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Artists at Work: Lukas Marxt in Conversation with Rachel Vera Steinberg
Artists at Work: Lukas Marxt in Conversation with Rachel Vera Steinberg

Event
July 16, 2025, 5–9pm

Summer Celebration and Open House

ISCP’s Summer Celebration and Open House is an evening of presentations by artists and curators currently in residence. This event is free and open to the public.

Celebrate the summer with friends and colleagues and take part in conversations about international contemporary art with arts professionals from around the world in ISCP’s postindustrial loft building in  East Williamsburg. Founded in 1994, ISCP continues to foster a vibrant international community of artists and curators in New York City. 

Artist-in-residence Minja Gu will present her performance House Tea de la Maison de la Casa at 8:00pm outside in front of ISCP’s entrance.

Visitors can also explore two solo exhibitions on view at ISCP: Hellen Ascoli: The World Upside Down and Nifemi Ogunro: The First Act. Hellen Ascoli approaches weaving as a form of translation—a way to reveal personal and shared histories through intricately patterned textiles. Her vibrant compositions, which extend from textiles to collage, drawing and video, are inspired by weaving traditions and material culture from her home country of Guatemala as well as decolonial writings. Through meticulously crafted wood forms, Nifemi Ogunro reflects on the act of becoming. Aiming for her furniture-inspired pieces to be “as bare-boned and legible as possible,” Ogunro questions the way we build our environments to accommodate our corporeal perspective.

Hellen Ascoli: The World Upside Down is curated by Melinda Lang, Director of Programs and Exhibitions at ISCP. Nifemi Ogunro: The First Act is curated by Paul Galloway, Senior Collection Specialist, Department of Architecture and Design, The Museum of Modern Art. 

ISCP’s Summer Celebration and Open House is hosted by ISCP’s Young Patrons, a dynamic group that offers unique contemporary art events and programming, and provides support for institutional programs and operations. For further information and to become a member, please contact youngpatrons@iscp-nyc.org.

ISCP thanks all of the generous collaboration and funding of residency sponsors and supporters.

This program is also supported, in part, by Hartfield Foundation; James Rosenquist Foundation; Lèna Saltos; Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso; New York City Council District 34; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature; Dr. Samar Maziad; Sarah Jones; van Beuren Charitable Foundation; William Talbott Hillman Foundation; and Woodman Family Foundation.

5–9pm
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Participating Residents

Hong Seon Jang
Szu-Ying Hsu (Ida)
Melanie Ubaldo
Lina Hashim
Pou-Ching Tsai
Anaïs Horn
Ruth Owens
Lukas Marxt
Inge Meijer
Apichaya Wanthiang
Matan Golan
Kitso Lelliott
Yotam Menda Levy
Sasha Wortzel
Maya Jeffereis
Markéta Adamcová
Umber Majeed
Marianne Villière
Maha Al-Khater
Irène Mélix
Anna Nyberg
Sosul Kim
Minja Gu
Tamara Kametani
Loránd Szécsényi-Nagy
Kornel Janczy
Yeoreum Jeong
Kitso Lelliott, I was her and she was me and those we might become, 2021, video, 20 min. Courtesy of the artist.

Current and Upcoming Events & Exhibitions

Artists at Work: Lina Hashim in Conversation with Justine Ludwig

July 30, 2025, 6:30–7:30pm
ISCP Talk

Hellen Ascoli: The World Upside Down

Through August 1
Exhibition

Nifemi Ogunro: The First Act

Through October 3
Exhibition
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International Studio & Curatorial Program

1040 Metropolitan Avenue
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Summer Celebration and Open House
Summer Celebration and Open House
Nifemi Ogunro: The First Act
Nifemi Ogunro: The First Act

ISCP Talk
July 8, 2025, 6:30–7:30pm

Artists at Work: Lukas Marxt in Conversation with Rachel Vera Steinberg

For this Artists at Work, ISCP artist-in-residence Lukas Marxt will be joined by curator Rachel Vera Steinberg. Marxt will present on his film practice and share excerpts from his seven-year research project about the Salton Sea in California, which explores connections between pre-atomic testing history and the current ecological and socio-political structures of the region. Marxt and Steinberg will discuss the sculptural possibilities of the moving image and navigate  the liminal space his work occupies between gallery exhibitions, film festivals and cinema screenings. Their conversation will also delve into how Marxt’s work addresses environmental transformation through a visual language steeped in surveillance and observation. A Q&A with the audience will follow. 

Lukas Marxt is an artist and a filmmaker living and working between Cologne and Lisbon. Marxt´s interest in the dialogue between human and geological existence, and the impact of man upon nature was first explored in his studies of geography and environmental science at the University of Graz, and was further developed through his audio visual studies at the Art University in Linz. His works have been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, most recently at Sonic Acts Biennial, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, Germany; and Torrance Art Museum, Los Angeles, among others. His films have been presented in numerous international film festivals including Berlinale, Germany (2017 and 2018); Locarno Film Festival, Switzerland (2019 and 2023); and Curtas Vila do Conde, Portugal (2018 and 2023). A selection of Marxt’s films will be screened at Anthology Film Archives, New York, from August 22-24.

Rachel Vera Steinberg is a curator based in New York City whose work explores cultural mythmaking, the world-building methodologies found in science fiction, as well as political and historical distinctions between facts and fictions. Since the beginning of her career she has supported experimental practices, focused primarily on the presentation of time-based media. She is the Curator and Director of Exhibitions at Smack Mellon in Brooklyn where she oversees the production of ambitiously-scaled exhibitions. Previously, she was the Director of SOHO20 Artists Inc. and the Assistant Director of NURTUREart Non-Profit Inc, both in New York. She has curated exhibitions locally and internationally, and she has taught at Fashion Institute of Technology, Rhode Island School of Design, and The New School. 

This program is supported by Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport of Austria; Hartfield Foundation; James Rosenquist Foundation; Joe Sultan; Lèna Saltos; Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso; New York City Council District 34; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature; Dr. Samar Maziad; Sarah Jones; van Beuren Charitable Foundation; William Talbott Hillman Foundation; and Woodman Family Foundation.
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This in-person event will be live streamed through Instagram: @iscp_nyc

Accessibility information: Please note that the entrance to ISCP has seven steps and a ramp, which is ADA compliant. There are seven artist studios and one exhibition space which can be accessed on the first floor of ISCP. There is an accessible bathroom on the first floor at the end of the hallway, up one step, where the artist studios are located. A temporary ramp can be installed to cover the step. To access the second floor, there is a staircase with a grab bar installed on the right side with 22 steps. The second floor has 22 artist and curator studios, one exhibition space, and a lounge where remarks by our speakers will take place. To access the third floor there is a staircase with a grab bar installed on the right side with 24 steps. The third floor has five artist and curator studios. ISCP can access a freight elevator to bring visitors between the first and second floors on request.

ISCP can offer two reserved parking spaces on request for people with disabilities. Please email programs@iscp-nyc.org to request a parking space and/or freight elevator usage.

6:30–7:30pm
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Participating Residents

Lukas Marxt
Lukas Marxt, Imperial Valley (cultivated run-off), 2018, video installation on cinder blocks, 98 × 65 in. (248.92 × 165.1 cm). Courtesy of the artist.

Current and Upcoming Events & Exhibitions

Artists at Work: Lina Hashim in Conversation with Justine Ludwig

July 30, 2025, 6:30–7:30pm
ISCP Talk

Hellen Ascoli: The World Upside Down

Through August 1
Exhibition

Nifemi Ogunro: The First Act

Through October 3
Exhibition
Stay Connected
X
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Vimeo
Support Us
Residency Sponsors
Contributors
Director’s Circle
Make a Gift
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Contact
718-387-2900
info@iscp-nyc.org
Search
Search
Site Credits
Design by Other Means
Development by Corey Tegeler

International Studio & Curatorial Program

1040 Metropolitan Avenue
Brooklyn, New York, 11211

Residencies

Current ResidentsPast ResidentsResidency ProgramsApplyVisiting CriticsSponsorsResidents Map

About

Programs and Exhibitions

Current and UpcomingPast

Visit

Press, Publications, Research and Archives

PressPublicationsResearch and Archives

Support Us

Make a GiftYoung PatronsDirector’s CircleLimited Editions
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Artists at Work: Lukas Marxt in Conversation with Rachel Vera Steinberg
Artists at Work: Lukas Marxt in Conversation with Rachel Vera Steinberg

Exhibition
Through October 3

Nifemi Ogunro: The First Act

Join us for the Opening Reception on Tuesday, June 24 from 6–8pm.

The International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) presents Nifemi Ogunro: The First Act, the designer and sculptor’s first institutional solo exhibition, curated by Paul Galloway. Featuring a group of new works crafted from wood, Ogunro’s material investigations manifest as compelling contradictions: furniture that is not just furniture, sculpture that defies conventional formalist readings.  

Embracing an older interpretation of the word “manufacture,” which originally referenced something handmade, Ogunro invites the viewer to reconsider the social implications of working directly with materials that were once, like us, organic beings. If we think of a forest as a community, is it possible to find fellowship among these transmuted forms? Ogunro ponders questions like this while shaping the wood, with techniques that range from rough chainsaw work to finely executed joinery. The act of becoming is a focus for Ogunro, as she explores the tensions between beauty and discomfort that accompany all processes of change. 

Discarding the typical design imperatives of function, comfort, and utility, Ogunro highlights the formal qualities of the body in absentia via objects that suggest vacancies. One work, Child’s Play, evokes the movement of the body through its seesaw form, furniture that requires two people to perform its oscillating function. Sinking reverses this, suggesting a body at ease, albeit on the unforgiving surface of bent plywood. Aiming for her pieces to be “as bare-boned and legible as possible,” Ogunro questions the way we build our environments to accommodate our corporeal perspective. In our quest to make the world more comfortable we divorce ourselves from risk, minimizing our chances of physical and psychological injury. Ogunro reminds us that to be challenged is an invitation, just as a tree pruned of a limb offers an opportunity for new growth. 

Brooklyn-based designer and sculptor Nifemi Ogunro (b. 1995, Lyon, France) describes her works as functional sculptures. Her design process gives equal consideration for both the bodies that interact with these objects and the forms of the objects themselves. While wood is her primary medium, Ogunro draws inspiration from photography, film, performance, and movement. She has exhibited work at Side Gallery, Barcelona, Spain; and Marta Gallery, Los Angeles, CA among other venues, and her work is in collections including at the Denver Art Museum, Colorado. Ogunro is a recipient of The New York Community Trust’s Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund Residency at ISCP. 

Paul Galloway is the Senior Collection Specialist for the Architecture & Design Department at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). During his time at MoMA he has curated Designer’s Choice: Norman Teague—Jam Sessions and co-curated the exhibitions Never Alone: Video Games and Other Interactive Design and Automania. Galloway has authored and contributed to multiple MoMA publications, including Shigetaka Kurita: Emoji, as well as catalogs from the Fondation Louis Vuitton and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.   

Nifemi Ogunro: The First Act is curated by Paul Galloway, Senior Collection Specialist, Department of Architecture and Design, The Museum of Modern Art. It is supported by The New York Community Trust’s Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund; Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso; Hartfield Foundation; James Rosenquist Foundation; Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation; New York City Council District 34; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature; van Beuren Charitable Foundation; William Talbott Hillman Foundation; and Woodman Family Foundation.   

Download Press Release (PDF)
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Participating Residents

Nifemi Ogunro
Nifemi Ogunro, A Chair for One, 2025, red oak and ash, 29 × 23 × 251/2 in. (73.66 × 58.42 × 64.77 cm). Courtesy of the artist.

Current and Upcoming Events & Exhibitions

Artists at Work: Lina Hashim in Conversation with Justine Ludwig

July 30, 2025, 6:30–7:30pm
ISCP Talk

Hellen Ascoli: The World Upside Down

Through August 1
Exhibition

Nifemi Ogunro: The First Act

Through October 3
Exhibition
Stay Connected
X
Facebook
Instagram
Vimeo
Support Us
Residency Sponsors
Contributors
Director’s Circle
Make a Gift
Visit
Directions
Accessibility
Opportunities
Jobs and Internships
Green Room
 Login
Contact
718-387-2900
info@iscp-nyc.org
Search
Search
Site Credits
Design by Other Means
Development by Corey Tegeler

International Studio & Curatorial Program

1040 Metropolitan Avenue
Brooklyn, New York, 11211