Category Archives: Newark

We Are The Ghosts of Our Future: on view through dec. 22

Index Art Center
2nd floor main gallery
237 Washington St.
Newark, NJ, 07102

‘We Are the Ghosts of Our Future’ encapsulates the analog portion of The Newark Artists Photo Documentary Project. Utilizing vintage Jem Jr. box cameras manufactured in Newark in the 1940s, Colleen Gutwein O’Neal forgoes the slow and methodical techniques of portraiture in favor of a more urgent and instinctive approach. A process that archives artists’ personalities in fuzzy, mysterious images emerging against a backdrop of vanishing architecture, forgotten places and artists’ workspaces. Putting forth a diverse cross-section of participants, the ghostly prints provide a subtle yet provocative commentary on the place of the artist in today’s society and the importance of honoring and documenting their contributions.

“ The camera was manufactured in Newark on Jelliff Ave in the 1940’s by the J.E. Mergott Company, and helps me to stray from the perfection of a digital image, and document these artists through my own artistic process. The gritty, fuzzy Jem Jr. images allow for disruption, ambiguity, and self-reflection by viewers, and create a truly unique perspective on archiving working artists. “ -Colleen Gutwein O’Neal

The Jem Jr. images are created in conjunction with modern, digital portraits depicting the artists in their studios or homes. The growing digital archive, the first such directory of significant visual artists in Newark, provides a useful tool and networking resource for the community at large and beyond. This portion of the project can be viewed at: https://www.newarkartsphotodoc.com/

Photography on view at the new Marcus Samuelsson restaurant in Newark

It was a pleasure working with the curator from Marcus Samuelsson’s new restaurant in Newark,  Marcus B&P.  There was a strong intention to represent Newark artists inside the new restaurant, and they were happy to have The Newark Arts Photo Documentary Project website as a resource.  Meet me for a photoshoot at Shine, and a celebratory cocktail after…all in the same spot, hard to believe that I used to live right across the street.

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Portraits on the SHINE website

May 5th was an incredibly grand opening of Express Newark.  As a community partner at SHINE portrait studio, I offered black and white portraits to visitors, collaborators, and staff. Check out some of the featured images, and take some time to explore all that SHINE is involved in Here: https://www.shineportrait.com/opening

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2017 Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program

I am super excited to be a mentor in the NYFA 2017 Immigrant Mentor Program: Newark, with support from the Ford Foundation.

“The program’s goal is to foster a local community of immigrant artists through entrepreneurial training, access to other artists, arts professionals, and organizations. It will offer 18 immigrant artists the opportunity to focus on their creative practice and gain support and exposure for their work while upholding their distinct cultural identities by combining two of NYFA’s professional development programs” – NYFA

Read the full article HERE: current.nyfa.org

Honored to be a community partner at SHINE Portrait Studio

Image credit: Kati Vilim

SHINE is a working portrait photography studio that facilitates and supports the expression and self-representation of the Newark, New Jersey community.

SHINE Community PartnersFrom its foundation, Shine has been built together with Community Partners who are artists, photographers, entrepreneurs and others whose work is committed to representing the City of Newark, NJ in a positive light. Community Partners have 24/7 access to the studio, equipment and staff support to pursue their independent practices. They have renewable one-year contracts and pursue projects and workshops that benefit the larger community. Community Partners are part of an Advisory Council that meets on a monthly basis to discuss issues of access, programming events and projects, and the studio’s overall needs.

Community Partners are invited to join Shine through long-term, ongoing conversations and relationship-building with the Director, Studio Supervisor, and current Community Partners.

https://www.shineportrait.com/residencies   

 

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INTERSECTION 2017 opening Friday, October 13th

‘Intersection’ features works by artists that have studios located at 31 Central Ave. and at 237 Washington St. in Newark, NJ.

Opening Reception will be on Friday, October 13, 6 – 11 pm

231 Central Artists: Jerry Gant, Katrina Bello, Akintola Hanif, Stephen Mckenzie, Kevin Merkel, William Oliwa, German Pitre, Kati Vilim, and Robert Shoup
237 Artists: Diana Palermo, Colin Sheilds, Patricia Dahlman, Kevin Durkin, Jeff Koroski, Colleen Gutwein, Lowell Craig, Jillian Keats, Peter Dougherty, Heidi Lorenz Wettach, Sohoah Lee, and Joseph O’Neal

Index Art Center exhibitions opening on Friday:
(follow links below for additional information, to rsvp, and to share) 

First Floor:
Art & Architecture of Newark presents Lisa Conrad: Urban Works
Main Space: Under The Same Sun: Democratic Spaces
works by Agnes Deja and Katherine Jackson.

Second Floor:
Main Space: Intersection 2017
IAC Side Gallery: Fern & Fossil 2017 Fall Pop-Up Shop

ArtReach XXV at City Without Walls

City Without Walls is pleased to present ArtReach XXV and a Newark New Media exhibition this summer. An opening reception will be held on Friday, June 16, 2017, 5-8pm.

ArtReach XXV will be on view at City Without Walls June 16 – August 26, 2017.

cWOW’s ArtReach program exposes local high school art students to the real lives of working artists. ArtReach offers encouragement, practical advice and guidance, and includes a high profile cWOW exhibition featuring collaborative work by the mentors and their students. The program, celebrating its 25th year, nurtures the next generation of artists and arts leaders with professional artists for a semester, engaging in dialogue through art talks, and visits to local art spaces. Students in this year’s program were sponsored in part by The Newark Print Shop, a community fine art printmaking workshop that provides affordable and accessible workspace.

This group exhibition features painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, installations and video by the following students and their mentors: Chevelle Ogbonna and James Blake, Marcus Everson and Layqa Nuna Yawar, Adelin Figueroa and Patricia Arias-Reynolds, Olga Melissa Tapia and Robert Richardson, Alonzo Lockhart and Matt Gosser, Gabrielle Johnson and Toni Thomas, Kayla Muldrow and Danielle Scott, Orchid Sylvester and Angela Pilgrim, Manuel Mejiá and Alverson Layne, Angela Johnson and Kristian Battell, Dylan Sánchez Quinteros and Colleen Gutwein, Taphara Lundy and Adrienne Wheeler, Chiara Quezada Hernández and James Wilson; and Jackson Bazile and Khari Johnson-Ricks.

City Without Walls is New Jersey’s oldest alternative art space. Our mission is to advance the careers of artists, expand the audience for contemporary art and provide opportunities for arts education and community engagement.

City Without Walls is the grateful recipient of donations and grant support from The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, the City of Newark, Tarin M. Fuller, and individual contributors.

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Grand opening of SHINE Portrait Studio

Join the celebration this Friday, May 5, 2017 for the grand opening of Express Newark and Shine Portrait Studio in Newark, NJ.  I will be shooting complimentary black & white portraits in the Shine Studio from 5-8pm, as part of a happening.   See the Small Forest contact page for directions to the studio.  Click HERE for information about the Express Newark grand opening celebration.  (accessible by train, bus, and car: parking deck available under the Hahne building, closes at 10pm)

I am very excited to be working with Matthew Gosser.  He will be providing set pieces for the photoshoot from his current curatorial programming: “Art & Artifacts of Newark”.

LANDHOLDINGS – Artist Led Gallery Tour and Community Discussion

Join us on Thursday March 30th, 2017 6-9pm at Index Art Center for an artist & curator led gallery tour of the exhibition Landholdings, followed by a community conversation dealing with local issues close to the theme of the exhibition. Artists will include: Anne Percoco, Ellie Irons, Jamie Bruno, and Sara Fox. Community discussion speakers will include: Lowell Craig from Index Art Center, Tobias Fox from Newark Science and Sustainability, and Ngu Asongwed from Shorty’s Skate Park.
LANDHOLDINGS is a multimedia exhibition focused on questioning the ownership and stewardship of the land we live on. The exhibition explores these ideas though an ascension from soil composition to the broader scale of cartography and all of the human relationships in between.

“When you answer the question, Who really owns the soil? wrote George McBride, a pioneer of the Green Revolution in Mexico, you lay bare the very foundations upon which its society is based, and reveal the fundamental character of many of it’s institutions.” – Andro Linklater Owning the Earth

Artists include: Nell Painter, Sara Fox, Mike Belleme, Anne Percoco, Ellie Irons, and Jamie Bruno

Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/686920874824262/

LANDHOLDINGS opening reception March 4, 2017

Index Art Center presents: LANDHOLDINGS.
Reception Saturday, March, 4, 7 to 10pm

LANDHOLDINGS is a multimedia exhibition focused on questioning the ownership and stewardship of the land we live on.
The exhibition explores these ideas through an ascension from soil composition to the broader scale of cartography and all of the human relationships in between.

“When you answer the question, Who really owns the soil? wrote George McBride, a pioneer of the Green Revolution in Mexico, you lay bare 
the very foundations upon which its society is based, and reveal the fundamental character of many of it’s institutions.” – Andro Linklater Owning the Earth

Curated by Colleen Gutwein

Exhibiting Artists:

Nell Painter is an artist and historian. In her series “Composite Maps” (Odalisque Atlas), Painter examines the ancient and contemporary locations of slave girls through cartography.

Sara Fox has taken her photo journalism to North Dakota in an essay from Standing Rock. Fox gives the viewer a glimpse into the present-day struggle over a Native American territory with disputed boundaries dating back to the 1800’s.

Mike Belleme points his lens into a mysterious subculture of people living off the excess of a society they have left behind in his photo essay “Wild Roots”. Foraging, dumpster diving, and the occasional hunt brings food to their off-grid cooperative, hidden deep in the forests of NC.

Anne Percoco explores migrant peoples relationship to the land in her “Weather Shield for a Migrant Dwelling”. Percoco designed a protective outer layer for a one family dwelling using the waste of plastic food wrappers. The shelter reflects the landscape surrounding it, as well as creates a localized cooling system within.

Ellie Irons & Anne Percoco have created an ongoing library, “The Next Epoch Seed Library”. This seed bank focuses on weedy species most likely to survive and thrive in a landscape dominated by human excess.

Jamie Bruno has spent years in both the art and agricultural worlds. Her installation focuses on the urban gardener, and the cultivation of polluted land into nutrient rich soil suitable for growing food.

As the Earth changes and people continue to migrate, we explore our deepest relationships with the earth and to each other through LANDHOLDINGS.

 

Also Happening-:
Index Side Gallery: “ANTI-PRINTS” by Joe Waks
27 Mix: Xplore Freedom
Gallery hours are by appointment.
Admission is free and open to the public.
This event is sponsored by our neighbors 27 Mix and Kilkenny Alehouse.