ISCP Talk
July 8, 2014

Salon: Michelle-Marie Letelier and Akansha Rastogi

 Michelle-Marie Letelier will focus on her previous and current process for the project The Last Journey of Peking, which she has been developing during her residency at ISCP as part of the South Street Seaport Museum in lower Manhattan. PEKING is a large bark that belonged to the last chapter of the commercial sailing trade, transporting Chile Saltpeter—or Sodium Nitrate—from Chile to Germany. Formerly used as a fertilizer and gunpowder, saltpeter is a symbol of a profitable industry that was once the main income of Chile, extracted from the Atacama Desert. Taken into consideration the fact that PEKING will not longer be part of the South Street Seaport Museum and the uncertainty that this situation brings, alongside the current conditions of the Museum, this project aims to pay tribute to an historical fact, by adding new elements that will enrich the relationship between two natural resources: wind and sodium nitrate.

Akansha Rastogi will elaborate on her curatorial practice, giving examples from her previous exhibitions and focusing in particular on the ongoing project Grazing. Moving back and forth between old projects and new conceptual frameworks that she has been developing during the residency, she will also read briefly from her recent writings on The Passer-by.

Offsite Project
June 17, 2014–April 15, 2015

Mohamed Sharkawy: Birds

The International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) and the New York City Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Art Program are pleased to announce Birds, a temporary art installation on the fence at Queensboro Plaza and Vernon Boulevard by artist Mohamed Sharkawy.

Sharkawy’s works employs a minimalist approach, using flat silhouettes and sharply defined forms to render images that have universal meaning. Each shape is reduced to its essence, evoking Egyptian wall painting.  Sharkawy offers a set of whimsical images in Birds, showing interactions between these winged creatures and humans. In his work, Sharkawy considers the movement of birds as expressions of freedom.

Special thanks to Livia Alexander and Al-Riwaq Art Space.

Artist Biography:
Mohamed Sharkawy (born 1982 Naga Hamadi, Egypt) began painting in 2000. His exposure to a variety of artists’ styles and approaches led to the development of his own visual vocabulary. He has participated in solo and group exhibitions at institutions including the Townhouse Gallery and Al-Riwaq Art Space, Bahrain. He was an artist in residence at ISCP in 2013. Sharkawy lives and works in Bahrain.

The New York City Department of Transportation launched the Art Program in October 2008 to invigorate the City’s streetscapes with engaging temporary art installations. The Program partners with community organizations and artists to present murals, sculptures, projections, and performances on public property such as plazas, fences, barriers, footbridges, and sidewalks.

Queensboro Bridge
Queensboro Plaza and Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City, Queens

ISCP Talk
June 17, 2014

Salon: Maura Biava and Richard Schur

Maura Biava works with installations, sculptures, drawings and photography. She will show the works she realized during her stay at ISCP and other recent projects. Biava will discuss the way she employs mathematics as a visual language that informs and generates forms, and how mathematics can be used to analyze and deconstruct existing shapes forms and structures.

Richard Schur’s abstract paintings are a place of collective and personal memories, experiences and emotions. Schur will discuss color-based painting as an universal language and the influence of various places, cultures and cities on his work.

Participating Residents