I Kan Do Dat curated by Danny Simmons and Oshun Layne.

I Kan Do Dat

January 25, 2014

I Kan Do Dat curated by Danny Simmons and Oshun Layne.

In the past week there have been three art openings at three different galleries that are all part of the same massive exhibition of contemporary abstraction "I Kan Do Dat" curated by Danny Simmons and Oshun Layne.  This exhibition ties in 87 artists of all cultural backgrounds and a huge spectrum of materials and techniques in Contemporary Abstraction.  The galleries involved include Rush Arts Gallery in Chelsea, a Skylight Gallery at Restoration Plaza in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn, and Selena Gallery in the LIU downtown Brooklyn campus.

I am pleased to have an older painting often in the exhibition "earth Filters" a mixed media piece on canvas from 2009.  While the piece might be a little older it was great to bring it out for an exhibition.  My work is on view at Selena Gallery in Downtown Brooklyn.

This exhibition I Kan Do Dat ties together the founding principles of Rush Arts Gallery Beautifully.  There is some very strong work in the exhibitions at all three locations.  It is excellent to see the work of 2012 Rush Artist in Residence Cullen Washington Jr at Rush Arts Gallery along with the 90 year old minimalist painter Kendall Shaw.  Rush Arts also has a wall installation by the founder of Aljira Art Center Carl Hazlewood that combines materials, geometry, and line into a one time experience installation.  Rush Arts recently brought the work if Selin Balci to Select Art Fair in Miami and her bio art was featured in Signs of Life at Corridor Gallery.  It was excellent to see her abstract  "paintings" that are actually microorganisms grown in bio labs in the I Kan Do Dat exhibition.  Something I can definitely not do.

The sculptural installation of Musa Hixson at Skylight Gallery is not to be missed.  His blending of organic form with wood and paper constructions reminds me of my connection to the earth.  Musa was recently featured in an exhibition at Rush Arts Gallery titled physically practiced curated by myself, Charlotte Mouquin.  Also at Skylight Gallery is a stunning wall drawing by Lissete Morel that uses her body and large gestural marks.  Skylight has classic masters of contemporary abstraction from Ed Clarke, Ellsworth Ausby and Greg Coates to young artists inspired by them including an installation by Amber Robles-Gordon and the heavy black 3 dimensional paintings of Gabriel J. Shuldiner.

Selena Gallery at LIU had it's own unique mix of abstract painters including a large red abstraction by Michael Mut, the founder of the Love Yourself Project and a large pen drawing by Melissa Mathews.  Of course Selena gallery also includes my own painting so do stop by LIU campus to check out the work.

I Kan Do Dat will be on view at all three galleries grouch Feb. 22nd 2014.  I couldn't think of a more beautiful way to kick of the 2014 art exhibition season than with this expansive multi-venue gallery exhibition. Maybe you think you can do that but can you? Or do you? Here are 87 artists that do.

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I Kan Do Dat 

Rush Arts Gallery

January 16^th- February 22^nd, 2014

Skylight Gallery

January 18^th- February 28^th, 2014

Salena Gallery

January 24^th – February 22^nd, 2014

Rush Arts Gallery in collaboration with Skylight Gallery of Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Plaza and Salena Gallery of Long Island University Downtown, present I Kan Do Dat, an exhibition including 87 artists curated by Danny Simmons and Oshun Layne.

I Kan Do Dat explores contemporary abstraction through drawing, painting, collage, printmaking and sculpture.  This exhibition showcases the range of visual vocabulary within the language of abstraction. Using large-scale physical brush strokes, intricate visual symbols, layering of mediums and alternative materials the artists in I Kan Do Dat showcase universal truths. Drawing from numerous cultural and spiritual backgrounds, lines, shapes, and forms all have meanings that become truly personal to everyone.

Artists include: Pamella Allen, Ellsworth Ausby, Selin Balci, Kennis Baptiste, Che Baraka, Kimberly Becoat, Herb Bennett, Leonardo Benzant, Bob Blackburn, Frank Bowling, Aleathia Brown, Willie Mae Brown, Ramona Candy, Daren Chambers, Mary Chang, Lawrence Charity, Dudley Charles, Tafadzwa Chiriga, Ayn S. Choi, Ed Clarke-Cobat, Greg Coates, Miriam Costanza, Cleaster Cotton, Adger Cowans, Cedric Cox, Diane Davis, Paul Deo, Robin Feld, Glenn Fischer, Veronique Gambier, Donald Giovany, Sheila Goloborotko, Garry Grant, Cheryl Green, Dick Griffin, Sarah Hall, Whitney Harris, Kathleen Hayek, Carl Hazlewood, Linda Hiwot, Musa Hixson, Tomas Hull, Gerald Jackson, Jamillah Jennings, Al Johnson, Anders Knutsson, Norman Lewis, Julian Lorber, Miguel Martinez-Riddle,  Barry Mason, Melissa Matthews,  Julie Mchargue, Damali Miller, Al Miller, Louis Mims,  Lisette Morel,  Tomo Mori,  Charlotte Mouquin,  Michael Mut, Adedola Olugebefola, Donovan Nelson, Ba Djibril Ngawa, Tony Papa,  Lawrence Philps,  Amalia Piccinini,  Sherry Rader, Mike Rader, Dennis Redmooon Darkeem, Kristin Reed,  Roderick Richardson, Amber Robles-Gordon, Terry Rosenberg, Kendall Shaw, Linda Shere, Gabriel J. Shuldiner, Diane Smith, Atanaska Tassart,  Lawrence Terry, Thurston Randall, Sidney Peter Turner, Shenna Vaughn,  Cullen Washington Jr.,  Arlington Weithers,  Jack White,  Frank Wimberly, Kennedy Yanko, and Art Zamora.

For inquiries please contact:

Oshun Layne at olayne@ruchphilanthropic.org (Rush Arts Gallery)

Che Baraka at cbaraka@gmail.com (Skylight Gallery)

Nancy Grove at ngrove@liu.edu (Salena Gallery)

above Artists on view at RUSH Arts Gallery - 526 W 26th St #311, New York, NY

above Artists on view at Skylight Gallery, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Plaza, 1368 Fulton St 3rd Fl, Brooklyn, NY

above Artists on view at Salena Gallery, LIU Downtown Campus, 1 University Plaza, Brooklyn, NY

Dreaming Reality at Corridor Gallery Guest Curated by Sabrina Yasmin Smith

Corridor Gallery is very pleased to have recently worked with guest Curator Sabrina Y. Smith to create the exhibition Dreaming Reality on view at Corridor Gallery January 26th - March 15th 2014.

J Swofford Thoughts, 16" x 20" fiber based hand-printed photograph on oriental paper

 Sabrina Y. Smith came to Rush Arts and Corridor Gallery through the curatorial submission process of 2013.  She is a young up and coming curator currently living a bi-coastal lifestyle between NYC and LA.  She is an incredible artist advocate and writer who has traveled through 20 countries by the age of 25.  This gives her a beautiful global perspective and the power to bring together artists from several countries.  In Dreaming Reality at Corridor Gallery we celebrate the art of Fabrice Cazenave, Ahmet Murat Karayilan, John Ransom Phillips'  J Swofford, Sebastian Wahl.  The exhibition ties together painting, collage, photography and resin constructions that take the viewer on a journey somewhere between dream and reality. 

She has also created the blog Art Gypsy Tales which is a collection of artist interviews.  She has posted over 90 artist interviews in the past year.  Please check it out http://www.artgypsytales.com/

Find her curatorial statement about Dreaming Reality below for more information.

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Sebastian Wahl, Aquatic Mandala, 48" x 48" collage on resin

Dreaming Reality

Curated by Sabrina Y.Smith

In search for their most intimate selves, and the underlining truth that ties us all, the following artists, through different outlets - meditation, psychedelic drugs, dreams, hypnosis – attempt to access the subconscious mind, and reveal the information it holds. Speaking an unknown language that we somehow understand, they weave altogether a kaleidoscopic narrative of the mind.

J Swofford's Riddle of The Echo series translates the dream-like scenes of the unconscious to the conscious. The exploration of enigmatic symbols, which are

associated with memories and dreams, spark a cascade of allusions and connections in the

mind of the viewer. The photographs, obtained with a Metol formula mix made by the artist, are printed in the darkroom (none of these compositions are digitally manipulated) on silver gelatin paper. The process further underlines the unsettling immersion into an unpredictable world guided by instinct and feeling.

Sebastian Wahl is a mind explorer who recreates its imagery into intricate psychedelic landscapes. His resin collages reveal colorful and familiar images, meticulously layered into three-dimensional narratives - offering limitless depths and reflecting the multi- layered nature of the mind. Some works contain 'glow-in-the-dark' shapes inspired by sacred geometry, revealing secret messages when the lights turn off. One may find recurring characters or symbols, acting like omens, telling a larger story together.

Ahmet Murat Karayilan 's work focuses on Heidegger's concept of Dasein, which characterizes human existence as "Being" (versus Cartesian "thinking"), where the subconscious - rather than the conscious - is the defining trait. In these works, Karayilan's figures are omnipresent by their absence: they are a part of the image, yet their environment seems to be shaped by their own mind.

John Ransom Phillips' Sleeping Presidents painting series is interested in showing how one's dreams are ultimately one's true reality. Phillips imagines the dreams of America's forty-three presidents, revealing an intimate and unexplored side to these iconic figures, and ultimately humanizing them. Echoing Walt Whitman, Phillips says of these works, “I am dreaming all the dreams of Grant, Obama, Reagan, Washington, ... And then I

become them.”

Fabrice Cazenave seeks inspiration in high awareness states by drawing blind-folded, or even under hypnosis. His work is an experience of reality throughout all the senses. In reaching a state of trance, Cazenave relives a palette of sensations and emotions that he simultaneously draws. Guided by his hearing, smell, taste, and touch - he lets the

sensations restore the most faithful image. The experience calls for an extreme concentration and a complete disconnect with time - strongly guided by his subconscious.

Dreaming Reality is an invitation to enter the subconscious mind. One can map the recurring symbols, situations and characters that thread each work. This exhibit not only shows individual realities but reveals the bonding narrative – our common truth - one that may impact the viewer's own subconscious, behavior and life.

Ahmet Murat Karayilan, The Queen Cassiopeia, 23" x 35" oil and collage on canvas

Drawn Truly at Corridor Gallery 1/26/14-3/15/14

  It is my great pleasure to be bringing this portrait exhibition to Corridor Gallery.  Drawn Truly came together over time and solidified when I re-saw the work of Al Burts in Miami at Select Art Fair exhibiting with International Visions Gallery.  I also met the artist Vernando Reuben while exhibiting the work of ruby onyinychi amanze with Rush Arts Gallery in Miami and Select Art Fair.  While reviewing the Rush Arts Gallery artist submissions I was taken with the work of Alphonso Dunn.  Alphonso comes from a chemestry background but recently aquired his MFA from the New York Academy, he is an incredible art educator and artist.  I hope to work with all of these artists again soon.  In the meantime join us at Corridor Gallery in Brooklyn to check out this group exhibition, Drawn Truly. 

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Corridor Gallery
334 Grand Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11238
718-230-5002

Drawn Truly
Curated by Charlotte Mouquin

January 26th – March 15th 2014

Corridor Gallery Project Space is pleased to present Drawn Truly, an exhibition curated by Charlotte Mouquin, that includes ruby onyinyechi amanze, Al Burts, Alphonso Dunn, and Vernando Reuben. January 26th-March 15th 2014. Located at 334 Grand Ave, Brooklyn, NY.  Drawn Truly brings together identities and tender artists’ thoughts through figurative rendering, abstraction and the imagined reflecting contemporary cultures. 

Alphonso Dunn, Itty Bitty Black Box, charcoal, Crayon, pastel, pencil, acrylic, 25" x 37" 2013

Through drawing, Alphonso Dunn, Jamaican born with a recent MFA from the New York Academy, reflects the inner workings of people and their interactions. Paraphernalia of Perception examines the contrasts between abstraction and representation, reflecting adult themes with childlike drawing punctuating the compositions. These drawings become letters asking questions about the society we have created.

Vernando Reuben, untitled, mixed media on paper, 24"x 38"

The layered mixed media drawings of Vernando Reuben examine the multiple facets of identity through the creation and destruction of mask like-forms, collage, and mark making. His portraits are metaphors for post-millennium cultural integration that combine spiritual and altruistic sensibilities.

Al Burts, Nefertiti, The Beautiful One, Ballpoint Pen on Wood, 26" x 38" 2013

Two time Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series finalist in Washington, DC Al Burts, explores identity through portraiture by combining realism and symbolism. His portraits on unprimed canvas and raw wood panels depict strong figures with intimate tribal tattoos covering their skin. The detail and softness in the mark making is done using a ballpoint pen.   

ruby onyinyechi amanze, ada, Pencil, fluorescent marker | 50 x 31.5 inches 2013

ruby onyinyechi amanze, a Brooklyn based artist of Nigerian birth and British upbringing, is influenced by her own cultural hybridity. Her portrait of Ada, an afro-futurist alter ego born in the galaxy of black-eyed peas, has her partially seated above her birthplace with ghostly eyes. The portrait shows a statuesque figure with fully rendered forms and areas of openness using the whiteness of the page.  Amanze was recently awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Nigeria 2012-2013.

Each of these drawings are Drawn Truly and speaking a societal truth about the artist and community. Though intimate rendering and explicit mark making each artist is bringing a new perspective to drawing, combining the personal with the world at large.