Silvana Agostoni

Artist Statement

I have always felt the need to directly engage with the body.

To enthrone, enshroud or reveal it.

To address it’s scale, it’s sexuality, and it’s frailty.

I believe that of all the objects of perception, the human body is the one that has more effect on our sensibility, because it is ours, because it contains us.

The central idea of my work is the attraction and repulsion that is evoked by the human body.

By dissecting, magnifying and dislocating the body, I render it anonymous, strange and explore the issue of identification of the body with the self.   My intention is to create an uncanny bodily universe that draws in the viewer, and use the body as a bridge between the images and the spectator. I seek to elicit a reaction from the spectator based on physical recognition.

The “mirror stage” according to the French psychoanalyst Jaques  Lacan is the first stage in the formation of identity.   Between the age of six and eighteen months the infant experiences his body as fragmented and dispersed.   When the child recognizes himself in the mirror, he creates an ideal self-image and creates an imaginary physical control, which he has yet to attain.  

The body is marked out as a unified totality, complete and whole.

In contrast to this conception, my work represents the body as a vital chaotic force that is excluded from the false control, unity, identity and perfection of the ‘mirror stage’.

I want to introduce strangeness and unfamiliarity where a mirror image is expected, in order to obscure an anticipated pleasure of ideal reflection.

I seek to reveal both the violence of vision by photographing body parts with a clinical eye and the beauty of the body under a microscopic vision.

The work I am presenting is from two series. One is called Fisonomía: 16 C-prints

all 50 x 50 cm and Topografías: 10 C-Prints 50 x 50 cm and 10 C-prints

120 x 120 cm.

In both bodies of work, the body can be seen as a terrain in which I suggest the simultaneous existence of binary oppositions such as inside/outside, masculine/feminine, I/ otherness. 

Silvana Agostoni

Education

1994-1997:  Master of  Fine Arts in Photography.  School of  Visual Arts, New York, NY, USA.

1990-1994:  BFA in Graphic Design.  Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico City.

Solo exhibitions

2004. Esfera, Observatorio XP.  Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico.
2005. Silvana Agostoni, Topografías.Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City.
2006. Fisonomía. Instituto Michoacano de Cultura, Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico.
2007. Silvana Agostoni, Physiognomy.White Columns, New York, NY. USA
2008. Construcciones Corporales.  Art Deposit, Mexico City. 
2009. Imágenes Etéreas. Galería de la Imagen. Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Querétaro. Mexico

Group exhibitions

2006

Zonema. Zone-Chelsea Center for the Arts. Nueva York, NY, EUA.

Hit the showers. Other Gallery. Banff Centre for the Arts. Canada

Fesitval Internacional de videoarte e Valencia. Valencia España

2005

The image outside of time. Antimatter Underground Film Festival. Victoria, Canada.

2004

2ª Bienal Nacional de Yucatán. Mérida, Mexico.

La Imagen que extraña al tiempo. Chroma video festival, Guadalajara, México.

Piel de Pieles, Barcelona Arte Contemporáneo, La Santa, Barcelona, Spain.

Creación en Movimiento, Galería Central, Centro Nacional de las Artes, México City.

2003

Creación en Movimiento. Galería Kunsthaus Santa Fe, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

El Sentido y los Sentidos, Espacio Cultural, Universidad Iberoamericana, México City.

2002

There is no translation. Prinzz Gallery, Kyoto, Japan. 

ARCO 2002. Galería Enrique Guerrero, Madrid, Spain.

Salón Internacional de Arte Digital, Casa de América, Havana, Cuba. 

ABC DF Palabras de Ciudad. Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes. Mexico City.

Muestra 001. Contemporary Art  Fair, Galería Enrique Guerrero, Monterrey, Mexico. 

Fast Fwd. Galería Enrique Guerrero, Miami, Florida, USA. 

2001

Intro.  Museo Dell´ Arredo Contemporáneo, Ravenna, Italy.

Arco 2001. Galería Enrique Guerrero, Madrid, Spain.

Momenta, Arte Electrónico, Centro Nacional de las Artes, Mexico City.

Latin American Artist-Photographers from the LUAG Collection, El Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte,

San Juan, Puerto Rico.

2000   

Latin American Artist-Photographers from the LUAG Collection, Museo del Barrio, New York, NY, USA.

VI Salón Bancomer-BVA, Fundación Cultural Bancomer, Mexico City.

Salón CANT V, Jóvenes con FIA, Galería Ateneo, Caracas, Venezuela.

Galería Enrique Guerrero, Feria Internacional de Arte, Caracas, Venezuela

1999

Herejías. Peep Show, Galería del Centro Multimedia, CNA. Mexico City.

10 Mexican Photographers:  A select end of the century generation. Dubois Gallery. Pennsylvania, USA.

XVIII Encuentro Nacional de Arte Joven. MUCA, Mexico City.

1998

New Visions: Five Contemporary Mexican Photographers. Houston Center for Photography. Houston, USA.

Foto construcciones, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Alfredo Zalce, Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico.

New York Digital Salon, Visual Arts Museum, New York, NY,  USA.

1997

Salón Digital, Círculo de Bellas Artes. Madrid, Spain.

XVII Encuentro Nacional de Arte Joven, Museo Carrillo Gil. Mexico City.

8a Bienal de Fotografía,  Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City..

Grants

2006:                Residencia artística (Fotografía) Banff Centre for the Arts y FONCA.

2002-03Young Artist production award (Jóvenes Creadores). FONCA. Mexico.

2000                 Cultural project award  (Coinversión y Fomento a Proyectos Culturales.) FONCA. Mexico.

1999                 Digital imaging residency. Centro Multimedia, CNA.  Mexico.

1998                 Young Artist production award (Jóvenes Creadores). FONCA. Mexico

1995-97             IPS grant, American Association of  University Women, New York, NY,  USA. 

1995-97             Study abroad grant. FONCA. Mexico

Distinctions

Selected at the 2ª Bienal Nacional de Yucatán. 2004

Selected at the Salón Bancomer, 2000

Selected at the Octava Bienal de fotografía. 1998

Selected at the Encuentro Nacional de Arte Joven 1998

Selected at the Encuentro Nacional de Arte Joven 1997

Teaching experience

2005:    Personal vision: Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City.

            Conceptual photography.  Centro de Las Artes, Monterrey NL., Mexico.

2002:    Photography after photography. Centro Multimedia, CNA, Mexico City.

2001:    Profesor of photography, seminar. BFA in Visual Arts, UAEM, Mexico.

1999:    The digital image . Centro de la Imagen. Mexico City.

1998:    Photography in the age of digital reproduction. Centro de la Imagen.  Mexico City.

Lectures

2003:    Primer Coloquio de Fotografía UAM-X: The photographic image as text.

Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico City.

2002:    Art and Photography at the Centro de la imagen: Lecture on personal work.

Selected Bibliography

• 52 Mujeres en el Arte Mexicano. Catálogo publicado por SEDESOL y CONACULTA, Mexico, 2005.
• El Arte en México. Catalog published by Financiarte. Mexico. 2004.
• Creación en Movimiento, Jóvenes Creadores. Catalog, CONACULTA-FONCA, Mexico. 2003.
• Segre Erica, The Poetics of Skin. Surface and Inscription in Contemporary Mexican Photography.

   Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, Vol 79, no.3. Liverpool University Press.  July, 2002.

• ABC DF, Diccionario Gráfico de la Ciudad de México. Diamantina. 2001.
• Luna Córnea, 21/22. Centro de la Imagen-CONACULTA. 2001.
• Silvana Agostoni, catalog published by Galería Enrique Guerrero, Mexico 2000.
• VI Salón de Arte Bancomer. Catalog. Fundación Cultural Bancomer. Mexico, 2000.
• Medina Cuauhtemoc, Ejercicios del no-lugar. Article published in journal Reforma, may 31, 2000.
• Castellanos Alejandro, Al filo del siglo. Panoramas, february, 2001.
• Sepúlveda Luz Maria, El Cuerpo Humano en la Fotografía Actual. Tierra Adentro #105. CONACULTA. Mexico,
• 10 Mexican Photographers. A select end of the century generation. Catalog. Dubois Gallery, PA, USA. 1999
• Rodríguez José Antonio, Por ver no se paga: imágenes olvidadas. El Financiero, Mexico, August 26, 1999.
• Rodríguez José Antonio, Foto Mexicana de entre siglos. Tierra Adentro #100. CONACULTA. Mexico, 1999.
• Rodríguez José Antonio, Octava Bienal: una renovación. El Financiero. México, October 23, 1997.
• Arreola Magalí,Revigorizar la fotografía mexicana. Reforma. Mexico, September 24, 1997
• New York Digital Salon. Catalog. Leonardo: Journal for Art and Sciences. Vol. 30 No. 5. MIT Press. 1997

Steven Assael

Steven Assaelwas born in New York, New York in 1957. He attended Pratt Institute and presently teaches at The School of Visual Arts in New York. Mr. Assael balances naturalism with a romanticism that permeates the figures and surroundings of his paintings and drawings. The focus of his work is the human figure, either individually or in a group, rendered in glowing relief by gentle beams of warm and cool light. Steven Assael’s classical talents are as rare as they are essential to the diverse art world of the late Twentieth Century.

Assael has had several solo shows nationally in recent months, including the Columbus Museum of Art, Cress Gallery of Art at the University of Tennessee, Lowe Gallery in Atlanta, and Forum Gallery in Los Angeles. In 1999, a retrospective one-person exhibition was held at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, Washington. Steven Assael’s work has also been exhibited at The Arkansas Arts Center, (AR), The New York Academy of Art, (NY), The Arnot Art Museum in (NY) and is represented in the public collections of The Hunter Museum of Art in Chattanooga, (TN), The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art & Design (MO), The Columbus Museum of Art (Columbus, OH) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NY).

http://www.forumgallery.com/adetail.php?id=207

Monique Baumann

Monique Baumann was born in 1959 in Zofingen.  After completing foundation courses at art schools in London and Zurich, she studied graphic design at the Lucerne School of Art and Design.  Since 1990, she has worked as an independent artist and illustrator.  Her work has been published in various international magazines and books and has received numerous awards.  In recent years, she has participated in group shows at Palais Lichtenstein, Feldkirch, Austria (2004); Galerie Gruner + Jahr, Hamburg, Germany (2005); and at Palais de Tokyo Hypegallery, Paris, France (2005). Monique Baumann has been living and working in Zurich and Paris since 1995.

Artist Statement

I often use found materials as a starting point for my work. I like to transform something that is already there into something new, engaging in a dialogue with the material and thus creating a new story. This process is a way of engaging with my urban environment and with contemporary reality, an immediate, sensual commentary and reflection on the world around me.

Painted Magazines

For a year I was commissioned to illustrate a column for the weekend supplement of the German newspaper “Sueddeutsche”. Instead of just archiving my specimen copies, I decided to rework each copy into a kind of artist’s book. Each focuses on a theme –a story, a topic that preoccupied me at the time, or a formal experiment. I used and combined a variety of techniques: I was painting and drawing in oil, acrylic, and ink, or I created collages with tape, postcards, photos and so forth. Sometimes I would integrate part of the contents of the magazine, sometimes I covered them entirely with my own work. Whereas the original magazine’s pages are rather thin and fragile, the reworked magazines have entirely different material quality. They are tangible objects, almost a kind of sculpture. Although each issue is self-contained, their entirety constitutes a chronicle of year in my life, reflecting my personal, formal, and intellectual preoccupations.

Polaroid Miniatures

I often take photographs, whether it’s analogue, digital, or Polaroid photographs. I decided to use my discarded Polaroids as a material basis for miniature paintings. Their format was a challenge since it called for a maximum reduction and condensation. The Polaroid Miniatures are mostly portraits. Some are inspired by the photographic image underneath the painting that was both extinguished and transform by it. Others were inspired by my collection of magazine photographs and everyday photography that I reinterpret in my paintings. Once again, I used a variety of styles, adapting my manner of painting to the subject at hand.

Monique Baumann

Santiago Cal

Artist Statement

The human image and its contextual implications have been the primary focus of my sculpture. The threads that run through my works are based on observations from my travels as well as the vastness of children’s dreams. These two work hand in hand, since most of my observations are of children daydreaming, entertaining themselves with meager objects and the Don Quixotesque role-playing. My interest in these activities boils down to the ability of participating in two realities at once; our reality and their conjured reality. This activity may be only a few seconds or a few minutes but in their minds they have tapped into an epic moment, a different scale of time. 

I am not interested in illustrating these moments but instead creating scenarios that allude to a narrative, which causes the viewer to create their own conclusions. The elements that act as catalysts for this to occur range from Rorschach like blots to mirrors which serve as invitations for the viewers to become integrated into the piece. In other works I manipulate an ordinary event by shifting the scale of the figures or creating a magical moment by stacking balls that seem to defy gravity. Although the pieces may seem as pleasantly wholesome they also contain elements of dark humor, melancholia and pointed social statements, all contributors to our inner dialogue and subconscious.

-Santiago Cal

Education

1998     M.F.A. – Virginia Commonwealth University. Richmond, VA

1995     B.F.A. – Kutztown University. Kutztown, PA

One Person Exhibitions

2007     just looking. Te Tuhi. Manukau City, New Zealand

2006     dory.Lied Gallery. Creighton University. Omaha, NE

2005     Tierra! Tierra!  Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery. Lincoln, NE

2003     new dose. Casa de Las Americas. Havana, Cuba

encounters. Olimpo Centro Cultural. Merida, Mexico

dissemination.Marxhausen Gallery. Concordia University, Seward, NE

electric fences. Capella de Los Remedios. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

durable view. Image Factory Art Foundation. Belize City, Belize

2001     milk clouds. Image Factory Art Foundation. Belize City, Belize

Selected Group Exhibitions

2007     Landings6.Centro de Wilfredo Lam. Havana, Cuba

Landings5. Art Museum of the Americas. Washington, DC

Landings4.Museum of Contemporary Art and Design. San Jose, Costa Rica

Bemis at 25.Lied Gallery. Omaha, NE

2006     Landings2.Centro de Artes Visuales. Merida, Mexico

            Landings3.Centro Cultural de Eduardo Leon Jimenes. Santiago de Los Caballeros,

Dominican Republic

            9thHavana Biennial. Havana, Cuba

            We are Belize – 25 Years of Independence 1981–2006. Kaohsiung Fine Art Museum.

Kaohsiung, Taiwan

            La Escultura Contemporanea. Jan Weiner Gallery. Kansas City, MO

            The Tugboat Show.Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery. Lincoln, NE

We are Belize. Image Factory Art Foundation. Belize City, Belize

            5thAnnual All Sculpture Show.Jackson Artworks. Omaha, NE

            Botanicals.Eisentrager-Howard Gallery. Lincoln, NE

            1stACP Festival. Museo de Arte Moderno. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

            Tugboat Presents.Elder Gallery. Lincoln, NE

2005     Small Wonders: a return to innocence. Home of Matthew. Lincoln, NE

            Latta Pichaz.Image Factory Art Foundation. Belize City, Belize

            @10.Image Factory Art Foundation. Belize City, Belize

2004     Nebraska Now.Bemis Center for Contemporary Art. Omaha, NE

Landings- Conkal Arte Conteporaneo. Conkal, Mexico

            West by Southwest– Burris Art Gallery. NMHU. Las Vegas, NM

2003     UNL Studio Art Faculty Exhibition. Eisentrager-Howard Gallery. Lincoln, NE

            Coleccion de la Fundacion GruberJez – Ex Convento de Conkal. Conkal, Mexico

2002     Zero- Ex Teresa Arte Actual. Mexico City, Mexico

Contemporary Art from Central America Isthmus – Taipei Fine Arts Museum.

Taipei, Taiwan

Zero- Museum of Modern Art. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Zero- Galeria Sala Mendoza. Caracas, Venezuela

Zero- Galeria Sol del Rio. Guatemala City, Guatemala

Zero- Ex Convento de la Compania de Jesus. Antigua, Guatemala

artISMO- Museum of Contemporary Art and Design. San Jose, Costa Rica

ARCO– Galeria Sol del Rio. Madrid, Spain

Zero- Gallery Ze Dos Bois. Lisbon, Portugal

2001     Zero- La Capella. Barcelona, Spain

IV Caribbean Biennial- Museum of Modern Art. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic     

20/XX- Image Factory Art Foundation. Belize City, Belize

Zero- Casa de Las Americas. Havana, Cuba

UNL Studio Art Faculty Exhibition- University of Nebraska. Lincoln, NE

1998     Notorious, New Sculpture. Armory Gallery. Blacksburg, VA

            searching for green. Thesis exhibition. Anderson Gallery. Richmond, VA

1997     The Movable Feast. 1708 Gallery. Richmond, VA

            Dr. Louis Harris Awards Exhibition. MCV Hospital. Richmond, VA

            New Works by New Artists. James Center. Richmond, VA

            7thAnnual National Juried Show. Donald Kuspit – Juror. 1708 Gallery. Richmond, VA

Grants and Awards

2007     Nebraska Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship

2006     Maude Hammond Fling Faculty Research Fellowship. University of Nebraska.

Lincoln, NE

2005     Artist in Residence- Bemis Center of Contemporary Art. Omaha, NE

            Research Council Grant in Aid. University of Nebraska – Lincoln

2004     Nebraska Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship

            Hixson-Lied Faculty Research Grant. University of Nebraska- Lincoln

2003     Artist in Residence – Poustinia Land Art Park. Benque Viejo del Carmen, Belize

Hixson-Lied Faculty Seed Grant. University of Nebraska- Lincoln

2002     Artist in Residence – Gruber- Jez Foundation. Cholul, Mexico

Layman Research Grant. University of Nebraska- Lincoln

Research Council Grant. University of Nebraska- Lincoln

2001     Fine and Performing Arts, Dean’s Research Grant. University of Nebraska- Lincoln

Layman Research Grant. University of Nebraska- Lincoln

Humanities Center Summer Research Grant. University of Nebraska- Lincoln

Human Rights and Human Diversity Research Grant. University of Nebraska- Lincoln

Selected Press and Reviews

Umelec Spring 2007. Czech Republic

ArtNexus. No.63. Miami, FL. 2007

ArtWorld Digest. March 2006. Brooklyn, NY

Belize Times. 6//2006 Belize City, Belize

Art Papers. July/August 2005. Atlanta, GA

La Prensa Literaria.11/20.2004. Managua, Nicaragua

Artes Revista Especializada en Arte Caribeno. October/December 2003.

            Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Gramma International Digital.4/23/2003. Havana, Cuba

Por Esto. 6/19/2003 Merida, Mexico

Art Nexus. No. 46 Miami, Florida

El Caribe. 10/30/02 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

El Nacional. 6/15/02 Caracas, Venezuela

Prensa Libre. 4/8/02 Guatemala City, Guatemala

Atlantica Art Journal. 2/02 Madrid, Spain

ABC.2/18/02. Madrid, Spain

Time Out. 1/02 Barcelona, Spain

Casa de Las Americas Journal. 7/01 Havana, Cuba

El Pais. 12/01 Madrid, Spain

Rainer Judd

Rainer Judd’s photographs of natural landscapes are often perceived as painting until closer examination. As a filmmaker trained in the use of 16mm film her sense of the “grain” of a photo simulates a type of “chiaroscuro” within the image. Judd’s use of low tech equipment and techniques allows her to engage herself in the image capture. Every day places are transformed into abstract components of color and texture. The viewer is challenged to discover the image components while experiencing the visceral spaces and colors of the natural landscapes.

Judd’s watercolors of natural landscapes are made with small and specific brush strokes or “dots” used to define textures, subtle color shifts, numerous trees, grasses, and land; imagery such as an extremely leaning tree or the shadow of an animal gives an emotional quality to the landscape.

Her specific use of technique and imagery choice illuminates a reverence for a time and a place and references a narrative framework in both the imaginary world of her watercolors and the “real” places of her photography.

Filmography

writer and director

Remember Back, Remember When(2007)    9 min      super16                   director

Marfa Voices,  a work in progress(2006)                   42 min       video         co-director

Lost and Found(1992) music video                           3 min16mm               director

Plague Circuit (1991)                                          18 min  16mm               director

Three Pieces of Real Texas Time(1990)      10 min  video                            director

Waste Generation(1990)                                          6 min video                director

Instant End(1989)                                     5 min             16mm               director

Sprout (1989)                                           5 min             16mm               director

Carmelita’s Reception House (1989)                        17 min  16mm               segment director

Pantera(1989)                                            3 min           16mm               director

Untitled #1(1989)                                                  3 min16mm               director

producer

Marfa Voices, a work in progress(2006)        40 min               video            producer

Tales of Cerro Chino(1992)                                    60 min  video               producer

Foxtrot Romeo Film Festival, Marfa, Texas     1991-1993

actor

The Picture of Dorian Gray(2004)

The Pornographer, A Love Story(2004)

Wake(2003)

Town and Country(2001)                        

Reunion(2001)

Perfume(2001)

Head Games(2001)

Lost Souls(2000)

End of Days(1999)

The Hi-Line (1999)

Pure Killjoy(1998)

Long Time Since (1997)

Hugo Pool(1997)

Drowning in West(1996)

Jack (1996)

Toughguy(1995)                                   

selected crew

Even Cowgirls get the Blues(1993) set costumer

Betty Carstairs Story(1991) videographer, The Wooster Group

The Fisher King(1991) wardrobe assistant

New York Stories(1989) production assistant, segment “Life Without Zoe”

Anna (1988) production and post assistant, Magnus Films

Lives and works in Hudson and New York City

B.A. film New York University, Tisch School of the Arts 1991

selected exhibitions

2007     CCCA Studio Tours Art in the Landscape, Columbia County, NY

2006    Manhattan TransferZone Chelsea NY, NY

            ZC Collection Zone Chelsea NY, NY

2004    Manhattan Transfer Chatham, NY

Shout! Time and Space Limited, Hudson, NY

2003     101 Spring St.,Zing Magazine curated by Madeleine Hoffmann

2001     Silverlake Silverlining,  Los Angeles, CA

            Show, Pageant, Los Angeles, CA 

awards

2007     Art Production Fund,  Artists at Giverny Residency and Grant

1991     Texas Award at Dallas Video Festival for Plague Circuit (1991)

panels and discussions

2007     Judd Foundation: Oral History for Artist’s Legacies, a panel discussion.

2007     New York Foundation for the Arts: Artist’s Forum

2006    Zone Chelsea, John Weber’s Columbia County Artists discussion

press

Inside Out Hudson valley, January/February 2007

W Magazine, November 2006

Berkshire Living, February/March 2005

brilliant magazine, October 2004

Upstate House, October 2004

Interview Magazine, February 1992

selected collections

Arne Glimcher

Marc Glimcher

Jaime Frankfurt

John Howard

Jean Gabriel Mitterand

Carol Taylor

Kristen Justesen

Kirsten Justesen *1943. Lives and works in Copenhagen.

 Educated at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts 1975. Cand.phil 1977.

 A series of exhibitions, events, installations, performances and mural work in Denmark and the rest of world since the mid-60s.

 Visiting professor and lecturer at art academies in Scandinavia, the USA and the Middle East.

 Scenographic work at a number of Danish theatres since 1967; established the Scenography Department at the Danish National Theatre School in 1985-1990.

 Important co-operations in the 90s include concept and set design for Randi Patterson Company.

 Curated Body as Membrane together with VALIE EXPORT at Kunsthallen Brandts Klædefabrik 1995

 Justesen has received a series of grants, including the Anne Marie Telmanyi Award 1991; The Eckersberg Medal 1996; Life grants from The Danish Art Foundation 1998; The Carl Nielsen & Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Award 2000; The Anna Nordlander Award 2003;The Thorvalsen Medal 2005 and a ISCP residency, New York 2006.

 Justesen has illustrated books, magazines, designed posters and a series of chasubles for Capernaum Church in Copenhagen.

 KORS DRAG was published 1999 at Brøndum.

 Represented in private and public collections, including Statens Museum for Kunst; The Dep. of Prints and Drawings; Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Aalborg; the New Carlsberg Foundation; Køge Art Museum of Sketches; Museum of International Ceramic Art of Denmark; The Art Museum Brundlund Castle; Museum Anna Nordlander, Sweden.

 Member of the Artist Society and the Academy of Fine Arts.

 Member of the board of The Odin Theatre, Holstebro and Kaleidoskop, Copenhagen.

 Kirsten Justesen’s activities comprise a wide range of genres, from body art and performance art to sculptures and installation. Justesen was part of the avant-garde scene of the 1960s, where she became a pioneering figure within the three-dimensional modes of art that incorporate the artist’s own body as artistic material. These experiments led her in the direction of the so-called feminist art which challenged traditional value systems during the 1970s. Her later works constitute broader investigations of relationships between body, space, and language.

Reviews:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_n11_v82/ai_15918949

Kirsten Justesen *1943. Lives and works in Copenhagen.

 Educated at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts 1975. Cand.phil 1977.

 A series of exhibitions, events, installations, performances and mural work in Denmark and the rest of world since the mid-60s.

 Visiting professor and lecturer at art academies in Scandinavia, the USA and the Middle East.

 Scenographic work at a number of Danish theatres since 1967; established the Scenography Department at the Danish National Theatre School in 1985-1990.

 Important co-operations in the 90s include concept and set design for Randi Patterson Company.

 Curated Body as Membrane together with VALIE EXPORT at Kunsthallen Brandts Klædefabrik 1995

 Justesen has received a series of grants, including the Anne Marie Telmanyi Award 1991; The Eckersberg Medal 1996; Life grants from The Danish Art Foundation 1998; The Carl Nielsen & Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Award 2000; The Anna Nordlander Award 2003;The Thorvalsen Medal 2005 and a ISCP residency, New York 2006.

 Justesen has illustrated books, magazines, designed posters and a series of chasubles for Capernaum Church in Copenhagen.

 KORS DRAG was published 1999 at Brøndum.

 Represented in private and public collections, including Statens Museum for Kunst; The Dep. of Prints and Drawings; Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Aalborg; the New Carlsberg Foundation; Køge Art Museum of Sketches; Museum of International Ceramic Art of Denmark; The Art Museum Brundlund Castle; Museum Anna Nordlander, Sweden.

 Member of the Artist Society and the Academy of Fine Arts.

 Member of the board of The Odin Theatre, Holstebro and Kaleidoskop, Copenhagen.

 Kirsten Justesen’s activities comprise a wide range of genres, from body art and performance art to sculptures and installation. Justesen was part of the avant-garde scene of the 1960s, where she became a pioneering figure within the three-dimensional modes of art that incorporate the artist’s own body as artistic material. These experiments led her in the direction of the so-called feminist art which challenged traditional value systems during the 1970s. Her later works constitute broader investigations of relationships between body, space, and language.

Mark Mann

Artist Statement

In struggling to maintain control over the situations of our lives, we fight to distinguish ourselves.  But it is in the sad vulnerable moments, when we are completely overwhelmed, that we can’t help but be just like everyone else.  SADNESS is a simple expression of emotion.  In release there is relief.  

Mark Mann

Mark Mann is a director, producer, editor and visual artist living and working in downtown Manhattan. He has worked on projects for The United Nations, The United States Postal Service, Harper’s Magazine, MTV, and Missy Eliot, as well as numerous public relations firms, web-based companies, garage bands and production companies. His first short film, ‘Sangam’, plays weekly on the Sundance Channel and his most recent short, ‘Making a Living’, has been showcased in festivals across the country and abroad. He is currently directing a feature length documentary about two people who have been trying to finish their first film for almost 40 years. He has designed art installations that have shown in museums and festivals in Copenhagen, Paris, Barcelona, Croatia, Swaziland, San Francisco, Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Select Projects

Corporate

Sachs Insights….editor Corporate presentations for Nokia, Nissan, Best Buy and others

United States Postal Service ….dv shooter Nationwide interviews with small business owners about how the USPS has been integral to the growth of their businesses

The United Nations ….director/designer Documentary-style dvd fundraising package, designed to raise money for Humanitarian Relief in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Harper’s Magazine ….director/designer Corporate pitch films, Targeted audience dvd packages, Publicity reels

Missy Eliot ….producer/editor Video-Wall backdrop for her concert in Madison Square Garden

MTV ….editor
Sonicnet.com tv commercial campaign

Disney ….director/designer
Various media and promotional packages

HBO ….producer
Dennis Miller Show promo commercial

ENK International ….director/designer Documentary style fashion shoots, DVD presentation packs, Runway shows, Archival footage, Trade show displaysa

New York Institute of Photography….dv shooter
Series of educational videos on photographic technique

Holy Cross College ….director/designer
DVD fundraising package

Film

Finding Heaven ….directorFeature-length doc in progress about two ageing hipsters who have been trying to finish their first film for almost 40 years, a film Martin Scorsese produced starring a bunch of Warhol Superstars

Making A Living ….writer/director/editora darkly intimate short film about the getting ready rituals of two damaged girls trying to make the best of the abusive patterns that rule their lives, and the guy who’s trying to make sense of them through the lens of his video camera – as they all deal with the inevitability of doing what they have to do to survive

Sangam ….producer/editor Official Selection, Sundance Film Festival 2004, short film category This short film is a meditation on the longing of the human spirit, focusing on a chance meeting between two men on a subway

Ashtanga, NYC ….dv shooter Official Selection, Tribeca Film Festival 2003, documentary category This documentary focuses on yoga in Manhattan during the chaos of 9/11, including interviews with Gwyneth Paltrow and Willem Dafoe

Art Installation

Sadness ….director/designer A multi-monitor video installation featuring 19 crying people Premiered in Brooklyn, New York

Bubbles ….director/designer A multi-monitor video installation featuring people chewing gum and blowing bubbles Premiered in Manhattan, New York

Eunuchs ….designer A multi-wall video installation concerning a tribe of eunuchs in India Premiered in Copenhagen, Denmark

Child Prostitution ….designerA multi-wall video installation concerning child prostitution in India Premiered in Barcelona, Spain

Renaud Muraire

Born in 1972 in Nice, France

Lives and works in Paris.

Renaud Muraire portrays modern day women, particularly within their intimacy.

Responding to media’s current codes, he uses representation of beauty and youth to question self-awareness, appearance and society’s demand.

Beyond contemporary preoccupations, beauty thereby embodies something inexplicable: gazes are sharp and flesh is marked, as scars being part of identity. This theatricality of appearance brings us closer to the subjects: spectator becomes voyeur, and privacy leads to a public scene. Closeness then merges with guilt of intrusion.

Renaud Muraire’s subjects often express vulnerability mixed with strength and power, which manifests something of our very contemporary age. The shown and expected perfection cannot hide internal feelings. These women seem to be imprisoned behind impossible physical diktats, using their beauty as a lead shield. Renaud Muraire is too haunted by the question of time. His subjects can be regarded as witnesses of external mutation, and the intimate reaction to this change. The consciousness of transience adds a very specific intensity to Renaud Muraire’s work. Through embezzling religious stereotypes (Icons Series), Renaud Muraire then places woman above human, allegory for her central position in today’s society.

Previous exhibitions:

• Private solo exhibition, September 2005, Paris
• Group exhibition, June 9th– July 14, 2006, Cologne (Germany), 3 sites (Gallery Seippel, Heinz Bossert Gallery and French Institute)

Osvaldo Romberg

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Lives and Works in New York, Philadelphia and Isla Grande, Brazil

Selected Individual Exhibitions

                             Jesus de Buenos Aires,

                            Kunst Museum, Bonn  

                             Buildings Footprints,

                            Museum of Modern Art Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires

                            Framing  the Art,

                            Heike Curtze Gallery, Vienna

                            The War of the Jews

                            The Artist Workshop, Tel – Aviv

                             The Library is Burning

                             The University of Pennsylvania Library, Philadelphia

 2005              Translocations: Architectural Installations, 1980 – 2005, (cat.), PeKA                            Gallery for Experimental Art and Architecture, Technion, Haifa

Narrative Architectural (1987—2005), (cat.), Musée d’Art Moderne de

                      Saint Etienne, Saint Etienne

Text, Image, Object (1963 – 2005), (cat.), Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven                         

Dear Theo…(the night Van Gogh cried), Galerie Heike Curtze, Berlin

2004              From Paradise to Paradise: A Hypertext about Love in Three Parts,

                      Julie M. Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel

2003             From Paradise to Paradise: A Hypertext about Love in Three Parts,                          Universal Concepts Unlimited, New York

2001                 The Library Is Burning (recent books), Jan Van der Donk Gallery, New York

2000                 Besame Mucho: A Hypertext About Love (cat.), Domgrabungsmuseum, Salzburg, Austria, and White Box Gallery New York

                        Retinal-Non-Retinal (cat.), Staedtische Kunstsammlungen, Augsburg

1999                 Romberg´s Walks at the Kunsthistorische Museum(cat.), Kunsthistorische Museum, Vienna and Galerie Heike Curtze, Vienna

• Bypass(1972-1997) (cat.), Kunstmuseum, Bonn;

Galerie Hohenthal & Bergen, Munich;

                    Osvaldo Romberg: A Survey (1974-1997), Stux Gallery, New York

1996                 +2000/-2000 Even(cat.), exhibited simultaneously at:

                        Fundacion Xavier Corbero, Barcelona;

                        Ludwig Museum, Budapest;

                        Ludwig Museum, Cologne;

                        Museum of Modern Art, Odessa;

                        Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia;

                        The Reykjavik Municipal Art Museum, Reykjavik;

                        Stadtgalerie, Saarbruecken;

                         Tel Aviv University Gallery, Central Library;

                         Sudo Museum, Tokyo;

                         Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna.

1995                 Artist Space, New York: The Return of Martin Steel(prospect)

Galerie Hohenthal & Bergen, Cologne: New Books and Short Stories

1994                 Gimel Gallery, Jerusalem: Re-Citing, Books and Short Stories

1993                 Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna: Building Footprints III(cat.)

                        Sprengel Museum, Hannover: On Scale (cat.)

Fundacion San Telmo, Buenos Aires: La vie en Valise: The Artist as Curator(cat.)

                        Galerie Heike Curtze, Vienna: New Works

                        Galerie Schueppenhauer, Cologne: New Works

1992                 Galerie Montaigne, Paris: Romberg: The ’70s, the ’80s

1991                 The Israel Museum, Jerusalem: Building Footprints(cat.)

                        MUHKA-Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp: Building                                                   Footprints II(cat.)

                        Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg: On Scale(cat.)

1990                 The Jewish Museum, New York: Installations(cat.)

1988                 Galeria Julia Lublin, Buenos Aires: Prepictum, Postpictum + Working                                 Drawings(cat.)

1987                 Galeria Paolo Figueredo, Sao Paulo (cat.)

1986                 Museo de Arte de Sao Paulo: Hybrid Objects and Installations(cat.)

1985                 Tibor de Nagy, New York (cat.)

1984                 XLI Venice Biennial, Israel Pavilion: Retrospective 1972-1984 (cat.)

                        Utrecht Museum of Contemporary Art, Netherlands: Drawings(cat.)

                        Kunstmuseum, Hannover: Osvaldo Romberg und der Merzbau                                         von Kurt Schwitters (cat.)

                        Galerie Springer, Berlin:From Analysis to Metaphor

1983                 Galerie Stadler, Paris

1982                 Bauhaus-Archiv-Museum. Berlin: Color Environment                      

Musee D’Art Moderne, Strasbourg: Mythologies,  From Altamira to Manet, An Emotional Analysis of Art History(cat.)

Neue Galerie, Sammlung Ludwig, Aachen: Mythologies,  From  Altamira to Manet, An Emotional Analysis of Art History (cat.)

1981             Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts, Vienna: Mythologies,  From Altamira to                     Manet, An Emotional Analysis of Art History (cat.)                                             

1980                 Tel Aviv Museum, Tel Aviv: Mythologies,  From Altamira to Manet, An Emotional Analysis of Art History(cat.)

1979                 Galerie Stadler, Paris

1978                 Galerie Peccolo, Livorno: Works on Paper

1975                 International Cultural Center, Antwerp: Typologies(cat.)

1974                 Institute of Contemporary Art, London: Projects

1972                 Center of Art and Communication, Buenos Aires: Landscape as Idea (cat.)

Selected Group Exhibitions

2005              Domicile: Privé/Public, installations of “Syzygy III” and “The Last

                      Machu Pichu”, Musée d’Art Moderne de Saint Etienne, Saint Etienne

2000                 Topologies: Weiner, Le Va, Anastasi, Romberg, White Box                                               Gallery, New York

1999     Faith,The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Connecticut

                     Plural Speech, White Box Gallery, New York

1998                 Tel Aviv Museum: The Seventies

1997                 Unmapping the Earth, Kwangju Biennial, Korea.

Transversions,Second Biennial of Johannesburg, South Africa

1995                 Venice Biennial: Avant-Garde Walk a Venezia

                        Artists’ Museum, Mitzpeh Ramon, Israel: White Machu Pichu

1993                 Thread Waxing Space, New York: Les Levine, Osvaldo Romberg, Nancy Spero

Museum of Contemporary Art, Wright State University, Ohio: Quotations

1992                 Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Connecticut: Quotations

1991                 Helena Rubinstein Pavilion, Tel Aviv Museum of Art: Perspective

1989                 Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Connecticut:Projects, Installations

1985                 Kenynklist, Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp:Kunst in Israel

                        Wilhelm Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen:Apokalypse

                        18th Biennial: Sao Paulo:Artistas Convidados

1984                 Sprengel Museum, Hanover:Nackt in der Kunst

                        XLI Venice Biennial:Arte allo Specchio

                        Kunsthalle, Berlin:Rationalism

1983                 Neue Pinakothek, Munich:Three Artists about Monet

1976                 Lousiana Museum, Copenhagen:Latin American Art

Curatorial Work

2005                 Hermann Nitsch / Die Aktionen: 1962-2003, Slought         

            Foundation, Philadelphia

                      Cielito Lindo, Work by Julio Grinblatt, Slought Foundation,

                      Philadelphia

                      Co-Curator,Non-Retinal: Kovert Konflagration Kovenant,

                      Slought Foundation, Philadelphia                   

2004              The Other Epistemology, Museum of Reproductions, Slought

                      Foundation, Philadelphia

                      Me altar’s egoes:An Exhibtion of William Anastasi,

                 Slought Foundation, Philadelphia

                 Terror: A Collaboration between an Israeli and a Palestinian,

                 Slought Foundation, Philadelphia

2003               A Tribute to Coltrane, Co-Curated exhibition, Slought Foundation,

                      Philadelphia

                        Unconventional Three-Dimensional, Slought Foundation, Philadelphia

2001               First Blood, Ericson Gallery, Philadelphia

2000                 Co-curator, Faith: the impact of religion on contemporary art, Aldrich         Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Connecticut

1999                 Unquiet Urbanism, White Box Gallery, New York

1997                 Narrative Sculpture, White Box Gallery, Philadelphia

1991               Paper As Knowledge, Dueren Biennial, Leopold-Hoesch-Museum, Dueren, Germany

Publications

Romberg, Osvaldo, The Inverted Pyramid, Text for the Paper Biennial of Dueren, Germany, 1991

Romberg, Osvaldo, Unquiet Urbanism, exhibition catalog, White Box Gallery, New York, 1999

Romberg, Osvaldo, Art to Art. Life to Life.From “Faith” exhibition catalog, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, 2001

Romberg, Osvaldo, Hidden Texts, From “+2000/-2000, Even” exhibition catalog, 2001

Romberg, Osvaldo, Stupid Like a Painter, Text for Of the Diagram: The Work of Marjorie Welish, Slought Books, Philadelphia, 2003

Romberg, Osvaldo, Unconventional Three-Dimensional, Text for Unconventional Three-Dimensional exhibition, Slought Foundation, Philadelphia, September 2003

Romberg, Osvaldo, Text for Me altar’s egoes:An Exhibtion of William Anastasi, Slought Foundation, Philadelphia, 2004

Romberg, Osvaldo, Text for The Other Epistemology, Museum of Reproductions, Slought Foundation, Philadelphia, 2004

Romberg, Osvaldo, Redemption through Blood: Hermann Nitsch’s Theatre of Orgies and Mysteries, Text for Hermann Nitsch / Die Aktionen: 1962-2003, Slought Foundation, Philadelphia, 2005

Romberg, Osvaldo, Evolution, Revolution, and Cielito Lindo, Text for Cielito Lindo, Work by Julio Grinblatt, Slought Foundation, Philadelphia, 2005

Prizes

1967                 Gran Premio de Honor Cordoba, Argentina

1968                 Gran Premio Nacional Argentina

1974                 Premio Benson & Hedges, Argentina

1992              Prize Sandberg, Jerusalem

2004              Heilman Artist and Lecturer, Swarthmore College, PA

Works in Permanent Collections

MUHKA-Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp

Kunstmuseum, Bonn

Museo de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires

Ludwig Museum, Cologne

Leopold-Hoesch Museum, Dueren

Wilhelm Lehmbruck  Museum, Duisburg

The Haifa Museum, Haifa

Sprengel Museum, Hannover

The Israel Museum, Jerusalem

California State University, University Library, Long Beach

Wilhelm Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen

Jewish Museum, New York

Museum of Modern Art,  New York

Philadelphia Art Museum, Philadelphia

The Tel Aviv Museum, Tel Aviv

Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna

Library of Congress, Washington, DC

Burton Silverman

BORN: 1928,  Brooklyn, NY

EDUCATION: BA, Columbia University, NY

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITONS:

 2004 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY

 2003  RL Foster Gallery, Denver, CO

 2001 Total Arts Gallery, Taos, NY

 2001 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY

 1999 Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH

  & Brigham  Young Museum of Art, Provo, UT

 1998 Merrill Gallery, Denver, CO

 1997 Gerold Wunderlich & Co., New York, NY

 1996 The Merrill Gallery, Denver, CO

 1996 Gerold Wunderlich & Co., New York, NY

 1993 Joseph Keiffer Gallery, New York, NY

 1991 Capricorn Galleries, Bethesda, MD

 1990 Cudahy’s Gallery, New York, NY

 SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:

 2006 The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition Exhibition, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC

 2006 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY

 2005  Teachers from the Art Students League, Daniel Greene, Burton Silverman, & Sharon Sprung, Gallery Henoch, New York, NY

 2005 Art of the 20th Century, New York, NY

 2005 USArtists, Philadelphia, PA

 2005 San Francisco Int’l Art Expo, CA

2005  Art Chicago in the Park, IL

 2005 MA Doran Gallery, Tulsa, OK

 2004 US Artists, Philadelphia, PA

 2004 Art of the 20th Century, New York, NY

 2004Doran Gallery, Tulsa, OK

 2004 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY

 2004 Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE

 2004 National Academy Museum, New York, NY

 2003 Art of the 20th Century, New York, NY

 2003 US Artists, Philadelphia, PA

 2003 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY

 2003 National Academy of Design, New York, NY

 2002 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY

 2001 National Academy of Design, New York, NY

 2000 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY

 1999 Gallery Henoch, New York, NY

 1999 Susan Conway Gallery, Washington, DC

 1999 Total Arts Gallery, Taos, NM

 1999 Colorado History Museum, Denver, CO

 1999 Van Vechten-Linberry Art Museum, Taos, NM

 1959-99 National Academy of Design, New York, NY

 1979-99 American Watercolor Society, New York, NY

 1997 The Ogunquit Museum, Ogunquit, ME

 1994 The South Bend Regional Museum, South Bend, IN

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS:

 The Anchorage Museum of Art and History, Anchorage, AK

 Brigham Young Museum of Art, Provo, UT

 The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

 The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH

 Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

 The Delaware Museum, Wilmington, DE

 Denver Art Museum, CO

 The Dillard Collection, University of North Carolina, NC

 Hofstra Museum, Hempstead, NY

 The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC

 The National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution,

  Washington, DC

 The National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

 The New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT

 The Ogunquit Museum of American Art, Ogunguit, ME

 The Parrish Museum of Art, Southampton, NY

 The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA

 The Portsmouth Museum, Portsmouth, VA

 The Queensboro Community College Art Gallery, NY

 The Rutgers University Museum, Camden, NJ

 University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

AWARDS AND HONORS:

 2006 Jury’s Selection, The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC

 2005 Newington Cropsey Cultural Center Award for Excellence in the Arts, New York, NY

 2004 Gold Medal, Portrait Society of America

 2003 Members Award, Oil Painters of America, Taos, NM

 2002 Honorary Doctorate, Academy of Art College, San Francisco, CA

 2002 Dong Kingman Memorial Award,

  American Watercolor Society Annual

 1998 Saunders Waterford Award

 1998 The American Watercolor Society Annual, New York, NY

 1997 Paul and Margaret Berkelson Prize,

  National Academy of Design, New York, NY

 1997 Mario Cooper Award,

  The American Watercolor Society Annual, New York, NY

 1996 Clara Stroud Memorial, The AWS Annual, New York, NY

 1992 The Joseph Isidor Medal, NAD Annual, New York, NY

 1991 The High Winds Medal, AWS Annual, New York, NY

 1991 Smith Distinguished Visiting Professor,

  George Washington U., Washington, DC;

 1991 Elected Hall of Fame, Pastel Society of America

 1990 The Catherine Stroud Memorial Award,

  AWS Annual, New York, NY

 POSITIONS:

 2003-05 Membership Committeer; National Academy of Design

 2001-03 Assistant Treasurer; National Academy of Design

 1999-01 Member of the Council; National Academy of Design

 1992-94 Member of the Council; American Watercolors Society

 1976-78 Member of the Council; National Academy of Design

Jean-Manuel Simoes

I was born in 1964, in the suburbs of Paris, France.

From that situation, I got two citizenships French and Portuguese, from my parents and from my birthplace.

After graduating in business and administration I spent few years working in management and trading. I quit on my early thirties.

In 1998, I started a career in photography.

I have been working with major french and western newspapers and magazines (Le Monde, Le Monde 2, Paris Match, Wall Street Journal, Le Figaro, O Expresso, Le journal du Dimanche, Le Figaro Magazine, Focus, L’Express, Télérama, Time Magazine…).

I am represented in France by Editing Agency (Paris), and USA by WpN (New-York).

2007, « Sarkozy, Three years of Photography » at « Visa pour l’Image » Perpignan, France

2007, Nominated Kodal PhotoJournalist

2007, Exhibition Photo 4 Gallery, Paris

2006, « Sarkozy » was nominated at the AFP-Bendrihem price.

2006, « 36,4 » nominated at the AIDDA Paris price.

2006, « Par la fenêtre », nominated at the Kodak Paysage-Architecture price.

2005, « 36,4 » a work on the Paris ringroad was awarded « Prix Spécial du Jury » at the Festival du Scoop d’Angers.

2002, Rwanda nominated at Prix Bayeux war correspondant.

2000, Burundi nominated at Prix Bayeux war correspondant.

Valentin Stefanoff & Nina

Always very minimal with few images, without big special effects, often without text, with a very estimate sound, the common works of Nina Kovacheva and Valentin Stefanoff (mainly video and sonic installation) drive the spectators to pose himself a basic questions about existence in the contemporary world. Many of their recent video installations are intended to the façades of different museums and public buildings. For the video installation “In the Out” which is in the same principle they was awarded a “The 2002 UNESCO Prize for the Promotion of the Arts”.

VALENTIN  STEFANOFF

Born: 1959, Sofia, Bulgaria. Lives and works in Paris, France

National Academy of Fine Arts, Sofia. Graduated in 1985

Selected Solo Exhibitions:

2006 -Play for Two Hands and Black, , video installation on the façade of the National Academiy of Fine Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria

-Phases of Accumulation and Extraction in a Limited Space, Musée d’Art Modern et Contemporain, Strasbourg, France

2005 – Au-delà de ce qui est visible, curator Ruxanra Balaci, MNAC, Bucharest, Romunia

– Phases of Accumulation and Extraction in a Limited Space, National Art Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria

2004 – Au delà de ce Qui est Visible, public project, Paris, France

2003- Currency, Gallery Mabel Semmler, Paris, France

2002 -Experimental Intermedia Galerie, Gent, Belgium

2000- Open – Closed, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrad, Serbia & Montenegro

1999- Identifications of The Space II, Gallery Luc Queyrel, Paris

1997- Day-Box – exhibition “Anonymous” , ATA Centre for Contemporary Art, Sofia

1996- Methods for Self Educations, Galerie de C.I. A. and Galerie de l’Espace Hérault, Paris

1994- 6 x 4 x 16″- Gallery Bernard Jordan, Paris

– Gallery “Graficki Kolektiv, Belgrad, Serbia & Montenegro

– Cultural Centre “Wittgenstein”, Vienna, Austria

1993- 6 x 4 x 16 – Institut Français, Sofia, Bulgaria

1991- Musée des Beaux Arts, Le Locle, Switzerland

1989- Gallery Dogenzaka, Tokyo, Japon

Selected Group Exhibitions:

2006 – -Sometimes the Close is More Open Than Open and Open is More Closed Than Closed, commissaire Karine Vonna,Villa du Parc Centre d’Art Contemporain, France

2005 – Two Asias, Two Europes, curator Gu Zhenqing Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, China

            2004  -Au delà de ce qui est Visible, video installation, Nuit Blanche, Paris, France

-“3.39%”, Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, curator Magda Carneci/Maria Vassileva, Thessalonique, Grèce

 2003 -Wet Contact, Nuit Blanche, Musée du Montparnasse, Paris, France

 – Return Nature II, curator Gu ZhecunqingNanjingShenghuaArts Center, China

-16ès Instants Vidéo de Manosque, Manosque, France

– Video & Digital Art Festival, Novi Sad, Serbia

– One, Several, Many Odyssey – video installation, The Museum of Cinema, Thessalonique, Greece

– Media Art Festival, curator Matrina Grzinic, Maribor, Slovenia

– Export -Import, curator Maria Vassileva, Municipale Gallery – Sofia , Bulgaria

2002- Crossing Time international, Dartington Gallery, Dartington College of Arts, England

         – In The Out, 4thBiennial of Cetinje, Curators Iara Boubnova & Andrei Erofeev, Montenegro

– Wet Contact, Kunsthalle Faust, Hannover, Germany

– Mirror of the Balkans, Face -Identity, curator Zoran Eric, National Gallery – Museu, Kraljevu

         -Xth Festival Inner Space Multimedia Art «Sound and Image», Poznan

 2000 – International Art Forum for Video and New Media, Sofia, Bulgaria

1999- Stocholm Art Fair – Gallery Luc Queyrel                                  

1997 – SAGA-FIAC Edition, Stand Atelier Tanguy Garric, Paris

– Intergrafia ‘97-World Award Winner Gallery, Katowice, Poland

1996 – Seoul Art Fair’96, Stand Tanguy Garric, Seaul, Korea

1995 – The Message of The Sign-Between Letter and Image, Prague-Cracow

1994 – N Forms, Reconstructions and Interpretations-  Soros Foundation, Sofia

1993 -XXth International Biennale of Graphic Art, Ljubljana, Slovenia

1992- Chefs d’œuvres de l’estampe du XXème siecle-De Bonnard à Baselitz, The French National Library

1991- Triennial of The Contemporary Arts, New Delhi, India   –                                  

1989- L’Europe des Graveurs, Grenoble, France

Prizes and Grants:

2002 – The 2002 UNESCO Prize for The Promotion of The Arts, Paris, France

– Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York, USA Annual Grant 2002

1995 – Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York, USA Annual Grant 1995

Nina Kovacheva

Born:Sofia, Bulgaria, lives and works in Paris, France

Schools:National Academy of Fine Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria. Graduated in 1985

One person shoxws (selection):

2006 -Play for Two Hands and Black, video installation on the façade of the National Academiy of Fine Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria

– Phases of Accumulation and Extraction in a Limited Space, Musée d’Art Modern et Contemporain, Strasbourg, France

2005-Au-delà de ce qui est visible”, curator Ruxanra Balaci, MNAC, Bucharest, Romunia

            -Phases of Accumulation and Extraction in a Limited Space, National Art Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria

2004 – Au-delà de ce qui est Visible, outdoor installation, Paris, France

            -Vidéo Retrospectif, curator Karine Vonna, Maillon – Wacken, Strasbourg, France

 2003 – Currency, Gallery Mabel Semmler, Paris, France

2002 –Wet Contact, Experimental Intermedia Gallery, Gent, Belgium

2001- Approche, Gallery Luc Queyrel, Paris, France

-Approche, Galerie Haos, Belgrade, Serbia

1998 – Sometimes… – Gallery Luc Queyrel, Paris, France

Group shows (selection):

2006-Important Announcement, curator Maria Vassileva, Galerie Municipale d’Art, Sofia, Bulgaria

-Voiler/Dévoiler, curator Karine Vonna, Villa de Parc, Contemporary Art Center, Annemasse, France

            -I am the Best, Les petits délices, curator Brent Klinkum, Caen

– 28e Festival International, Films de Femmes, Maison des Arts, Créteil Val de Marne

2005 – Two Asias, Two Europes, curator Gu Zhenqing, Duolun MOMA, Shanghai, China

2004 – Au-delà de ce qui est Visible,Nuit Blanche, Paris France

-0.039225, Cosmopolis, curator Magda Carneci Macedonian Museum of Modern Art, Thessaloniki, Greece

            – Falutriennalen , Dalanas Museum, Falun, Sweeden

2003- Return Nature II, NanjingShenghuaArts Center, curator Gu ZhenqingChina

            -Wet Contact, Nuit Blanche, Musée du Montparnasse, Paris, France

-One, Several, Many Odyssey, video installation, The Museum of Cinema, Thessalonique, Greece

-16ès Instants Video de Manosque, Manosque, France

 -Export -Import, curator Maria Vassileva, Municipale Art  Gallery – Sofia, Bulgaria

-9thInternational Festival of Computer Arts, curator Marina Grzinic, Maribor, Slovenia

• – Kunsthalle Hannover, curator Harro Schmidt,Germany (catalogue)

– In the Out- video installation, curator Iara Boubnova ,4thBiennial for Contemporary Art, Cetinie Montenegro

-Musée de l’Erotisme, Paris, France

– Mirror of the Balkans, Face-Identity, curator Zoran Eric, National Museum, Kraljevu

2000 – The National Museum of Women in the Arts,Washington DC, USA

2002 – The 2002 UNESCO Prize for The Promotion of The Arts, Paris, France

1998 – Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York, USA Annual Grant 1998