Past Residents
Past Resident2013: Danish Arts Foundation
Jakob Boeskov
Jakob Boeskov is a Danish-Icelandic artist and filmmaker. His work touches upon many disciplines involving video, drawing and conceptual art. Common subjects are technology, politics and his native Scandinavian region. Boeskov’s best known project is calle ID Sniper, where he infiltrated a Chinese weapons fair with a fake hi-tech weapon.
Jakob Boeskov (born 1973, Elsinore, Denmark) moved to Copenhagen in the early 1990s where he put out his satirical comic Flax Letter (Nicolai Wallner Entertainments) and the experimental 8mm film Exhaust Tiger. In 1998 he published a comic about Lars Von Trier, after which he abandoned comics entirely, focusing on drawings and more conceptual art projects. His first solo show My Doomsday Weapon, The Thing, New York, 2004 documented the creation of a fictional hi-tech weapon. He later described these events in the film Empire North (2010), a film that won the Danish Dox Award at the Copenhagen DOX Film Festival. Group exhibitions include Populism, Frankfurter Kunstverein, 2005 and Screening War, ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, 2005. In 2010, Boeskov’s work was the subject of the retrospective exhibition Siggimund at the National Gallery of Denmark. His solo exhibitions include Coup de Théâtre, V1, Copenhagen, 2005, Thule, V1, Copenhagen, 2010 and Weekend Futurology, Mulherin Pollard, New York, 2012. Boeskov lives and works in New York City.
Jakob Boeskov, ID Sniper Model, 2002-2004, SLA, aluminum, and steel, 62 × 16 × 70 in. (157.48 × 40.64 × 177.8 cm). Courtesy of the artist
Jakob Boeskov, Monster Mirror Drawings, 2004, Pastel on paper, 70 × 140 in. (177.8 × 355.6 cm). Courtesy of the artist
Jakob Boeskov, The Island, 2009, Pastel on paper, 24 × 16 in. (60.96 × 40.64 cm). Courtesy of the artist
Jakob Boeskov, War Wizard, 2006, Video, 6 min. Courtesy of the artist
Jakob Boeskov, Untitled (We do Turing Testing), 2010, Pastel on paper, 24 × 16 in. (60.96 × 40.64 cm). Courtesy of the artist
Past Resident2013: Canada Council for the Arts
Karen Elaine Spencer
Karen Elaine Spencer’s work questions use values and investigates how we, as transient beings, occupy the world in which we live. The notion of progress is challenged through the repetition of an action that leads nowhere. Metro-riding, rambling, dreaming, and loitering are among the activities Spencer folds into her practice. A project is sustained over time, often a year, and materials of our day-to-day existence are favored. Through a détournement of materials or intentions, Spencer intervenes into specific places, where she marks and is marked by spatial and social geographies. A current project, “hey! mike” the blog, is part of a multifaceted conversation with Mike Bloomberg, the 108th mayor of New York City. Here she questions a system whereby one person can be held up as a philanthropist without a basic acknowledgement of a deep lack of justice between all humans because “no one gets rich alone.”
Karen Elaine Spencer lives and works in Montreal, Québec, Canada. Since 2008, she has been active in a postcard and web-based project entitled Transient Traces, where she steals the words of others to then send these words to politicians and public figures. Her practice oscillates between work in the street, exhibitions in galleries, and disseminations via the web. In 2011, she curated the program Gosser le Furtif at Galerie Skol, Montreal. Her text for the performance group TRAFIC was published in the catalog “Lost and found/Les Bureau des Objets Trouvés,” and she was an artist in residence at The John Snow House in Calgary, Alberta. Her work has been exhibited across Canada and Europe. She is the recipient of the 2012 Powerhouse Prize.
Karen Elaine Spencer, Dream Listener, 2007, Ink on cardboard. Courtesy of the artist
Karen Elaine Spencer, Eating Oranges After Dark, 2009, Orange peel. Courtesy of the artist
Karen Elaine Spencer, I Dreamt I Ran Away From Home, 2009, Chalk on pavement. Courtesy of the artist
Karen Elaine Spencer, Sittin', 2010, 10-day intervention Union Station, Toronto, Ontario. Courtesy of the artist
Karen Elaine Spencer, Transient Traces, 2011, Postcards. Courtesy of the artist
Residents from Canada
Past Resident2013: Instituto de la Cultura y las Artes de Sevilla
Alejandro Botubol
Alejandro Botubol’s work deals with the constant and persistent exploration of space. His images aren’t figural; they’re grounded in symbolism, gravity and time. His paintings are infinite, and pursue the search for truth through the contemplation of life. Botubol embraces the sense of immanence in all objects, creating metaphysical tension with a nuanced sense of mysticism.
Alejandro Botubol (born 1979) studied painting, engraving and design at the University of Fine Arts in Seville. His work has been exhibited in the Taidemuseo, Riihimäki; Museum of Inquisition, Cartagena and The Dr. Rafael Calderón Guardia Museum, San José.
Alejandro Botubol, Returning Boomerang III, 2012, Oil on canvas, 18 × 22 in. (45.72 × 55.88 cm). Courtesy of the artist
Alejandro Botubol, Returning Boomerang, 2012, Oil on wood, 18 × 22 in. (45.72 × 55.88 cm). Courtesy of the artist
Alejandro Botubol, Cesta de Pensamientos, 2012, Oil on canvas, 18 × 22 in. (45.72 × 55.88 cm). Courtesy of the artist
Alejandro Botubol, Just Madrid, 2012, Oil on canvas, 18 × 22 in. (45.72 × 55.88 cm). Courtesy of the artist
Alejandro Botubol, An Avalanche in the Alps 1803, 2012, Oil on canvas, 18 × 22 in. (45.72 × 55.88 cm). Courtesy of the artist
