Michelle Handelman, Dorian Still, 63:00, 2009.
Last week the London NYC Beinnale Satellite Event opened at the Christopher Henry Gallery. Curated and conceived by Inbred Hybrid Collective alongside London Biennale founder David Medalla, the show brings the experience of the London Biennale to New York. Artists included in the show on view through September 1, 2010 are Michele Brody, Walt Cessna, Michelle Handelman, John Kelly, Scooter LaForge, Max Carlos Martinez, Rob Roth, Smith & Lowles, Reynolds Tenazas, and Lili White. Whitewall asked the curator and founder of the biennale about the satellite event, its theme of Love, and the artists included.
WHITEWALL: This year’s London Biennale theme is Love. Why Love and how will the satellite locations adapt to this specific theme?
INBRED HYBRID COLLECTIVE: In planning the London Biennale NYC Satellite Event, I made every artist aware that Love was the theme of this year's biennial and that that would influence what I chose to include. However, with such a broad subject I was interested in having the artists pursue more than a saccharine fantasy resulting in either a Hallmark card or yet another misguided attempt to relive the sixties. Love is a very complicated subject in today's world, where distractions and unrealistic ideals have created a standard of desire that is often far removed from what any individual actually "deserves." Beyond that individual complication, love has familial, societal, and spiritual connotations, legal and financial complications, representations and meanings in conversation and media, which have further distorted what was already a very challenging and extremely personal thing. Some of the work may not immediately evoke thoughts of love in the viewer. Some pieces are directly antithetical to it. This show is not a warm security blanket to make the viewer feel secure and comfortable, it is complicated, vibrant, powerful, and emotional. Some pieces may even seem disturbing. It is not a Hollywood ending, but something that lives inside a person, for better or worse, and changes them forever. This is what love is to me and this is how it works in the show.
Max- Carlos, Martinez.
WHITEWALL: What do you look forward to at this year's exhibit, specifically the New York showing? Any artists to watch out for?
IHC: The London Biennale NYC Satellite Event is a great example of what is happening in New York's art world at this moment. Drawing from the mostly disparate realms of public, studio, experimental, and even museum-level representation, every artist in the show is fully devoted to the development of their craft, and has the genuine desire to get their message out rather than simply being motivated by careerist intentions or a banal desire for fame (which seems so prevalent among today's young artists). Each artist in the show is one to watch out for. One of my curatorial motivations in doing a show like this is to create a distinct, compelling, and cohesive exposition of major talent. Some of these artists are in the later stages of their successful career, such as John Kelly, Johnny Rozsa, and Michael Alago. Others, such as Michelle Handelman, Rob Roth, and Scooter LaForge, are just on the brink of getting the major recognition they deserve and will definitely be household names in short order. The other artists in the show, Walt Cessna, Smith & Lowles, Reynolds, Max-Carlos Martinez, Lily White, and Michele Brody have all developed large followings in their respective realms while demonstrating stylistic subtleties and an aptitude for navigating the tumultuous path to creative fulfillment.
With so many diverse styles, mediums, and voices in one show, the London Biennale NYC Satellite Event is very much a New York City experience. The work will be a confirmation of the axiom that what makes this city so great (not only in its rich artistic heritage) is the ability of many different people to come together to create something with lasting impact and importance. In trying to do justice to the traditions and values of David Medalla and the London Biennale it has been a great pleasure to mingle geniuses with legends, old styles with new visions, and the integrity of each individuals' unique vision.
DAVID MEDALLA: I don't make value judgments about my fellow artists. I leave time and history to do that. I am glad that there will be a Satellite Event in New York City, it is the city I consider my spiritual home as I grew up partly there and partly in Manila where I was born. I am glad also that there are many Satellite Events linked to the London Biennale 2010 in New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, San Francisco, Rome, Berlin, Madrid, Evreux near Lyons in France, and many other places around the globe.
Scooter LaForge.
Michele Brody, Manhole Light Cover.
Post written by Camille Hayward
Photos Courtesy of The London Biennale NYC Satellite event
