Kate Vitali's Thesis, Presentation on Jimmy DeSana by Drew Sawyer, SVA Show ft. Siva Ambrose, Chinatown Art Brigade, and Canal Street Research Association
Opening reception tonight for Kate Vitali's senior thesis, lecture this week at Pratt Institute on artist Jimmy DeSana by curator Drew Sawyer, + new exhibits by downtown-focused organizations.
Hi all,
Wanted to pass along some info on exciting exhibitions opening, closing, and events happening this week. I’ve listed some shows that I’ve been thinking about and wanting to see near the end of this newsletter— let me know what you’re thinking about, too. Also for all the photographers out there, artist Matthew Leifheit’s MATTE Magazine has opened their first ever open call for Issue 62: Exciting Photography Now, edited by Leifheit and New York Times Photo Editor Eve Lyons. Deadline is April 1st, and it’s free to submit.
Now for the happenings—
Kate Vitali's Have You Seen This Man? "Richard”; Pratt Institute BFA in Photography Thesis Exhibition: Week 7 at Pratt Institute (200 Willoughby Ave., ARC Building, Lower Level, Pratt Photo Gallery)
Opening reception tonight, 3/20 5pm-8pm; on view through Friday, 3/24
I met Vitali 5 years ago through artists and friends Lola Lafia & Ellis Shapiro-Barnum who had been taking an advanced year-long Imagemakers course with Vitali at the International Center of Photography. I had just begun taking an intro to black and white photography class, while they were all gearing up for a final exhibition in the school’s gallery. Excited to revisit her work in another gallery viewing with her college thesis. To RSVP, please contact Vitali on Instagram @katevitalii
Pratt Photography Talks: Jimmy DeSana Presented by Drew Sawyer at Pratt Institute (200 Willoughby Ave., ARC Building, Lower Level, E2 Lecture Hall)
Wednesday, 3/22 2pm
I’m deeply upset to be working during this time as I’ve been following both curator Sawyer and DeSana’s work for some time now. I recently just listened to a wonderful conversation between artist Jordan Weitzman & Sawyer on Weitzman’s podcast, Magic Hour. Lecture is free with RSVP.
If you are not a member of the Pratt Community and you wish to attend this in-person talk, register via the link in our bio. Visitors will need to clear Pratt Covid protocols, further details will be provided once you register.
Chinatown Art Brigade: Degentrification Archives at Pace University Art Gallery (41 Park Row, 1st floor, Spruce St. entrance)
On view until Saturday, 3/25
I was reminded today on my feed that this is the last week of Chinatown Art Brigade’s exhibit Degentrification Archives which “includes archival material, photographs, videos, place-keeping maps, large scale projections, banners, and posters from direct actions spanning CAB’s seven-year history of actions. Additionally, the exhibition also celebrates the racial justice, housing rights, and community organizing history of CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities, CAB’s partner organization. In the dedicated lab space, a timeline highlights CAAAV’s nearly 37 history along with photographs, videos, and related ephemera.” The exhibit also includes “interactive media platforms like augmented reality (AR) and online mapping, [allowing] viewers [to] unpack and place the lived experience of evictions and gentrification.” Don’t forget to pick up a free copy of the exhibition catalog zine. For a greater glimpse into the exhibit, check out the recent Hyperallergic review.
Siva Ambrose; Mentors 2023 at the School of Visual Arts Chelsea Gallery (601 W 26th St., 15th Fl.)
On view through 3/27
I learned about Ambrose’s work through ceramicist and friend Tyler Green, and filmmaker and friend Emma Callahan. Unfortunately, I missed the opening reception of this senior year department group show, but saw some great photographs of Ambrose’s included print, Crimson Black & Brown (2022) online. Make sure to see the work in person along with that of her other peers.
The Mentors program in the BFA Photography and Video Department at SVA is designed to cultivate relationships between established and emerging artists and to introduce new talent to the broader community. Established in 1992, this program pairs select fourth-year students with key figures in the arts community, giving them professional insight into their work during a culminating point in their education
Canal Street Research Association's New Land Plaza: You Can’t Beat a New York Original at the Storefront for Art and Architecture (97 Kenmare St.)
Now on view until 5/27
I started following CSRA’s work when they began sharing through Instagram posts Canal St.’s cultural and social history in conversation with contemporary phenomenon happening along the once flowing canals. Through my college roommate Violet King’s invitation to join her class for a lecture at the Center for Curatorial Studies’s Hessel Museum of Art, I met CSRA’s founders, Ming Lin & Alex Tatarsky. I learned that Tatarsky was an alum of my high school, and proceeded to geek out on what teachers and professors we shared. I followed the cultural and educational organization’s work obsessively as time went on at settings like their former Canal St. headquarters above McDonalds or Printed Matter in Chelsea, but somehow still dropped the ball on attending the opening of this exhibition. Fortunately, the exhibit is on view until May. Looking forward to also learning more about the venue of the exhibit— Storefront, which has been “an independent, artist run forum that reframed the relationship between public and private space”— and continues to preserve and share its past exhibits dating back to its founding in 1982.
The exhibition examines a historic Canal Street counterfeit bust, tracing its historical antecedents in order to better understand current-day conditions. Featuring works by Ming Fay, a modular set of props designed in collaboration with architectural collective common room, and an active intervention on Storefront’s facade. Canal Street Research Association is currently offering ad space on the facade of 95 Kenmare, mimicking the increasingly frequent Lower Manhattan real estate phenomenon of prioritizing buildings as billboards. If rented, the accrued corporate funds will contribute towards realizing a re-staging of the Counterfeit Triangle in the form of a bootleg luxury ad campaign, to be created with Canal Street artisans and vendors as collaborators.
I haven’t been on my exhibit viewing as much as I would like but listing below some shows I’ve been meaning to check out, and others that I have recently checked out— in order of closing soonest to furthest.
Jimmy DeSana: Submission at the Brooklyn Museum (200 Eastern Parkway)
On view through 4/16
Barbara Ess: Inside Out at Magenta Plains (149 Canal St.)
On view through 4/22
Frederick Weston at Gordon Robichaux (41 Union Square West, #907)
On view through 4/23
Projects: Ming Smith at the Museum of Modern Art (11 W. 53rd St.)
On view through 5/29
Richard Avedon: Murals at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1000 5th Ave.)
On view through 10/1
Ciao for now,
Rainer