NEW YORK, N.Y. — Jamaica Flux: Workspaces & Windows 2007 is a contemporary public art project which includes the commission, creation, and exhibition of 24 multidisciplinary, site-specific artworks. These works will be displayed at a variety of locations along Jamaica Avenue (Queens, NY) including banks, stores, restaurants, street corners, phone booths, parks, and other public spaces from September 29 – November 17, 2007.
In the spirit of collaborative cultural activity, in addition to the 24 artists/artist collectives, Jamaica Flux 2007 involves three curators, three to five scholars, several business owners, merchants, and organizations from the local community. JCAL will also present a companion exhibition in its gallery from September 29, 2007 – January 12, 2008, which includes participating artists’ sketches and models as well as historic examples of site-specific art.
The project is an outgrowth of Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning’s (JCAL) extremely well-received Jamaica Flux: Workspaces & Windows 2004 project. Jamaica Flux 2007 challenges traditional ideas about where art should be displayed and explores the relationship between art, commerce, urban renewal, and community. By facilitating an inclusive dialogue between artists, curators, art-historians, community residents, business owners, and visitors to Jamaica, Queens, the project examines issues such as identity and cultural heritage, immigrant experiences, capitalism and technology and their impacts on contemporary arts practices, and the historic specificity of place and time.
JCAL is one of the oldest alternative spaces in New York City, a 35-year-old multidisciplinary urban arts center serving the community of Southeast Queens. Jamaica, Queens is one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the country, and JCAL programming strives to reflect the diversity of its vibrant community.
Jamaica Flux: Workspaces & Windows 2007 – Events and Public Programs
Exhibition
* September 29, 2007-November 17, 2007: Site-specific Exhibition
Location: Various indoor/outdoor sites along and off Jamaica Avenue
* September 29, 2007-January 12, 2008: Gallery Exhibition
Location: Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning’s gallery
161-04 Jamaica Avenue, Jamaica, NY 11432
Events and Public Programs
September 29, 2007: Vernissage Events (Performances by Akiko Ichikawa, Haejae Lee, RIDER Project (Michele Gambetta, Landon Jones, Adam Lister, Mary Pinto, and Mark Rentschler), and Saya Woolfalk: 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.)
Location: Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning
161-04 Jamaica Avenue, Jamaica, NY 11432
* 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.: Curatorial Press Conference
* 11:00 – 12:00 p.m.: Community Reception with Office of the Borough President
* 12:00 – 12:30 p.m.: Brunch Reception (includes a performance by participating artist, On megumi Akiyoshi)
* 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.: Exhibition Tour reviewing all site-specific art works on Jamaica Avenue.
* 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.: Artist Talk 1: Olu Oguibe (moderator), Grimanesa Amoros (artist), Jenny Polak (artist), Saya Woolfalk (artist), Aileen Bassis (artist), Stephanie Dinkins (artist), and Carol Pereira (artist).
* 3:00 – 4:30 p.m.: Artist Talk 2: Denise Carvalho (moderator), Shelly Bahl (artist), Shigeko Hirakawa (artist), Steed Taylor (artist), Jon Cuyson (artist), Lisa C Soto (artist), and Susan Kleinberg (artist).
* 4:30 – 6:00 p.m.: Artist Talk 3: Juliana Driever (moderator), Christopher K. Ho (artist), Anna Stein & Athena Robles (artist), Michelle Gambetta (RIDER Project), Diane Meyer (artist), Heather Hart (artist), and Haejae Lee (artist).
* 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.: Artist Reception
Every Saturday between September 29th and November 12th, 2007 from 12 – 4 p.m.: Performances by artists, including Haejae Lee, Saya Woolfalk, the RIDER Project (Michele Gambetta, Landon Jones, Adam Lister, Mary Pinto, and Mark Rentschler).
Exhibition Tours: Every Saturday between September 29th and November 12th, 2007 from 2 – 4 p.m.
(RSVP indicating the chosen Saturday required at 718-658-7400 ext. 133 or at aerdosi@jcal.org)
November 17, 2007, 12 – 6 p.m.: Closing Events, Performances by Akiko Ichikawa, Haejae Lee, Saya Woolfalk and the RIDER Project (Michele Gambetta, Landon Jones, Adam Lister, Mary Pinto, and Mark Rentschler) followed by reception.
Location: Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning
161-04 Jamaica Avenue, Jamaica, NY 11432
January 12, 2008, 4 – 6 p.m.: Evaluation/Discussion followed by reception
Location: Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning
161-04 Jamaica Avenue, Jamaica, NY 11432
LIST OF THE PARTICIPATING CURATORS AND ARTISTS:
Curators
Heng-Gil Han, Project Director/Curator
Koan Jeff Baysa, Co-curator
Juliana Driever, Co-curator
Olu Oguibe, Co-curator
Aniko Erdosi, Curatorial Assistant
Participating Artists in Site-specific Art
On megumi Akiyoshi, Grimanesa Amoros, Shelly Bahl, Aileen Bassis, Lishan Chang, Jon Cuyson, Stephanie Dinkins, Heather Hart, Shigeko Hirakawa, Christopher K. Ho, Akiko Ichikawa, Sook Jin Jo, Susan Kleinberg, Haejae Lee, Diane Meyer, Carol Pereira, Jenny Polak, Ruey-Shiann Shyu, Lisa C Soto, Anna Stein & Athena Robles, Steed Taylor, Saya Woolfalk, BASE (Leslie Hewitt & William Cordova), RIDER Project (Michele Gambetta, Landon Jones, Adam Lister, Mary Pinto, and Mark Rentschler).
Artists of Historical Works Presented in Gallery or Outdoor Spaces
Robert Smithson, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, and Gordon Matta-Clark.
Jamaica Flux: Workspace & Windows 2007 is supported by many generous contributors, including The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; Jp.m.organ Chase Foundation; Jerome Foundation; Peter Norton Family Foundation; National Endowment for the Arts; Council for Cultural Affairs, Taiwan; Taipei Cultural Center, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, New York; Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation; and The Japan Foundation, New York.
The Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning, celebrating its 35th anniversary, is housed in a landmark building owned by the City of New York and is funded with public funds provided through the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency; the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs with support from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg; Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kate D. Levin; the New York City Council; Council Speaker Christine Quinn; the Queens Delegation of the Council; Majority Whip, Councilman Leroy Comrie; and Queens Borough President Helen M. Marshall.
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NEWS SOURCE: The Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning
