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4/3/2009

Volta NY 2009

7W, New York

VOLTA, the Basel-based art fair for new and emerging art is back in New York for Armory Arts Week at its central location at 7W 34th street. A perfect complement to its sister fair, The Armory Show, VOLTA NY will showcase 77 solo artist presentations, inspired by this year's curatorial theme, "Age of Anxiety," a reflection of our present moment, located in the city where our financial drama was born and is being played out. VOLTA NY heads confidently into 2009, taking its cutting-edge concept to the finest location in town: 7W 34th Street, recently praised as an art venue by Roberta Smith of the NY Times. In a short time 7W has cemented its reputation as the art world's new exhibition center, showcasing a dozen art-related events in as many months, among them the Outsider Art Fair, held with major success during the first week of January.

This year's theme, "Age of Anxiety," is taken from W.H. Auden's 1947 volume of the same name and will address the present socio-cultural moment as well as the artistic possibilities that it will invariably create. The fair, co-curated by Amanda Coulson and Christian Viveros-Fauné, will showcase 77 solo artist projects that reflect on many of today's social and global issues including the economy, the environment, gender and race relations, as well as matters intrinsic to art making in our new environment. In a concerted effort to reach out to underexposed artists and countries, VOLTA NY's list of exhibitors boasts galleries and artists from Chile, Mexico, India, Iran, Israel, Peru, Slovenia, Russia, Venezuela, and Wales, among others. In keeping with VOLTA NY's mission to constitute a space for discovery, exhibitors at VOLTA NY have been invited to participate through a selection process focused both on the artist as well as the representing gallery. Some of the artists exhibiting at this year's VOLTA NY are, among others, Miha Strukelj, who will represent Slovenia at the upcoming Venice Biennale, and Gosha Ostretsov who will represent Russia; Peruvian artist Sandra Gamarra who has also been invited to Venice this year; Regina José Galindo, Venice's 2005 Golden Lion Winner; the Chilean Patrick Hamilton, soon to participate in the upcoming 2nd Canary Island Biennial; 2008 Whitney Biennial 2008 sculptor Lisa Sigal; the Iranian painter Hayv Kahraman, a Sharjah Biennial (UAE) participant; Romanian artist Iona Nemes, recent winner of the "Future of Europe" prize for best young East European Artist; British artist Andy Harper, soon to exhibit at London's Whitechapel Gallery; Indian painter Schandra Singh, soon to be featured in the Saatchi Gallery's exhibition "The Empire Strikes Back"; sculptor Sue Collis, whose work will soon be seen at Jerusalem's Israel Museum; Croatian installation artist Igor Eskinja, currently on show at Casino Luxembourg; and Charlie White, whose film "American Minor" premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival. The complete list of solo projects/exhibitors to VOLTA NY 2009 can be found at the end of this press release.

Other activities include the presence of Imperfect Articles, who will be on site with their limited edition T-shirts with artwork by contemporary and emerging artists, such as Akroe, Anders Nilsen, Atsushi Kag, Carmen Price, Cody Hudson, David Shrigley, Davis/Langois, Eri Ito, Huskmitnavn, Hvass&Hannibal, Ian Pedigo, Joshua Abelow, Katherine Bernhardt, Matthew Feyld, Misaki Kawai, Rashid Johnson, Richard Colman, and UFEX as well as Italian artist Pesce Khete and Troels Carlsen from Denmark, both of whom are exhibiting at VOLTA NY. In the lobby will be Colección Whitney, a work by New York-based artist Trong Nguyen, a replica of the medieval discipline device of the stocks, used often in olden days of New York City to publicly punish criminals. In keeping with his practice, which often questions the power relationships between viewer and art object, here the Vietnamese artist aims to regain control of the act of looking by encouraging the visitor to spend time in the stocks. Both the object's name and its given name ("stocks" and "Whitney") also ask us to consider how the financial crisis, banks, or public and private collections, create a hierarchy of art objects and artists. On a lighter note, the collaborative operation of Sweet Tooth of the Tiger with contemporary artist and pastry chef Tara Strickstein, presents Suck-it!, in which sweets will be given out to visitors, artists and dealers. Highlighting the choreography and ceremonial nature of food exchange, Tara and experimental chef Adam Danforth, explore innovative flavor pairings combined with a unique sense of social ritual based in art theory and reflecting their individual studio practices. STT organizer, Tracy Candido, utilizes the public sphere as a place for eating, feeding, and talking with your mouth full and provides a "sugar high" that aims to engage active dialog and conversation.

Also focusing on positive propositions for the future that perhaps come out of anxious times, is this year's video and film project, curated by Victoria Brooks & Natalie Kovacs, which moves beyond the 7W elevators and into other domains in the fair and outside its walls. Concentrating on alternative visions and innovations by artists, designers and filmmakers from the 1950s to now, A New Stance for Tomorrow includes screenings, site-specific design, sound art and performative installation with works by: Adrian Blackwell, Byron Broadbent, Michel de Broin, Charles & Ray Eames, Tim Etchells, Sylvie Fleury, Noam Gonick & Luis Jacob, Claire Hooper, Pierre Joseph & Philippe Parreno, Yves Klein, Oswaldo Macia , Simon Martin, Mathieu Mercier, Alain Resnais, Pia Rönicke, Robert Stadler, Mika Taanila, and Andrea Zittel. Together with its sister fair, The Armory Show, VOLTA NY will be one of the brightest lights at Armory Arts Week. Both fairs will be connected via a dynamic bus shuttle and have mutually-acknowledged VIP and Talks Programs that will be hosted at both sites.

VOLTA NY Special Projects

VOLTA, the Basel-based art fair for new and emerging art is back in New York for Armory Arts Week at its central location at 7W 34th street. A perfect complement to its sister fair, The Armory Show, VOLTA NY will showcase 78 solo artist presentations, inspired by this year's curatorial theme, "Age of Anxiety," a reflection of our present moment, located in the city where our financial drama was born and is being played out. The complete list of solo projects in VOLTA NY can be found at the end of this press release. In addition to its primary exhibition, VOLTA NY announces several additional special projects that further its tradition of highlighting local working artists-unrepresented by exhibiting galleries-that will take place in and around its midtown home as well as other locations. A collaboration between VOLTA NY, Sketch Gallery, London, and the Tribeca and Soho Grand hotels, the film and installation project A New Stance for Tomorrow, curated by Victoria Brooks & Natalie Kovacs, moves from inside VOLTA NY's midtown elevators to various locations inside New York's famed Tribeca Grand Hotel, located at 2 Avenue of the Americas and Church Street. Concentrating on alternative visions and innovations by artists, designers and filmmakers from the 1950s to now, A New Stance for Tomorrow includes screenings, site-specific design, sound art and performative installation. The film programme, on view in the Tribeca Grand's screening room, includes work by Adrian Blackwell, Byron Broadbent, Michel de Broin, Charles & Ray Eames, Tim Etchells, Sylvie Fleury, Noam Gonick & Luis Jacob, Claire Hooper, Pierre Joseph & Philippe Parreno, Yves Klein, Oswaldo Macia, Simon Martin, Mathieu Mercier, Alain Resnais, Pia Rönicke, Robert Stadler, Mika Taanila, and Andrea Zittel. In the Sanctum visitors can view The Wild Flowers of Manitoba by Noam Gonick and Luis Jacob, a geodesic dome structure that functions as theater, screening room and performance space.

Screening times:A New Stance for Tomorrow Parts 1 and 2 in the Grand Screen screening room at the Tribeca Grand Hotel: Wed 4th March 4pm | Thurs 5th March 7pm (preview) and 10pm | Fri 6th March 2pm | Sat 7th March 7pm | Sun 8th March 7pm Wildflowers of Manitoba in the Sanctum at the Tribeca Grand Hotel: Daily performances: Wed 4th March - Sun 8th March | 4pm - 10pm Filmstill Wildflowers of Manitoba, Noam Gonick and Luis Jacob, 2008 VOLTA NY is also proud to announce that -in collaboration with Creative Time -it will host a film shoot and installation on its exhibition floor by the artist collaborative the Bruce High Quality Foundation. A section of a larger film the Bruce High Quality Foundation will debut with Creative Time at its annual exhibition at New York's Governor's Island, the film will explore the connections between crazed zombies and the contemporary art world. The Bruce High Quality Foundation was created to foster an alternative to everything. The New York-based art collective and foundation is dedicated to the preservation of the legacy of the late social sculptor, Bruce High Quality. Offering "amateur solutions" for "professional problems," their previous projects include the Brucennial, 2008; a retrospective at the Susan Inglett Gallery; and a series of musical vignettes entitled Cats on Broadway, 2007.

Also on the premises of VOLTA NY, Grolsch, the fair's official beer sponsor, has provided VOLTA with an art bar installation conceived of and designed by the artist David Kramer. A performance by the artist will take place on Saturday March 7th at 4 pm, in the lounge/restaurant area of the 11th Floor of 7W 34th Street. Other VOLTA NY projects include the sculpture Colección Whitney, a work by New York-based artist Trong Nguyen. A replica of medieval stocks which saw use in New York City to punish criminals publicly, the Vietnamese artist encourages visitors to spend time in his corrective device for the purposes of regaining control of the act of looking and to question the power relationships between the viewer and the object of art. Both the work's title and its given name ("stocks" and "Whitney") also ask us to consider how the financial crisis, banks and public and private collections create hierarchies for art objects and artists. The sculpture, originally intended for the lobby of 7W has-even before its exhibition-caused a minor scandal with its intimations of "torture"; it has now been moved onto VOLTA NY's main exhibition space on the 11th floor. Trong Nguyen, Colección Whitney, 2008

On a lighter note, the collaborative group Sweet Tooth of the Tiger, led by contemporary artist and pastry chef Tara Strickstein, presents Suck-it!, a performative work in which sweets will be given out to visitors, artists and dealers. Highlighting the ceremonial nature of food exchange, Tara and experimental chef Adam Danforth, will explore innovative flavor pairings combined with a unique sense of social ritual based on certain art theory precepts and also reflecting on their individual studio practices. STT organizer Tracy Candido uses the public sphere as a place for eating, feeding, and talking with your mouth full, providing a "sugar high" to further spur on active dialogue and conversation. Together with its sister fair, The Armory Show, VOLTA NY will be one of the brightest lights at Armory Arts Week. Both fairs will be connected via a bus shuttle and have mutually-acknowledged VIP and OPEN FORUM Talks Programs that will be hosted at both sites; following are the talks scheduled for the 7W location: Friday, March 6th, 5:00pm VOLTA NY OPEN FORUMReinventing Non Profits in NYC A discussion between art non-profit directors and curators who explore how New York City's non-profits are working to maintain visibility and relevance in today's artistic, political and economic environments. Moderator: Sarah Douglas, Art + Auction Featuring: Anne Barlowe, Art in General; Mary Ceruti, The Sculpture Center; and, Gianni Jetzter, Director, The Swiss Institute Location: VOLTA NY, 7W, West 34th Street, Club 7W, 7th floor Saturday, March 7th, 3:00 pm VOLTA NY OPEN FORUMA Conversation About Public Art VOLTA NY presents a conversation on public art featuring Adi Ezoni and Leor Grady of HomeBase Project, introduced by VOLTA NY's curatorial advisor Christian Viveros-Fauné.

HomeBase Project, founded by artist and curator Anat Litwin in 2006, is an annual community-based project exploring the notion of Home. Location: VOLTA NY, 7W, West 34th Street, Club 7W, 7th floor 5:00 pm VOLTA NY OPEN FORUMThe Curated Art Fair: Trend or Necessity? In recent years there has been a growing involvement of curators with art fairs, whether assuming posts as artistic directors, conceiving projects specifically created for a fair or acting as members of a selection committee. Are curatorial practices expanding more and more towards art fairs? If so, to what extent can we speak of a "curated art fair" and an "art fair curator"? Can a curator provide a new perspective or will the actual economical situation herald the retreat of the curator to less commercial spaces. The panel includes personalities who have bridged both worlds, such as a museum director who has worked with art fairs, a curator turned gallerist and an art critic turned art fair director. Moderator: Amanda Coulson, Executive Director, VOLTA NY and VOLTA5, Basel Featuring: David Liss, Artistic Director Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MoCCA), Toronto; Louky Keisers, Director LMAK Projects, New York; Miguel Amado, freelance curator and art critic; and Paco Barragán, Artistic Director CIRCA Puerto Rico and author "The Art Fair Age" (2008)

For further information or requests, please contact press@voltashow.com

VIP Preview Thursday, March 5th, 2009 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

7 West 34th Street
betw. 5th Ave. and 6th Ave. - New York
Public Hours Daily: Thursday - Sunday, March 5th-8th, 2009 1 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Admission: Regular US$ 15 Reduced US$ 1
The Armory Show + VOLTA NY Combination Pass: US$ 40

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