CURATION + EXHIBITion DESIGN

Oversaw all aspects of ArtSpace’s gallery program, presenting the work of 45 artists. Curated gallery exhibitions and led and/or collaborated with lead artist on all aspects of production, including conceptualization of show, curatorial statement, exhibition design, and marketing. Managed budget, purchasing, and vendors; designed marketing materials and wall texts; and oversaw installation. Developed gallery’s public programming in partnership with city-wide artists, curators, museums, and organizations and hosted and produced events. Recent highlights below.

As James Francis Richards lived through 2020, from the pandemic to the economic collapse to the violence against Black people, he kept saying to himself – this is bad.

And then almost immediately, like an incantation to ward off evil spirits, my mind would reply “And yet, we still have joy.” Not in a trying to block out the pain of the world kind of way, but in a “This will not defeat us” kind of way. That we would exercise an armored joy, a joy that would give all the stamina needed to survive the forces allied against us.

In his first solo exhibit, Richards constructs a journey – through video, sound, and color – inviting us to travel from grief to joy.

He begins with portraits of lives lost, then shapes a path that incorporates sparring contemporary voices, historical reflections, abstractions of real and projected identity… then waves of color, kaleidoscopic experimentation, and finally, the electric euphoria of dance. His progression from diverse literal narratives to abstraction, color play, and expansive projection aims to carry participants to “eventually find themselves enraptured by color and sound. There is a language beyond language and these are some of my attempts to decipher it… an opportunity for the viewer to breathe out and allow color and light in.” Richards hopes one will leave with a sense of resiliency of the human spirit.

And Yet, We Still Have Joy is Richards’ personal disruption of the mainstream narrative. Working in film for almost thirty years, the vast majority of his efforts have been in service to others. “Video art is not new, but for a long time was dominated by people who had the means and opportunity to explore it. But lately there has been a blossoming of artists of color working in video from Arthur Jafa, to Kahlil Joseph, to Garrett Bradley, to Mickalene Thomas. I wish to add my small voice to the growing choir.”

January 2020 - January 2021 at ArtSpace

As the dawn of a new decade approached, we invited Staten Island artists to look back, or look forward. The last ten years brought unprecedented change. The next ten years promise more. We welcomed works from all artistic disciplines that examined the last decade or the one to come.

What we received was astounding, a spectrum of work as vast and diverse as the challenges and triumphs of the decade we have just shared. From the changing tides of Great Kills Park to Mile 7 in Ghana, from stunning still lifes to self-portraits to Safe Water, from Wall Street “traitors” to women and girls in graphite, paint, collage, and photography, we invite you to explore the work of 32 artists.

Featuring Barbara Mattera Hoffman, Brandon Herman, Catherine Popov, Diane Matyas, Douglas La Tourette, Elzbieta Wysoczanska, Emily Perina, Emily Sarah Long, Harry Magzul, Isaac Grant, Jessica Lauser, Judith Hugentobler, Keri Sheheen, Kevin Barker-Herod, KLeyko, Lance J. Reha, Lea Simoniello, Len Rachlin, Lenny Librizzi, Mae Jeon, Mafalda Cento, Meg Graham, Mona Oman, Nancy Quin, Natalie Woodson, Olga Chemlina, Rosario Lopez-Rivera, Shawn McArthur, Sheryl Renee Dobson, Stevie Ray Soloway, Windy Nicely, and Zoë Tirado.