Fuse Works: Multiples and Editions

Fuse Works: Multiples and Editions
curated by Amanda Alic and Ethan Crenson
December 4 - January 3rd
Opening Reception Friday, December 11th, 7-9
Hours Fri-Sun 1-6 and by appt.



Join us Friday, December 11th from 7-9 for the reception of Fuse Works: Multiples and Editions

Fuse Works grew out of the Front Room’s multiples and editions program which began in early 2007. Dedicated to presenting artists who approach the editioned work as a field of artistic discourse and inquiry rather than simple mass marketing, Fuse Works has assembled an extensive catalog of multiples and editions representing a diverse group of artists and a wide range of approaches. December’s exhibition will present all-new work by both veteran Fuse Works artists and newly discovered talents.

Fuse Works defines the term 'multiple' to denote a work of art that is produced in quantity. An artist may have these works mass-produced, but may also produce each piece him/herself so that there is some variation between examples. Usually a multiple is smaller and more affordable than unique artwork. An editioned work, on the other hand, is produced so that there is no variation between examples (i.e. a photographic print, lithograph, etc.) Books, objects, photographs, works on paper, video, audio and digital art are all included in this exhibition.

“Art is not money” Sean Landers wrote not long ago. Recent events involving credit default swaps and mortgage derivatives have begun to suggest that money is not money either. Artists have noticed, and some of the artists in this exhibition have responded by making currency the subject of their artwork as well as the vehicle for its exchange. Double A projects (Athena Robles and Anna Stein), for instance, have produced One World Currency--a global currency created in conjunction with the first Global Free Store (2009). The bills can be purchased from Fuse Works, or can be obtained by exchanging goods or services with either the gallery or the artist. Lotte Lindner & Till Steinbrenner have produced a screen print resembling paper money in an edition of 1000. The first print in the edition is offered at $1, the second at $2...the final bill in the edition $1000. In this it seems that the dispersal of the full edition resembles a simple but audacious ponzi scheme, but one that bears a resemblance to the standard pricing of editions by print galleries. John O. Smith has devised a similar scheme in the production of his book project Currency Exchange. Smith began by binding one dollar bills into handsome hardbound books in an edition of ten. Proceeds of the sale of Vol. I were rolled over to create the edition of Vol. II which consists of bound editions of two dollar bills. Vol. II will generate Vol. V and so on. The value of the project will continue to appreciate until all common denominations of US currency have been exchanged into artist book form. For this exhibition Fuse Works will offer Volume II at no mark-up thus preserving the conceptual integrity of the Currency Exchange project. Other artists who engage the almighty Dollar/Yen/Pound/Euro are Marshall Reese and Nora Ligorano who have produced Dough-Yos, a limited edition yo-yo.

Another subject explored by artists in this exhibition is the concept of time. Though time seems more intangible than money, it has been mined and refined by Chiara Camoni. Her piece “10 days” offers time for sale. The time in question has lain unclaimed for centuries: 10 days excised from the Gregorian calendar by Pope Gregory XIII. With the help of a notary Camoni took possession of the 10 days and offers to bestow them on collectors. Celeste Fichter’s “Time Stamp” is a simple reminder of our changing relationship to time and it’s measurement. Fichter has produced a rubber ink stamp reading “time” and instructs the collector to stamp it on the wrist--the former location of many a wrist watch, since replaced by the ubiquitous cell phone. Andrew Eyman’s Shell Beach, an installation and multiple, reminds us that clocks and watches merely represent an abstract concept. The multiple offered here is a wristwatch in which the face and works have been replaced with colorful sand--evoking the utopian paradise of the title. Dominick DiPietrantonio’s has made clocks that dance stunning patterns across their faces, but they do not tell you the time.

Some of the artists in the exhibition create transactional artwork--work that requires the collector to interact with the artwork (or in some cases the artist) beyond simply purchasing it. James Leonard’s lenticular post card “Greetings from America” is one such case. Once purchased, the card is sent to the collector through regular post with a personal note from the artist. Chuck Jones offers a mash-up video of all of the Star Wars movies in packages of three. The purchaser is required to give 2 of the copies away to friends. Other pieces in the show are wearable, including work by Serge Onnen and Jan Obornik.

The exhibition also includes artists who have produced books (Luca Bertolo, Robert Flynt, Christian Brown), works on paper & photographs (Sara Sun, Patricia Smith, David Kramer, Ross Racine, Gregory Curry, Heidi Cody, Alison Unsworth), video (Matt Richards, Stephanie Koseff) and objects (Rebecca Loyche, Oscar Perez, George Spencer, John Marriott).



The Front Room Gallery is located at:
147 Roebling Street in Williamsburg Brooklyn.
718-782-2556

A printed Fuse Works catalog is available at the Front Room gallery (www.frontroom.org) and all works will be available for purchase on the Fuse Works web site ( www.fuse-works.com)

COME EARLY, STAY LATE this Saturday

COME EARLY!!!
Join us to celebrate 10 years of the Front Room gallery from 7-9 featuring our 10th Anniversary exhibition with works by: Amanda Alic, Sasha Bezzubov, Thomas Broadbent, Ethan Crenson, Eric Guzman, Sean Hemmerle, Stephen Mallon, Allan Packer, Melissa Pokorny, Emily Roz, Philip Simmons, Patricia Smith, Mark Stilwell,
Edie Winograde, up through November 22nd.





STAY LATE!!!
After 10:30pm the gallery will transform into party mode for our Annual Halloween Party. Costumes Required.
We will have some deliciously spooky beverages, but please bring along some additional drinks to add to the festivities.

10th Anniversary Exhibition

Please join us October 31st from 7-9 to celebrate our 10th year Anniversary.

We are pleased to announce our 10th anniversary exhibition celebrating a decade of art, installation and performance at 147 Roebling Street. We are proud to have had the opportunity over the last ten years to work with so many talented artists, and in this show we are offering a glimpse of some of our favorites. Featuring works by: Amanda Alic, Sasha Bezzubov, Thomas Broadbent, Ethan Crenson, Eric Guzman, Sean Hemmerle, Stephen Mallon, Allan Packer, Melissa Pokorny, Emily Roz, Philip Simmons, Patricia Smith, Mark Stilwell and Edie Winograde.



Amanda Alic's photography captures the construction of our personal and public character, domesticity, pleasure and discord. Her works range from "straight" photography to video processed images.

Sasha Bezzubov’s photographs the destruction caused by natural disasters as evidence of the fragility of the man-made, as it is transformed into dreamscapes of apocalyptic proportions.

Thomas Broadbent’s room-sized installations have included inflatable sewn sculptures, video, billboards, and ice sculpture. He addresses social and political issues with a humor that serves to expose inherent contradictions.

Ethan Crenson’s works are directed at the givens of contemporary culture. Social boundaries, language and commerce collide with odd, sometimes repulsive materials that speak their own language of discord and dissent.

Erik Guzman's sculptural aesthetic combines graphic icons, church architecture and components from Japanese patterns and temples to produce works which often incorporate dazzling light, polished aluminum and plexiglass and are activated by the presence of a viewer.

Sean Hemmerle’s most recent photo series, “The American Rust Belt,” shot along the banks of the Great Lakes, covers cities of importance in the American auto industry and gives us a melancholy look at the grandiose ruins of American exceptionalism.

Stephen Mallon's large-scale photographs in the series "Brace For Impact: the aftermath of flight 1549,” taken during the salvage of the fuselage and engine, impart a physicality and scale to these incomprehensible occurrences.

Allan Packer's extensive and impressive body of work examines elemental and cultural ideas. Packer relates his experiences and travels through large-scale sculptures that revive lesser known cultural ideas

Melissa Pokorny's “homemade cultural probes” are assemblages consisting of quirky casts, found objects, and synthetic building materials.

Emily Roz unleashes the fury and frustration of these uncertain times through images of wild animals, blatantly revealing their primordial aggression.

Philip Simmons merges contours of American imagery, defining new icons for this century. His elegant silhouetted forms revel in the machismo culture so particularly American with the glorification of the Wild West, gunfights between cowboys and Indians, soldiers, and ultimately war.

Patricia Smith makes use of Rococo-like ornamentation characterized by lightness and delicacy, and creates fantastical structures that resemble both microorganisms and planetary surfaces.

Mark Stilwell's works are relief painting / installations constructed from cardboard, paper mache, and various materials from 99 cent stores. Stilwell's installations take the form of invading armies of creatures amongst urban neighborhoods.

Edie Winograde has photographed reenactments of events in the history of Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion, presented in their original locales.

Stephen Mallon Artist Talk, this Sunday, October 4th at 4pm

Please join us this Sunday at 4pm as we host an Artist talk with Stephen Mallon


"Brace For Impact: the aftermath of flight 1549"
Photographs by Stephen Mallon
September 10th-October 11th, 2009
Viewing hours: Fri-Sun 1-6 and by appointment

"On Jan. 15, 2009, a few Canadian geese with bad timing became snarge, a steely pilot became a hero, and the world became fascinated with images of a jet splashing into the Hudson River and then floating calmly as passengers crowded its wings.

But until now, few people have seen the equally surprising pictures of the second half of this story: when a salvage team used the biggest floating crane on the East Coast to pluck the ill-fated Airbus A320 from the frigid water.”

Front Room gallery

Matthew Shechmeister, “Wired Magazine”

Front Room Gallery is pleased to host Stephen Mallon's artist talk for "Brace For Impact: the aftermath of flight 1549.” It is very difficult to encapsulate the events that happened during and following the crash of flight 1549, but Stephen Mallon's large-scale photographs, taken during the salvage of the fuselage and engine, impart a physicality and scale to these incomprehensible occurrences. Mallon's photos present us with the aftermath of this disaster and remind us how it was averted despite nearly unbeatable odds through the mastery and bravery of the pilot and crew.

Allan Packer at Gardiner Art Gallery

Allan Packer at Gardiner Art Gallery
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK
405-744-6016


October 12 - October 30

Reception 5 – 6pm, Artist’s Lecture 6 -7 pm, Thursday, October 8

Paintings, prints, sculpture + drawings of space, machines + myth from NASA, Cape Canaveral, Knossos, Crete, Lake Tahoe, CA. Cape Dorset, Nunuvit, and Taos NM.

Weaving between deep space exploration and Hollywood references of time travel Packer takes us on a journey in the spiritual realm of the unknown.

Andrew Siff Interview on WNBC

"Brace For Impact: the aftermath of flight 1549" Opening Reception Saturday, September 12th from 7-9 pm

"Brace For Impact: the aftermath of flight 1549"
Photographs by Stephen Mallon
September 10th-October 11th, 2009
Reception Sat. Sept 12th, 7-10
Viewing hours: Fri-Sun 1-6 and by appointment

Join us this Saturday from 7-10pm for the Opening reception of "Brace For Impact: the aftermath of flight 1549", photographs by Stephen Mallon


It is very difficult to encapsulate the events that happened during and following the crash of flight 1549, but Stephen Mallon's large-scale photographs, taken during the salvage of the fuselage and engine, impart a physicality and scale to these incomprehensible occurrences. Mallon's photos present us with the aftermath of this disaster and remind us how it was averted despite nearly unbeatable odds through the mastery and bravery of the pilot and crew.

Never before has a commercial aircraft crashed in the Hudson with the complete survival of all passengers and crew. They were rescued by the Circle Line sightseeing cruise ferry (along with other rescuers) almost instantly. Men, women and children waited their turns patiently standing on the wings of the plane, half-submerged in the icy water on what felt like the coldest day of the year. This feat is a testament to the bravery of the crew and passengers.

As the fuselage and engine of the aircraft were later brought up intact by a gigantic crane and a team of divers in heated wetsuits, Stephen Mallon captured the moment standing on the deck of the crane-barge. In Mallon's uncanny photographs the plane sometimes appears to be a metaphorical wounded animal, like a whale lifted completely out of the water. It is damaged, beat up and missing one of its engines, but it nevertheless survives. The divers, in their heated wetsuits with huge face-gear, seem like astronauts floating through an icy void in space. And, we finally get a glimpse of the famous engine—disabled by some unfortunate Canadian geese—in a stunning pseudo-portrait by Stephen Mallon as it is lifted from some eighty feet of icy water.

Message From Copenhagen

Philip Simmons and his collaborative artist team with Katja Jakobsen and Hartmut Stockter send an update from Copenhagen where they are presenting an ambitious outdoor installation as part of Kurs: the Harbour.




Here is an image of the exterior of the pilot house in its location.





Image of interior of Pilot house, with map by Philip
Simmons


















Another image of the interior with ship-in-bottles by Philip and Hartmut. (Philip's is the green one with a model of their previous project "Gowanus Haven")

KURS: The Harbour

This September 5th-November 29th, Philip Simmons will be presenting work with the collaborative team Katja Jakobsen, Hartmut Stockter and himself in Copenhagen, Denmark.

As part of the KURS: The Harbour, organized by KØS Museum of Art in Public Spaces, this group will be creating a collaborative art installation next to a harbor in Køge, Denmark. They will be creating a a full-size pilot house, such as one would typically see on a fishing boat. Inside the pilot each artist in this team will be creating individual art pieces which, working together, will create a unified experience of being at a point of coming and going, between the desire to travel and to return home. The pilot house will be installed on the end of the jetty which forms the entrance and exit to Køge Harbor.

Emily Roz in Joy Quarterly

Issue 4 of Joy Quarterly features an interview and a six page spread profiling the work of Emily Roz by writer and performer, Richard Toth.

Sasha Bezzubov's "Wildfire"

Congratulations to Sasha on his book "Wildfire" published by Nazraeli Press.
Visit: Nazraeli Press


In the American west during the last 35 years, the number of fires increased by a factor of four; the average fire went from lasting one week to lasting five; the total area burned increased by six-and-a-half times; and the average fire season increased by 78 days. All of which is to say, as Bill McKibben points out in his introduction to Wildfire, we really shouldn’t be calling them wildfires any more. Sasha Bezzubov has gained wide recognition for his photographs of natural disasters in his ongoing project “Things Fall Apart.” Wildfire, the artist’s first monograph, is comprised of 32 large-scale photographs of the aftermath of forest fires in California. Using the genre of landscape photography, a tradition born with, and used to celebrate, industrial expansion, these photographs evidence the fragility of the man-made as it is transformed into dreamscapes of apocalyptic proportions. “The cycle of destruction and regeneration, of death and birth, is a reality that is not subject to human contravection. Despite the muted palette, these pictures present stunning vistas of natural wreckage that mirror man-made war zones. The vastness of the devastation is at once appalling and breathtaking.” — Mary Hrbacek, New York Art World

September Show

Save the date! Opening reception: September 12th, 7-10PM. Photographs of the salvage of US Airways Flight 1549 by Stephen Mallon. Sept. 10th- Oct 11th.

Summer's here!!

Keep up with the Brooklyn art scene this summer and check out the July/August Wagmag- your guide to exhibitions, openings and events: WAGMAG

Within the Menagerie

"Within the Menagerie" is an exhibition featuring sculptures by Melissa Pokorny and an installation by Julia Whitney Barnes. Runs through June 21st.

Visit Front Room's website for full Press Release: FRONT ROOM gallery