City Art Lab: Highlights from our exhibition opening

Proud recipient of a City Art Lab certificate of accomplishment

Congratulations are in order to all City Art Lab artists and teaching artists on their tremendous efforts over the past 12 weeks!

Our culminating exhibition reception was a rollicking celebration of their success, thanks to all who came to show support for these young artists.

If you were not able to attend our opening, there is still time to see the show! Head over to Gallery M (123 W.135th) before Friday, May 17th. The gallery will be open until 7pm on Thursday the 16th.

Enjoy the photos!

Collages, stencil pieces, and vinyl hangings from the Value Group

Sculptures and mixed-media pastel drawings from the Perception group

Admiring art, admiring artists

The artist and her work

Mixed-media collage from the Value group

Each teen artist included an artist statement

City Art Lab: Prepping for the show!

This week in the City Art Lab studios, our teen artists were reunited with all the works-in-progress that have been sitting on the shelf waiting to be completed and hung in our culminating exhibition!

Speaking of which… come to our Opening Reception!                                                         This Friday (5/10) at Gallery M from 5-7pm!

**************************************

After spending some time drafting artist statements (to give viewers a better understanding of who they are as artists and why they create what they do), the teen artists found a piece they’d been itching to finish up and got down to business.

All the teaching artists’s hands were on deck to assist where necessary, giving the students a chance to have quality one-one-one time with these new artist/mentors.

 

 

City Art Lab: Thinking Bigger

This week marked the culminating session for the 3rd round of teaching artists as well as less tangible yet more significant milestone: the true self-direction of the City Art Lab students. Scroll down to read about how the teen artists have cohered as a group and are making collaborative work independent of the teaching artists.

*************************

The perception group collaborates on a ‘visual letter’ using chalk pastels

Perception Group: Art Comes with a Message    

Teaching artists: Geraldine Javier and Marina Massaro

Brainstorming on the whiteboard (another enemy of chalk…?)

In preparation for their lesson on public artwork, Teaching Artists Marina and Geraldine came across and interesting dilemma: How can we encourage students to make work in public if it is illegal to do so?

They took an activist approach by encouraging the students to question the illegality of public chalk-ing. Through a class brainstorm session, the group decided to write a ‘visual letter’ to city officials stating their feelings on the ban on using chalk on city property.

 

 

To recreate the experience of making public artwork  as best possible, the class took their chalking efforts outdoors and wrote out their visual letter on a large piece of sheetrock (the texture bears a resemblance to that of sidewalks and buildings). The teen artists worked collaboratively to create their message, giving each other critique, suggestions, and encouragement along the way. One student was overheard asking another, “If that person is behind bars, why do they have a smile on their face?” Several students weighed in on how they thought the figures should be represented, demonstrating a seriously democratic artmaking process!

*************************

Value Group: Connecting with Your Cultural Heritage

Teaching Artists: Erica Vega and Adan Garcia

El Anatsui’s Versatility (2006)

This week in the Value studio, Adan introduced the group to the work of El Anatsui, highlighting the Ghanaian sculptor’s use of materials and cultural connections. Special attention was paid to the artist’s  monumental wall hangings as they served as a jumping-off point for the students’ art making. See more of Anatsui’s work at his one-man show Gravity and Grace, up now at The Brooklyn Museum until August 4th!

A unique twist on tape!

Inspired by Anatsui’s repeated use of manipulated found objects, students multiplied the watercolor and pastel symbols they’d started the previous week, cutting them out and ‘weaving’ them into nearly wall-sized sheets of clear plastic vinyl — no description can do these works justice!

Come to our opening exhibition on May 10th to see the finished products! See you at Gallery M (123 W. 135th St.) in Harlem from 5 – 7 pm!

City Art Lab-sters brush off the (pastel) dust!

The 3rd floor of Shepard Hall was abuzz this week as the 3rd round of teaching artists kicked things into high gear!

ALSO: Don’t forget to mark your calendars for:

City Art Lab’s culminating exhibition!

Gallery M (123 135th St.)  on May 10th from 5-7pm!

*************************

Perception Group: Art Comes with a Message    

Teaching artists: Geraldine Javier and Marina Massaro

Is it the weather? The snacks? Getting together with others to make art? Something is making the members of the Perception group pretty happy!

In an effort to drive home the message that art can does not have to be confined to museums and galleries, Marina and Geraldine took advantage of the gorgeous weather and took the class on a walk. Strolling the campus grounds, the group discussed context for one’s artwork, especially when the work has a specific message or concerns a certain setting. They considered which public spaces are best for making a statement and which methods/materials work best for different spaces.

Geraldine has a message for the students!

Sharing their sheetrock pieces

Once back in the classroom, students were each handed their own “piece of a gallery wall” AKA section of sheetrock which served as a base for their messages. Students used pastels to give visual life to their messages, creatively blending text and image on their very own piece of a wall. 

*************************

Value Group: Connecting with Your Cultural Heritage

Teaching Artists: Erica Vega and Adan Garcia

Mixing media

The Value group narrowed their focus this week, examining relationships between people who share a common cultural background. Adan and Erica fired up the LED projector and shared a video from the 2010 MoMA show, Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present where the Yugoslavian performance artist spent two months sitting silently in MoMA’s galleries and invited museum goers to sit opposite.

http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2010/marinaabramovic/

Students also got an introduction to the work of artist and filmmaker Nikki Lee, focussing specifically on her piece Projects (1997-2001). For this photographic series, the artist, a young Korean American woman, would dress up as and assimilate into various ethnic and cultural groups documenting the process all along in the form of shapshots. Click on the link to see her posing as a punk, a Korean schoolgirl, and even an elderly woman (amongst other guises).

http://www.tonkonow.com/lee_projects_2.html

 

The students thought about relationships in their own lives and make artwork using pastel, watercolor, or a combination of the two! In the final 15 minutes of class, everyone  walked around the classroom writing comments on each other’s work — a less stressful form of critique!

City Art Lab: New teaching artists, new techniques to be dazzled by

This week on the third floor of Shepard Hall, new sets of teaching artists stepped into the studios City Art Lab armed with charcoal, brayers, and slide presentations with a single goal in mind: to inspire young artists.

Check out how it all unfolded…

Perception Group: Art Comes with a Message    

Teaching artists: Geraldine Javier and Marina Massaro

Linocutting in the sunlight.
[note: this student was later corrected in his cutting technique and his fingers were unharmed]

 After the teaching artists and students became acquainted with one another, Geraldine and Marina booted up the LED projector to guide a conversation about getting a message across through your artwork. Students discussed works of art by artists Keith Haring and Banksy, artists who both provocatively put their works in public spaces.

 Through a blindfolded, Hokey Pokey-like dance in the hallway, the students were paired up and spent time finding commonalities between them. They shared the statement that best represented what they had in common as artists with excitingly varied results. While one group expressed their mutual appreciation of Batman, another discovered that they both deplore ‘overthinking.’ 

After all groups had a chance to share, the art making commenced! Individually, the students drew symbols to represent the idea they shared with their partner which was then turned into a linoleum print!

Beware ‘overthinking’!

Fresh-pulled print. “We love Batman!”

Linocut guru Geraldine provides printing tips

Value Group: Connecting with Your Cultural Heritage

Teaching Artists: Erica Vega and Adan Garcia

While the Perception group was doing the ‘get to know you’ shuffle and cutting into linoleum, the Value team was busy getting to know each other through their artwork. After the students shared and described the works from the previous City Art Lab rotations, teaching artists Adan and Erica introduced themselves through charcoal pieces which reflected their heritage.

During a slide presentation which displayed how artists from around the world use art to connect with their heritage, students considered the ways we can use visual language to communicate how our cultural backgrounds and traditions form who we are.

Teaching artist Erica poses for a student’s sketch

The group then took advantage of the gorgeous spring weather by making some charcoal sketches in the City College quad. The teaching artists challenged students to really think about the people they see on campus and try to capture their emotions in their sketchbooks.

Back in the studio, putting the finishing touches on a charcoal drawing.

The goateed man she was drawing asked to see what she came up with — he loved it! Though the girls were thoroughly embarrassed.

Artist Profile of the Week – Zack Albanese

City Art Lab: Getting Back to Business

We’re back!

It was clear that the City Art Lab-sters had a full battery recharge following their well-deserved break — once all the class members had arrived, they wasted no time in rolling up their sleeves and getting down to business.

Keep scrolling for some in-progress sneak peek shots of the artwork that will be featured in our culminating exhibition!!!

Gallery M (123 135th St.)  on May 10th!

 Save the date!!!

details to follow…

******************

After having a week off for Spring break, the Value group dove right back into creating art around the value of Place exploring how artists use this idea as a way to connect with their audience.

Teaching artists Chuck and Jess kicked off their session with a recap of the first two weeks followed by an introduction to a new perspective on place; focus shifted from art installed in a particular place to artwork inspired by the identity and experiences of a location.

See more of Eldon’s work at http://www.daneldoncollection.com/life-work/

The value group looked at the work of British photojournalist Dan Eldon, an artist who created collaged journals which depict different journeys he has embarked upon in his life.

A page from Sabrina Ward Harrison’s many journals

The class then looked at the work of Sabrina Ward Harrison, a Canadian artist whose work frequently takes the from of journals. Like Eldon, her work portrays the human spirit in day-to-day life by focussing on the affect  places have on our life experiences.

Zine-making underway!

Following the lead of teaching artist Jess in a paper-folding demo, the Value students learned to make their own 6-page journal (or zine, short for magazine) from a single sheet of paper! The rest of the class time was devoted to transforming their zine into an an account of a place that has meaning to them.

************************************************

Kelly provides some advice for a detailed graphite drawing

In the Perception room, Maileen, Tina, and Kelly set up their materials-specific workstations and let the students loose to finish the projects they’d begun before the break.

At a certain point, the teachers experienced that best kind of classroom aimlessness: the students were all so intensely and intently focussed on their projects that the teachers weren’t even needed. The teachers asserted themselves at various points to offer critique and encouragement as well as setting up opportunities for students to learn from and critique each other.

As time wound down, the teaching artists brought the art-making to an end and played some rousing, carnivalesque music to set a lively tone for a musical chairs-style critique.

Nary a hand was clean at the sculpture table!

Sculpture? Painting? It’s up the the viewer to decide!

I

City Art Lab – Spraying. Wrapping. Painting with String

Alright, now the ball is really rolling for the second rotation! The students in both groups wasted no time getting to work on their projects – the cutting, spraying, gluing, slopping, and bending immediately after the teaching artists said ‘go!’ (and, of course, after a quick snack).

The Value of Place – Place Matters

Teaching Artists: Jess Roseboom & Chuck Kushla

Team Value got struck poses to start off today’s class, they got into groups to make human sculptures while their classmates worked to guess what their poses represented. A discussion of where the sculptures belong brought them back to their guiding idea of ‘place’ and brought them back to the mylar stencils they’d started cutting last week. 

Once they’d gotten through a sufficient amount of cutting on their stencils, Teaching Artists Jess and Chuck urged the students to pick up the spray bottles and apply their stencil designs to large pieces of high-quality watercolor paper.

Exploring Identity: Seeking out a Medium

Teaching Artists: Maileen Arroyo-Santiago, Tina Fernandez, and Kelly Martin

Over on the Perception side, Teaching Artists Tina, Maileen, and Kelly set up workstations where students became experts in sculpture, painting, and ink drawing.

Intrigued?? Check back after spring break to see the products!

Kelly showed students the work of some inspiring artists to get them in the mood for ink painting. In addition to some more traditional materials, Kelly encouraged students to ink up some string for some experimental drawings. 

Students at Maileen’s workstation test out a variety of painting materials. 

With Tina at the helm of the sculpture table, students manipulated wire and wrapped all manner of material with papier-mâché and plaster strips.

City Art Lab: Rotation 2 commences!

Believe it or not, City Art Lab 2013 is now 5 weeks old! And while we say, “See ya soon!” to the first rotation’s teaching artists, we welcome 5 new teachers in to the studios.

Things got messy in a good way in both classes; students on the Value side sprayed their way to some high-chroma stencil prints while the ever-perceptive Perception group rolled up their sleeves and formed some clay masterpieces. Pretty amazing what they’re able to come up with in 2 and 1/2 hours!

The Value of Place – Place Matters

Teaching Artists: Jess Roseboom & Chuck Kushla

What is place? Why does it matter?

Where are YOU from?

The second crop of Teaching Artists have started their 3 week rotation! The Value group started out by learning where everyone was from and identifying places they would like to visit.The group then looked at work from a some inspiring street artists whose works serve as a response to issues in their community.

C215 is a French artist who creates intricately designed, multi-layered stencils which honor the lives of those who may have been disregarded. Some works feature images of children and shopkeepers while others highlight issues of homelessness.

C215 also known as Christian Guemy- view more works here: http://www.c215.com

Momo is a Brooklyn based street artist that uses abstract geometry with pre existing architecture. His work aims to draw attention to neglected community areas like rooftops and alleyways.

A collaboration between Momo and other artist.
To view more work by Momo visit: http://momoshowpalace.com/

Rolling away with the stencils…

After being introduced to these artists the students got busy cutting their own stencils from mylar and printing them in vivid colors squirted from spray bottles! Check back next week to see their progress!

Exploring Identity: Seeking out a Medium

Teaching Artists: Maileen Arroyo-Santiago, Tina Fernandez, and Kelly Martin

Paper sculptures

The perception group’s second round of teaching artists got things moving by starting the class off with a series of sculpture activities. Using the words Pride, Greed, Sloth, Joy, and Glee as inspiration, the students made maquettes from scrap paper before moving on to clay for their final sculptures.

Smoothing out a clay sphere

Once all of their sculptures were finished, the students walked around the tables and tried to determine which word was being represented in each piece. The variety of interpretations sparked a class conversation about how we represent our ideas and how one’s work is perceived by others.

***City Art Lab got a nice big shipment of supplies in this week — check back to see what the students make from this art material bounty!

City Art Lab: Winding up Rotation One

This was the 3rd and final day for students to put any finishing touches on their first projects of the semester . The rooms were full of vibrant colors and creative vibes. The perception group was busy reconstructing recollections of the past. They repurposed cigar boxes as containers for their memories boxes. At the conclusion of the art class, Teaching Artists Julia and Olivia asked the students to identify the work of a classmate that they found striking.

The value group also picked up their projects right where they left them last week. Students who had been using cloth material the week before were now experimenting with paint. Students who were previously working in 2 dimensions, built up sculptural elements in their pieces. After they completed their collages, the students delved deep into a critique session facilitated by Teaching Artists Rafael and Valeska.  Students were assigned prompt questions at random to reflect upon their pieces.