Opening Reception: Friday, April 21, 6–9pm
Open Hours: Saturday, April 22, 1–7pm

The International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) Spring Open Studios is a presentation of international contemporary art organized by the 35 artists and curators from 28 countries currently in residence. Guest speaker, Jennifer Gutiérrez, City Council Member for New York City’s 34th District, will make remarks during the opening reception.

This event is free and open to the public.

Twice a year, ISCP offers the public access to private artists’ and curators’ studios to view artwork and share one-on-one conversations. This spring, 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.

Clae Lu: Playroom, a solo exhibition of work by Clae Lu, recipient of The New York Community Trust’s Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund residency at ISCP, will be on view in the first floor project space. Curated by Kathy Cho, the exhibition presents a variety of experimental works that range from painting, to a meditative installation, to sonic compositions on the 古筝 (gu zheng), also known as the Chinese zither. All of these creative practices are meant to create space for and support the artist’s chosen families, their closely connected community. Throughout the exhibition, Lu asks, “What does it mean to celebrate the mundane?” and “How does my community come together to create new traditions?

In addition, Vibe Overgaard: Spindle City, a solo show curated by Media Farzin, will be on view in the second floor gallery. The show takes the textile industry as a context from which to examine the workings and impact of growth economies. It is based on artist Vibe Overgaard’s research in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and Lowell, Massachusetts, major hubs of industrial cotton production in the United States, and draws on the artist’s background growing up in a Danish town founded as a manufacturing center for textiles. The exhibition features a video essay, Spindle City, and a series of sculptures made of ceramic, wood, metal, and thread. The circuit is a recurring motif: from the fiber that winds through sculptures that evoke industrial looms, to the animated lines of the video, which symbolically trace a critical path through legacies of capitalism, colonialism, slavery, and the welfare state. 

Open Studios participating artists and curators:

Alchemyverse (Bicheng Liang and Yixuan Shao) (China/United States), Hellen Ascoli (Guatemala/United States), Felipe de Ávila Franco (Brazil/Finland), James Beckett (South Africa/The Netherlands/United States), Pascale Birchler (Switzerland), Hung-Yen Chang (Taiwan), Nathaniel Donnett (United States), Veronika Eberhart (Austria), Kyoung eun Kang (South Korea/United States), Mandy Espezel (Canada), Kokou Ferdinand Makouvia (Togo/France), Eda Gecikmez (Turkey), Anawana Haloba (Norway/Zambia), Janet Jones (Canada), Levon Kafafian (United States), Hanni Kamaly (Sweden), Kahori Kamiya (United States/Japan), Tali Keren (United States, Israel/Palestine), Felix Kindermann (Belgium/Germany), Yen-Yi Lee (Taiwan), Shanekia McIntosh (United States), Joiri Minaya (United States/Dominican Republic), Azita Moradkhani (Iran/United States), Ruth Owens (United States), Evelyn Plaschg (Austria), Dana Robinson (United States), Akshay Sethi (India), Anna Schimkat (Germany), Oriane Stender (United States), Charlotte Sprogøe (Denmark), Mikhail Tolmachev (Russia/Germany), Sarah Tortora (United States), Coralie Vogelaar (The Netherlands), and wdha (Qatar).

ISCP thanks the following residency sponsors:

AES+F; Alberta Foundation for the Arts; Alice and Lawrence Weiner; Artist Relief; Atelier Flex – Kanton Zug; Canada Council for the Arts; Danish Arts Foundation; Danna and Ed Ruscha; Dimitri Offengenden; Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport of Austria; Fire Station – Qatar Museums; Hartfield Foundation; Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation; IASPIS – The Swedish Arts Grants Committee’s International Programme for Visual Artists; Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation; Jerome Foundation; KdFS Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen; La Fondation pour l’Art Contemporain Claudine et Jean-Marc Salomon; Ministry of Culture of the Flemish Community Visual Arts Department; Ministry of Culture, Taiwan; Mondriaan Fund; National Endowment for the Arts; New York City Council Member for the 34th District; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; OCA – Office for Contemporary Art Norway; Pollock-Krasner Foundation; Pro Helvetia; SAHA Association; Sherrill Collection of American Art Foundation; South Arts; The Puffin Foundation; The Joseph Robert Foundation; The Kettering Family Foundation; Toby Devan Lewis; Tony & Sissi Moens; Uniarts Helsinki Academy of Fine Arts in partnership with Saastamoinen Foundation; Vision Fund; and Wilhelm Family Foundation. 

This program is also generously supported, in part, by:

Austrian Cultural Forum New York; Consulate General of Denmark in New York; Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York; Consulate General of Sweden in New York; Council for Canadian American Relations; Danish Arts Foundation; Evelyn Toll Family Foundation; Golden Artist Colors, Inc.; Google; Grimm Artisanal Ales; Hartfield Foundation; Materials for the Arts; Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation; New York City Council Member for the 34th District; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York; The New York Community Trust’s Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund; and William Talbott Hillman Foundation.

In addition to the many individuals who support ISCP, the members of Director’s Circle are also thanked for their largesse: Anne Altchek, Barbara van Beuren, Samar Maziad, and Laurie Sprayregen.

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. 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 guest speaker 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 dvillalona@iscp-nyc.org to request a parking space and/or freight elevator usage.