TV Interview: Spotlight on Cocooning Catharsis

PBCJamaica "Spotlight" TV Interview Originally aired January 2014
for the solo photo-Based exhibition Cocooning Catharis at HiQo Gallery, Kingston, Jamaica
(Dec 19 - Jan 13th, 2014)


This was thankfully a casual but in depth discussion on the inspiration behind the work, and some of the methods used to make the pieces.  It was a great hang with the crew too.

Select works available at HiQo Gallery






Related links and articles:

Smile Jamaica/TVJ Morning Interview

Petchary Blog Review

Arc Magazine Release

The Gleaner

illusive self is now alive!

Curating this show #illusiveSelf was an unforgettable experience to be expanded on when I stop moving around so fast.  The past 10 weeks since I was moving out of the NYC apartment have been so dense with experiences  that I have to accept that reporting fully on any of them will come way after - when I'm sitting still in Jamaica over the holidays...preparing for the last leg of this journey:  to Sierra Leone. 

But after all the hard work and challenges of this past week - the show is open and up, and the opening night was by all accounts a success!

For me the greatest rewards as curator are:

1) the artists are happy and feel proud of the show they are in.
2) the visitors sense the thematic continuity of the show and are intrigued, moved, and provoked by its content
3) the gallery director and other art professionals see a future in the concept and offer opportunities for expansion.

Well... Check.  Check. CHECK!!!

What more... what more could I possibly ask of God and Mother Universe for curatorial debut in New York City?  Nothing!   Well... hmmm... an NYT review would be nice...LOL

And now to packing, shipping, and preparing for the next show in Jamaica...as an artist... ;-)

Post by SeBiArt i•ma•gine | e•volve.

SeBiArt News: New Work/Shows, New Book, and Now Curating!

Coming full circle. 

Over a decade after graduating from my school as an  Acting/Theater major, I just showed my work in the Hewitt Gallery of Art at Marymount Manhattan College. 

This was really a personal milestone because I took photography elective classes here while pursuing my degree...NEVER intending to become a photographer. All thanks to Prof. Millie Falcaro who taught me how to do formal portraiture and dark room processing all those years ago, and who invited me this year to do this show. So fitting too that I showed my family portrait work, Neue Rootz, taken in Germany/Czech Republic 4 years ago,  just weeks before setting off to do the same trip again with my mom. In fact, I'm blogging this all from Nuremburg right now!

Just goes to show...you never know what the future holds. 

Life is kinda funny and neat like that sometimes eh?

 

 • • • 

 COMING IN OCTOBER

 Watch this space for show dates!

•

It's time again for ArtfromtheHeart with the Vanderbilt Republic

  

I have 3 pieces in the show

 ♡

 October 19th

Get your tickets HERE!

photo!

•


Finally The Other Hundred book release is upon us!

ReCap:

    
  
The Other Hundred is a book project initiated a few months ago by the pan-Asian organisation, The Global Institute of Tomorrow [G.I.F.T.] based in Hong Kong. 

A Worldwide photo-call was announced and featured on the BBC, explaining the reason for this work.  The Jury received over 11, 000 submissions from 158 countries...    100 were chosen.
I am one...for Jamaica...with a portrait of street artist and painter: Delroy Anderson
 
See The Other Hundred Website

 Book available on Amazon  

  • 

Branded, We Walk

New Solo Show

Sept 30 - Oct 28th

 NH3 Gallery/Splashlight Studios, New York

Music by DJ Belinda

Hors d'oeuvres by Sean John/Spur Tree Lounge

•

Guest curating the show  
illusive self 

at the Taller Boricua Gallery, NYC

"An interpretive visual conversation of immigrant identity

retention, destruction, and (re)Creation."

Submissions now open through October 1st
 

 Artist Announcements October 15th.

Show Opening Nov 15th

More Info here:

~ About the Show

~ Guidelines

~Application

Conceptualized by Guest Curator: Berette Macaulay

Gallery Director: Fernando Salicrup

• • • 

 COMING IN NOVEMBER

 • 

New Solo in Jamaica!  

More news on this a bit later...



---  

If you have trouble viewing the content of this post, please visit the blog directly: http://sebiart.blogspot.com

Thank You

For Trayvon Martin: In. The Hood. We. Will. Witness. Lives and Dreams.

A little over a year ago I collaborated with some friends to create levitating imagery as a first reaction to the news of Trayon Martin's untimely demise. The titles of each triptych portrait were part of a whole sentence: In The Hood We Will Witness Lives and Dreams. 

The idea stemmed also from what I have noticed and experienced in American culture especially - and painfully so - the attachment society has to limited, definitive emblems and symbols of a person, rather than to recognize 'the being', the character, the soul. To state repeatedly that we all have soaring dreams whether we live in 'da hood' or in a homogenized or insulated gated community, whether we wear a suit or a hoodie, is indeed a social conditioning that must be created and pressed consistently and actively into our collective psyche if such dangerous misconceptions are ever to change. We witness not only what unfolds before us, but we create what we witness, by bringing our perceptions to a scene, a conversation, or chance meeting.  If Zimmerman saw a child instead of perceiving a black gangster, Trayvon Martin may possibly have lived, or in fact benefited from his protection rather than to be hunted.

For the triptych works - I asked friends from mixed backgrounds and professions to pose for me in their hoodies for front and back portaits, and in levitating action sequences as a visual attempt to represent the static stereotype whilst actively transcending it.

A short film was also in development to accompany this that I'm hoping to complete by the end of the year.

If only we all remembered simultaneously that it's a simple shift in one's perception that can create huge change...just like the butterfly...

In. The Hood. We. Will. Witness. Lives and Dreams.

Via Flickr:

In. The. Hood. We. Will. Witness. Lives and Dreams., a set on Flickr.

Series Title:

In. The. Hood. We. Will. Witness. Lives and Dreams
A response to Trayvon Martin's misidentification...

BRANDED featured...

 The Wall Breakers - a blog space dedicated to the arts featured my project BRANDED... therefore I AM last month, and it was really educational to see how they marketed the post.  Far clearer than anything I've said about the work - they simply stated:  "What the world would be like if facebook status updates were tattoos."  Better right?  I've tried my hand at marketing but I really must admit I'm a bit too prose-y to be effective.  It's another art form really. 

That said - it's interesting to see that the impetus of the work itself has only increased in relevance.  What James Scully on Wall Breakers had to say on the subject, as well as other images and news feeds addressing the same are pinching me into opening this work up again.  

Within a few days I shared quite the relevant graffiti tag on my Tumblr Blog  which aggressive though it may be, addresses quite directly how this generation is reacting to social media.  Now we live with such wide acceptance of this conditioning where the whole concept of privacy, or the value of solitude is not only misunderstood, but unfortunately undervalued.  We're seeing a counter-cultural push back.  The unique and fascinating, near deviant individual is the one who dares live off this grid.  We all have at least one or two in our lives don't we? And sometimes we harbour secret admiration for them - especially when they exhibit signs of balance, calm, time management, and regular inclusion of activities in their lives.  Yes...join the binary the dots. 

In a recent article on the #BBC, Facebook 'likes' predict personality, shows that beyond the power engine of the LiKe click, are the secrets to who we really are.  I think algorithms may slap us soon with real statistical numbers on how utterly unengaged and thus lonely we've become - because apparently instincts and behavioural signals stopped being reliable sources of information a while ago.  Sigh.


OTHER RELATED BBC Links:

Facebook changes privacy settings

Privacy groups call for Facebook changes U-turn (and that viral copyright hoax...)

 

RELATED JOURNEY LINKS: 

Social Web Divisions??? (July 2012)

Face Lift Off: Leaving My Facebook Mask(erade) Behind (April 2012) 

Prick the 'filter bubbles'(May 2011)

Some talk about a new project ...'BRANDED' (May 2010)

 

 

SeBiArt News: Showtime Roster & Roll Call! :)

Thanks so much for the enthusiastic reception of my last news post guys!

So as promised here's the line up of current and upcoming shows/events in Kingston (Jamaica) and New York City.  Bring friends and share the merriment!!  

Not in either place? Then pass this along to those you know here and there!

PS - you can click all flyer images for a larger view and to share this post.  

Please note - this blog post will be updated through the end of the year.

CURRENTLY SHOWING

SuperPlus Under 40 Artist of the Year Juried Exhibition

Curated by Artist Finalists: 
Marvin Bartley, Leasho Johnson, Berette Macaulay, and Olivia McGilchrist

Mutual Gallery 
Website: MutualGallery.com

2 Oxford Road

New Kingston, Jamaica

Map

New Photo based mixed media Installation Project (currently in progress)

Opening November 1st, 2012
Public VOTING  until Nov 18th
Winner Announcement Ceremony  Nov 19th
Show Closes Nov 23rd 
 

Gallery Hours:

Monday - Friday 10AM – 6PM 

Saturday 10:30AM – 3PM 

Sunday closed
Free Admission

•••

BOOK RELEASE News:

Remember that great photo exchange project I did last year, The Big Picture (MoP 2011) with Illiterate Media? 

[MoP - Month of Photography]

Reminder:  

    

Well the book just came out - The Big Picture 2011 (available in print from blurb and in the App Store for iPads). It has an engaging layout documenting the worldwide wheat pasting photo exchange created by Mark Sink + Illiterate Media Gallery, and shows SeBiArt and Studio 174's student involvement in Jamaica. Check it out and share!

Order Book HERE - See pages 37, 40,41, and 74 for my work and the work with Studio 174 in Jamaica! :)

•••

Recent Events Passed

“Occupy!” Exhibition on Governor’s Island 

Presented by the International Center of Photography (ICP)

Website: icp.org
 

The exhibition, titled “Occupy!” features photographs taken of or inspired by the movement, which began in New York on September 17, 2011. 

"To mark the one-year anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, arguably the most inclusive and effective protest movement of the past decade, the International Center of Photography will stage a six-week exhibition of photographs on Governor’s Island. ..."

FIVE SeBiArt images from Occupy!Denver are on view in this show.

Governor’s Galleries, Governor's Island 

Opening August 18, 2012
Closing September 30th, 2012

FREE Admission!

“You cannot evict an idea whose time has come.”       ---Occupy Wall Street Media Team

Art Beast blurb on Daily Beast

•••

Annual Juried Photography Exhibition

Jurors: Elisabeth Biondi & Martine Fourgeron

Curated by CCNY

The Camera Club of New York (Founded 1884)
Website: cameraclubny.org
The Arts Building
336 West 37th Street, Suite 206
Nearest Trains: A,E,C,1,2,3 to 34th St Penn Station
                B,D,F,V,N,R to 34th St Herald Square            

Map

OPEN: August 16th - Sept 8th, 2012

Closing Reception Friday Sept 7th

Gallery Hours:

Monday - Friday 11AM - 6PM 

Free Admission 

•••

National Visual Arts Exhibition 

National Gallery of Jamaica

Curated by NGJ

National Gallery of Jamaica

Website: NatGalJA.org

12 Ocean Blvd, Block C 

Entrance on Orange Street 

Kingston, Jamaica

Map

Opening - July 8th

Closing -  EXTENDED til Aug 25th, 2012

Gallery Hours:

Tues - Thurs 10AM - 4:30PM

Friday 10AM - 4PM

Saturday 10AM - 3PM

Sun/Mon  Closed

Free Admission

•••

Art From the Heart 

Curated by Jennifer Kahrs 

The Vanderbilt Republic GOWANUS Loft
Website: VanderbiltRepublic.com

61 9th Street 

#C8 

Brooklyn, NY

Nearest Trains: F, G

Map

Saturday July 28th, 2012

6 - 12pm

Get Tickets HERE

AFTH2012 @ Gowanus Loft from The Vanderbilt Republic on Vimeo.

•••

Charity Event for Lovers of Life, Art, and Food

 
Spur Tree Restaurant
Website:SpurTreeLounge.com 

76 Orchard Street

Bet Broome & Grand

New York, NY

Nearest Trains:  F, D

Map

Tuesday July 24th, 20102

6:30 - 9:30pm

Suggested Donation: $25

Appearances: 
Music by Crimson Heart Replica

Comedy Sketch - Lori Sommer (Comedian/Founder of Fine, Funny, & Female)

Spoken Word Poetry - LOVE POETRYSMOTION
plus Spur Tree DJs

RELATED POSTS:

SeBiArt News: from the Bat Cave :) (July 2012)

Appeals for the life of a friend (June 2012) 

BIG PICTURE Fun on the Rock (March 2011)

SeBiArt News: from the Bat Cave :)

Bursting at the seams so straight to it!

1)
A few weeks ago I was one of 4 artists* accepted by jury into the Annual Mutual Gallery SuperPlus Under 40 Artist of the Year competition in Kingston, Jamaica. 

I'm working in an entirely new image making process for a project titled:   

ReKON: differenzierte Möglichkeit (trans. Reconstruction: Differentiated Possibility). 
It is most arduous, frightening, and fullfilling process on a daily basis - and I'm quite certain the finish will be an unexpected aesthetic to us all.   Such intensity requires I be quiet and staunchly disciplined to get through it...hence "Bat Cave".

here's a sneaky peek from the inside:

2)

Three images I shot earlier this year in downtown Kingston (Trench Town, Tivoli, and the Waterfront) were accepted for the annual JCDC/National Gallery of Jamaica competition.  I received the bronze prize for Waterfront Divers on Kingston's Edge this past Sunday.  Yayyyyyy!  This work will be up through August at the National Gallery of Jamaica - if you're on the island check us all out.

3)

In the last couple of weeks I was informed that my portrait work series Neue Rootz was selected as 2nd place winner in CCNY's 2012 National Annual Juried Photography Competition!!  I can hardly believe what I am typing - I'm still soaked in shock.   The jurors were Elisabeth Biondi - who over the last 20 years worked at The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Stern, and APERTURE as the Visuals Editor, Director of Photography, and contributor respectively, and in other distinguished roles in publishing and academia. And the other juror, Martine Fougeron - is an accomplished fine art and editorial photographer/contributor to the New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, and New York Magazine.  I'm completely elated to have them view my work - let alone select me for 2nd place.
                            
Quote from the email notice:  

"We are happy to say the jurors, after many hours of carefully considering each entry, felt that your submission was particularly strong, and that you have been chosen as the second-place winner of this year’s competition. Congratulations on behalf of the entire CCNY board and staff!"

 OMG!!!

The winning spots are 1st, 2nd, and tie for 3rd place plus 12 honorable mentions.  Congrats to all the artists, who I'm sure are as excited as I am. 


See official announcement on the CCNY website.

---

4)

I submitted work to the Vanderbilt Republic (whom I showed with last year at 25CPW Gallery) and made it through the curatorial and voting phases - yayyy - so I will show with them again this month in AFTH 2012 (Art From The Heart)show at their new Gowanus Loft Location in Brooklyn, New York. 

These folks are the most playful and sweetest group of seriously solid quality artists around - because the founder of VR, George del Barrio sets the energy that way.  Light light light!

http://vanderbiltrepublic.com/

5)
Last but so not least - I just got back from Costa Rica. I went down to breathe sweet life into a new multidisciplinary project collaboration with local friend actor/artist Olger Ignacio Gonzalez and NYC friend/dancer/teacher/choreographer Roger C. Jeffrey.  It's a baby of a project now, but this was such a beautiful and INTENSE creative trip that it will have its own post later in the year after further development.  But for now - think dance/film/photography/social-art project.  Yummy-liciousness.

Roger snappin' lights of inspiration - hahaha :)

Lft to Rt: Roger, Margarette, me, Olger. As you see we got to hang with my mama too!

 

Roger and Olger: Plaza de la Democracia

More photos + show dates and gallery locations coming up in another post soon.

This year keeps slapping me and hugging me at the same time people! Happy Summer to you all - hope to see you at a couple shows - and live-life-live-life-live-life and lift someone in a hug too while you're at it!

*Other 3 artist in Mutual Gallery show in November:
Olivia McGilchrist, Leasho Johnson, and Marvin Bartley

RELATED POSTS:

Next SeBiArt Show - New York City/Central Park West (Nov 2011)
SeBiArt News: Running on Joy (July 2011)
SeBiArt Getting Award for LIQUID (July 2010)