Academy Awards - Best Curating

By Claire Cushman (MFA 2015)

The New York art world is a big place. This can be intimidating, but it also gives artists opportunities to play different roles, such as curator. While most artists are singularly focused on their own vision, Cara De Angelis (MFA 2011), Diana Corvelle (MFA 2011), Dina Brodsky (MFA 2006) and Michelle Doll (2006) have carved out the time and energy to identify, organize and contextualize the work of their peers by curating shows. 

While working on curatorial projects (often together), these women and other artists formed a group known as Paint Anyway, which is dedicated to reintroducing talent and sincerity into the New York art world. "Our mission is to create a platform in which great artwork is seen and discussed," says Michelle Doll. 

Curating requires research, idea development, project management, decisiveness, and even interior decorating skills. Like writing, curating forces artists to consider the wider context their works fit into, and to identify the conversations they’d like to be a part of. Below, these four NYAA alumni answer some questions about their curating experiences.

Kimberly Witham, "Still Life with Orange Glove," (Digital C-Print), from Wildlife in the Post-Natural Age, curated by Cara De Angelis

Why do you curate?

Cara: I have a desire to connect with more artists and galleries, and to create opportunity for my friends and other emerging artists, specifically women and others who may not be given as much opportunity. A majority of the opportunities I've had since being out of school have been through fellow artists, and I genuinely love participating in the community we've created and helping to expand it further. It's my fuel to keep me going.

Diana:  I can thank my lovely Paint Anyway friends for pushing me to curate. I deeply value sincerity and craft, so I want to give a platform to artists whose work is sincere and beautifully crafted. 

Linnea Paskow, "Dissolution", Magazine Fragments - from "Remnants" 

Tell me about the shows you’ve curated?

Michelle: In 2010, the incredibly talented artist and close friend of mine, Lisa Lebofsky, approached me about co-curating a show with her at Fuse Gallery, where she was the gallery director at the time. We decided on the title "Remnants", choosing artwork that focussed on serenity found in the wake of destruction, gradual disintegration, natural decay and residual experience. The show was an ambitious project that included approximately 50 artists. I learned so much from that experience, especially from Lisa's extraordinary professionalism in working with artists and various galleries.

For my next curatorial project in 2012, the wonderful gallery owner Island Weiss asked me to co-curate a Valentine's Day themed show titled "Love is in the Air", focussing on the celebration of love, passion, and desire. We collaborated with the Cell theatre group, which combined live performance art and painting.

The other two projects, "Behind the Curtain" and "Barely Imagined Beings," were inspired by my continual collaboration and friendship with the brilliant and ambitious artist, Dina Brodsky.

Dina:  My first curatorial experience was actually an accident- a friend of mine in Boston was launching a start-up tech company. He asked me if I had any artist friends who would be willing to exhibit their work at the launch party, where his potential investors might be interested in buying art. I asked for artwork from some of my Academy classmates, borrowed a friend's car, and drove it to Boston. I didn't think of that as curating, I was just putting together some paintings that looked good together. But the show looked beautiful, and my friend kept introducing me as a curator. That show later got extended to a gallery I knew in Boston, and I realized that, at least to me, that's all curating really is- finding work that looks beautiful and meaningful together. Since then, I've been curating about two shows a year - working with an expanding set of artists and galleries.

Cara: I curated my first show 3 years ago called "Wildlife in the Post Natural Age" and have done several since. The most recent show was "Hot Dry Men, Cold WetWomen," a somewhat satirical effort.

Diana: I co-curated my first show of female portrait artists, "Loved and Observed," with fellow alum Manu Saluja (MFA '13) at Hersh Fine Art, a gallery affiliated with the Long Island Academy of Art, where we both teach.  Cara and I co-curated "New Romantics" at Mark Miller Gallery, and worked with Tun Myaing (MFA '06) for a show of NYAA alumni work "Lucid Visions" at Panepinto Galleries, headed by Stefania Panepinto (MFA '15).  Most recently I curated an exhibition of locket miniatures, "Love It, Locket, Leave It" for Island Weiss Gallery.  Love It/Locket was a really special show for me because every piece was created especially for the exhibition.  It was thrilling to see the miniature scale pieces the artists created; unwrapping each locket as it was delivered felt like Christmas morning.

How do you choose works – primarily from a conceptual standpoint, or an aesthetic one, or both?

Cara: I take both concept and beauty into account when choosing works. Another important factor is a given work's context within the show, and the other pieces in it. Putting a show together with many different artists is sometimes like a puzzle and you have no idea what it will look like at the end. Sometimes works have to be left out if they don't "fit" in the larger picture.

Installation shot from "Hot Dry Men, Cold Wet Women"

Diana: For me personally, aesthetic comes before concept.  My first concerns are always that the work be beautifully crafted and fit beautifully together. It sounds silly, but oftentimes curating feels like compiling a shopping wish list of things I would love to hang in my own apartment!  In fact, I do own a good number of works from the artists who have participated in shows I curated. 

Installation shot from Love it, Lock it, Leave it

Michelle: I typically begin with a concept for a show that I feel is compelling and relevant. I'm constantly researching artists and collecting images. Over time, certain works reveal relationships and themes that spark ideas for shows. 

Dina: Ideally, both, but for me personally aesthetic tends to trump concept. I start with a loose concept, and then find artists whose work I admire and find aesthetically exciting and try to see if they have any work that fits into the theme of the show. I feel like most of the shows I have curated have been talked into existence organically through conversations with close artist friends, a lot of whom curate as well.  Someone will say "wouldn't these 3-4 artist's work fit well together thematically", or "wouldn't this be a great idea for a show". Some of these conversations remain in my mind, and I start looking for other artists whose work would fit with the first few that were discussed.  Usually I work with other curators, and we each bring in our own ideas/artists, until we feel like the show needs to happen, and we start looking for a space.

Installation shot from "Hot Dry Men, Cold Wet Women"

What have you learned through curating shows?

Diana: Honestly it has made me a more conscientious artist!  I've learned how it feels to be on the other side of putting together a show, so now I try much harder to be on time with submissions, meet guidelines as closely as possible and not let correspondences lapse.  I joke that curating is like herding cats ... Except in this case the cats are actually wildly talented, sporadically responsible adults.  

Cara: You can never, ever be too organized. Also, persistence is a virtue. A couple of my shows took over a year of me trying to contact and work with spaces before they found a home. You just have to keep trying. Another thing I've learned is to be chill and not freak out when things go wrong, because it's inevitable that they will.

Dina: I found, learned about, and met a lot of incredibly amazing artists through curating shows. I learned that there is no magic to it, - if you really want a show to happen, you can bring it into existence, but it takes discipline and work. Also, I learned that very few things happen entirely organically. I learned how to approach galleries with ideas for shows, how to do the PR for my shows, and how to pack and handle artwork. The one thing that does seem to occur organically is the artwork- I have been incredibly lucky to work with a group of talented, hard-working artists, and there is never a lack of incredible work to display.

Michelle: The experience of curating has been so valuable.. I've become more fearless when connecting with artists, galleries, critics and writers. I'm more comfortable with writing proposals, interviews and essays. The entire experience has pushed me outside of my comfort zone. There's so much work and collaboration that goes into curating a show... above all, I've learned how to be a better professional artist. 

How do you pick spaces?

Diana: It depends on the show.  For "Love It, Locket, Leave It", my first choice was Island Weiss Gallery.  That space feels like a jewel box to me, and it worked out that Island was really open to the idea of a show of lockets.  

Dina: I try to get the core group of artists for the show together first, ask them to send me work that fits a certain theme, and write a curatorial statement. Once I have that I start approaching galleries with a show that is basically ready to go. Eventually, I find a space that is available- once a gallery agrees to host a show, depending on the size of the space, and their exhibition aesthetic, I will ask a few more artists if they are willing to participate.

Michelle: The space is important when deciding on a show, particularly when choosing the amount of artists and sizes of work. Ideally, I prefer working with a gallery who's supports the curator's decisions and who will actively promote the show.

Michelle Doll in her stu

What are some of your favorite shows you’ve seen lately?

Cara: An exhibit of Baroque paintings and still lifes from the Hohenbuchau collection that was on display at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich CT. The works were lush, ornate, dripping with color, detail, and velvety backgrounds. It was an almost guilty experience. Also, I was really enamored with the Balthus show at the Met, "Cats and Girls," a little over a year ago. It was one of the best shows I'd seen in a while. Another show that makes you feel almost guilty – I hope that's not a pattern forming!

Dina: By far my favorite group show this year was "Beautiful Beast", curated by Peter Drake -every piece in it was exquisite on it's own, while working together to make a coherent whole. It inspired me, both as an artist and a curator.

Academy Awards - Most Experimental Media - Sarah Elise Hall (MFA 2009)

by Claire Cushman (MFA 2015)

Ruptured Slab: hydrocal, spray paint transfer,
 dry pigment, calcite geode (2015)

I first met Sarah Elise Hall (MFA 2009) two and a half years ago, in Toronto, where we are both from. I was painting out of a shared studio space, and Sarah happened to stop by to visit the space’s owner. When she mentioned that she had gone to the Academy, I excitedly told her I was applying for the following year.

Soon after, Sarah and I met for coffee. She told me all about her Academy experience, and helped me select images for my application. A few months later, when I was accepted to the school, she was very encouraging. Thankfully we've stayed in touch, and Sarah has been a kind and helpful mentor throughout my entire Academy experience.  

This fall, when I was beginning to delve into abstraction, Sarah recommended I get a little crazy with my materials and media. “Use the most insane tools you can think of,” she told me. “Like, get a broom, put your canvas on the floor, and see what it’s like to paint with a broom. And really mess around with medium – pour a whole can of shellac over your oil paint. There are all these rules about ‘fat over lean,’ but see what happens if you completely disregard them.”

Unsurprisingly, this spring, Sarah was nominated for “Most Experimental Media.” 

Sometimes, when something in a work of art isn’t working, all you really need to do is switch up your tools or medium to fix the problem. For example, brush size can make all the difference. Hall, who went through NYAA for sculpture, pushes materials to their limits. She’s been exploring themes of mortality and decay for about ten years now and is currently working with geodes and dry pigments to further this investigation. Her work was recently on display at Los Ojos in Brooklyn. Below, she answers some questions about her materials.

System 2 (Grey Aggregate with Carbon Stack).
Plywood, enamel floor paint,
dry pigment, acrylic paint skins, hydrocal.

What are you doing with geodes and dry pigment? How do these materials relate to your investigation of mortality and decay?

As my work has evolved, the expression of this idea (mortality and decay) has become progressively more abstract. The geodes and the cast dry pigment fit into a larger category of work called Cavities - ruptures in paintings, walls and sculptures. Cavities are about what's inside or underneath a facade, surface or skin, and make me think of the body, urban decay such as sinkholes and dilapidated infrastructure, and hollowed-out spaces in nature such as caves and other geological formations. In my work, sometimes these ruptures are natural forms such as geodes, and sometimes they are hand made with cast forms that I sink into walls or paintings. Casting dry pigment is another way of creating an area of decay in a given form. Working with dry pigment and hydrocal is also a way for me to investigate new ways of painting.  

System 1 (Ultramarine R7)
plywood, enamel floor paint, dry pigment,
spray paint transfer, hydrocal (2015) 

You majored in sculpture at NYAA, and now are working more with installation- What caused this shift? What information that you learned at the Academy have you held onto/let go of? 

I don't really see it as that much of a departure. I've studied both painting and sculpture, and what I'm doing now is a continued investigation of both, although I now consider the architecture I'm working within as well. My parameters have more to do with my ideas (memento mori) than with a specific form, and so this has allowed me to shift between medical imagery, the body, disease, contaminated landscapes, fossils, and decay within a form in a cohesive way. What I learned at NYAA was invaluable and in many ways is the backbone of my practice. I think the information and skill I acquired at the school will continue to resurface in my work in the future

Studio shot (untitled) - materials: plywood, enamel floor paint, 
dry pigment, acrylic paint skins, hydrocal (2015)

in different ways.

You tend to shift around a lot in terms of media - how does this process of changing gears happen for you? How long will you stay in one medium/process before moving on?

I really like working with different materials as a way of expressing different ideas - materials have inherent meaning, and I like either pairing or juxtaposing materials with my overall concept. Materials are as much part of my visual language as my form sense, so I don't really move on and leave something else behind. It's more like expanding my language where at times I circle back and pick something up again if it serves a purpose. I like to have a lot of things in my tool box, so I usually end up working with multiple media at the same time.

What music do you listen to while you work?

That's all over the place and not always music ... Miles Davis, Dosh, New Order, Nine Inch Nails, NPR, Rachel Maddow… and sometimes nothing. Silence can be a good thing, especially in this city.

Detail of Grey Aggregate (2015)

Check out Hyperallergic's review of Sarah's show at Los Ojos.

Artist and Teaching Residency for West Nottingham Academy - Part 2

By Jacob Hicks (MFA 2012) 

My experience at West Nottingham Academy has been one of learning in many regards.  Along side my time working in the studio, I teach two high school courses-an introduction to drawing and studio painting.  To teach is to become firm enough in your artistic practice to share it.  It calls for a re-examination of formal and conceptual principles and applicable history.  Art is such an ancient and expansive field that it is hard to imagine any other mode of thought not relevant to its understanding, i.e. science, literature, music, mathematics, religion, etc.  To say the task of infusing its vast wealth into young minds is daunting is to not dabble in hyperbole. 

         



West Nottingham Academy embeds its pupils in a program that teaches the values of creative art, exposing them early on to the richness of the practice. Students in my introduction to drawing-freshman and sophomores-mostly came in as clean slates, with little to no guided study. My task became setting a precedent of enjoyable learning.  I wanted to make it rigorous yet fun so that the children might become converts to its ways and not end up with future disjointed memories of art fused with disinterest.

The first lesson, and one of my favorites so far, was a practical study in analytic and synthetic cubism.  Cubism is a 20th century art movement, the visual equivalent of a parallel advancement in the sciences-relativity.  Advancements rarely populate single territories, but spread across all of the humanities; there are cubist poets as well as modern authors who used verbalization to express similar revelations of the period, just in different mediums.  To help my pupils grasp an abstract concept, I created a studio exercise.  Each chose a partner and cycled between posing for and drawing one another for ten minute sessions.  After one round the original pose was again taken, but each artist worked from a new viewpoint.  This second perspective was layered upon the previous, thus illustrating multiple vantages of a single object, effectively fragmenting its stability.  This is the nature of analytic cubism.

After several rounds of perspectival layering, the students then collaged words and images on top of their works.  Like the synthetic cubists, the students playfully mixed and matched the medium of text with that of drawing, collaging together various modes of thought and expression.

Each week we work on a new project, and included are pictures of some of the most successful works.  (I have also included a photo of the painting I am making while my students work.)

My painting students have had more experience, being juniors and seniors who have taken several semesters of art.  Most of them, however, have not had much experience with oil painting.  I designed the course to teach the students the principles and craft of oil painting from start to finish, through canvas construction and surface preparation to indirect and direct painting application, all based on various modes of historical practice.  The students work on a single composition throughout the course; so far they have created the surface-gessoed canvas on stretchers, composed the drawing, painted the drawing achromatically, applied generalized dead palate color, and are now working to finalize the image with multiple glazes and layers of full chroma.  I asked that each composition include a subject and environment and elements of the imagination.  This course is far-reaching in that it introduces and explains painting material and its history, the principles of design and composition, tonal structure and drawing,  intensive color-theory, and the use of oil medium directly vs. indirectly.  

Each student is asked to meet painting progression deadlines, contribute during critique of one another’s work, and present analysis on old master compositions of their choosing based on all of the formal, material, and historical information we cover. 

We have a way to go before the class concludes with a student organized show in the school gallery, where we can celebrate everyone’s achievements.  I must say, all the work is definitely paying off; I have included some shots of the paintings in their current states.

I am having a wonderful time not just teaching, but learning daily from my students.  Each subject they choose to represent sets me on an experimental hunt alongside of them to find the clearest, most luminous way to embody it.






##Jacob Hicks (MFA 2012) will be blogging here throughout his artist residency at West Nottingham Academy, Colora, Maryland about his experience.  If you have any questions for Jacob, please leave them in the comments section of the blog. 

All photographs taken by Jacob Hicks.