QMAil: March 2008

In this ISSUE:

EXHIBITIONS: CLOSING: New York States of Mind | CLOSING: Jaishri Abichandani: Reconciliations | Anthony Auerbach, Empire State Pavilion | Back on the Map: Revisiting the New York State Pavilion at the 1964/5 World's Fair

EVENTS: First Sundays for Families: Tiffany in Queens Tea Party and Ballroom Dancing | NY States of Mind Film Program | NY States of Mind Film Program-Sarah Morris | Independence Community Foundation presents the Persian Arts Festival | Independence Community Foundation Presents Celebrating Spring: Holi, the Indian Festival of Colors in Dance & Art | NY States of Mind Film Program | CINEMAROSA - queens only queer film series presents MondoLesbo | Antologia de la musica Ecuatoriana: Ecuadorian Chamber of Commerce Networking Event | Queens Arts Connection | NY States of Mind Film Program-Korpys and Löffler | FOR SENIORS

QMA INFORMATION: Permanent Exhibitions | Special Announcements - Call for Artists! | Learning Programs & Workshops | Language Programs | Adult Programs | Credits | Subscribe to QMAil

March masthead: Rainer Ganahl, A Bold Line – Back and Forth – Bicycling Madison Avenue, New York, 2006. Two channel DVD. Courtesy of the artist.

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

New York States of Mind

FINAL WEEKS! - Closing Sunday, March 23, 2008

After critical and popular acclaim at Berlin's House of World Cultures, the Queens Museum of Art presents New York States of Mind, an exhibition, film and performance program that offers a fresh vision of New York from an outsider's perspective. New York City — the larger-than-life myth that envelops our everyday reality mdash; is an urban hub where diverse communities seek refuge and flourish; a concrete jungle where only the strong survive; and a 24-hour space of limitless opportunity. Through an interdisciplinary exploration, New York States of Mind provides a fresh backdrop to this mythical New York while demonstrating how artists have engaged with the city as a democratic and experimental space. Featuring a dynamic group of emerging and established artists whose work reflects the New York City's shifting paradigms and demographic, New York-States of Mind focuses on the more flexible practice of contemporary art from Marcel Duchamp to David Hammons to Kehinde Wiley.

Participating artists are: Iona Rozeal Brown, Ian Burns, Laura Carton, Carolina Caycedo, Patty Chang, Marcel Duchamp, Rainer Ganahl, Hans Haacke, David Hammons, Jonathan Horowitz, Tehching Hsieh, Kim Jones, Michael Joo, Jon Kessler, Terence Koh, Nikki S.Lee, Mark Lombardi, Mary Ellen Mark, Sarah Morris, Gordon Matta-Clark, Josephine Meckseper, Ana Mendieta, William Pope.L, Printed Matter Inc., Elaine Reichek, Carolee Schneemann, Ward Shelley, Tavares Strachan, Kehinde Wiley, Fred Wilson and Jordan Wolfson.

New York States of Mind is an exhibition curated by Shaheen Merali of The House of World Cultures, Berlin.

More information is available here.

Photo: Tehching Hsieh, One Year Performance 1981 – 1982, 2007. Documentation. © Tehching Hsieh. Courtesy of the artist and The Gilbert and Lila Silverman Collection, Detroit.

Jaishri Abichandani: Reconciliations

FINAL WEEKS! - Closing Sunday, March 23, 2008

Having left her home country of India when she was 14 to come to Queens, New York, Jaishri Abichandani knows what it means to reconcile different worlds. She has analyzed her relationship to those worlds through photography, her first medium, by using herself as a subject and then expanding to her family and immediate circle of friends who share her nomadic existence. In Reconciliations, an ongoing series of appropriated images of cities and landscapes culled from the Internet and photoshopped together, Abichandani has transferred the intimacy of her private life and the idiosyncrasies of her vision to the public realm of geopolitics.

Born in Bombay, India, Jaishri Abichandani immigrated to New York City in 1984. She received her Master of Visual Arts Degree from Goldsmiths College, University of London and has continued to intertwine art and activism throughout her career. Abichandani has shown her work work internationally throughout the United States, Canada and the Caribbean as well as Mérida, Mexico, New Delhi, Mumbai, Cape Town, Zurich, Utrecht, Glasgow, and London. She has also curated a number of exhibitions at the Queens Museum of Art and Exit Art and is the founding director of the South Asian Women's Creative Collective (SAWCC), New York and Asian Women's Creative Collective, London.

Jaishri Abichandani: Reconciliations is supported in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts.

Back on the Map: Revisiting the New York State Pavilion at the 1964/5 World's Fair

On view through May 4, 2008

The Texaco Road Map is the large-scale terrazzo art pavement commissioned for the New York State Pavilion. Designed by renowned American architect Philip Johnson for the 1964 World's Fair, the Pavilion is located in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, next door to the Queens Museum of Art (former home of the New York City Pavilion). Commissioned by Governor Nelson Rockefeller, the New York State Pavilion featured a complex of structures: a Theaterama building, three observation towers, and the "Tent of Tomorrow," a 12-story, open-air elliptical pavilion capped by the World's largest suspended cable system roof fitted with colored acrylic panels. For the floor of the "Tent of Tomorrow," Johnson commissioned the largest-known representation of any area of the earth's surface: a 130-foot-by-166-foot terrazzo replica of a Texaco New York State road map. A fusion of Pop Art imagery and traditional craft techniques, the map pavement was a crucial component of "The Tent of Tomorrow." In addition to the works of Pop artists Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and others displayed on the exterior of the adjoining Theaterama, the Road Map helped solidify the Pavilion's status as a landmark of 60s avant-garde culture.

Built as a temporary structure for the Fair, the Texaco Road Map along with the Pavilion has suffered from over 30 years of weather exposure and vandalism. This year, however, the Map returns to the spotlight for a long-overdue comeback. Back on the Map aims to inform and engage the public about the significance of this historic gem. A culmination of conservation activities by the City of New York Department of Parks & Recreation in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania School of Design Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, the exhibition at the Queens Museum of Art will features restored sections of the Road Map and elaborate the project findings through text panels and an interactive website. Visitors can also witness the restoration process up close as conservators restore portions of the Road Map in the Museum's galleries.

Back on the Map is supported by The National Endowment for the Arts, The Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, and the School of Design, University of Pennsylvania.

Anthony Auerbach, Empire State Pavilion

On view through May 4, 2008

Anthony Auerbach's installation Empire State Pavilion reflects on one of the most memorable features of the 1964-1965 World's Fair. Like the New York City Pavilion (now home to the Queens Museum of Art), which housed the "Panorama of the City of New York," the New York State Pavilion contained a miniature representation of the whole state in the form of a giant road map inlaid in the terrazzo floor. While the Panorama has been preserved and updated over the years, the terrazzo map became derelict and overgrown.

Adopting techniques of aerial photography–as used by geologists, archaeologists, cartographers and spies–the artist documented the entire surface of the terrazzo map from a height of seven feet. The survey resulted in some 2,500 detailed images of a map in the process of reverting to a landscape. Auerbach's current installation invites the viewer to look–inspect and decipher the material preserved in the artist's photographic archive. The installation comprises 3 works configuring the archive material in different ways: Emperor Panorama, 2007, consisting of 6 light-tables and a stereoscope that magnifies the road map, The State of New York, 2006, a fake projection of the interior of the NYS Pavilion showing the survey in process, and an untitled video projection showing the antique city-states and former colonial capitals such as Troy, Athens and Rome which can be found upstate.

The project speculates on how history is recorded–in traces and inscriptions–and how it is erased. As Auerbach suggests, "The map is memorable because it remained after the rest of the Fair was demolished. Exposed, shattered by frost and colonized by plants, the map marked the time and prompted feelings for the past. Ironically, the first thing the conservators did was sweep away nearly all the history which my survey recorded."

Anthony Auerbach is supported in part by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Presents First Sundays for Families at QMA: Tiffany in Queens Tea Party and Ballroom Dancing

Sunday, March 2, 1 - 4:30 pm

Please join us for the next installation of the MetLife Foundation Presents First Sundays for Families at QMA. Highlighting the Neustadt Collection of Tiffany Glass on long term loan to the QMA, the day's activities will include an art workshop where families will create faux stained glass windows using designs from nature, the same motifs that inspired Tiffany in the 19th century. Also join us as we recreate the social activities of that era with a tea party and ballroom dance lessons provided by American Ballroom Theater.

NY States of Mind Film Program

Sunday, March 2, 2 - 5 pm

2 - 3:30 pm
Jem Cohen experiments with small flags and strolls through the streets with his camera; Jacqueline Goss explores the American love of cartography; Lièvre and Nemerofsky Ramsay parody propaganda; and John Sealey reflects on the Black diaspora.

NYC Weights and Measures, (D: Jem Cohen, USA 2006, 6 min, English) | This is a History of New York, (D: Jem Cohen, USA 1986, 23 min) | Little Flags, (D: Jem Cohen, USA 2000, 6'30 min) | There There Square, (D: Jacqueline Goss, USA 2002, 14 min) | Patriotic, (D: Pascal Lièvre and Benny Nemerofsky, Ramsay, France/Canada 2005, 4 min) | They Call Me... Don't Call Me..., (D: John Sealey, USA 2005, 25 min)

3:30 - 5 pm
The Time We Killed (D: Jennifer Reeves, USA 2004, 95 min, b/w)
This experimental feature film chronicles the life and fantasies of a poet incapable of leaving her New York apartment. The film won the International FIPRESCI critics' prize in the International Forum of Young Films at the 2004 Berlin International Film Festival.

The New York States of Mind Film Program was curated by Shaheen Merali and is supported in part by the New York State Council on the Arts.

NY States of Mind Film Program

Sunday, March 9, 2 - 5 pm

NY States of Mind Film Program: Sarah Morris Shorts
Sarah Morris creates minimalist cartographies of cities through painting and film. Midtown examines corporate identity in Manhattan, while AM/PM and Capital take Las Vegas and Washington as their respective subjects. Robert Towne, her sixth film, is a very personal portrait of the legendary screenwriter of Chinatown and other works. Total running time: 2 hrs 10 min.

Midtown, (1998, 9'36 min) | AM/PM, (1999, 12'36 min) | Capital, (2000, 18'18 min) | Miami, (2002, 27'30 min) | Los Angeles, (2004, 26'12 min) | Robert Towne, (2006, 34'26 min)

The New York States of Mind Film Program was curated by Shaheen Merali and is supported in part by the New York State Council on the Arts.

Independence Community Foundation presents the Persian Arts Festival Community Gallery Exhibition, Screenings & Closing Reception

Saturday, March 15, 5 - 9 pm

The 3rd Annual Persian Arts Festival presents "Weaving the Common Thread" an exhibition on view February 24 - March 16, 2008, that investigates ways in which the Iranian Diaspora and cross-culturalization have manifested themselves in contemporary Persian art. Join us for an evening of art, open discussion, music and refreshments while we celebrate Norooz, the Persian New Year. The Persian Arts Festival is a not-for-profit organization that provides a unique platform for Persian art and culture through its voices, artists and visionaries. Please visit The Persian Arts Festival website for more information.

Independence Community Foundation presents CELEBRATING SPRING : Holi, the Indian Festival of Colors in Dance & Art

Sunday, March 16, 1 - 2 pm

The Kathak Ensemble & Friends celebrate Spring with classical Indian dances, concluding with a dance entitled Hori, the play of colors. Breathing life into images depicted in bronze sculptures and miniature paintings, the dancers perform in both North Indian Kathak and South Indian Bharata Natyam styles. Janaki Patrik, Artistic Director of the Kathak Ensemble, and Shridhar Shanmugam, Artistic Director of the Arch, are featured with the ensemble dancers.

This program is part of The Kathak Ensemble's project DOUBLE TAKE : Dancing Off the Sculpted Pedestal and Painted Page supported by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs. Followed by light refreshments and Holi-inspired art-making workshops.

NY States of Mind Film Program

Sunday, March 16, 2 - 5 pm

2 pm
Not for Sale: Feminism in the USA during the 1970s (Laura Cottingham, USA, 1998, 90 min, doc)
A video essay documenting the stories, challenges and achievements of women of all backgrounds who, in the 1970s, attempted to transform the tenets of fine art beyond sexist parameters. Not For Sale includes over 100 visual artists and reflects the general challenge to tradition and governmental authority that erupted in the United States during the sixties and seventies.

3:30 pm
Road to Guantánamo (Michael Winterbottom & Mat Whitecross, UK, 2006, 95 min)
This film examines the global consequences of 9/11 on the war on terror. In semi-documentary form, this film tells the story of three young British Muslims who, as alleged "Taliban fighters", were interned in Guantánamo.

The New York States of Mind Film Program was curated by Shaheen Merali and is supported in part by the New York State Council on the Arts.

CINEMAROSA - queens only queer film series presents MondoLesbo – Visions and stories for and about women in honor of Women's History Month

Sunday, March 16, 3 - 6 pm

Women in Love (Karen Everett, USA, 2005, 59 min)
A masterful collage and autobiographical journey of lesbian images, women's sexuality, emotional moments, and heart-wrenching loneliness. It examines the human ability to redefine ourselves and reshape what we think "love" means. Presentation made possible by OUTCAST FILMS

Future is Behind You (Abigail Child, USA, 2004, 28 min, experimental, B/W)
The Future is Behind You tells a fictitious story using film reels from an anonymous family archive from Europe in the 1930s. Child incorporates found footage to reconstruct the gender development of two sisters who play, race, fight, kiss and grow up together in the shadow of a looming war. Followed by Q&A panel with filmmaker Abigail Child and light refreshments.
Part of the NY States of Mind Film Program and presented in association with GONY Magazine.
For more information, visit CINEMAROSA.

Antologia de la musica Ecuatoriana: Ecuadorian Chamber of Commerce Networking Event

Thursday, March 20, 6 - 9 pm

Music by Martha Guayamabe, who will cover classics such as Cristo de Oro, Ancla de Amor, and much more. JJ Sumba will interpet themes by Julio Jaramillo with musical accompaniment by Ernesto Manosalvas. Key Speaker will be Neil Hernandez, Commissioner of the Department of Juvenile Justice on how they help our communities and how small businesses can collaborate to aid our youth.

Queens Arts Connection

Saturday, March 22, 1 - 6:30 pm

QMA, Queens Council on the Arts, and New York Foundation for the Arts invite Queens artists to a free forum where they will connect with 19 art service organizations, funders, and venues to maximize their potential. The forum includes a free performance by Mahina Movement, accompanied by a raffle, artist slide/video/reading slam, and refreshments.
Please RSVP Chris Henderson to attend the event or pre-register for the peer-sharing slam. More information and a full schedule of events is available here.

NY States of Mind Film Program - Korpys and Löffler

Sunday, March 23, 3 - 5 pm

For over a decade, André Korpys and Markus Löffler have been working on joint projects, installations, and video works that critically examine the various forms of representation in today's information society. Korpys and Löffler question the truth of today's media-constructed reality and examine the subtle workings power, hierarchy and exclusion. Total running time: 2 hrs 3 min.

World Trade Center, (6:55 min, Super 8 transferred to DV, 1997) | United Nations, (4:30 min, Super 8 transferred to DV, 1997) | Pentagon, (3:10 min, Super 8 transferred to DV, 1997) | Amerika, (3:41 min, Super 8 transferred to DV, 1997) | The Nuclear Football, (30:30 min, (format 16:9), DV, 2004).

The New York States of Mind Film Program was curated by Shaheen Merali and is supported in part by the New York State Council on the Arts.

Public Events at the Queens Museum of Art are supported in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Ford Foundation Partners for Livable Communities, J. M. Kaplan Fund, and Independence Community Foundation.

FOR SENIORS

The Film Series: Faces in the Crowd: New York on Film

Mondays March 10 - June 9

City of extremes, city of dreams: 12 films reflect the transformative nature of New York on its people and how they shape the city as well.
Each screening is preceded by a free introduction and followed by a discussion. The Film Series is organized by Mark Ethan. Tapes obtained are courtesy of Columbia University's Film Division. QMA Theatre, 2 pm - free admission.

I. CONNECTIONS, MISSED OR MADE

March 10 - THE CLOCK (1945, directed by Vincente Minnelli, 90 min.)
starring Judy Garland and Robert Walker

March 17 - THE CROWD (1928, directed by King Vidor, 104 min.)
starring James Murray

March 24 - MARTY (1955, directed by Delbert Mann, 91 min.)
starring Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair

March 31 - 13 CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ONE THING (2001, directed by Jill Sprecher, 104 min.)
starring Matthew McConaughey and Alan Arkin

The Looking Series: Slide Talks Looking at Man and Nature

Thursdays, March 13 – May 22, 2 - 3:30 pm

Through the centuries, humanity has maintained a complex and many-sided relationship with nature. We will study that relationship chronologically, as it unfolds through the ages, and consider various approaches and styles in art that evolved as a result of these interactions. The Looking Series is organized by Miriam Brumer, former Coordinator of Adult Programs at the Queens Museum of Art and a practicing artist. QMA Theater, 2 - 3:30 pm; $5 per session, free for members

Thursday, March 13 - Nature as a site for worship
Thursday, March 20 - No meeting
Thurday, March 27 - Nature in non-Western art

Seniors Studio Art Classes

Wednesdays, March 26 – April 23, 2 - 4 pm

Drawing into Painting, Part II: Enhancing Creativity and Artistic Confidence - A continuation of the fall 2007 Drawing into Painting program, this class will further explore the basics of drawing–line, value and composition -before proceeding to painting on canvas free with acrylics and mixed media. No experience necessary. Studio Art Classes are presented by Lorraine Klagsbrun, former Assistant Director of Education at the Queens Museum of Art. She is also a practicing artist.. Wednesdays, Studio A, free; pre-registration required at 718-592-9700, ext. 133.

Film Through Another's Eyes (offsite)

Thursdays at 1 pm through April 10

Queens Museum of Art and Selfhelp Benjamin Rosenthal Senior Center present this 6-week series exploring the immigrant experience in the U.S. through films that reflect ethnic and cultural diversity.
Each screening is introduced by Mark Ethan, and followed by a discussion. These Screenings are held at Selfhelp Benjamin Rosenthal Senior Center, 45-25 Kissena Blvd., Flushing, NY 11355, 718.886.5777

Mark Ethan, member of the Actors Studio, has been presenting the Film Series at the Queens Museum of Art since l998, and organized a series of movie musicals at Flushing Town Hall. He also presents the Daytime Film Series at the 92nd Street Y's Makor in Manhattan.

March 6 – Hollywoodism
(1997, directed by Simcha Jacobovichi, 92 minutes)
This entertaining documentary traces how the arrival of Eastern European Jews created an industry that reflected and projected the American Dream around the world. Special Bonus – The Immigrant (1917, starring Charlie Chaplin)

March 13 - Hester Street
(1975, directed by Joan Micklin Silver, 92 minutes)
At the turn of the 20th century, a young Jewish immigrant woman joins her husband in New York, only to find that he has forsaken his Old World traditions.

March 20 - The Wedding Banquet
(1993, directed by Ang Lee, 111 minutes)
Before Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Lee made this charming comedy about tensions that are cultural, sexual, and generational.

March 27 - Bread and Roses
(2000, directed by Ken Loach, 110 minutes)
Adrien Brody stars as a California unionizer in this drama about Hispanic workers.

April 3 - Moscow on the Hudson
(1984, directed by Paul Mazursky, 115 minutes)
Robin Williams gives a brilliant performance as a Russian musician who defects during a trip to New York City.

April 10 - In America
(2003, directed by Jim Sheridan, 107 minutes)
From the Irish director of My Left Foot, an autobiographical memoir whose Oscar-nominated screenplay was co-written with his two daughters.

This program is funded by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York City Department for the Aging. Selfhelp Benjamin Rosenthal Senior Center is supported by UJA Federation.

Senior Programs at the QMA are supported in part by The City of New York Department for the Aging, NYC Councilmembers Melinda Katz and David Weprin, and Lehman Brothers.

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