Opening Reception: Tuesday, August 14, 6–8pm

Never Take a Vacation with an Artist Who Collects the Same Stuff You Do is a group exhibition featuring the work of the nine artists in residence in ISCP’s Ground Floor Program. The presentation focuses on vacation and leisure time, a premise that the artists developed in collaboration. Works include Martha Skou’s audio-visual interpretation of a recent summer road trip, where she entered a community as a foreigner and left as a member; Simone Couto’s cross-stitch of a surveillance sign which reminds the viewer that privacy is a rare and precious commodity even while on vacation; and Danilo Correale’s 1001 Ways to Live Without Working (after Tuli Kupferberg), a performance activated by a screensaver, which liberates the ISCP front desk staff from working for a period of time. Set to open during the leisurely days of summer, this exhibition aims to lull the viewer into a state of relaxation.

Artists in the exhibition: Elaine Byrne, Danilo Correale, Simone Couto, Alexis Dahan, Furen Dai, Jude Griebel, Joshua Liebowitz, Martha Skou, and Raul Valverde.

These artists in residence are all part of a two-year program that offers subsidized workspace and professional development for New York City-based artists. Launched in 2015, Ground Floor at ISCP takes place on the first floor of ISCP in tandem with ISCP’s acclaimed international residency program, forming an integral part of the dynamic, in-house fusion of artists and curators from all over the world.

Public programs:
August 14, 6–8pm: Opening reception with a performance by Martha Skou at 7pm, in ISCP’s Project Space
August 21, 7pm: Outdoor screening on ISCP’s loading dock of Slacker, 1990, introduced by Jude Griebel
August 28, 7pm: Outdoor screening on ISCP’s loading dock of Smiles of a Summer Night, 1955, introduced by Alexis Dahan

About the artists:
Elaine Byrne (born Ireland) examines overlooked histories, historical texts and artworks as a platform to mobilize history relating to current political and social concerns. She has had several solo shows including La Diritta Via, Montoro12 Gallery, Rome and Ruam, Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Dublin. Group shows include The Ocean After Nature, The Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, Dublin and Omega Workshop, Elizabeth Foundation, New York. She has won several prizes including the 8th Arte Laguna Prize and she is represented by the Kevin Kavanagh Gallery in Dublin.

Danilo Correale (born Naples) is an artist and researcher who analyzes aspects of human life, such as labor-leisure and sleep. His work has been presented in group exhibitions including the Istanbul Design Biennial, Riga Biennial and Somatechnic, Museion, Bolzano. Recent solo shows include At Work’s End, Art in General, New York; Tales of Exhaustion, La Loge, Brussels; and The Missing Hour. Rhythms and Algorithms, Raucci/Santamaria, Naples.

Simone Couto (born Brazil) is an interdisciplinary artist. Her private and collective practices explore the relationship between place and identity both in natural and urban settings. Solo and group exhibitions include Bio Art Seoul, Gwacheon National Science Museum, Seoul; When All Things Evaporate, We’ll Talk About Minerals, Pioneer Works, New York; Current Practice, Invisible Dog Art Center, New York; and Frequency Response, Electronic Arts Intermix, New York.

Alexis Dahan (born France) is an artist and writer who has lived in New York since 2005. Dahan has had several solo shows in the United States and Europe, including a commission by the Art Production Fund and an intervention with the New York City Fire Department.

Furen Dai (born China) focuses largely on the economy of the culture industry. Dai’s hybrid art practice utilizes video, sound, sculpture, painting and collaboration. She has exhibited her work at the 13th Athens Digital Arts Festival; International Video Art Festival Now&After, Moscow; and Edinburgh Artists’ Moving Image Festival, Scotland.

Jude Griebel (born Canada) has had exhibitions at Future Station: The 2015 Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art; International Museum of Surgical Science, Chicago; Esker Foundation, Calgary; Redpath Museum, Montreal; Galerie Johannes Sturm, Nuremberg; and The Spinnerei Archiv Massiv, Leipzig. His public sculpture Plastic Ghost was mounted in the city center of Jyväskylä, Finland. Griebel’s work is held in collections such as the Arsenal, Canada; the Colart Contemporary Canadian Art Collection and the Frans Masereel Centrum, Belgium.

Joshua Liebowitz (born United States) is an artist working with research and assemblage methods. His work has been shown at CAFA International Gallery, Beijing; Transmitter Gallery; Pioneer Works; The Boiler|Pierogi; and NARS Foundation, all New York. Liebowitz has received commissions from The Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church and Flux Factory.

Martha Skou (born Denmark) is an interdisciplinary artist who moves between audible and visual fields of art practice. Both analytical and experimental, her work toys with opposites in color, shape and sound. She has exhibited her work at the Museum of Arts and Design, New York; Telfair Museums, Savannah; and Pioneer Works, New York.

Raul Valverde (born Spain) produces projects that are context-specific and respond to the temporal and spatial conditions in which they are displayed. His work has been exhibited at the #1 Cartagena Biennial; Bronx Calling: The Second AIM Biennial, New York; La Casa Encendida, Madrid; NURTUREart, New York; Tabacalera, Madrid; Artium Museum, Vitoria-Gasteiz; Anthology Film Archives, New York; and Royal College of Art, London. He is a recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship.

This exhibition is coordinated by Alexandra Friedman, Program Coordinator, ISCP.

This exhibition is supported by Yoko Ono, Alice and Lawrence Weiner, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, New York City Council District 34, The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation, Danna and Ed Ruscha, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.