QMAil: March 2009

In this ISSUE:

EXHIBITIONS: Queens International 4 | Launch Pad Artist Residency: O Zhang

EVENTS: MetLife presents First Sundays for Families at QMA: Queens International 4 - Exploring Nature through Art | Queens International 4 Field Trip | 3rd Ecuadorian Film Festival in New York: Views from the middle of the World | American Heart Association Art Contest Awards Ceremony | CINEMAROSA - Queens Only Queer Film Series | Opening Reception: Re-Drawing Resistance (Partnership Gallery Exhibition) | United Nations Association - USA-Queens Chapter Celebrate of Earth Day 2009 | Ai lof Niu Yorr (offsite event) | Ai lof Niu Yorr Screening

QMA INFORMATION: Permanent Exhibitions | Special Announcements
LEARNING PROGRAMS: Tours & Workshops | Adult Programs | Senior Programs
Credits | Subscribe to QMAil

March masthead: Daina Higgins, Smart Crew, 2008. Oil on wood, 15 x 20 in. Courtesy of the Artist and Elizabeth Harris Gallery, New York, NY. Private Collection, New York, NY.

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

Queens International 4

On view through April 26, 2009

In 2000, the US census revealed the borough of Queens to be the most diverse county in the nation. Two years later, the Queens Museum of Art inaugurated Queens International, a biennial exhibition of artists from around the world who live and/or work in Queens. Celebrating the most recent artistic achievements of Queens with 42 artists, collaborations and collectives from 18 countries working in a broad range of traditional and unorthodox media, the exhibition examines the boundaries of culture, tradition, heritage and nationality.

Like its predecessors, Queens International 4 addresses the relationship between "internationalism" and "multiculturalism" from a local standpoint. Culture is the logic by which we give order to the world. No one stands outside of it. In Queens, one comes to recognize that nations are not walled fortresses but rather permeable containers for the fluid shifts of culture. Here, multiculturalism does not imply a static representation of international identities but rather an ever-changing shift amongst multiple cultures that blurs ethnic, racial, gendered and ideological boundaries. Circumventing conventional art discourse to engage with their immediate surroundings, the artists of Queens ignite a critical dialogue through lived experience, often in the form of collaborative, site-specific and public practices.

Queens International 4 is co-curated by José Ruiz and Erin Sickler.

List of Artists:

Cara Judea Alhadeff
Heidi Boisvert
Omar Chacón
Corey D'Augustine
Gregory de la Haba
Domenick Di Pietrantonio
Alejandro Diaz
eteam
Lars Fisk
Future Shock (Nicholas Ragbir, Veronica Ragbir, Travis Bhimraj, Anil Bhimraj, Jessica Ragbir and Rattan Bhimraj)
Tommy Hartung
Karolyn Hatton
Daina Higgins
Oded Hirsch
Sin-ying Ho
Ryan Humphrey
Janelle Iglesias
Lisa Iglesias
Darren Jones
Cecilia Jurado
Jayson Keeling
Las Hermanas Iglesias
Ha Na Lee
Jia-Jen Lin
Jodie Lyn-Kee-Chow
Yasue Maetake
Derick Melander
Brendan Mulcahy
Kirsten Nash
Kymia Nawabi
SP Weather Station (Natalie Campbell and Heidi Neilson)
OKAMOTO STUDIO (Shintaro Okamoto, Takeo Okamoto, Jeremy Mangan, Ben Grasso, Timothy Colla, Kaz Adachi, Thomas Brown, Gerard Greco, Meghan McKee and Daniel Guzman)
Jonas Olson and Carol Pereira
Douglas Paulson and the Anti-Fascist Culture Club (Chris Domenick, Christopher Robbins, Chuck Yatsuk, Elizabeth Tubergen, Emcee C. M., Master of None, Eva la Cour, Jacob Goble, John Baca and Rachelle Beaudoin)
Justine Reyes
Jaye Rhee
Dario Solman
Tim Thyzel
Nicole Tschampel
Jovan Villalba
Chin Chih Yang
Amy Yoes

Queens International 4 and related programming are made possible with the generous support of the Blumenfeld Development Group, Ltd., Build it Green! NYC, JetBlue Airlines, the QMA's Board of Trustees and Advisory Committee, our corporate and foundation supporters, members and friends.

IMAGE: Justine Reyes, Guayabera Series, 2008. C-print, 72 x 60 in. Courtesy of the Artist.

Launch Pad Artist Residency: O Zhang

December 2008 - May 2009

The Queens Museum of Art will break ground later this year on an expansion project that will double the size of the institution and usher in a new phase in the museum's history. In the period leading up to and through construction, the museum will be embracing our state of flux with Launch Pad, a new multi-year series of artist projects and residencies that utilizes the museum both as a site and a resource to facilitate socially collaborative and community-engaged art programs. Launch Pad offers emerging artists six-month residencies aimed at bringing artists into the fray and having them work with the museum staff and audience to energize the building, the museum's programming and the audience experience.

Launch Pad was inaugurated in Fall 2008 with Ernest Concepcion's guerilla-style wall drawings project Queens 20/20, which playfully intervened with the QMA collection exhibition The Gift 2008. Now we are hosting an artist-in-residency with photographer and mixed-media artist O Zhang.

O is a graduate of the Royal College of Art in London and Central Academy of Art in Beijing. She moved to New York in 2004, and since then has been living and working between New York and Beijing. The insightfully selected subjects in her recent photographic series —Chinese girls as the most unwanted population in contemporary China, Western families adopting young Chinese girls, and the rapid globalization of Beijing—speak eloquently about the societal and cultural transitions in China today.

For Launch Pad, O has been closely working with QMA staff members since December 2008, exploring the communities in Queens to produce a new project, Together We Are Stronger. The artist is investigating and identifying the communities in Queens through the active working relationships with the borough's diverse population that the QMA has established through its wide ranging exhibition schedule, public events and education programs. The artist is interested in hearing real voices from various individuals and communities about their sustaining hopes and community pride in this moment of political and economical shifts, and translating those voices into a visual expression to be shared beyond the existing socio-cultural boundaries.

O Zhang's residency continues through May 2009.

Launch Pad is made possible by support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., The Greenwall Foundation, and The Cowles Charitable Trust.
IMAGE: Salute to the Patriot, 2008, C-print, edition of 6, 48 x 60 inches, Courtesy of the artist and CRG Gallery, New York.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Presents First Sundays for Families at QMA: Queens International 4 - Exploring Nature through Art

Sunday, March 1, 1 - 4:30 pm

Queens International 4 is the Museum's biennial exhibition of artists living and working in Queens. We will highlighting several exhibiting artists who will perform and make presentations on the theme of nature. For his performance Human Sculpture (2008/2009), QI4 artist Chin Chih Yang incites passersby to decorate his body with trash. Creating a new suit of armor for the artist/environmental warrior, participants are encouraged to interact with the garbage they usually avoid. Picking up on the theme of sustainability and the relationship of humans and nature, join Bash the Trash in building and performing on instruments made from trash, and creating artworks from recycled and reused materials. SP Weather Station is an artist-run weather station at the Queens Museum of Art founded by SP Weather Station (Natalie Campbell and Heidi Neilson). In addition to recording local weather conditions, SP Weather Station maintains a weather-related blog, publishes the SP Weather Report (artistic interpretations of weather data produced by guest artists) and hosts public events such as the Guest Lecture Series. As a part of SP Weather Station's project there will be an Air Quality Bake Sale in QMA's café, as well as program of three presentations in the Panorama of the City of New York at 2 and 4 pm. These include: a reading of excerpts from Kenneth Goldsmith's book, The Weather which transforms a year's worth of radio weather reports into a classical narrative of New York's four seasons; Weather Apocalypse NYC by Isaac Gertman, a audiovisual survey of cinematic moments in which weather is a significant factor in the destruction of New York City; and Cloudspotting by Gavin Pretor-Pinney, the orignator of The Cloud Appreciation Society on clouds and cloud-watching, and an introduction to his new book The Cloud Collector's Handbook.

Queens International 4 Field Trip

Saturday, March 7, 3 pm - late

3 - 6 pm: Long Island City Studio Tour of Queens International 4 Artists with co-curator Erin Sickler.
Artists: Domenick Di Pietrantonio, Karolyn Hatton, Jodie Lyn-Kee-Chow, Tim Thyzel, Nicole Tschampel, SP Weather Station and Amy Yoes. A light snack will be provided. Space is limited. For more information and to RSVP email.

6 pm - late: For the adventurous, finish the evening with an Opening/Performance at QI4 artist Gregory de la Haba's studio. Space is limited. For more information and to RSVP email.

3rd Ecuadorian Film Festival in New York: Views from the middle of the World

Friday & Saturday, March 13 & 14,

7 - 10 pm

The Third Annual Ecuadorian Film Festival Views from the middle of the World presents the extraordinary work of Ecuadorian filmmakers. This festival is an opportunity to foster lively discussions on contemporary relevant issues between filmmakers, the Ecuadorian community and the general public in the NYC area. This year's festival features video art from more than 15 Ecuadorian filmmakers followed by the latest in fiction films.

Saturday, March 13 Program:
VIDEO ART (QUITO)
Miguel Alvear - Wir konnen es
Patricio Ponce- Encuentros Cercanos
Ruben Darío Díaz - Orgasmatrón
Juan Zabala_ Se pinta casas con pinta
Uises Unda - Retablo Croporation
Alumnos CTD- Caniformia
Gabriela Santander - Sin Título
Miguel Alvear - Del chicharron vienes y en chicharrón te convertirás
Valeria Andrade - Prácticas Suicidas: Angelita Atraviesa Montaña
Juan Zabala - !Ya llego¿
Karina Cortez - Agua y Demolición
Ruben Darío Díaz - "A sacarse la puta!!!"
Sara Roitman - Tiempos Paralelos
Juan Zabala - "La Loma Plaza Ortigas"
Pelota Cuadrada - Ulises.Good.Bye
Juan Zabala – Reencuadres

Este Maldito País (Juan Martín Cueva, Documentary, 54 min., Spanish with English subtitles)
The film is an analytical reflection about certain distinguishing traits that could define the Ecuadorians. Miscegenation is the theme that drives the narration. Is Ecuadorian society essentially composed of mestizos (of mixed race)? What is a mestizo? Different life stories are intertwined in this film that doesn't expect to find the answers, but rather to bring out into the open issues that haven't been solved in terms of the way Ecuador has been defined as a society, or the way Ecuadorians relate to their subjectivity.

TRAFFICOMBO (Pedro Andrade, Ecuador, Documentary, 36 min., Spanish with English subtitles)
Realities of Ecuadorian immigrants - those who left for the United States, and those who remained in Ecuador - in a country where there are towns with no people and empty houses, as well as towns with only women and children, where money sent by immigrants working in the United States is the second largest source of income after oil, where one can lose their life trying to obtain a U.S. visa, where a grandmother finds herself caring for all 15 of her grandchildren, and where a man has made 9 attempts to cross the border. Historians, experts and immigrants and their families discuss four aspects of immigration: The Journey to and from the United States, Money, Family and Culture. Ecuadorians have become so accustomed to these events that nothing can surprise them, not even the most implausible anecdote, laced with bits of fiction: a woman who wants so badly to travel to the States that she turns into a postal cardboard box; a girl who must act as a mother and guardian to the rest of the children in the family; a farewell to a friend leaving for the United States, a youth who had it all and gave it up for the promise of the "American Dream," and the strange result of smuggled culture, where the influx of icons, language, money and other elements sent or brought back from the North have mixed with local culture, producing a hybrid culture that has greatly impacted the way Ecuadorians live and view the world.

Sunday, March 14 Program:
VIDEO ART (GUAYAQUIL)
David Federico Palacios – Mañana te toca o mañana te mueres
Caja 4 – Cuadrado Negro
Ilich Castillo - Restauraciones
Graciela Guerrero – Karaoke: Ñuca Juyaigu Guayaquil
Romina Muñoz - Viruta
Full Dollar – Gravedad

RETAZOS DE VIDA (Viviana Cordero, Ecuador, 90 min., Spanish with English subtitles)
After 10 years in Spain, Andrea (Giovanna Andrade) returns to Ecuador, her land, and while looking the plane's window she sees her hometown, she can't stop thinking about her childhood. But she is overcome by the uncertainty of not knowing what she'll find on her return. Her cousin… Cristina (Erika Vélez), Ecuador's top model, is fighting drugs and bulimia, because despite her professional success, she leads an empty life. She is aware that she is not a priority for Thiago (William Levy) and she has not gained her mother's recognition, the renowned Rafaella Marti (Christian Bach), successful owner of the country's most important model agency, whom is about to face the biggest conflict in the her life. Marina (Marina Salvarezza) is Rafaela's mother and Cristina and Andrea's grandmother, an Italian immigrant that at her eighty years of age rekindles a love from the past. Lorena (Ma. Teresa Guerrero), the new modeling promise, that dazzled by her glamour and glitter on the catwalks, has invented a fake life to hide her true origins. It is Guayaquil the city that shelters these three generations of women joined by memories, blood-ties and intense dramas that each one of them shall resolve. Retazos de Vida, a story to be told.

American Heart Association Art Contest Awards Ceremony

Saturday, March 14, noon - 3 pm

The American Heart Association's initiative Conozca Su Corazón, in cooperation with the Queens Museum of Art invited high school and college students to create an art piece on the theme heart health. Join us to celebrate the two winners who will win a scholarship of $500 and will have their work on display at the QMA for two weeks, as well as the honorarble mentions whose work will be on view during the event. Featuring live dance performances and complimentary refreshments. Tour and family workshop beginning at noon, 1 - 3 pm Awards Ceremony. We will have trolley service every 15 minutes from 11:30 - 3:30 pm, between QMA and Shea Stadium 7 stop for this event.
IMAGE: 1st Prize Winner-2008: Vanessa Rodriguez, Richmond Hill High School, "Heart in Hands".

CINEMAROSA - Queens Only Queer Film Series: Transbeauties

Sunday, March 15, 3 - 6 pm

Transbeauties – Portrayals of transgender men who undergo sexual reassignment in Beautiful Daughters dirs. Josh Aronson & Orr Jordan, and Dave Rodriguez' love story where a young man falls over heels for a beautiful trans woman in She Kills He.

Beautiful Daughters (Josh Aronson & Ariel Orr Jordan, USA, 2006, 61 min.)
A film about the first all transgender production of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues. This film inspires acceptance, compassion and inclusion as it follows the first gathering of the best and brightest of the transsexual community coming together to present a powerful message to change stereotypic views of transsexual women. Outrageous, deeply painful, deliciously funny - they tell their stories and we fall in love with them. Beautiful Daughters puts a complex, vulnerable and totally human face on these ladies. We see that they are a part of the fabric of our society and the This film embraces and totally accepts these women.

She Kills He (Dave Rodriguez, USA, 2005, 20 min.)
The story of an unlikely pair finding love in a most unexpected place. Both characters are in the midst of overcoming their own adversities while innocently exploring and testing their new found love. The film takes us into the gritty back streets of Miami, a rarely documented territory on film. Screening made possible by FRAMELINE.
Directors Josh Aronson and Ariel Orr Jordan will be in attendance for a Q&A session with the audience. Light Refreshments will be served.

CINEMAROSA is a monthly independent LGBT film series created by New Media artist, Hector Canonge. Screenings are Every Third Sunday of the Month hosted by the Queens Museum of Art. For more information, visit CINEMAROSA.

Opening Reception: Re-Drawing Resistance, (Partnership Gallery Exhibition)

Sunday, March 15, 3 - 5 pm

A collection of paintings, photography, poetry and videos from South Asian women survivors of violence, their families and their artist allies. The collection illustrates the power of South Asian women and advocate for the passage of The International Violence Against Women Act.
NYC-based organizations Sanctuary for Families and Sakhi for South Asian Women have partnered with the International Foundation for Crime Prevention and Victim Care (PCVC) in Chennai, India, the Edhi Foundation in Karachi, Pakistan and OfERR in India and Sri Lanka to create a transcontinental art exhibit exploring the intersection of gender, sexuality, violence, and resistance amongst women across South Asia and the Diaspora.
We will have trolley service every 15 minute between QMA and Shea Stadium 7 stop for this event.

United Nations Association - USA-Queens Chapter Celebrate of Earth Day 2009

Friday, March 20, 9 - 11 am

On the eve of the first day of Spring, join UNA-Queens chapter in Interfaith Prayers, Peace Bell Ringing Ceremony, brief remarks by spiritual leaders and representatives of peace and environmental organizations, as well as a proclamation by Queens Borough President Helen Marshall.
Breakfast will be followed by multicultural performances that celebrate humanity's connection with the natural world and the importance of environmental protection. Earth Day is on the first day of Spring -- nature's symbol of renewal and new life. RSVP to: Peg Shannon - 718-591-4037 or John Tandana – 347-728-2612. For more information visit unaqueens.org

Ai Lof Niu Yorr (offsite event)

Friday, March 20, 6 - 8 pm

Ai Lof Niu Yorr (the phonetical Spanish pronunciation of I love New York) is a research-action project that has been happening in New York City since November 2008 and funded by the Ministry of Culture of Ecuador. Its goals are to document and learn about different aspects of the emigrant Ecuadorian people living in New York City, such as forms of organization, expressions of solidarity, political participation, territories, associations and experiences of socialization, use of public space, media production and cultural production. Through a series of events in multiple locations, Ai Lof Niu Yorr supports community dialogue and collects as many details as possible of the everyday life of Ecuadorians in NYC.

Presenting a screening of:
A Titan in the Ring / Un Titán en el Ring (Viviana Cordero, 2002, 111 min.)
Set in the village of San Ramón de Mulaló, in the mountainous region of the Andes, where the prime entertainment is a series of masked wrestling matches held at a local coliseum. When a greedy promoter corrupts the competition, the entire town is suddenly up in arms.
Preceded by short films El Clic (Teodoro Cornejo, 2007, 3 min., animation), and Push It! (Diego Araujo, 2000, 8 min.)
Screening at New MexEcu Mechanic, 12-714 Willets Point Blvd.

Ai Lof Niu Yorr Screening

Saturday, March 28, 3 - 6 pm

Presenting a collection of Ecuadorian Short Films (total run time: 140 min), including:

El arte del Cantón Mejía (Manuel Kingman, 2008, 12 min., short documentary, spanish only)
Gasas en los uterus (Elsye y Manuel Suquilanda, 2008, 6 min., experimental, spanish with english subtitles)
Mixtape (Javier Andrade, 2005, 10 min., ficción, english with Spanish subtitles)
2013 (Santiago Soto, 2006, 10 min., fiction, english with Spanish subtitles)
Invitación a Sepelio (Mario Rodríguez Dávila, 2006,15 min., Spanish only)
Vorágine (Juan Carlos Donoso, 2000, 2 min., experimental, spanish only)
Doble Diablo (Mauricio Samaniego, 2005, 12 min., fiction, Spanish only)
Sin Título (Cristina Mancero, 2006, 15 min., short documentary, Spanish only)
Despierta (Ana Cristina Barragán, 2008, 8 min., fiction, Spanish only)
Mapa para historia (Pancho Viñachi, 2003. 10 min., fiction, Spanish only)
Impulsos (Alfredo León, 2003, 10 min., fiction, Spanish only)
Ohm (Jorge Alejandro Fegan, 2008, 11 min., fiction, Spanish only)
Silencio Nuclear (Iván Mora Manzano, 2000, 8 min., fiction, spanish only)
Stevenhagen (2007, 4 min., animation, Spanish only)
Pánico (Jorge de los Santos, Iván Alzate, 2006, 3 min., animation, Spanish only)

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.

Back to the top...