QMAil: October 2005

Yes, somehow it is October already, and while a day on the beach doesn't seem doable right now, a day at a museum sounds perfect. We've got a full palette of events and family programs throughout the month, starting on October 2 with the world premiere of Ramon Rivera Moret's On Calloway Street, a documentary on a unique Queens building that has been dubbed the “meltingest pot” in New York. As part of our commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Hart-Cellar Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965, the screening is combined with a talk delving into the history and influence of the Act that changed the nation, transforming Queens into the wonderfully diverse locale it is today. In addition, our current exhibitions, Down the Garden Path and Odd Lots, continue through the month, and the world renowned Panorama is waiting to amaze you. See you soon.

October masthead: Gordon Matta-Clark, Islands Parked on the Hudson, 1970-71. © 2005 The Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark. Courtesy Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

Odd Lots: Revisiting Gordon
Matta-Clark's Fake Estates

Queens Museum of Art

Through January 22, 2006

White Columns (website)

Through October 22, 2006

Odd Lots: Revisiting Gordon Matta-Clark's Fake Estates examines the legacy of Gordon Matta-Clark (1943-1978) through the history of his important project Fake Estates (1973-4). A meditation on property, ownership, landscape, and absence, Fake Estates was born when Matta-Clark discovered that the city periodically auctioned off “gutterspace” — absurdly small slivers of land carved from the urban grid by anomalies in surveying, zoning, and municipal construction. Matta-Clark purchased fifteen of these odd lots at auction. He then visited and photographed each one, and collected the related maps and deeds. None of his many plans for further use of the slivers was ever carried out before his death in 1978. Now, decades later, Odd Lots furthers his vision.

At the Queens Museum of Art, the origins of the project are presented through Matta-Clark's materials, Jaime Davidovich's film of Matta-Clark visiting the sites in 1975, and the Panorama of the City of New York, on which the 15 Matta-Clark sites are marked.

At White Columns, 19 artists investigate their own responses to Matta-Clark's precedent, and consider the ways in which Fake Estates might be used as a starting-point — literal or metaphorical — for new work.

Odd Lots was conceived and curated by Cabinet Magazine editors Jeffrey Kastner, Sina Najafi, and Frances Richard.

Participating Artists
Francis Alÿs, Jimbo Blachly, Isidro Blasco, Jaime Davidovich, Mark Dion, Maximilian Goldfarb, Valerie Hegarty, Julia Mandle, Helen Mirra, Matthew Northridge, Dennis Oppenheim, Sarah Oppenheimer, Dan Price, Lisa Sigal, Katrin Sigurdardottir, Jane South, Jude Tallichet, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Clara Williams

More information about Odd Lots is available here.

This exhibition has been made possible by generous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and Altria Group, Inc.

Photo: Video stills of Gordon Matta-Clark working on Fake Estates project - Jaime Davidovich, Queens Project, 1975. Courtesy of Mitchell Algus Gallery.

Down the Garden Path: The Artist's Garden After Modernism

Extended through November 6, 2005

The garden has always been considered a quiet sanctuary from the rigors of everyday life, but artists have also seen the garden as a vehicle for expressing ideas beyond the idyllic. Down the Garden Path: The Artist's Garden After Modernism presents a broad range of materials that refer to gardens as points of departure to understand history, politics, and our relationship to nature. From models by modernist masters and sketches by contemporary art mainstays, to living works by emerging artists and outdoor installations in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, the exhibition calls for a redefinition of the role of the garden.

Participating Artists

Vito Acconci, Ghada Amer, Lothar Baumgarten, Roberto Burle Marx, Tom Burr, Mel Chin, Thierry De Cordier, Mark Dion, Stan Douglas, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Dan Graham, Lonnie Graham, Paula Hayes, Jenny Holzer, Ronald Jones, Anissa Mack and Dave McKenzie, Gordon Matta-Clark, Franco Mondini-Ruiz, Isamu Noguchi, Nils Norman, Christian Philipp Müller, Ingrid Pollard, Robert Smithson, Alan Sonfist, Brian Tolle and Diana Balmori, Sergio Vega, Jan Vercruysse and Meg Webster.

Lonnie Graham, Franco Mondini-Ruiz, Ghada Amer, Brian Tolle and Diana Balmori, and Anissa Mack and Dave McKenzie have installed five new works in the open spaces adjacent to the museum in Flushing Meadows Corona Park and the nearby Queens Botanical Garden.

For more about Down the Garden Path: The Artist's Garden After Modernism click here.

Down the Garden Path: The Artist's Garden After Modernism is made possible by an Emily Hall Tremaine Exhibition Award. The Exhibition Award program was founded in 1998 to honor Emily Hall Tremaine. It rewards innovation and experimentation among curators by supporting thematic exhibitions that challenge audiences and expand the boundaries of contemporary art. The additional funding is provided by National Endowment for the Arts, New York Council on the Arts, Furthermore...A program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund, and The Florence Gould Foundation.

Photos: Acconci Studio, Personal Island, 1992. Courtesy of the artist.

UPCOMING: The Gift: Building a Collection for the Queens Museum of Art

Opening November 20

SPECIAL EVENTS

QMA Commemorates the 40th Anniversary of The Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 with World Premiere Screeningof On Calloway Street

Sunday, October 2, 2 - 4 pm

World Premiere Screening of the documentary video On Calloway Street by Ramon Rivera Moret on the 40th Anniversary of The Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965

Queens has been lauded as the nation's most diverse county since the 2000 US Census revealed that there are more than 120 languages spoken throughout the borough. This was not always the case. The QMA celebrates the 40th Anniversary of The Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 (Hart-Cellar Act) and what this single piece of legislation meant to the ethnic makeup of this country, and specifically, Queens. With the world premiere screening of Ramon Rivera Moret's On Calloway Street, we discover perhaps the most diverse apartment building in the world. The multiplicity and richness of stories and characters in a single building on Corona's Calloway Street allowed the director to explore and weave together many disparate elements—events of daily life, brief stories, non-narrative situations and experiences, interviews, and oral histories. Preceding the film, Professor Tarry Hum of the Urban Studies Dept. at Queens College will provide viewers with information about the Act and how it drastically changed the face of contemporary Queens. A Q&A with the director and producer and light refreshments will follow the film.

Detrás de la máscara — Behind the mask

Saturday, October 8, 1 - 5 pm

Mexicanos Unidos de Queens & Mexican Solidarity Network present a cultural showcase and educational event about the Zapatista movement in Mexico. Featuring: Indigenous theater performance group from New York City — Coatlicue Theater Company; Zapatista resistance groups from Mexico and Italy; Indigenous dance groups from New York and Mexico.

Celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the United Nations

Monday, October 24, 7 - 9:30 pm

UN General Assembly meeting in NYC Building, 1949.

United Nations Association — Queens Chapter invites you to a talk, screening, and reception in honor the UN's 60th birthday at the Queens Museum of Art, the very building in which the UN General Assembly met for its first five years. Discover the history of the United Nations and its historic ties to Queens in the short film, The UN in Queens — A Global Celebration. All are invited to a light reception before the event and the renowned United Nations Singers will perform songs from around the world.

All Saint's Day Family Festival: El Dia de los Muertos meets Halloween

Sunday, October 30, 12 - 5 pm

Join us for a festive day of monster mask-making, music, spooky stories from around the world, music, and snacks as we conjure up the world of spirits and ghosts in a global celebration of All Saint's Day. Highlight includes making altars for the traditional Mexican celebration El Dia del los Muertos (The Day of the Dead).

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QMA INFORMATION

New York City Building
Flushing Meadows Corona Park
Queens NY 11368
TEL: 718 592 9700

HOURS

SEPTEMBER 6 - JUNE 25
Wednesday - Friday:
10:00am - 5:00pm
Saturday and Sunday:
12:00pm - 5:00pm

Closed Monday & Tuesday

ADMISSION

Admission is by suggested donation.
Adults: $5.00
Senior and Children: $2.50
Members and Children
under five: Free

LOCATION

Click for Museum directions

OCTOBER CALENDAR

Odd Lots Bus Tours

A third element of our look at Gordon Matta-Clark's Fake Estates, is a series of bus tours of select sites in Queens. Acknowledging that the land itself is not identical to the cultural devices that frame it — such as maps, deeds, and leases, or even artworks — the bus tours will bring viewers face to face with the magnificently mundane slivers themselves. Each tour will be guided by a special guest tour-guide or team of guides, and will last approximately 2 hours. Tours begin at the QMA at 2 pm. Space for all tours is limited and spots should be reserved in advance by calling 718.592.9700 x128 or by email

Saturday, October 1
Jimbo Blachly, Lytle Shaw, and the Chadwicks-two nineteenth-century dandies-lead a Grand Tour of Matta-Clark's Queens.

Saturday, October 15
Mark Dion, Michael Crewdson, and Margaret Mittelbach lead “The Magical Misery Tour: A Natural History of Queens”

Saturday, October 22
Nato Thompson leads a tour of the tactical resistance of everyday life. From ebullient window displays to Maoist bakeries to cars parked in the wrong direction, the resistance that surrounds our everyday lives will be exposed.

The Looking Series — Narrative Reality: Art that Reports

When it comes to the concept of reality, one thing is clear - everybody's idea of it is different. The Fall season of Looking Series slide talks will discuss artists' definitions of narrative reality through an exploration of their works. The cost is $5 per session, free for members.

Thursday, October 6,
2 - 3:30 pm
Narrative Reality: Art that Reports

Thursday, October 20,
2 - 3:30 pm
Interpreting Reality: Expressionistic Responses

Thursday, October 27,
2 - 3:30 pm
Judging Reality: Caricature and Satire

The Listening Series — The Forest Hills Chamber Players

Thursday, October 6,
3:30 - 4:30 pm

Three Queens residents who met at Julliard and shared a desire to bring high-quality accessible performances to audiences of the outer boroughs, recently established the Forest Hills Chamber Players. The musicians are passionate about helping their listeners establish deeper connections with classical music, and will present a program that complements the themes and ideas presented in the QMA's popular Looking Series slide talks which precede the concert.
This quarter they will present Room for Interpretation: from Bach to Bartok Just as in visual arts, musicians and listeners often have to search for clues within the work of art to guide their interpretation. Sometimes composers shed light on their compositions through titles or program notes, but often it is up to the listener or performer to create their own interpretation. Through demonstration, discussion, and performance of works by Bach, Bartok, and others, the Forest Hills Chamber Players will share some of the tools which guide musical interpretation.

CINEMAROSA — Queens Only Queer Film Series

Cinemarosa presents a free screening showcasing independent fiction and documentary films that reflect the lives and experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender peoples and communities throughout the world. The screening also features a panel discussion. Note: Films may contain mature themes.

Sunday, October 16,
3 - 5 pm
The D Word (Written by Dasha Snyder and Directed by Maggie Burke, Noelle Brower and Cherien Naffa Daibes), is an affectionate and light hearted multicultural tale of the lives of a group of lesbian friends, their families and neighbors.
29 & Gay (Written by James Vasques and directed by Carrie Preston), a true drama that follows a year in the life of James Sanchez an almost 30 gay man who in his search for love discovers that life is in the journey, not in the destination.

The Film Series — Commanding Films

This 10-week series explores a variety of films which reflect each of the Ten Commandments.

Monday, October 17, 2 pm
Inherit the Wind (1960, Stanley Kramer, 127 min) A post-screening discussion examines the film's relation to the First Commandment, I am the Lord your God who took you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage.

Monday, October 24, 2 pm
A Man for All Seasons (1966, Fred Zinnemann, 120 min) A post-screening discussion examines the film's relation to the Second Commandment, You shall have no other gods before me.

Monday, October 31, 2 pm
Angels in the Outfield (1951, Clarence Brown, 102 min) A post-screening discussion examines the film's relation to the Third Commandment, You shall not take the name of the Lord you God in vain.

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