In April, 2014, I was invited to participate in a panel discussion at Brooklyn Museum to coincide with the exhibition “Swoon: Submerged Motherlands.” Speaking in the museum’s Cantor Auditorium, I was joined by Swoon, Katherine Lorimer, Steven P. Harrington, Jaime Rojo, and Sharon Matt Atkins (Managing Curator of Exhibitions at Brooklyn Museum).
April 10th, 2014 – May 11th, 2014
non-curated by Keith Schweitzer & Jason Patrick Voegele with the following artists:
John Ahearn, Charlie Ahearn, Jody Culkin, Jane Dickson, Stefan Eins, Peter Fend, Coleen Fitzgibbon, Bobby G, Mike Glier, Becky Howland, Lisa Kahane, Christof Kohlhofer, Justen Ladda, Joe Lewis, Ann Messner, Richard Miller, Tom Otterness, Cara Perlman, Judy Rifka,Walter Robinson, Christy Rupp, Teri Slotkin, Kiki Smith, Seton Smith
On Dec 31st, 1979, a group of artists in downtown Manhattan mounted a now historic exhibition, “The Real Estate Show,” in response to grim economic conditions facing tenants in New York. It was a confrontational and illegal exhibition, held without permission in a vacant city-owned building, with aggressive political messages that ignited controversy and galvanized city officials, news media and artists alike.
This group, Collaborative Projects Inc (Colab), focused on theme-centered exhibitions with a spirit of openness, experimentation, and minimal curatorial interference. Within this context, “No City is an Island” asked former members of Colab to respond to the exhibition’s title as a theme around which to contribute work. Dialogues were rekindled and themes were revisited or reinterpreted. As each artist has evolved over time, so has the city itself. With a range of works transversing 35 years, “No City is an Island” revisits the zeitgeist of a New York City long bygone, compares and contrasts the artists and urban realities of then with now, and honors one of the most influential art organizations in New York City’s history.
The exhibition is part of a multi-venue celebration of Colab and revisitation of “The Real Estate Show” with “The Real Estate Show, Was Then: 1980″ at James Fuentes Gallery (April 4 – 27), “RESx” at ABC No Rio (April 9 – May 8), “No City Is An Island” at The Lodge Gallery (April 10 – May 11), and “The Real Estate Show, What Next: 2014″ at Cuchifritos Gallery (April 19 – May 18). It is also a component of May 2014’s inaugural Lower East Side History Month, which will now be observed each May with over 60 Lower East Side organizations currently participating.
June 28 through August 18, 2013
Curated by Keith Schweitzer and Jason Patrick Voegele
“For Which it Stands is a show about America. With 17 artists in the exhibition, and 13 different nations represented, one may wonder how this show speaks about America. My answer to this is that we cannot speak about America without speaking about people from other places in the world. We’ve all arrived here from somewhere else, either directly or at some other point in our family lineage. We’re a nation of immigrants, and our national culture is dynamic, always in flux, influenced by the cultures that are brought here. America is a remix, an experiment held together by systems and rules that give us order but also generous latitude to be who we are as individuals.
For Which It Stands is also a show about influences. We, as a nation, are as influenced by those who come here as they are influenced by coming here themselves. This is very observable in New York, where it seems to happen right before your eyes in real time, particularly on the Lower East Side. Then these combinations, unified under one flag, influence externally and project outward to nations outside of our own. It’s a feedback loop, an array of intercontinental Möbius strips, and it’s beautiful. The artists and artworks in the show help to tell this story.”
– Keith Schweitzer
Artists: Orlando Arocena, Raul Ayala, Chong Gon Byun, Liset Castillo, Alexis Duque, Alessandra Expósito, Kira Nam Greene, Kent Henricksen, Jung S. Kim, Fay Ku, Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, Esperanza Mayobre, Levan Mindiashvili, Sirikul Pattachote, Shahpour M. Pouyan, Saya Woolfalk and Siebren Versteeg
March 21st through April 28th, 2013, our inaugural exhibition of The Lodge Gallery deconstructed and reimagined the traditional Wunderkammer through works by over a dozen New York based contemporary artists.
Curated by Keith Schweitzer and Jason Patrick Voegele.
Artists: Paul Brainard, Kate Clark, Lori Field, Aaron Johnson, Melora Kuhn, Hayley McCulloch, Dennis McNett, Pop Mortem, Lucia Pedi, Mac Premo, Graham Preston, Christy Rupp, Julia Samuels, Tom Sanford, Sigrid Sarda, Madeline Von Foerster
On Sept 6th, 2012, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer opened his exhibition at Bitforms Gallery featuring the United States premiere of two projects: “Voice Array”, and “Last Breath.”
The exhibition’s opening featured a performance by legendary vocal percussionist Rahzel who explored Lozano-Hemmer’s “Voice Array” within the musical context of human beatboxing. I co-produced this collaboration with Laura Blereau, Director of Bitforms Gallery.
VIDEO: Curatorial Production: Laura Blereau and Keith Schweitzer, Audio Engineer: Gideon May, Video Production: Paul DiNatale of SmackBox
In June of 2012 I curated “Our Ladies of Infamy and Grandeur” by artist Graham Preston, an exhibition of five gilded paintings honoring the exploits, undertakings and legends of lost cultural heroines from the historical Five Points neighborhood.
Preston arrived at the concept for this series through numerous conversations with his friend and mentor, Tom Sanford. Additionally, in the artist’s words, “I came up with the initial idea for this series of paintings while reading ‘The Blackest Bird’ by NYC author Joel Rose. I wanted to explore the lore of embellished accounts from Manhattan’s early days [. . .] The implied iconography in these paintings calls our attention to narratives which, in some cases, have managed to live on through time as mere sentiments found within a few sentences in a couple of books [. . .] I wanted to make small paintings which glorify small events by rather insignificant and even infamous individuals within the context of our written histories.”
June 26th, 2012 through September 5th, 2012. Presented by Fourth Arts Block at 75 East 4th Street, New York, NY 10003
On April 4, 2012, the gates of the Andrew Freedman Home opened to the public. The Home was once built to be a haven, a paradise, for the rich elderly who had lost their fortunes. Bequeathed by millionaire Andrew Freedman, the Home provided not only food and shelter but all the accoutrements of a rich and civilized life style – white glove dinner service, a grand ball room, a wood-paneled library, billiard room and a social committee who organized concerts, opera performances and the like.
Referencing this quixotic history, This Side of Paradise references the past and reconnect the vision of Andrew Freedman to today’s Bronx and its realities. The exhibition and its extensive public programming onsite and offsite draws together the economic and social history of the Home with the present day realities of the Bronx and its residents.
The selected artists’ work in a site-specific manner and respond to such issues as memory, immigration, storytelling, aging and the creation of fantasy that the original concept of the Home “being poor in style” suggests. This Side of Paradise celebrates human ingenuity, the strength of the human spirit and the resilience needed to fashion beauty, hope and rejoicing.
Curated by Manon Slome & Keith Schweitzer with Lucy Lydon & Charlotte Caldwell
Artists: John Ahearn, Alina & Jeff Bliumis, Mario Chamarro, Mel Chin, Crash, Melanie Crean, Linda Cunningham, Daze, Nicky Enright, Hautey Ramos Fermin, Martine Fougeron, Elizabeth Hamby, Carmen Hernandez, How & Nosm, Art Jones, Lisa Kahane, Justen Ladda, Abigail Lazkoz, Sofia Maldonando, Guido Albi Marini, Esperanza Mayobre, Laura Napier, Cheryl Pope, Bruce Richards, Tim Rollins & K.O.S., Gian Maria Tosatti, Federico Uribe
Partnering organizations included: Bronx Museum, Bronx River Art Center, Casita Maria, Hebrew Home at Riverdale, Lehman College Art Gallery, Longwood Art Gallery at Hostos College, The Bronx Children’s Museum, The Bronx Council of the Arts, The Bronx Documentary Center, The POINT, Wave Hill
Just prior to July 4th, 2011, I curated and organized a festive exhibition with Jason Patrick Voegele, Samson Contompasis and Tyler Wriston entitled “Town & Country“. The group show, with 23 participating artists, took place in a penthouse loft space at 320 West 37th Street and was produced collaboratively by the MaNY Project, Republic Worldwide, Brooklyn Art Collective & The MarketPlace Gallery.
Artists include: Scott Michael Ackerman, Doug Auld, Paul Brainard, White Cocoa, Hannah Cole, Annika Conner, Helen Dennis, Eric Diehl, Ira Eduardovna, Tara de la Garza, Charles Koegel, Elizabeth Livingston, Frodo Mikkelsen, OLEK, Sirikul Pattachote, Patrick Porter, Leon Reid IV, Julia Samuels, Tom Sanford, Chris Stain, Veng, Emma Wasielke (photos by Sean McGurn)
In mid-June, 2010, I organized an outdoor mural with artist Depoe at Allegra LaViola Gallery (179 East Broadway, NYC) as a component of an exhibition titled “Draw The Line”. The exhibition opened on June 29th, 2011, and ran until August 6th.
In May 2011, I curated an exhibition on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with RJ Rushmore of Vandalog and Michael Glatzer of the MaNY Project. Entitled “Up Close & Personal”, the exhibit presented small works, in an indoor setting, by a group of artists who are internationally renowned for painting large works outdoors.
Artists: Aiko, Chris Stain, Clown Soldier, Don Leicht, Edible Genius, Elbowtoe, Gaia, How & Nosm, Jessica Angel, John Fekner, Know Hope, Logan Hicks, Mike Ballard, OverUnder, R. Robot, Radical, Retna, Skewville, Tristan Eaton, Troy Lovegates aka Other, Veng and White Cocoa
In September, 2010, I curated “Watch This Space” with Manon Slome and Jodie Dinapoli. The site-specific exhibition, which united two indoor spaces with a related series of outdoor murals on construction scaffolding, referenced Dumbo’s intensive ongoing construction in its march to gentrification and it’s storied history as a manufacturing and transportation hub.
In Cal Lane‘s installation, crushed steel from the remains of an automobile explosion has been hand cut – using a blow torch – into a delicate lace pattern. Her transformation of a destroyed motor vehicle into fabric-like drapery mimics Dumbo’s former industrial and current residential purposes; a shift from strong to delicate, from utility to frivolity, from functional to ornamental.
Michel de Broin‘s installation, “Bleed”, positioned an electric hand-drill as a precarious fountain. The construction tool placed upon a fine art pedestal, it’s cord plugged into an electrical outlet, as endless streams of water gushed from five holes in its damaged body. The piece poses unanswerable questions of its creation and destruction. Might the object have been left out accidentally by construction staff before opening the exhibition? Is it really part of the exhibition? (see video HERE)
Through a repeating woven pattern, Jordan Seiler‘s 950 square-foot mural concealed the all-too-familiar rectangular shape of exterior construction scaffolding by shifting perspective with an effective optical illusion. The mural continued through and behind the scaffolding’s front facing wall, forming an additional artwork altogether which could only be viewed from behind within the indoor exhibition spaces.
Lincoln Schatz‘s multimedia installation secretly captured security camera footage of all who visited the exhibition, constantly storing, recalling, and displaying video of it’s unwitting subjects as they became part of the “Cluster”, a nod to the omnipresent surveillance cameras in modern urban society.
Alejandro Almanza Pereda‘s sculptural works levitated solid construction cinderblocks over fragile household lightbulbs. The inclusion of Alexandre Arrechea‘s watercolor and sculptural works make a whimsical comment on the ubiquity of development in Brooklyn and the impossible ease with which buildings seem to be erected.
Artists: Alexandre Arrechea, Michel de Broin, Helen Dennis, Cal Lane, Alejandro Almanza Pereda, Lincoln Schatz, Jordan Seiler, Chris Stain.
In late February, 2010, I worked with Tara de la Garza and Felicity Faulkner to organize “The Possibility of a Painting”, an exhibition produced by 2|ONE|TWO |Projects inside of the Hotel Chelsea‘s Gallery Suite. The exhibition explored a transition from representational paintings through to abstract and minimalist paintings via an innovative twist on salon-style artwork presentation.
Artists: Gillian Bostock, Winston Chmielinski, Tara de la Garza, Marissa DeMarco, Felicity Faulkner, Meghan Keane, Ayca Koseogullari, Susan Olmetti, Kenneth Park, Sirikul Pattachote, Kate Shaw, Koji Shimizu, Darren Wardle.
A review of the exhibition, with images of the exhibition can be viewed HERE.
On Friday, January 15, 2010, No Longer Empty re-opened the legendary Tower Records store with a multi-media art exhibition: “Never Can Say Goodbye“.
I organized and managed the exhibition, working with curators Steve Evans (DIA: BEACON), Asher Remy-Toledo & Manon Slome (NLE).
Spotlighting more than twenty artists that work with sound, light, and image, Never Can Say Goodbye recreated a fantasy version of the now defunct Tower Records store with (the fictitious) Never Records by Ted Riederer– an installation complete with record bins, album covers, music posters and a performance stage.
Invader‘s larger-than-life album cover recreations, fabricated entirely from Rubik’s Cubes, brought to mind outdated 8-bit computer pixel art while referencing legendary rock bands that topped the music charts during the former retail giant’s glory days. Works by Meredyth Sparks, simultaneously critique and revere the flat glamour of icons such as David Bowie and half-nude eighties models. Artist Siebren Versteeg presented custom installations that memorialized the mixtapes he made as a teenager and the earliest methods of downloading music online. Ryan Brennan bounced sound through an eight-boom box installation offering an audio tour of Hip Hop.
In December of 2009, I managed a partnered exhibition produced by No Longer Empty with The Parents Circle (PCFF) entitled “Cartoons in Conflict: Editorial Cartoonists Explore Palestinian-Israeli Conflict”. The exhibition featured the works of forty renowned American and International cartoonists who offer their singular perspective on the Palestinian-Israeli situation
During Art Basel Miami 2009, I worked with curator Julian Navarro on “Beyond the Daily Life”, an installation based exhibition mounted in a 10,000 square foot exhibition space adjacent to the Center for Visual Communication featuring large scale works by artist Teresa Diehl and artist-duo Guerra de la Paz.
Teresa Diehl presented an immersive video installation that enveloped visitors within a tranquil, highly meditative environment, an alternate space far removed from the intensity of life’s daily events and routines. An additional sculptural installation constructed a floor-to-ceiling mountain made entirely from delicate glycerin soap. Hundreds of three-inch miniature figurines in the form of sheep being carried by women, calmly climbed to the mountain’s peak as the sound of helicopters looped ominously.
Guerra de la Paz presented three monumental works using recycled apparel in meticulously woven, playful sculptures addressing relics that often define an individual’s personality and commenting on environmental issues, mass consumption and disposability. A separate, almost hidden room, revealed two sculptural forms of male figures in business suits, neckties emerging as cobra heads and a briefcase being exchanged, “Sealing the Deal“.
A review detailing the exhibition, with video, can be viewed at this LINK
In November of 2009, I worked with curator Tara de la Garza on No Longer Empty’s exhibition entitled “Re-Purpose”.
Mounted in an empty storefront space in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, the exhibition examined the notion of repurposing objects, ideas and images.
Tracey Moffatt‘s video collage, Doomed, featured depictions of doom and destruction comprised through the editing of found footage into a highly entertaining and black-humorous take on the collective fear that we have had since biblical times of impending disaster.
Janet Nolan makes sculptures from repeated singular objects recycled from the everyday world, such as the hundreds of broken umbrellas that she installed in the exhibition space.
Corinne Kamiya‘s performative piece dealt with the desire to recreate some of the generosity of her native Hawaiian culture in an effort to cope with the different culture of New York City.
November 11th - 30th, 2009
In October of 2009, I initiated and co-organized a massive 2,000+ person “mission” with Charlie Todd and his legendary organization, ImprovEverywhere. This incredibly humorous collaborative stunt helped to celebrate the grand opening of The Invisible Dog Art Center along with No Longer Emtpy‘s exhibition entitled “Something Out of Nothing”. The resulting online video, which can be seen above this text, has been viewed more than 3,000,000 times.
The Invisible Dog Art Center is located at 51 bergen street, Brooklyn, NY
more photos of the event can be seen at this LINK
“Reflecting Transformation”
447 W16th Street, NYC
July 30th – September 25th, 2009
Working with the curatorial team for No Longer Empty‘s second exhibition, I managed and directed “Reflecting Transformation”. The exhibit was mounted in a street level indoor space under the just-opened High Line park in Chelsea. Inspired by the re-gentrification of the meat packing area and the renovation of the High Line, Reflecting Transformation was organized to reference this urban regeneration and play on the theme of transformation of space and character. In a minimalist aesthetic, the exhibition also alluded to the healing nature that art can have on a community.
Artists: U-Ram Choe, Cao Fei, Yoko Ono, Stephanie Rothenberg, Alyson Shotz, Sean Slemon, Suzanne Song & Siebren Versteeg.
