized the needs of artists in the region and provided richly informative professional development experiences that culminate with a group exhibition and catalog. As a primary objective, this career management and exhibition program for emerging artists intends to address a wide range of concerns critical to the working artist including gallery representation, budgeting and finances, curatorial practice, public art, and exhibition opportunities. Emerge offers artists the invaluable opportunity to work in a group setting with other artists under the tutelage of prominent artists, curators, arts professionals, and guest speakers. The E9 exhibition is a survey of contemporary art by 22 of the exciting new talents from the New Jersey/New York metropolitan area who completed Aljira’s award-winning professional development program in 2007. Presenters were Colleen Keegan of Keegan Fowler Companies; Stephanie Grey, poet; Andrew Simonet, performer; Cory Nomura of Andrea Rosen Gallery; Joseph R. Wolin, independent curator; and artists Matthew Geller, Jeffrey Gibson, Tracie Morris, Ela Troyano, and Dread Scott. We are fortunate to welcome as our curator Christopher Y. Lew, Manager of

Curatorial Affairs at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in New York. Lew made studio visits with each artist, providing an opportunity for personal exchange, a feature that is integral to the focus of the program and its career development goals. The E9 exhibition features new and recent works by a dynamic group of artists from diverse backgrounds—India, South Korea, Mexico, Ecuador and the United Kingdom—and within the United States—Utah, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Maryland, Florida, New Jersey, and New York. I was amazed by the range of works they produced. The exhibition includes drawing, mixed-media installation, traditional painting, and more. Indeed, E9 has exceeded my expectations: the artists are innovative and ambitious; and they communicate new and old ideas and perspectives through work that engages the viewer visually, viscerally, and conceptually. I want to thank our funders and congratulate the artists of E9 for an exhibition that enriches the life of our community. It is with great anticipation that we at Aljira look forward to their many contributions to the field of contemporary art in the years ahead. Victor L. Davson Executive Director

from left, details from works by Soyeon Cho, Sungmi Lee, Juan Hinojosa, and Jeff Feld

Here. Now.

To describe the 22 artists in this exhibition as emerging is a misnomer. Where they are emerging from are places of tremendous and fearless accomplishment. Ambitious in craft, approach, and subject matter, the artists of E9 tap into some of the most crucial concerns in art today. While not a thematic exhibition, there are common threads that weave through the group show. They question not only the artist’s role in society, but also the role of each individual; present the complicated anxieties during a time of war and environmental collapse; and express formal concerns that bridge abstraction and representation. Ranging from painting and sculpture to video and installation—curiously photography is largely absent—the featured works are not by simply emergent talents as they are created by artists who are steadfastly present.

Dismantle 12 radios string beads interminably empty your purse —from Things to Do on Speed, Ted Berrigan

Making use of the detritus of everyday life—disposable forks and knives, Q-tips, old pieces of luggage, foil, and plastics—Soyeon Cho creates topsyturvy environments. They recall painterly compositions and dioramas, and also explode with color and movement. While Sungmi Lee also uses similar common materials, her seemingly ephemeral sculptures and installations explore the nature of abstraction. Lee’s new sculpture that consists entirely of white plastic zip ties seems to quiver in space, imbuing the artificial material with an organic quality, not unlike the work of Eva Hesse. Tapping into his biography, Juan Hinojosa stitches together found plastic to create wall-based installations that draw from his past relationships. While the figures are more types than individuals, the connections between them are less ambiguous. One dwarfs the other while in another installation the two are literally connected by a telephone cord. Jeff Feld’s wooden assemblages also concern social relationships. Made from found

from left, details from works by Bisa W. Washington, Beth Gilfilen, and Ivan Monforte, and stills from the videos by Sujin Lee and Beth Krebs

street barricades, he turns what was once a tool of control into playful and nearly whimsical sculptures with bold pattern and design. Bisa W. Washington takes objects associated with the home and suggests new possibilities for them. The central element of Domestic Mojo #2 is a circular laundry basin that has accumulated talismanic properties, becoming an object of ritual and spirituality. Beth Gilfilen makes painterly installations by cutting paint chips into expressive loops and curls that resemble brushstrokes. In some parts the names of the original paint samples can be read. Colors like “Modesty Peach” and “June Vision” bring even wider associations to what medium can be. Like a Dada poet, the found material of Ivan Monforte’s new work is a collection of insults and put-downs he has experienced. Scattered throughout the gallery, the text pieces are shocking and abrasive examples of how words can hurt.

O body swayed to music, O brightening glance, How can we know the dancer from the dance? —from Among School Children, William Butler Yeats

from left, details from works by Swati Khurana, Oasa DuVerney, René Smith, Hima B., Firelei Báez, Elizabeth Livingston, Clare Grill, Dominic Miller, and Helen Dennis

Words are also the focus of Sujin Lee’s videos. By layering voices and confusing the voice and person that produces it, she examines how accents help shape identity. Like Vito Acconci and Theresa Hay Kyung Cha, Lee uses video and performance to highlight the mutability of words and language. Similarly, text and meaning is obscured in Swati Khurana’s new sculpture. By literally trapping the love letters between her and her husband in golden birdcages, Khurana celebrates the correspondence and also keeps their exchange secret. Oasa DuVerney’s series of drawings fragment and distort a portrait of Fidel Castro lifted from the newspaper. While her previous paintings focus on U.S. soldiers fighting in Iraq, DuVerney’s new drawings examine the image of an iconic figure who has receded from the front lines. The series is situated in the constantly shifting terrain between mass media, memory, and the artist’s hand. The specter of war also looms large in the paintings of RenÉ Smith and the video work of Hima B. Like Manet’s Dead Toreador, Smith’s soldier lays dead against a neutral

ground, highlighting the death without offering many clues to the cause. While dressed more as a soldier of the past century than from any current conflict, Smith brings a human face to an era of surgical strikes and clinical warfare. Hima B.’s Jihad for Democracy conflates the Democratic race for presidential nomination with the war in Iraq, in which a suicide bomber named Hillary Ride Them Clitoris vies with Barack Hussein Yo Mama. The satirically tinged humor powerfully highlights the spectacle of war and politics. Portraiture and self-portraiture meld and blend in the works of Firelei Báez and Elizabeth Livingston. Báez’s fantastical drawings are not selfportraits, but are inspired by her friends and herself. They are images of self-assured women that are paired with birds that are both friend and foe: nesting in their hair and attacking them. Drawing on the Afro-Caribbean belief that birds can endanger one’s soul if they steal hair for nest building, Báez depicts it as a necessary and symbiotic relationship between humans and fowl. Livingston’s paintings place lone women in suburban settings to produce an often disquieting effect. In Before I Could Answer, the artist serves as model, standing belly-deep in a swimming pool. Moody and atmospheric, the subject is engulfed by both night and water.

Light, too, encrusts us making visible The motions of the mind and giving form To moodiest nothings…

Clare Grill’s modestly scaled paintings insist on taking in more and more of the world beyond the studio. Mother doubles as both a painting of a mountain and a portrait of the artist’s mother. In other works, space, perspective, interiors, and exteriors collapse into dizzying compositions. Likewise, Beth KreBs’ video installation creates a surreal juxtaposition of architectural elements in Aljira’s gallery. Her subtle projection of light moving across the gallery walls creates the illusion that there is a window hidden in the space. Structures and systems provide inspiration for Dominic Miller and Helen Dennis. The circular patterns of Miller’s works on paper resemble images of stellar activity and radiographs. The circles and intersecting lines produced by pinpricks through paper create a synesthetic affect. Each puncture through the support is a staccato beat, which coalesces into a sound wave that propagates through the wash of ink brushed over the paper. Dennis’ practice merges drawing and photography to create unique contact prints from layered drawings on tracing paper. Focusing on

—from Evening Without Angels, Wallace Stevens

from left, details from works by Barbara Landes, Ronny Quevedo, Meridith Pingree, and Rachael Wren

urban architecture, like elevated train tracks and roller coasters, Dennis’ photographic prints are truly drawings of light and shadow, an expressive line that finds order amidst a dark void. Barbara Landes uses a variety of printmaking and papermaking techniques to create works that are equally prints, collages, and sculptures. Her series Pulp Fictions features square shapes cut out in each collage. Like a recurring character, the square moves about, from one work to another, playing against prints from found etching plates, hand stamps, textured lace, and other materials. In a new series of silkscreen prints, Ronny Quevedo borrows from sign painting and other vernacular designs to create icons of urban life. Bodega signs, candy wrappers, and supermarket circulars are combined with heraldic symbols to level distinctions between high and low. MerIdith Pingree’s kinetic sculptures respond to movements of viewers as well as the work’s own movements. Equipped with motion sensors, the vibrantly colored works

begin to expand and contract when a viewer passes, and subsequently by detecting its own motion in a feedback loop. Inspired by mathematical models and physics, Pingree leaves all the motors, wires, and sensors visible in a decidedly DIY aesthetic. The process behind Rachael Wren’s paintings is equally evident. By slowly building up paint with modest brushstrokes, she creates abstract forms of color and light that seem to float on top of each other. Taking advantage of subtle optical effects, Wren’s paintings allude to natural visual phenomena like sunlight dampened by fog or the shadow play of dawn and dusk. Christopher Y. Lew Guest Curator

Participating Artists

Hima B. Firelei BĂĄez Soyeon Cho Helen Dennis Oasa DuVerney Jeff Feld Beth Gilfilen Clare Grill Juan Hinojosa Swati Khurana Beth Krebs Barbara Landes Sujin Lee Sungmi Lee Elizabeth Livingston Dominic Miller Ivan Monforte Meridith Pingree Ronny Quevedo RenĂŠ Smith Bisa W. Washington Rachael Wren

Hima B. Jihad for Democracy, 2008 (video still) Video, color, and sound, 10 minutes

Firelei Bรกez Untitled, 2006 Graphite on paper, 22 x 30

Soyeon Cho Ecological Collage III, 2008 Mixed media, dimensions variable

Helen Dennis Cyclone from the series Coney Island, 2008 Photographic drawing, 30 x 90

opposite page

Oasa DuVerney Fidel, 638 times over, 2008 Graphite on paper, dimensions variable

Jeff Feld Lookout, 2008 Wood barrier, 61 x 29 x 7 (shown are both sides)

opposite page

Beth Gilfilen Spasm, 2008 (detail) Ink on cut paper, archival tape, and pins, 96 x 120 x 48

Clare Grill Mother, 2008 Acrylic gesso, absorbent ground, acrylic, and oil on panel, 20 x 17 x 1

Juan Hinojosa Swiss Doc, 2008 Vinyl, tape, and thread, 102 x 90 x 41

Swati Khurana Sent and Received from the series Ten Years Later, 2008 Letters, string, and birdcage, 37 1/2 x 18 x 18

Beth Krebs Dervish, 2008 Projected video, mat board, and wall cuts, 72 x 54

Barbara Landes Re-directed Drama from the series Pulp Fictions, 2008 (detail) Various printmaking techniques on handmade paper with pulp painting, 11 x 14

Sujin Lee Lean on Me , 2006 (video still) Video, color, and sound, 5:29 minutes

Sungmi Lee Yawning Dream, 2008 Plastic zip tie, dimensions variable

Dominic Miller Untitled, 2007 Ink on paper, 9 x 6

opposite page

Elizabeth Livingston Before I Could Answer, 2006 Oil on canvas, 72 x 84

Ivan Monforte Mean, 2008 Letterpress, edition one of five, three units, 6 x 9 each

opposite page

Meridith Pingree Bromeliad, 2008 Plastic and nylon zipper tape, motors, acrylic, and wire, 36 x 60 x 60

Ronny Quevedo ICE (imitation), 2008 Silkscreen, nine units, 22 x 26 each

opposite page

RenĂŠ Smith The Secret History, 2008 Oil on linen, 48 x 48

Bisa W. Washington Domestic Mojo #2, 2008 Mixed media installation, wood, and metal, 30 x 21 x 14

Rachael Wren Source, 2007 Oil on linen, 20 x 20

BIOGRAPHies

Hima B.

Firelei Báez

Born in Kolkata, India Lives in New York, NY

Born in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic Lives in Brooklyn, NY

Education Mills College, Oakland, CA, Visual Arts, MFA Exhibitions Hong Kong Sex Workers Film Festival, Hong Kong, China, 2005

Skowhegan School Of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME

International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, San Francisco, CA, 2005

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York, NY, BFA

Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, 1995

Exhibitions We Began There and Converged Here, Arts Iowa City Gallery, Iowa City, IA, New York, NY, and Chicago, IL, 2008

From India to America: New Directions in Film and Video, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, 1994 Honors Community Artist in Residence, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Baltimore, MD, 2008 Brooklyn Arts Council, Brooklyn, NY, 2008 Finalist, Urban Arts Initiative, New York, NY, 2008 Video Fellow, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York, NY, 2005 Astraea National Lesbian Foundation for Justice, New York, NY, 2005 Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media, New York, NY, 2005

Education Hunter College, New York, NY, MFA Candidate

BX1: The Second Bronx Artist Biennial, Longwood Art Gallery @ Hostos, Bronx, NY, 2007 Reverence for All Living Creatures, Victory Hall, Jersey City, NJ, 2007 Honors Individual Artist Fellowship, Bronx Recognizes Its Own Award, 2007 The Jaques and Natasha Gelman Award for Painting, New York, NY, 2004 The O’Brien Travel Award, Cooper Union, New York, NY, 2003

Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea, Sculpture, BFA

Process & Product, Maidstone Library Gallery, Maidstone, Kent, United Kingdom, 2006

Exhibitions Wonderlandlust, Brain Factory, Seoul, South Korea, 2008

The Space Beyond Silence, Medianoche, New York, NY, 2005

Ecological Collage III, Window Gallery, Gallery HYUNDAI, Seoul, South Korea, 2008

Honors International Artist Residency, Red Gate Gallery, Beijing, China, 2008

Second Lives, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY, 2008

Residency, Workshop, and Panel Discussion, Maidstone Library Gallery, Kent, United Kingdom, 2006

Synthetic Supernova, Mixed Greens, New York, NY, 2008 Honors Chashama Visual Art Program, New York, NY, 2008 Artist in Residency, Henry Street Settlement, New York, NY, 2006–2007 Residency, BCAT/Rotunda Gallery, New York, NY, 2006 Fellowship, A.I.R Gallery, New York, NY, 2005–2006

Helen Dennis Born in Chelmsford, Essex, United Kingdom Lives in New York, NY

Soyeon Cho

Education Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY, MFA

Born in Seoul, South Korea Lives in New York, NY

Kent Institute of Art & Design, Kent, United Kingdom, BA

Education School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, Fine Arts, MFA

Exhibitions At Arms Length, NURTURE Art, Brooklyn, NY, 2008

Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea, Sculpture, MFA

Project Diversity Queens, Rockaway Artists Alliance, Queens, NY, 2007

Resident Photography Fellow, International House, New York, NY, 2003–2004 International Artist Residency, Cyprus College of Art, Lempa, Cyprus, 2000

Oasa DuVerney Born in Queens, NY Lives in Brooklyn, NY Education Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, New York, NY, BFA The Nomadic Center for Institutionless Learning, Brooklyn, NY and Baltimore, MD, Founding Member Exhibitions Art Apart, Agni Gallery, New York, NY, 2008 5by4=20, 20th Anniversary Exhibition, Children’s Museum of the Arts, New York, NY, 2008 Bornagain Again, Five Myles Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2008 The Threshold of Identity, Swell Gallery, San Francisco, CA, 2007 Wire, United Nations, New York, NY, 2006

Jeff Feld Born in New York, NY Lives in New York, NY Education Parsons School of Design, New York, NY, MFA University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, MS Exhibitions Disarming Matter, The Swiss Institute, New York, NY, 2009 Grasping at Straws, Studio Guenzani, Milan, Italy, 2008 Non-Declarative Art, The Drawing Center, New York, NY, 2008 Pilot 3, Monastery of St. Damien, Venice, Italy, 2008 Evidences, or this Object of Desire, Galerie In Situ: Fabienne Leclerc, Paris, France, 2006 Repeat Performance, Artists Space, New York, NY, 2004 Jeff Feld, Scarlett Hooft Graafland, The Mary Goldman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 2003 Honors Finalist, Emerging Artist Award, Scope Art Fair, New York, NY, 2002 Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT, 1999

Beth Gilfilen Born in Cincinnati, OH Lives in Jersey City, NJ Education Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, MFA

University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, BFA Exhibitions Full Circle, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT, 2008 Bits and Pieces: The Collage Impulse, Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx, NY, 2007 The Big Hunch, solo exhibition, The Jersey City Museum @ The Majestic, Jersey City, NJ, 2007 Drawing Stage, City Without Walls, Newark, NJ, 2006 Honors Artist in the Marketplace, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY, 2005 Nominee, Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Grant, New York, NY, 2001 Nominee, Dedalus Foundation Fellowship, 2000

Honors Flat Files, Pierogi Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2007 Artist Residency, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT, 2007 Viewing Program, The Drawing Center, New York, NY, 2006 Best in Show, Works on Paper, Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts & Sciences, Loveladies, NJ, 2006

Juan Hinojosa Born in New York, NY Lives in Queens, NY Education Parsons School of Design, New York, NY, BFA Exhibitions Glaad Art Auction, The Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, NY, 2007

Clare Grill

Affordable Arts Fair, The Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, NY, 2006

Born in Chicago, IL Lives in Queens, NY

Salon de Expace, About Glamour, Brooklyn, NY, 2006

Education Pratt Institute, New York, NY, MFA

Emergence: Four Expressions, Concepto Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2006

University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN, BA

Glaad Art Auction, The Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, NY, 2006

Exhibitions Somethings Last a Long Time, solo exhibition, Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT, 2008 Clare Grill and Ju Young Ban, The Clay Projects, New York, NY, 2008 Brief Encounters, Caren Golden Fine Art, New York, NY, 2007 Follies, OH&T Gallery, Boston, MA, 2007

Swati Khurana Born in New Delhi, India Lives in Brooklyn, NY Education Gallatin School, New York University, New York, NY, Studio Art & Art Criticism, MA

Columbia College, Columbia University, New York, NY, History, BA Exhibitions Exploding the Lotus, Art & Culture Center of Hollywood, Hollywood, FL, 2008 Passage to Jersey: Women Artists of the South Asian Diaspora in Our Midst, Brodsky Center for Innovative Print and Paper, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, 2008 Neo-Neo-Dada, Rush Arts, New York, NY, 2007 Feminine Mystique, Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, NJ, 2007 Engendered, solo exhibition, Diaspora Vibe Gallery, Miami, FL, 2007 Honors Sandarbh U.S., International Artist Residency Program, Moultrie, GA, 2008 Travel and Study Grant, Jerome Foundation & Art and Martha Kaemmer Fund, St. Paul, MN, 2007 BCAT/Rotunda Gallery Joint Multimedia Residency, Brooklyn, NY, 2007 Artist in Residence, Kartong Village Development Committee, The Gambia, Africa, 2007

Beth Krebs Born in Cleveland, OH Lives in Brooklyn, NY Education Mason School of the Arts, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, MFA College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, BA

Exhibitions Emerging Artists Summer Show, Smack Mellon Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2008 1800 Frames, Scope Art Fair, Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, NJ, 2007 Next/Next Wave, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY, 2006 Site 92, Smack Mellon Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2006 Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Grant Recipients, Cue Foundation, New York, NY, 2006

Barbara Landes Born in Baltimore, MD Lives in Jersey City, NJ Education New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, MFA James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, BS Exhibitions American Impressions: Contemporary Printmaking 2008, William Patterson University, Wayne, NJ, 2008 Bits and Pieces: The Collage Impulse, Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx, NY, 2008 Fire and Ash—Works by Jersey City Artists, Court Gallery, William Patterson University, Wayne, NJ, 2007 More Than Meets The Eye, East Gallery, William Patterson University, Wayne, NJ, 2007

Honors Johnson and Johnson Purchase Award, Hunterdon Museum of Art, Clinton, NJ, 2007 Vermont Studio Center Fellowship Residencies, Johnson, VT, 2000, 1999

New York Studio Program Residency, New York, NY, 2000 The Sidney Kahn Summer Institute Residency, The Kitchen, New York, NY, 2002 New York Studio Program Residency, New York, NY, 2000

Sujin Lee Born in Seoul, South Korea Lives in Sunnyside, NY Education New York University, New York, NY, Performance Studies, MA New York University, New York, NY, Studio Art, MFA Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD, Fine Art, BA

Sungmi Lee Born in Seoul, South Korea Lives in Brooklyn, NY Education Emmanuel College, Boston, MA, Studio, BFA Maryland Institute College of Art, Rinehart School of Sculpture, Baltimore, MD, MFA

Exhibitions How Soon Is Now?, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY, 2008

Exhibition 183rd Annual: An Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Art, National Academy Museum, New York, NY, 2008

Project Diversity Queens, Queens, NY, 2007

Evanescence, solo exhibition, C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD, 2007

RW ll FF, Chung Dam Video Art Screening, Gallery Demain, Seoul, South Korea, 2006

The Space Between, solo exhibition, C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD, 2006

Sujin Lee at Video Room, The Soap Factory, Minneapolis, MN, 2004

Bearable Lightness…Likeness, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, NY, 2006

Honors Artist in the Marketplace, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY, 2008 Jack Goodman Award for Art and Technology, New York University, NewYork, NY, 2003 The Sidney Kahn Summer Institute Residency, The Kitchen, New York, NY, 2002

Honors S.J. Wallace Truman Fund Award, National Academy Museum, New York, NY, 2008 The Viewing Program, The Drawing Center, New York, NY, 2006 Visual Art Fellowship/Studio Residency, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT, 2005 Amalie Rothchild Award, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD, 2005

Elizabeth Livingston Born in Miami, FL Lives in New York, NY Education Boston University, Boston, MA, MFA Yale University, New Haven, CT, BA Exhibitions Word of Mouth, Gallery Diet, Bridge Art Fair, Miami, FL, 2007 Art 20, Park Avenue Armory, New York, NY, represented by Alpha Gallery, Boston, MA, 2007 New American Painting, MFA Edition Winners, OSP Gallery, Boston, MA, 2007 Art Chicago, Chicago, IL, represented by Alpha Gallery, Boston, MA, 2007 Speak Memory, The Raven, Prescott, AZ, 2006 Honors Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT, 2006 Residency, Ucross Foundation, Clearmont, WY, 2006 Residency, Weir Farm, Ridgefield, CT, 2006 Constantin Alajalov Scholarship, Boston University, Boston, MA, 2004–2006 Ellen Battell Stockel Fellowship, Yale University, School of Music and Art, Norfolk, CT, 2000

Dominic Miller Born in Phoenix, AZ Lives in Brooklyn, NY Education Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, Printmaking, BA Exhibitions Contemporary Forum Grant Winners Exhibition, The Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ, 2007 Art as Anecdote, Brooklyn Arts Council Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2007 Hearts and Hands II, National Competition, Artist Books, University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE, 2006 Deck, Ice House, Phoenix, AZ, 2006 Honors Project Grant, Arizona Commission on the Arts, Phoenix, AZ, 2008 Department of Cultural Affairs Grant, Brooklyn Arts Council, Brooklyn, NY, 2008 Contemporary Forum Studio Grant, Pheonix, AZ, 2006

Ivan Monforte Born in Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico Lives in Long Island City, NY Education New York University, New York, NY, Studio Art, MFA Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME University of California, Los Angeles, CA, Art, BA

Exhibitions S-files(007), El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY, 2007

Exhibitions Molten Sprouts, solo exhibition, Fringe Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA, 2008

South Bronx Contemporary: Everyday Is Like Sunday, Longwood Art Gallery @ Hostos, Bronx, NY, 2007

If You Don’t Stand for Something, You’ll Fall for Anything, Elizabeth Foundation Gallery, New York, NY, 2007

Squishy Geometry, solo exhibition, Barbara Walters Gallery, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY, 2008

Honors Artist in the Marketplace, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY, 2008

Queens International 2006: Everything All At Once, Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY, 2006

I Dream of Genomes, Islip Art Museum, Islip, NY, 2008

PERFORMA05, Artists Space, New York, NY, 2005 AIM 25, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY, 2005

Ornament: Ho Hum All Ye Faithful, BravinLee Programs, New York, NY, 2007 Host, Soap Factory, Minneapolis, MN, 2007

René Smith Born in Philadelphia, PA Lives in Long Island City, NY Education Tyler School of Art, Elkins Park, PA, MFA

Honors Art Matters Grant, New York, NY, 2008

Honors Commissioned Sculpture for Richard and Lisa Baker, Bakerie.org, 2008

Exhibitions

Artist in Residence, Center for Book Arts, NY, NY, 2008

Artist in the Marketplace, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY, 2005

My Heart is Like an Ocean, solo exhibition, Deiglan Gallery, Akureyri, Iceland, 2007

Lambent Fellowship in the Arts, Tides Foundation, New York, NY, 2002

Media Work Exchange Artist, Smack Mellon Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2004

Project Diversity Queens, Queens Council on the Arts, Flushing, NY, 2007

Pennies from Heaven Award, The New York Community Trust, New York, NY, 2007

Sitings Competition Award, Commissioned Installation, Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, RI, 2003

Photography and Contemporary Tactics, Brooklyn Arts Council, Brooklyn, NY, 2007

Artist in Residence, Lower East Side Printshop, New York, NY, 2004

Ronny Quevedo Meridith Pingree Born in Bountiful, UT Lives in Brooklyn, NY Education Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, Sculpture, MFA Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, Sculpture, BFA

Born in Guayaquil, Ecuador Lives in Bronx, NY Education The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Art & Science, New York, NY, BFA Exhibitions How Soon Is Now?, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY, 2008 We Started There and Converged Here, Arts Iowa City Gallery, Iowa City, IA, 2008

Bennington College, Bennington, VT, BA

Come In, solo exhibition, Courthouse Gallery, Anthology Film Archives, New York, NY, 2005 In Love With A View, solo exhibition, David Allen Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2005 Honors Visiting Lecturer in Painting, Chiang Mai University, Chang Mai, Thailand, 2008–2009 Gil-Society Residency, Akureyri, Iceland, 2007 Artist Grant, The George Sugarman Foundation, Novato, CA, 2007

Visiting Artist, Eastern Oregon University, La Grande, OR, 2007 Residency, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT, 2003

Bisa W. Washington Born in Albany, NY Lives in Newark, NJ Education New Jersey City University, Jersey City, NJ, Art, BA Art Students League, New York, NY Exhibitions New Media, New Works, solo exhibition, Arlington Arts, Newark, NJ, 2007 Sanctuary, Rupert Ravens Contemporary, Newark, NJ, 2007 Journey of Memory, solo exhibition, Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale, NY, 2006 Newark Between Us, Newark Arts Council, Newark, NJ, 2006 Out There, 2006 New Jersey Fine Arts Annual, The Newark Museum, Newark, NJ, 2006 Art and City, Newark Arts Council, Newark, NJ, 2006

Honors Fellowship, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Morristown, NJ, 2006–2007

Vicinity, solo exhibition, University Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA, 2006

Residency, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Baltimore, MD, 1991

Honors The Artist House Residency, St. Mary’s College, St. Mary’s City, MD, 2008

Individual Artist Fellowship, New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Trenton, NJ, 1985

Rachael Wren Born in New York, NY Lives in Brooklyn, NY Education University of Washington, Seattle, WA, Painting, MFA University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, Fine Arts, BA Exhibitions Inquiry: Five Painting Practices, Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 2008 Fletcher Boote, Alisha Kerlin, Austin Shull, Rachael Wren, Repetti Gallery, Long Island City, NY, 2008 Out of Me, Out of You, Subdivision, Long Island City, NY, 2007 Open Painting Exhibition, Brian Marki Gallery, Portland, OR, 2007

Byrdcliffe Colony Residency, Woodstock, NY, 2006 Julius Hallgarten Prize, National Academy Museum, New York, NY, 2006 Artist’s Grant, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT, 2003

Checklist Unless noted otherwise, all measurements are in inches (h x w x d). All works are courtesy the artist.

Promise Necklace, string, and birdcage, 181/ 4 x 121/ 4 x 71/ 4 From the series Ten Years Later, 2008

Hima B.

Beth Gilfilen

Jihad for Democracy, 2008 Video, color, and sound, 10 minutes

Spasm, 2008 Ink on cut paper, archival tape, and pins, 96 x 120 x 48

Firelei Báez

Clare Grill

Untitled, 2006 Graphite on paper, 22 x 30

Mother, 2008 Acrylic gesso, absorbent ground, acrylic, and oil on panel, 20 x 17 x 1

Untitled, 2006 Graphite on paper, 22 x 30

Soyeon Cho Ecological Collage III, 2008 Mixed media, dimensions variable

Mountain Museum, 2008 Acrylic gesso, absorbent ground, acrylic, and oil on panel, 36 x 50 x 2

Helen Dennis

Vacation, 2008 Acrylic gesso, absorbent ground, acrylic, and oil on panel, 34 x 36 x 2

Cyclone from the series Coney Island, 2008 Photographic drawing, 30 x 90

Juan Hinojosa

Oasa DuVerney

Swiss Doc, 2008 Vinyl, tape, and thread, 102 x 90 x 41

Fidel, 638 times over, 2008 Graphite on paper, dimensions variable

Swati Khurana

Jeff Feld Re-united and it feels so good, 2007 Wood barrier, 74 x 7 1/ 4 x 11/ 2 What we all want, 2007 Steel and wood barrier, 59 x 27 x 16 Lookout, 2008 Wood barrier, 61 x 29 x 7

Storytelling Typewriter, stool, paint, and artist’s wedding sari, dimensions variable Sent and Received Letters, string, and birdcage, 37 1/ 2 x 18 x 18

René Smith

Yawning Dream, 2008 Plastic zip tie, dimensions variable

Vacation (Cabin), 2007 Oil on linen, 14 x 14

Elizabeth Livingston

Beth Krebs

Before I Could Answer, 2006 Oil on canvas, 72 x 84

Dervish, 2008 Projected video, mat board, and wall cuts, 72 x 54

Dominic Miller

Barbara Landes Unfinished Stories, 2006 Intaglio, woodcut, and chine collé on paper, 27 x 20 The Invented Traces of Artifacts Look the Other Way Holding Onto a Momentary Presence Passing Through Various Lights and Darks

Untitled, 2007 Ink on paper, 9 x 6 desert drawing, 2007 Ink on paper, 22 x 30 moon landing (the center from below), 2008 Ink on paper, 22 x 30

Ivan Monforte Mean, 2008 Letterpress, edition one of five, three units, 6 x 9 each

Re-directed Drama A Dark Crossroads Passing By

Anticipation Artist’s engagement ring, string, and birdcage, 24 x 141/ 2 x 141/ 2

Sungmi Lee

Searching Here and Thereafter Framing the Space Between Exorcism as Choreography From the series Pulp Fictions, 2008 Various printmaking techniques on handmade paper with pulp painting, 11 x 14 each

Meridith Pingree Bromeliad, 2008 Plastic and nylon zipper tape, motors, acrylic, and wire, 36 x 60 x 60

Vacation (Rocks), 2007 Oil on linen, 14 x 14 The Secret History, 2008 Oil on linen, 48 x 48

Bisa W. Washington Domestic Mojo #2, 2008 Mixed media installation, wood, and metal, 30 x 21 x 14 ESU ODARA We got HOPE! Expect a Miracle From the series St. Clementine’s Traveling Mojo Emporium, 2008 Canvas found objects, dimensions variable

Rachael Wren Source, 2007 Oil on linen, 20 x 20 Bon Voyage, 2008 Oil on linen, 44 x 44

Ronny Quevedo Alchemy, 2008 ICE (with gold shield), 2008

Sujin Lee

Higher Goals, 2008

Skin, 2003 Video, black and white, and sound, 3:53 minutes

Super Bubble, 2008

Lean on Me, 2006 Video, color, and sound, 5:29 minutes

ICE (imitation), 2008

Love Suprette (in love), 2008 ICE, 2008 Bodega Sold Dreams, 2008 Love Suprette (gold), 2008 Silkscreen, 22 x 26 each

Lecture Series

April 7 Introduction to Artists, Program Objective, and Expectations, Strategic Planning Workshop Overview and Goals. Colleen Keegan, Keegan Fowler Companies

April 14 Strategic Planning Workshop Introduction to Strategic Planning Colleen Keegan Communications Tracie Morris, Interdisciplinary poet: Goal Setting

Colleen Keegan One-on-One Sessions Tracie Morris Time Management; Verbal Communications: Interviews Dread Scott, Artist Creating Visibility; Artist Statement Ela Troyano, Artist Art Business Management; Verbal Communications: Presentation

Jeffrey Gibson, Artist Art Business Management

May 26 Technical Talk

Mathew Geller, Artist Writing and Artist Statement

Stephanie Grey, Poet and Experimental Filmmaker Fundraising Strategies

April 28 Technical Talk Cory Nomura, Assistant to Andrea Rosen and Tamsen Greene, Associate Liaison to the Directors of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, NY

May 19 Strategic Planning Workshop Strategic Planning: Methods and Applications

June 2 Strategic Planning Workshop Strategic Planning: Overview Colleen Keegan One-on-One Sessions Jeffrey Gibson Exhibition Management Tracie Morris Integrity, Art, and Ambition Andrew Simonet, Performer, Choreographer, and a co-founding director of Headlong Dance Theater Financial Planning

June 16 Technical Talk Joseph R. Wolin, Independent Curator

Aljira Board

Aljira Staff

of Trustees

Patricia A. Bell

Victor L. Davson Executive Director

Bambang Widodo Principal Designer, Aljira Design

Edwin Ramoran Director of Exhibitions and Programs

Shawn Capizzi Graphic Designer, Aljira Design

Cicely Cottingham Art Director, Aljira Design

Edyta Brudniak Accountant

Michael James

Nathea Lee Director of Development

Christine Walia Administrative Associate

Richard L. Jarocki, Jr. Chair

Mary A. Valverde Emerge Coordinator

Natasha Dyer Development Assistant

Michael Palumbo, Esq.

Catherine Dunning Arts & Culture Education Coordinator

Vanessa Ramalho Administrative Assistant

Bruce Dalziel Victor L. Davson Cory Douglas Finance Chair Paula Hunchar

Charles Russell Denyse Thomasos Vice Chair

fosters excellence in the visual arts through exhibitions and educational programs that serve as catalysts for inclusiveness and diversity, promote cross-cultural dialog and enable us to better understand the time in which we live. Public understanding and support of the visual arts are strengthened through collaboration and community-based educational programming. Aljira seeks out the work of emerging and under-represented artists and brings the work of more established artists to our community. Through the visual arts Aljira bridges racial, cultural and ethnic divides and enriches the lives of individuals.

591 Broad Street Newark, NJ 07102-4403 ph 973 622-1600 fx 973 622-6526 www.aljira.org