SSNYC’s curatorial program is dedicated to promoting contemporary visual art focusing on the research and exploration of three dimensional work with an emphasis towards ceramics.
Sculpture Space NYC is pleased to present Description of Events, a group show curated by Patricia Zarate, featuring works by Janice Caswell, Russell Floersch and Steven Lemon.
Opening Reception on Friday, December 13, from 6 to 9 p.m.
Description of Events
December 13, 2019 – February 1, 2020
Opening Reception: Friday, December 13, 6-9 PM
Sculpture Space NYC is proud to present, Description of Events, as part of its Curatorial Program series, featuring work by Janice Caswell, Russell Floersch and Steven Lemon, curated by Patricia Zarate and in collaboration with Sculpture Space NYC and Key Projects.
In the 1960s Swiss artist Daniel Spoerri created An Anecdoted Topography of Chance, an artists’ book documenting through photographs the contents of a table. Each object on the table is catalogued and memorialized through stories by the artist and his friends. The three artists in Description of Events work with repurposed materials including: refurbished wood, light bulbs, cardboard, cups, foam, felt, canvas and commercial packaging. The materials have their own histories in the world. The ways that the artists use them derive from descriptions of events that occurred or have been imaged. A process of discovery and rediscovery takes place in the studio where pieces are arranged, rearranged and brought together. One joins that process in viewing the everyday materials in their new expressions.
Janice Caswell’s constructions are made of discarded cardboard that is cut, arranged and glued together, creating a patchwork or quilt that resembles structures found in the manmade world. Some pieces are melded together using scraps from previous work. Working intuitively and by chance, Caswell creates subtle and curious objects using simple means. For this show, Caswell will be creating a site-specific installation.
Russell Floersch’s process is one of searching again and again for that which was lost or erased – a memory, a dream. Combining an array of materials including consumer packaging, containers, Styrofoam cups, plates and other materials that are meant to be used once and then discarded, he creates discrete objects. By revisiting each object over time, an accumulation of paint and a reconfiguration of shapes and placement occurs.
Steven Lemon’s work is a play in contrast. It is both playful and serious, gestural and minimal. There is an emphasis on simple shapes and lines. His materials are primarily wood, house paint and at times light bulbs, reminiscent of his childhood memory of dark streets illuminated by bare porch lights.
About the artists:
Janice Caswell lives and works in New York City. Her work has been exhibited in numerous museums and galleries, including the Weatherspoon Museum (Greensboro, NC), Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum (Ridgefield, CT), Bronx Museum of the Arts, Marlborough Chelsea, Savannah College of Art and Design (Savannah, GA), and ArtPace (San Antonio, TX). In 2017 Janice was awarded an Arts and Letters award and a purchase prize by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She has been a fellow at The Dora Maar House (Ménerbes, France), Yaddo and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.
Russell Floersch was born in Rockville Centre, New York, and received his MFA in Painting from the University at Buffalo in 1983. Floersch was awarded a Fulbright-Hays Fellowship and studied as a host fellow at the Hochschule der Künste in West Berlin. His first one-person exhibition was with Civilian Warfare Gallery in 1986, and he was soon part of the original group of artists at the Stux Gallery in NYC. He has had solo exhibitions at Rooster Gallery (NYC) in 2011 and 2014, and at 57W57Arts (NYC) in 2015 and 2019, and has been in group shows at galerie oqbo (Berlin) among others. Floersch was awarded a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship for Painting in 1996 and in 2010, he was awarded a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. In 2015 he began teaching at City College, CUNY, and is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Drawing. He maintains a studio in Long Island City.
Steven Lemon graduated from the Dayton Art Institute in 1969 and received his graduate degree from Baltimore's Rhinehart Graduate School of Sculpture in 1972. He has lived and worked in New York City since 1974.
Sculpture Space NYC is a ceramics and sculpture center founded by artists Magda Dejose and Andrew Kennedy. Sculpture Space NYC’s mission is to stimulate creativity, new ideas and collaboration in ceramics-based investigations. Artists, designers and craftspeople of all backgrounds converge in this center to experiment, learn, make, reflect and grow artistically. The thoughtfully designed and open floor plan allows for fluid access to equipment, sharing and advanced education.
SSNYC Curatorial Program is dedicated to promoting contemporary visual art focusing on ceramics, sculpture and three-dimensional work. Based on funding and availability, Sculpture Space NYC also offers residency opportunities by invitation and on a project-by-project basis.
Patricia Zarate is co-founder of Key Projects, an artist-run gallery space based in Sunnyside, NY. Through intimate exhibits of contemporary abstract and conceptual art, Key Projects explores and showcases an international community of artists.
Gallery Hours: Saturdays 12pm-6pm & By Appointment.
Location: we are located at 47-21 35th Street, Long Island City NY 11101, near the 33rd Street/Rawson Street stop on the 7 train.
