ISCP Talk
December 20, 2011

Performance: SUPER FRAGILISTIC by Hélène Picard

Performance will start promptly at 6pm and will end at 6:30pm.

According to French artist Hélène Picard when someone arrives in New York they feel that the American dream is still alive regardless of their past or current ambitions. Each person senses the hopes and fears of the millions of immigrants that arrived before. Picard packed her furniture and gave up her home prior to moving to New York. When looking for a suitcase she thought about Mary Poppins, the famous nomad nanny with a magic bag. Picard wondered how to fit an entire house, her personal belongings, culture and story in a simple bag. Super Fragilistic is an ongoing project about the immigrant, realized by Picard at ISCP through a 30-minute silent action.

Helene Picard (born 1972 in France) graduated in 1998 from the School of Fine Arts of Paris, and was awarded the Casa Velazquez Residency in Madrid in 2000. Picard currently works and lives between Madrid and Paris.

Participating Residents

ISCP Talk
December 13, 2011

Salon: Petros Chrisostomou and Minja Gu

Petros Chrisostomou will discuss the development of his work, from its origins rooted in maximalist free standing sculpture to his transition to a photographic practice in order to exemplify the importance of physicality, in relation to his understanding of his social position in a globalised world. Chrisostomou photographs small scale, ordinary, ephemeral objects in architectural models that he constructs, and then dramatically arranges, often employing lighting and staging conventions of the theatre. With the alteration of scale and reversal of the relation between object and space, his photographs challenge the viewers’ visual certainties.

Minja Gu will present a previous project based on performative actions and a new project, ‘Metropolitan Grand Hall of Music’, involving musicians. Gu’s works appear frail, intimate and almost indistinguishable from everyday life. She is predominately interested in what society uses and then discards, and with grace, wit and poetry, she reclaims the many supposedly valueless remnants of daily consumerism, such as leftover coffee cups and plastic bags. In addition to her physical artistic production, she also participates in interventions that are at the same time dependent on and mocking of societal norms.

Participating Residents

Offsite Project
December 8–December 31, 2011

Minja Gu: Atlantic-Pacific co

The International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) is pleased to announce Atlantic-Pacific co by ISCP artist-in-residence Minja Gu. Atlantic-Pacific co engages the public in the creation of a 17th century trading company, bringing attention to the ways regionally specific products introduce us to different cultures.

Taking ocean exploration in the age of discovery as a starting point, artist Minja Gu compares Atlantic Avenue and Pacific Street in Brooklyn to their respective oceans in her latest work, Atlantic-Pacific co. Founded in 2011 in New York City, Atlantic-Pacific co, is an international trading company specializing in rare products. Items were gathered from expeditions on Atlantic (Ave) and Pacific (St) by a group of voyagers (native New Yorkers), with the intent of learning about area specific customs and products. Atlantic-Pacific co presents items from the voyagers’ collection and displays the logbook telling the story of their explorations at Moore St. Market in Brooklyn.

Minja Gu lives and works in Seoul, Korea. She has participated in residencies at Ssamzie Space, Seoul; Hangar, Barcelona; and Gyeonggi Creation Center, Ansan. Solo exhibitions include Identical Times at Space Croft in 2009 and group exhibitions include 08 Taipei Biennial, Taipei Museum of Fine Art; Now What, Space Hamilton, Seoul; and Anyang Public Art Project 2010.

Click here to read sociologist Barbara Adam’s essay on the ISCP and Moore Street Market’s collaboration. 

Generous support for this project has been provided by NYC Council Member Diana Reyna’s office, District 34 and the Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation.

Moore St. Market
110 Moore St, Brooklyn, NY