Opening Reception: Friday, March 29, 6–9pm
Guest speakers Hrag Vartanian and Veken Gueyikian from Hyperallergic at 8pm
Annabel Daou will perform her Fortune project on March 29, 7–8pm, and March 30, 4–6pm
Open Hours: Saturday, March 30, 1–7pm

The International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) Spring Open Studios is a two-day exhibition of international contemporary art presented by the 35 artists and two curators from 23 countries currently in residence. Veken Gueyikian and Hrag Vartanian, whose work in the field of art journalism has had a significant impact in New York City and beyond, will make remarks at 8pm on March 29.

Twice a year only, ISCP offers the public access to private artists’ and curators’ studios to view artwork and share one-on-one conversations. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, ISCP invites the public to engage in dialogue around contemporary art with arts professionals from across the globe. Concentrated in a three-story postindustrial loft building on the edge of Bushwick, ISCP supports the creative advancement of residents, with a robust program of individual workspaces and professional benefits.

Chiara Fumai: LESS LIGHT, curated by Kari Conte, Director of Programs and Exhibitions at ISCP, and Francesco Urbano Ragazzi, directors of the Chiara Fumai archive, will be on view during Open Studios. A 2017 ISCP alumna, this is the artist’s first solo exhibition on this continent. LESS LIGHT brings together two of Fumai’s pioneering works, The Book of Evil Spirits (2015) and Dogaressa Elisabetta Querini, Zalumma Agra, Annie Jones, Dope Head, Harry Houdini, Eusapia Palladino read Valerie Solanas (2012-13). Fumai’s hybrid practice was deeply rooted in performance and her interests were far-reaching. In her work, she frequently deconstructed ideologies that have impeded women’s empowerment.

In addition, Living Room: UIT (Use it together), a collective site-specific proposition by alumna curator Amanda Abi Khalil, organized in collaboration with ISCP’s community, will be presented during Open Studios. Inspired by artist Hélio Oiticica’s discussions of Eden and theorist Stephen Wright’s concept of Arte Útil, Living Room takes over an exhibition space that usually triggers modes of spectatorship. Turning ISCP’s Project Space into a room for living, a shared space—by altering its function to a space of usership, created, used and activated (together) by the people who inhabit it—transforms its capacity to frame what is displayed inside it as art. Annabel Daou will perform her Fortune project on March 29, 7–8pm, and March 30, 4–6pm. A video screening that comments on the aesthetics of participatory approaches in social art practices will take place at 3pm on Saturday, March 30.

Open Studios participating artists and curators:

Fatma Bucak (Turkey/Italy), Jesse Chun (United States/South Korea/China/Hong Kong/Canada), Danilo Correale (United States/Italy), Simone Couto (United States/Brazil), Furen Dai (United States/China), Mariajosé Fernández-Plenge (United States/Peru), Antonio Fiorentino (Italy), Andrea Flemming (Germany), Helene Førde (Norway), ektor garcia (United States/Mexico), Alicja Gaskon (Poland/Switzerland/United States), Jude Griebel (United States/Canada), Johannes Heldén (Sweden), Hesselholdt & Mejlvang (Denmark), Allard van Hoorn (The Netherlands), Hsiang Huang (Taiwan), Srajana Kaikini (India), Tali Keren (United States/Israel), Jonna Kina (Finland), Tina Lechner (Austria), Joshua Liebowitz (United States), Yi-Hsuan Lin (Taiwan/Brazil), Fritjof Mangerich (Germany), Rusudan Melikishvili (Denmark), Orr Menirom (United States/Israel), Fatima Mohammed (Qatar), Alison Nguyen (United States), Erkka Nissinen (Finland), Chadwick Rantanen (United States), Jana Schulz (Germany), Jens Settergren (Denmark), Esther Tielemans (The Netherlands), Teresa Viana (Brazil), VOID – Arnaud Eeckhout and Mauro Vitturini (Belgium), and Maja Vukoje (Austria).

ISCP thanks the following residency sponsors: Alfred Kordelin Foundation; Alice and Lawrence Weiner; Artis; BKA – Bundeskanzleramt Österreich Kunst und Kultur / Arts and Culture Division of the Federal Chancellery of Austria; Danish Arts Foundation; Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles; Fire Station – Qatar Museums; Finnish Cultural Institute in New York; Galeria Le Guern; Hartfield Foundation; IASPIS – The Swedish Arts Grants Committee’s International Programme for Visual Artists; Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation; Italian Cultural Institute of New York; KdFS – Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen; Kunststiftung des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt; La Fondation pour l’Art Contemporain Claudine et Jean-Marc Salomon; Ministry of Culture, Taiwan; Mondriaan Fund; National Endowment for the Arts; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; New York City Council District 34; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur and Niedersächsische Sparkassenstiftung; OCA – Office for Contemporary Art Norway; Yoko Ono; Danna and Ed Ruscha; Saastamoinen Foundation; Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF); The Italian Academy for Advanced Studies, Columbia University; The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation; The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Inc.; and Toby Devan Lewis Donor Advised Fund of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland.

This program is supported, in part, by Austrian Cultural Forum New York; Consulate General of Brazil in New York; Consulate General of Denmark in New York; Consulate General of Finland in New York; Consulate General of Sweden in New York; Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in New York; Google; Greenwich Collection Ltd.; Grimm Artisanal Ales; Hartfield Foundation; Jane Farver Memorial Fund; Lagunitas Brewing Company; Lambent Foundation Fund of Tides Foundation; Materials for the Arts; The Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; New York City Council District 34; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York; Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF); The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; The Church of Chiara Fumai; The Italian Academy for Advanced Studies, Columbia University; as well as numerous individuals.

ISCP thanks the members of Director’s Circle for their generous support: Anne Altchek, Karyn Issa Ginsberg Greenwald, Samar Maziad, Tracey Riese, and Laurie Sprayregen.