Nin Brudermann
Mauro Ceolin
Tamara Gayer
Caitlin Masley
Sean McFarland
Dana Melamed
Daniel Mirer
Amy Rathbone
Carolyn Salas
Tucker Schwarz
Jeni Spota
Dannielle Tegeder
Amy Westpfahl
Yaelle S. Amir
An Inaugural Group Exhibition: it brings together artists who draw upon their physical surroundings as a starting point for their creations. Working in various mediums, they reconstruct environments such as their urban surroundings, a rural landscape or the actual gallery space, into new, and at times, abstracted sites of their own.
An Inaugural Group Exhibition
Organized by Yaelle S. Amir
Priska C. Juschka Fine Art presents New Found Land, the gallery's first
exhibition in its new location on West 27th Street in New York City. New
Found Land brings together artists who draw upon their physical
surroundings as a starting point for their creations. Working in various
mediums, they reconstruct environments such as their urban surroundings,
a rural landscape or the actual gallery space, into new, and at times,
abstracted sites of their own.
In Nin Brudermann's mixed-media installation, the viewer is entangled in
a startling futuristic setting, devoid of the outlet typically provided
by an underlying fictitious plot. By introducing a reality that is
seemingly subverted with gentle irony, she toys with the viewer's
perception by evoking a ubiquitous, yet understated notion of Brechtian
alienation.
Working in various mediums, Mauro Ceolin derives inspiration from the
internet and videogames. In Expensive Look Without the Expensive Price,
Ceolin formulated on the surface of a skateboard a fabricated skyline
made up of statistical information of the most traveled and documented
locations in the world according to web "bloggers. " In his acrylic
paintings on computer mice, Ceolin strips videogame landscapes of their
context, leaving them desolate and alienating. He then paints them on
the very tool with which one maneuvers within the original site, further
distancing them from their source.
Tamara Gayer appropriates an urban landscape, transforming its elements
such as buildings and intersections into a blend of colors and patterns,
which serve as expressions of her personal experience amongst these
surroundings. In so doing, Gayer bridges notions of mental and public
space, enabling the viewers to position themselves within the
reconstructed site.
In her installation, Caitlin Masley re-invents the global urban
landscape using buildings from Berlin, Chicago and Shanghai, and
transforms them into "Portable" paper structures. The various elements
are based in photographs Masley took of the buildings, which were later
digitally manipulated in accordance to her experience within the sites.
Having witnessed the process of the de-construction and re-building of
these cities, Masley created a universal perspective of the metropolis,
which mirrors her psychological and sensory impressions of the
rapidly-developing environment.
Sean McFarland photographs cityscapes, only to later disassemble them by
cutting out the different elements that comprise the scenes. From the
pieces of these urban sites, he later constructs dioramas of a new
landscape. Once completed, McFarland re-photographs the assemblage, thus
reinstating coherence to the dislocated components.
In Dana Melamed's collages, one may be able to identify many of the
architectural structures from which they are composed. By combining
Xeroxes, archive photographs and sketches of existing and invented
locations, the artist creates a unique and self-contained urban
landscape, which develops and expands organically.
In his photographs, Daniel Mirer decontextualizes his architectural
subjects by way of aesthetic choices, such as framing and formatting,
ultimately transforming them into abstract, impersonal and
unrecognizable locations.
The reconstruction of an environment takes on an added meaning when one
observes the work of Amy Rathbone. Drawing upon the physicality of the
gallery, Rathbone incorporates its walls into her labor-intensive work.
By reinterpreting its structural function through personal experience,
she develops an abstracted, and entirely subjective environment, which
exists only within its current context.
In her floor installation, Carolyn Salas assembles a fictitious
landscape within the limiting boundaries of the exhibition space. Fueled
by her subconscious thoughts and personal narrative, she formulates an
alternative and autonomous site of tranquility and reflection.
Tucker Schwarz uses her sewing machine to "draw" on fabric various bits
of landscapes she had previously captured on camera. The resulting
images trigger one's free associations relating to position and personal
space, in a visually subtle and suggestive manner.
In constructing alternative environments, Jeni Spota relies primarily on
her imagination, stimulated by experience and vision. The resulting
invented universe is an amalgam of impossible miniature planets, fused
together to create a futuristic abode.
Inspired primarily by architectural blueprints and technological
sketches, Dannielle Tegeder creates seemingly abstract environments
composed of interconnected recurrent forms, each representing a specific
function in fantastical landscapes, such as tunnels and housing. In both
her two and three-dimensional work, these various forms come together to
produce an underground utopian system, which maintains its own
continuous rhythm and flow.
Amy Westpfahl collected photographs from the New York Historical
Archives for the purpose of documenting the transformation of the LES
neighborhood. She later juxtaposed these images with current views of
the area that were taken from the same vantage point as the originals.
In order to exemplify the changes that the neighborhood has undergone,
Westpfahl traced continuous fabricated skylines above the photographs,
which join and part in accordance to the fluctuating configuration of
the landscape.
Opening reception: Thursday, September 8, 6-9 PM
547 West 27th Street
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10001
Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM or by
appointment.