Participating artists: Haoua Habrė, Peter Kašpar, Nicholas Milkovich, Catarina Real, Gema Rupérez, Eda Şarman, Adam Vačkář, Talita Zaragoza
Location: Residency Unlimited
360 Court Street (main green church doors), Brooklyn NY 11231 (map)
On view: Nov 15 – Nov 17 and Nov 20 | 11am – 6pm
Opening reception: Wednesday Nov 15, 2023 | 5 – 8pm (Please RSVP)
Friday Nov 17, 2 – 4pm | Catarina Real and Peter Kašpar present “Friday”, a happening
Click here to view the online brochure
Reimagining Naturescapes brings together works developed by 8 artists over the course of their residencies in New York with Haoua Habrė, Peter Kašpar, Nicholas Milkovich, Catarina Real, Gema Rupérez, Eda Şarman, Adam Vačkář, Talita Zaragoza.
Fragments of Self was realized by Haoua Habré (Senegal-France) in her studio at Artists Alliance. Here the artist experiments with the idea of expanding the vision of the human body by giving it more than a physical function. Through photography and textiles that she applies on a single grid, Habré offers a body-mind integrated framework that contributes to the creation of our identities. “Identity is often thought of in psychological terms. Yet the body carries within it the memory of our history, the trace of our past. Its colors, folds, scars, and shapes all hint at a part of the self.”
This Line Serves… is a site-specific piece by Nicholas Milkovich (USA), realized by the artist in the RU space. Integrating rapid precision and patient craftsmanship, Milkovich merges synthetic laser-cut acrylic sheets with meticulously weaved, wrapped, and sewed shreds of his own clothing that he sews together manually. The artist portrays the human mind as a delicate and susceptible organic entity, riddled with interstitial spaces, lost thoughts, and uncertain connections, ultimately erasing the notion that there is a distinction between right and left brain.
Espacio Personal (Personal Space) is a video work by Gema Rupérez (Spain) reflecting upon the tension between subjects and their (in)capacity to establish a real and advantageous dialogue with each other. Rupérez films two balloons that compete for space and seem to confront each other, move and remove each other’s air until both finally end up succumbing to an unsustainable competition for supremacy and the hoarding of available resources. This work is part of an on-going series of Conversaciones (Conversations), launched by the artist in 2015.
Eda Şarman (Turkey – USA) researches innovative ways to look at nature in response to our changing environment. The clay sculpture “I hear bubbling, see rippling, a work in progress” – mirrors the artist’s explorations on tides and landscapes which she considers temporal rather than places of stability. During her residency, Eda developed speculative clay landscapes which unearth the natural diurnal rhythm of rivers of New York.
Heracles of Hogweed is a video by Adam Vačkář, (Czech Republic) that delves into the complexities of human interaction with Giant Hogweed, an invasive plant originating from the Caucasus. Challenging the traditional perspective on migrating plants and the narrow human approach to these organisms, the film traces the plant’s migration from Central Asia to Europe and the Americas. It explores the fear instilled by media portrayal and the filmmaker’s own artistic and spiritual connection with the plant. Emphasizing a non-human perspective, the film raises thought-provoking questions about our relationship with the natural world.
Talita Zaragoza (Brazil- USA) presents “Sleepy Mountain XXIX”, a large work on linen likened by the artist to an expansion of the landscape genre. In an attempt to reorganize and recategorize shapes, forms and lines, Zaragoza fabricates map-like landscapes. An interplay of geometrical and organic vocabulary, collected from memory and observation. Her work attempts to articulate a lyrical connection with the passage of time, with the impermanence of the landscape and the ever changing perception and the shifting memory.
Friday, a happening by Peter Kašpar (Slovakia) and Catarina Real (Portugal)
Friday is a collaborative effort by Catarina Real and Peter Kašpar sparked by a mutual interest in social practice which they both actively pursue in their home countries. In New York, their collaboration will take the shape of a choreographed happening that revolves around common daily life actions and unexpected events performed in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood where RU is located. Participation from visitors is welcome but non compulsory.
Friday will take place on Friday, November 17 from 2:00 to 4:00 PM. The starting and meeting point will be at Residency Unlimited, and visitors can show up any time between the settled time frame.
Click below to see images from the exhibition
This program benefits from the support of The Trust for Mutual Understanding, CNAP, Atelier-Museu Júlio Pomar, Fundación CAI, Porsche Zaragoza, Consulate General of Spain in New York, Piksel New Media Guest Artist Program, The Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, The European Union and the Czech Recovery Plan.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
