“Selects-@-CREATE”
presented by Open Source Gallery and CREATE, curated by Daniel Aycock and Kathleen Vance
Exhibition on view: November 20th 2021–January 16th, 2022
Reception: Saturday, November 20th, 2-7pm
Open Hours: Friday-Sunday: 12-7, and by appointment (excluding Holidays)
Location: CREATE Council on the Arts: 398 Main Street, Catskill, NY
createcouncil.org • open-source-gallery.org • frontroomLES.com/create
We are pleased to present “Selects @ CREATE” an exhibition of contemporary art organized in conjunction with Open Source Gallery and CREATE Council on the Arts, curated by Daniel Aycock and Kathleen Vance of the Front Room Gallery. Join us at CREATE Council for the Arts, Saturday the 20th of November from 2-7pm for the reception. Neighboring business, Citiot will have live music from 5-7pm and complimentary snacks and drinks from 5pm onward. Artists on display at Citiot are Tina Chaden, Zach @iamresin, Simon Perschbacher and Joost Swarte.
“Selects - @- CREATE” features works by Fabiola Burgos, Patty Fabricant, Rich Garr, Valerie Hallier, Elizabeth Hansen, Jessica Hargreaves, Alise Loebelsohn, Clarinda Mac Low, Sascha Mallon, Stephen Mallon, Katerina Marcelja, Mark Masyga, LuLu Meng, Miho Suzuki, Joanne Ungar, Dan Zeller, Melissa Zexter
Artists selected for this exhibition are participating artists in the Open Source community, and present works ranging from conceptual projects and installations to formal investigations of pattern, line and space.
“Selects @ CREATE” includes works that were chosen to address the idea of ‘line of thought’, through actual line-work, such as Melissa Zexter’s embroidered photographs of figures and Daniel Zeller’s intricate swirling and rippling line drawings. Painter Mark Masyga’s linear abstract paintings interweave linear paths of color, while Alise Loebelsohn draws delicate lines into the surface of layered venetian plaster to build pattern.
In addition to the concept of line of thought, the artists’ works in this exhibition were selected to engage in a visual discussion amongst themselves, with a rhythm composed of pattern and color, as well as form. This is apparent in the relationship between Katerina Marcelja's fiber sculpture and Patricia Fabricant’s paintings. Fabricant’s works contain optical flows of color and variegated line that are reminiscent of woven fibers, which visually complements the sculptural fibers in Marcelja’s conceptual work, “Ubi Bene Ibi Patria” which is composed of collaged knitted and crocheted yarns.
Unique material use and combinations can be seen throughout the exhibition, as in LuLu Meng’s “When, Where, What” a conceptual work about time incorporating prints on canvas, two way mirrors, sound recording, voice messaging, cups, dry plants and threads. With an uncommon pairing of ceramics and crocheted yarns, Sascha Mallon’s sculpture builds upon the narrative of the princess and the pea and transposes material references of the balls of yarn, created in sculpted porcelain, to the actual cashmere yarn used to crochet the blankets between the stacked ceramic mattresses. Also using an uncommon process and material, Joanne Ungar layers poured pigmented wax, embalming die-cut packaging to create abstract geometric compositions. Ungar’s works have a smooth surface, but when viewed from the side one can see the striated lines from each layered wax pour.
Some artists' reductive compositions provide a counterpoint to the additive constructions, as can be seen in the contrast between Hallier’s floral collages and Miho Suzuki’s minimalist interior photography. Valerie Hallier builds pattern from natural elements, layering innumerable pressed flower petals and leaves, to create a newly composed, imagined bouquet. Miho Suzuki’s abstracted interior photograph of a community pool takes a swimmers view, looking up to the gridded window panes of the skylight above, removing all other unnecessary elements from the image to create a calming sense of floating in water.
This exhibition was conceived as a joint effort between Open Source Gallery, CREATE and curators Daniel Aycock and Kathleen Vance to expand the arts dialog and further define the line that connects these artists together as a community.
CREATE Council on the Arts is the prominent regional arts council serving Columbia, Greene and Schoharie Counties in New York State, providing essential services to artists, arts organizations and the community. CREATE supports and advances the arts and cultural community by broadening and enriching creative resources and economic growth in the region. We envision a community that celebrates artistic and cultural diversity and inspires creative engagement.
Open Source Gallery is an arts-based non-profit organization inspired by the open source movement. In the spirit of this free exchange of knowledge, we provide a forum where art intersects with the community and the world at large. Open Source energizes a diverse and creative community for people of all ages and backgrounds with an emphasis on expression, experimentation, sustainability, and social engagement. Collaboration with artists, our community, and organizational partners is the foundation of Open Source. We would like to extend a big thanks to Kathleen Vance, Daniel Aycock, CREATE, and all the artists in this exhibition for their continuing support and hard work. All of the artists involved have also generously donated artwork to our annual fundraiser, which includes an online silent auction that ends on December 12. See more work from these incredible artists and bid at: opensource.givesmart.com
Daniel Aycock is the Founder and Director of The Front Room Gallery, established in 1999 in New York. Front Room Gallery's contemporary fine art program balances a strength in photography with contemporary painting and installation. The Front Room gallery has featured over 200 exhibitions over the last 21 years.
Daniel Aycock's curatorial focus at the gallery is on artwork that addresses conceptual projects, environmental, social and political concerns, presenting artists that maintain the highest level of skill and individual concept. Aycock has curated and presented artworks at national and international art fairs including: PULSE New York/Miami, Scope New York/Miami, NOVA, Bridge Miami/Berlin, Moving Image NY. He has curated exhibitions internationally at universities, museums and artist’s residencies. Daniel Aycock has been a reviewer at the New York Times Photo review; Association of Media Photographers (ASMP), NY; School of Visual Arts (SVA), NY; International Studio Curatorial Project (ISCP), NY; FotoFest, TX; Palm Beach Photo review, CA, and many others. He has also spoken on panels for Fotofest and Photoville and others. In 2001, he started WAGMAG, Brooklyn Art Guide, a monthly printed publication listing all of the arts institutions in Brooklyn. Aycock was also a founding member of Fountain Art Fair, He received his BFA in Photography from Texas Tech University and his Masters Degree from the School of Visual Arts (SVA).
Kathleen Vance has been the director of the Front Room Gallery in New York since 2004. Vance has curated exhibitions nationally and internationally, has been the invited guest juror/critic for Burlington's South End Art Hop, ASMP (Association of Media Photographers, NY), Photo Regional at Collar Works, and curated and commissioned artworks for he Brooklyn Academy of Music. Kathleen Vance is an art advisor with Upward and Associates, as well as a board member of ARTfront, Inc., She also played a key role in the Brooklyn art renaissance in the 2000s as an art event organizer, strategist, and community builder. As an officer in the Williamsburg Gallery Association and the Sculptors guild, she has organized multiple public art installations, festivals, and exhibitions. From her ten years of experience in the interior design industry, she has developed a personal approach to artwork placements and commissions. Her curatorial focus is on environmental conservation, which is informed by her work as a professional artist.