Anna Carnick

"Seasick Yet Still Docked" by Mark Joshua Epstein

"Untitled" work on paper by Mark Joshua Epstein

"Untitled" work on paper by Mark Joshua Epstein

Describing his work, architecturally-inspired, Brooklyn-based artist Mark Joshua Epstein says: “I am interested in the binary of authentic and artificial. The distinction between the two presents itself most interestingly in the built environment. In my work I look to what can broadly be called recreations; period rooms, hobbyist models, architectural drawings. References are a starting point, but I am as interested in art-making materials as I am in conceptual investigation. I am an intuitive image-maker; once visual material is collected, making work becomes an improvisational act. My work swings between the poles of representation and abstraction, and in constantly changing camps, I try and stay loyal to both.”

According to Epstein, his newest painting, called Seasick Yet Still Docked (top), presents a significant shift in his work, one moving towards a looser pictorial construction that references models he has built. The painting uses fictional structures as a starting point (including a children’s book illustration of an imagined cathedral and models Epstein constructed himself – with alterations – from various hobby kits). It marks a departure from referencing actual buildings, which, he says, “has allowed me the freedom to reinvent my visual language and to experiment with the idea of narrative in a new way.”

For the works on paper, the setting was inspired by the Thorne Miniature Rooms at The Art Institute of Chicago. Small, unrelated structures float through the rooms, “posing questions about authenticity and scale.” An inorganic ivy invades the period rooms, and “the addition of this geometric element brings the pieces further toward the realm of surrealism. The works are larger then the referents on which they are based, presenting an interesting inversion—rooms have been miniaturized and subsequently blown up again.”

For more information on Mark Joshua Epstein, visit:
Drawing Center: http://www.drawingcenter.org/viewingprogram/portfolio.cfm

“Drawing the Line” review: http://thephoenix.com/Boston/Arts/51526-Sketch-artists/

Uncommon Ground” group show at Vane Gallery, Newcastle, UK, February 2009: http://www.vane.org.uk/exhibitions/ExhibitionDetail.php?exhibID=46&page=exhib1&archive=true

Above: images from the TUBES series by Tsunami Glassworks, courtesy of the artists.

Founded in 2005 by Ontario-based husband and wife team Kriston Gene and Eva Milinkovic, Tsunami Glassworks designs and produces vibrant blown glass objects. Tsunami’s TUBES series is a study of scale through multiples. Each TUBE can be shown individually or in clusters. The color is key to the design, adding a punch of color to any environment.

Says Milinkovic: “Our approach is to mirror the large glass companies who produce quality glass products; we see little limitations in the material and are constantly trying new techniques to bring our designs to the public. We try to push our designs to look completely different from the traditional glass that ‘s out there already.”

“Our goal really is just to continue working with glass; it’s so much fun and so easy to fall in love with. It’s a beautiful material, the colours and translucency you can’t achieve with anything else.”

Of their working relationship, Milinkovic says, “Collaboration is a big part of what we do together.” Describing TUBES, she says, “I was playing around in the studio… Kris walked in and said, ‘That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen.’ A little bit of tweaking later and it became one of our staple products, incorporated into large clusters in hotel and restaurant projects, sold individually to customers and retailers and used in our lighting designs.”

tsunami / pronounced su | na | mi / n. a large ocean wave caused by a strong force beneath the earth’s surface. The word tsunami is used as a metaphor for a tidal wave of great strength.

tsunami glassworks / blown | cast | glass / n. a company with great strength in design and power in execution. tsunami glassworks – sculptural and functional blown glass for the contemporary living environment.

For more information, check out www.tsunamiglassworks.com

Last Thursday evening, I hit Prospect Park with friends for the Femi Kuti concert. The rain held off, we packed a huge picnic and danced for hours to contagious, Nigerian Afrobeat. Looking around at one point, I stopped to appreciate the best part of any Brooklyn event – the people. Brooklyn’s characters are eclectic to be sure – a grab bag of characters young and old, white and black, fat and thin, stoned, drunk and sober – all routinely united by what all of NY does best – music, food, art, festivals, etc.

Being a Brooklyn local for years (and a huge fan of Celebrate Brooklyn), this was not the first time I’d appreciated the local cast – and the fact that their strength as a group may be a direct result of their eclecticism. That night, however, the same day that Michael Jackson‘s death was announced, the cast created a particularly memorable moment.

After the show, just as we were packing up to leave, I recognized The Jackson 5‘s “I’ll Be There” on the loudspeaker. So did the rest of the crowd. I looked around, and the whole ragtag group of remaining concert-goers was dancing and singing along to the one of Jackson’s most famous tunes. It was FANTASTIC.

And I thought, the reason people have been so moved by Jackson’s death is that, despite the drama and, let’s face it, bizarreness of the last decade or two, the music was unmatched. Everyone I spoke to had a Jackson story – be it a concert memory, or what a song meant to them at a certain point, etc. So I’m hopeful that as time goes by, he’ll be remembered not for the gossip, but for the gifts he gave us…the same ones that can bring a random crowd of strangers together, even if just for a few moments.

"Corner Knot" by Daniel Arsham, 2008. EPS, plaster, paint, joint compound. 18 x 64 x 20 inches

Set design for Merce Cunningham, Val de Marne, by Daniel Arsham. France, 2009.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of a studio visit with sculptor Daniel Arsham. Arsham describes his work as “architectural interventions,” often playing upon existing structures to create unexpected yet organic sculptures – a knot at the corner of two walls, or a chair emerging from within a wall, and so on.

I first came across Arsham last December in Miami, and his light installation at the Beacon/Miami for Art Basel. Most recently, he was in the press for his second collaboration with legendary choreographer Merce Cunningham.  Cunningham is known for creating full evenings of dance in spaces other than traditional theater, with the understanding that the space itself becomes the performance’s décor.In the formative years of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, artist Robert Rauschenberg created scenic designs and costumes in situ, utilizing what was available either within the city or theater where the performance occurred.

For the latest Cunningham-Arsham collaboration, Arsham created site-specific set designs for Au Tour De Paris (coinciding with Cunningham’s 90th birthday). As the performers dance and the music plays, Arsham cuts into heavy black foam cubes, lit white from within, manipulating the scenery as the show progresses. The performances were a surprise for all, as Arsham and Cunningham had little creative communication prior, and all the design elements (choreography, music, décor, costumes, and lighting) changed throughout the tour.

This July, Arsham’s newest work will be on public display, courtesy of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. A collaborative performance called “Untitled Corner” by Arsham, choreographer and media artist Jonah Bokaer and choreographer and dancer Judith Sanchez Ruiz will examine “pattern recognition and perceptual faculties as they apply to the human body, creating the illusion of expanded space.” Part dance, part music, part architectural manipulation (and part of Sitelines ’09), they’ll be performing for free at One Chase Manhattan Plaza at Nassau Street July 6, 10, 13 and 17th at 12:30 pm and July 8th and 15th at 7pm. It’s sure to be a good show, so come by!

For more information on Daniel Arsham, visit www.danielarsham.com

"The River Green" landscape, ASL sculpture translation and poem by Judith Eloise Hooper. Poem reads: "Life ran and fed us, deep and green it snaked onward; Spring, grieve, mourn winter!"

When asked as a child what she wanted to be when she grew up, artist Judith Eloise Hooper responded, “Happy.”  Today, she says, “Living and working as an artist in NYC has given me that childhood dream.” Throughout her work – be it sculpture, topographic landscape, collage, ceramics or works on paper, Hooper seems to celebrate life.

Her hand sculptures – some functional, others patterned after the symbols used by American Sign Language speakers – are hand-sculpted from two types of earthenware: grog-infused clay with subtle variations in color and an overall terra cotta look and sand-colored stoneware. Of these, Hooper says: “Hands are silent speakers, communicating through touch and gesture, saying what words often can’t.”

Of the landscapes, she says: “I want everyone to be able to look at landscapes, whether farmland or cracks in the sidewalk, not as the earth’s crust but as a delicate skin embracing the earth. My landscapes are a reminder of our world as something living and breathing and as something that produces life and the natural beauty in that life, whether it’s planned and planted or simply forces its way to the surface.”

With “The River Green,” Hooper beautifully marries the two series.

For more information on Judith Eloise Hooper, visit www.JudithEloiseHooper.com or Judith.Hooper.BrooklynArtist.com or JudithEloiseHooper.etsy.com.