SummerSpace Closing Reception: Artist Talk Picnic-Panel

Closing Reception for SummerSpace: Artist Talk Picnic-Panel
Curtis Carman, Jessica Rosen, Petra Valentova talk on their art, Anna Lisa Jensen and myself talk on the Seasonal Coalition and the first year run through, the LMCC grant for next year and the open call for WinterSpace.

These do-it-yourself events are always really fulfilling, especially when people say yes and show up. The exchange was terrific and I am so grateful for my artist community.

Steve Tyler and Daydreamer

...and over at the Alma G. Salon in NYC, Steve Tyler poses in front of my painting Daydreamer...the sight of it makes me "Crazy".

Johnson & Johnson Gallery, 2010

“The Mott” (Yao Zu Lu, Justin Yu, Sheldon Silver, Nikki Schiro)

© Nikki Schiro 2009

Exhibition at J&J with fellow Resident Artists of the Creative Center

Summer Space

SummerSpace

Opening November 13, 2009
Curtis Carman, Jessica Rosen, Petra Valentova, Julia Whitney Barnes
Curated by Nikki Schiro

I joined forces with artists Anna Lise Jensen and Jo Q. Nelson, and found myself part of Seasonal Coalition, which is essentially a group of artists aligned on our mutual interest in mixing up public, private and functional aspects of exhibition spaces. We operate autonomously, seasonally and independently produce a section for a shared post-exhibition catalog.


For SummerSpace, I was interested in making a group show that was abstractly about relationships, but was primarily about the work; a show that was visually comprehensible and did not need a two-page "curator manifesto" to understand. (I really have never liked, with few exceptions of course, being forced to read at visual events) I convinced two close friends to lend me the unused back portion of their Chelsea office loft, which I transformed into a space suitable to show work, bartering my own artwork in for construction and supplies.

The artists selected for SummerSpace radicalize traditional forms and ideas by their play with relationships. They bring the viewer a new and unexpected experience, each within their own language. I featured work from Curtis Carmen, Jessica Rosen, Petra Valentova and Julia Whitney Barnes.

Propuesta 5, artist talk and workshop at Baron

We had three sessions with kids, where we collaborated with their teachers to get them to the gallery. One group we had a workshop with, framed and hung their work within our show and had them back for an opening reception (which doubled as our closing reception). It was awesome. (Thank You Baron for making it possible.)

...and here's me talking to these very cool kids and their teacher

Propuesta 5 at Baron

Propuesta 5
Opening November 12, 2009
Baron Main Gallery, Hells Kitchen NYC

Propuesta 5 is a New York artist collective comprised of Carlos Chavez, Jose Felix Moya, Jorge Posada, Nikki Schiro, and Jaime Vasquez, artists from various Latino backgrounds. The group is bound primarily by their dedication to making art professionally and by the common threads of their Latin Culture. The group provides a platform for artistic exchange and is interested in collaboration, activism and public engagement. Baron's main gallery exhibited the group's work and supported their mission November 2009-January 2010.