Past Residents
Past Resident2010: Foundation for a Civil Society
Jiri Skala
Jiří Skála is known for his playful and witty conceptualist approach to various social contexts and situations. He often employs participants in gamelike interactions in his work, or institutes subtle interventions creating objects that have only been minimally altered but which are no less effective in altering our own perspectives of the given situation. His recent work has focussed on the written word and inter-personal communication, for example, in his ongoing project Handwriting Exchange Skala, and someone chosen from a completely different social and cultural background, become acquainted through a daily process of learning how to copy each other’s handwriting.
Jiří Skála, born 1976, lives and works in Prague, Czech Republic. He studied at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts, and at the post-graduate program at Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. His work has been exhibited widely including the following: Tirana Biennale I, Albania; Palais de Tokyo, France; Prague Biennale, Czech Republic; and the UBS Gallery in New York. He is a co-founder of the Etc. Gallery in Prague, established in 2004, and a member of the PAS group, together with the artist Tomáš Vaněk and curator Vít Havranek. He is listed in the Younger than Jesus Artist Directory compiled by the New Museum in New York, and in November of 2009 was awarded the Jindřich Chalupecký Award for young artists in the Czech Republic by Vaclav Havel.
in collaboration with Zbyněk Baladrán, It Always Makes Her Sick When She Thinks Of The Infinite, 2008, Reading machine performing severals sort stories, 68 diapositive slides,construction, 8 slide projectors, wood, and metal. Courtesy of the artist
Jiri Skala, Exchange of Handwriting, 2006, A play for 2 actors, 2 school chairs, 4 notebooks, and 2 pens. Courtesy of the artist
in collaboration with Zbyněk Baladrán, The Involuntary Archivist, 2009, Watching machine performing a sort story, digital video, construction, hard disk driver, speakers, HD media player, projector, wood, and metal. Courtesy of the artist
Jiri Skala, One Family of Objects, 2009, Book, A5 format. Courtesy of the artist and JPR Ringier and tranzit.org
Jiri Skala, To Be Titled, first and second version, 2006 - 2008, Audio installation, 2 CD player, 2 hi-fi receiver, iron construction. Courtesy of the artist
Residents from Czech Republic
Past Resident2010: Artadia
Theaster Gates
If pressed to describe Theaster Gates’ work in one word, it would be ‘transformative.’ In his performances, installations and urban interventions, Gates—an artist, musician and ‘cultural planner’ as well as director of arts program development for the University of Chicago—transforms spaces, relationships, traditions and perceptions.
Exploring architecture as a tool for mediation and meditation, Gates draws from both urbanism and art to provide what he terms ‘moments of interstitial beauty’ in Chicago’s South Side neighborhoods. His most recent project, ‘Temple’, comprises two neighboring houses whose interiors he completely rebuilt of donated and repurposed materials to create spaces for workshops, exhibitions and other public events on topics of race, art and politics.
Gates’ work is funded by the Joyce Foundation, the Graham Foundation, and the African American Art Alliance. In 2010 alone, he has performed
and exhibited at the Whitney Biennial and the Armory Show in New York, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Brunno David Gallery and Pulitzer Museum of Art in St. Louis, and the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston. He also completed residencies with the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wis., Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, Oregon, and Artadia New York. He is a Loeb Fellow at Harvard Graduate School of Design for 2010-11.
Theaster Gates, Single Structure and Foreclosure List, 2010, 48 × 96 × 120 in. (121.92 × 243.84 × 304.8 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Pulitzer Museum Project, St. Louis
Theaster Gates, The Story of Yamaguchi, 2007, 72 × 960 in. (182.88 × 2438.4 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago
Theaster Gates, To Speculate Darkly, 2010, 48 × 226 in. (121.92 × 574.04 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Milwaukee Art Museum
Theaster Gates, Temple, 2010, 216 × 264 × 144 in. (548.64 × 670.56 × 365.76 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Whitney Biennial, New York
Residents from United States
Past Resident2010: ACC - Asian Cultural Council
Jiandyin (Jiradej & Pornpilai Meemalai)
Jiandyin are interdisciplinary collaborative artists from Thailand. Pornpilai Meemalai received her MA from School of Applied Art, Royal College of Art, London, UK. Jiradej Meemalai received his MFA (Sculpture) from Faculty of Decorative Arts, Silpakorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. Pornpilai is a 2008 recipient of Silp Bhirasri Creativity Grant of Silpakorn University, Thailand. Jiradej was awarded several competitions including 46th National Art Competition, 2000 and the Kasikorn Bank Group Contemporary Art Competitions, 2000. He was artist in residence at Art Omi International Art Center, 2008. They received a fellowship grant award from the Asian Cultural Council, New York and they were artists-in-residence at Headlands Center for the Arts. Jiandyin have participated in The Penang Island Sculpture Project, Penang Island, Malaysia and Art Live World, Chair and the Maiden Gallery, New York and will have a solo exhibition at Kokoro Studio, San Francisco, California.
Through their married life they discovered artistic value while searching for resolution for their disputes. Their works are models for looking at the tension in human relationships. They also project an awareness of ‘living together as an adaptation’ in the rapidly globalizing world that we live in. In 2010, they began a participation project called Dialogue. It is an ongoing collaborative drawing of Thai / Thai American couples who live in United States.
Events & Exhibitions
Salon: Nicolas Grum (Chile) and Jiandyin (Thailand)
September 7, 2010
Jiandyin (Jiradej & Pornpilai Meemalai), Sinking sculpture, 2007. Courtesy of the artist
Jiandyin (Jiradej & Pornpilai Meemalai), On Adaptation, 2010. Courtesy of the artist
Jiandyin (Jiradej & Pornpilai Meemalai), Holding a Balance, 2009. Courtesy of the artist
Jiandyin (Jiradej & Pornpilai Meemalai), Self Portrait, 2007. Courtesy of the artist
