Toomer labzda celebrates its 1st year anniversary today with the opening of year one, a group show comprised of artists who have shown at the gallery. Joe Brittain, Blue Curry, Leah Dixon, Kate Steciw and Mia Taylor each present a piece that somehow incorporates paper, a traditional first anniversary gift. Helen Toomer, co-founder of the gallery, enthusiastically explained each artist’s approach at an opening reception last night.
Kate Steciw seems to have thrown everything but the kitchen sink into her piece, colorful collage-like abstract. The varied works in this show include inkjet and digital prints, embossed print on paper and even inkjet on ceramic tile. The pieces share a spare, modern aesthetic that feels intriguing enough that you want to know how exactly they were made.
Joe Brittain’s curious time lapse photo was made by altering illegal chemicals, Toomer explained. It features the quirky palendrome: “Not a drawn, onward a ton.” Brittain’s stone sculpture is supplemented by a piece of paper and a just barely visible strand of human hair as delicate as a thread.
Visitors to the gallery can purchase a limited box set edition, which includes a piece by each artist in the show. Through July 20.
Frosch&portmann’s show Expanded Cart for Shared Living explores the theme of mobility and expanding the boundaries of personal space. The show, Bulgarian-born artist Miryana Todorova’s first solo exhibition in New York, features Movables, forms of mobile architecture. The show also includes a series of interactive objects, videos of her performances, and paintings.
Apart from mobility, Todorova explores themes of reconstruction, migration, flexibility, collapse of the everyday and the blurring of public and private spheres. The artists’ Movables are imbued with transformative powers—based on the principles of expansion and contraction. In New York City, where space is at a premium, the artist explores scenarios that deal with negotiations of personal space.
She asks: How much is one allowed to carry while walking down a crowded street? How large can your suitcase or umbrella be in shared public spaces? Todorova creates “expanded objects for shared living” that call into question the body’s articulation in space and the formation of spontaneous communities that happen as a result of a shared public moment.
Todorova invites visitors to interact with the Movables at the gallery. The expanded objects involve items such as shopping carts, umbrellas, and backpacks as well as motorcycle covers and nylons that the artist has altered to create a “new multifunctional and reshapeable space.” Earlier this month, a performance was filmed as part of the Movables exhibition at the gallery, along with previous public performances by the artist. Through July 22.
Reminder: Strange Loop Gallery presents Anthem: a song of celebration—exhibition and live performance by Shane Shane on June 21 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Through July 31.
Strange Loop Gallery/ 27 Orchard St./ 347.963.3881/ Wed.-Sun. 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Notable: Stop at Lisa Cooley on June 21 for the opening reception of Josh Faught’s solo show Longtime Companion from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Faught uses weaving and other traditional crafts in his work to explore marginalized feelings and the intersection of identity, desire, loss, ornamentation, sexual politics and domesticity. Through July 29.
Lisa Cooley/ 107 Norfolk St. between Rivington and Delancey/ 212.680.0564. Open Wed.-Sun. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Summer hours start July 4: Tues.-Fri. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Grand Opening: Eli Ping launches his eponymous gallery on June 24 at 131 Eldridge St. Hours are Fri.-Sun. 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Featured Gallery Picks:
toomer labzda/ 100a Forsyth St./ 917. 488.3388/ Tues. to Sat. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. or by appointment.
frosch&portmann/ 53 Stanton St./ 646.820.9068/ Wed. to Sun. 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
TLD contributor Tobi Elkin is a writer, editor and interviewer and former resident of the Lower East Side who delights in the neighborhood’s eclectic pleasures. A regular reader of The Lo-Down, her diverse interests include arts and entertainment, film, food and cultural critique. Visit her website at tobielkin.com.
Comments are closed.