QMAil: April 2009

In this ISSUE:

EXHIBITIONS: CLOSING! - Queens International 4 | Kia: Organic Abstract | Launch Pad Artist Residency: O Zhang

EVENTS: Journeys with Kabir Concert & Screening (offsite) | Queens International 4 Sets Sail | Crossing the BLVD: Crossing the Cultural Divide | MetLife Foundation presents First Sundays for Families at QMA: The New York City Water Supply System: The Journey of H2O | Opening Reception for Kia: Organic Abstract | Ai lof Niu Yorr Screening | CINEMAROSA - Queens Only Queer Film Series | Immigrant Heritage Week Event – Immigration Stories Bookmaking Workshop | St. James and New York Books present their annual Book Fair | Hats Off to You! Queens Borough President’s Immigrant Heritage Week Closing Event | Closing Celebration for Queens International 4 & NYC Bike Month Kick Off

QMA INFORMATION: Permanent Exhibitions | Special Announcements

LEARNING PROGRAMS: Tours & Workshops | Adult Programs | Senior Programs

Credits | Subscribe to QMAil

April masthead: Oded Hirsch, Enemy, 2008. Inkjet Print, 24 x 30 in. Courtesy of the Artist.

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

Queens International 4

CLOSING! Sunday, 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: Kirsten Nash, Mud, Blood, Tears, 2005. Oil on canvas, 48 x 60 in. Courtesy of the Artist.

Kia: Organic Abstract

April 5 - 29, 2009 (QMA Partnership Gallery)

A fusion of natural forms and abstract gestures, Kia Eshghi’s mixed-media paintings are melodic meanderings in the spiritual domain. As in the organic abstractions of Georgia O'Keeffe and Arthur Dove, his technique adds new dimensions to the familiar forms of the natural world. A classically trained drummer as well as a painter, Kia’s improvisational approach extends not only to his music, but to his painting as well, breaking down recognizable shapes into a frenzy of color, movement and light. In his recent work, hundreds of small circles rest lightly atop the canvas, creating a gauzy film that washes over the rounded, wavy or modulated abstract forms below. In an earlier series, striated lines and large fields of color appear like a variegated canopy of leaves and branches. Eschewing any specific meaning in favor of subtle evocation, Kia powerfully melds spontaneous creation with concrete observations to bridge the abstract and the material realms.

IMAGE: Kia Eshghi. Prey (and detail), 1994. Mixed media on canvas, 40 x 92 in., Courtesy 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

Journeys with Kabir Concert & Screening (OFFSITE EVENT)

Saturday, April 4, 2 - 5 pm

Join QMA & South Asian Solidarity Initiative for an afternoon of screening and discussion of excerpts from Shabnam Virmani's documentary videos on Kabir, followed by very special concert by visiting musicians Prahlad Singh Tipanya and Party. Kabir was a 15th century mystical poet, who denounced casteism, religious ritualism, and ideas of ritual pollution through his songs. Kabir has been admired by people from all walks of life and with all religious affiliations across the subcontinent. Today, his teachings and the tradition of singing associated with him continue to inspire everyone.

About the Artists
Prahlad Singh Tipanya is a rural schoolteacher from Madhya Pradesh whose rare talent, passion, and insight have caused him to be increasingly recognized as a remarkable exponent of Kabir’s music and meanings. Among many other honors, he received the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 2008.
Shabnam Virmani is a prominent Indian documentary filmmaker, a co-founder of Drishti Media, Arts & Human Rights collective in Ahmedabad, currently artist in residence at Srishti College of Art and Design in Bangalore, where she directs the Kabir Project. Her previous films include When Women Unite and Tu Zinda Hai. Visit for More information on the Kabir Project.

OFFSITE EVENT-Location: Eagle Theater, 73-07 37th Rd b/w Broadway & 74th Streets, Jackson Heights, Queens, Near 74th Street/Roosevelt Ave E/F/G/R/V Stop. $10 sliding scale donation recommended, although no one turned away for lack of funds. Program made possible with Support From Indian Council for Cultural Relations and SINGH Foundation.

Queens International 4 Sets Sail

Saturday, April 4, 2 - 6 pm - AQUATIC EVENTS RESCHEDULED FOR APRIL 11

2 - 3 pm: Artists SP Weather Station have installed a weather station on the roof of the Queens Museum of Art and digital media artist Jane Marsching will deliver the last in a series of three presentations and workshops around the data they have collected. Marsching's current project, Arctic Listening Post, explores our past, present and future human impact on the Arctic environment through interdisciplinary and collaborative practices, including video installations, virtual landscapes, dynamic websites, and data visualizations.

3 - 6 pm Hop on the trolley at the Queens Museum of Art and head to the boat house at Meadow Lake in Flushing Meadows Corona Park for the literal launch of two artists projects while enjoying a festive BBQ. Douglas Paulson and The Anti-Fascist Culture Club will install his sculptural islands The Undiscovered Atoll of Flushtopia and Tim Thyzel will launch his Packing Tape Boat.

Please call 718-592-9700 at noon that day for rain announcement, Rain Date: April 11.
**Trolley will run on a loop from 2:30 – 6pm making three stops: Shea Stadium 7 train stop, QMA, Boathouse.**.

presents First Sundays for Families at QMA: The New York City Water Supply System: The Journey of H2O

Sunday, April 5, 1 - 4:30 pm

Join us for tours of the Relief Map of the Water Supply System of NYC, which was built for the NYC Pavilion (which currently houses QMA) at the 1939 World’s Fair, but was never exhibited because of its size.
The model shows the water supply system that provides NYC residents with 1.1 billion gallons of water everyday. Tours describing the significance of this 540 square foot model will be followed by art workshop where participants will build their own 3D watershed. Finally, watch a short film screening of NYC highschool students visiting upstate New York watershed and reservoirs and get cozy for storytelling time reading The Magic Schoolbus, which takes you on a journey through the NYC watersystem.

Crossing the BLVD: Crossing the Cultural Divide

Sunday, April 5, 4 - 5 pm

Join Judith Sloan of Earsay for a unique afternoon mixing cultures, stories, and performers, reflecting the international mashup of Queens, the most diverse locality in the United States. Featuring monologues from Crossing the BLVD, an award-winning multimedia project about new immigrants and refugees created by Warren Lehrer and Judith Sloan of EarSay. Monologues will be performed by a multi-ethnic cast including Michael Premo, Editha Rosario, So Young Hur, Chenits Pettigrew and Geeta Citygirl. Dancers Elise Knudson and Teresa Kochis choreograph pieces to spoken-word stories about the changing face of America. Music by Basya Schecter (of Pharoah’s Daughter) on oud, Alan Kushan on Santur, Rich Stein on Percussion. Additional music by Taylor Rivelli. Youth performances by students from East New York, I.S. 311, Family Dynamics FD Steppers.

Opening Reception for Kia: Organic Abstract

Sunday, April 5, 7 - 9 pm

Featuring concert by Kia on Persian drum with Dr. Dariush Saghafi on santur. The two have played classical Persian music from the time of their youth in Iran and continued performing together in the United States at such venues as Carnegie Hall, Colombia University, NYU, Asia House.

IMAGE: Kia Eshghi. Prey (detail), 1994. Mixed media on canvas, 40 x 92 in., Courtesy the artist.

Ai lof Niu Yorr Screening

Friday, April 10, 6 - 9 pm

Ai Lof Niu Yorr: Festival of Every Day Life is a part of an investigative project that is sponsored by the Ministerio de Cultura del Ecuador and conceived and implemented by independent Ecuadorean arts and activist collectives who are interested in developing a participatory and collective discussion on Ecuadorian immigrant culture in New York.
A retrospective of: Diego Araujo / Wilson y Sandino Burbano presents a series of short films and documentaries including:

El tesoro secreto de Leonardo (Diego Araujo, 2004, 7 min., fiction, english with spanish subtitles)
Lola´s Dress (Diego Araujo, 2006, 7 min., fiction, english with spanish subtitles)
Push it! (Diego Araujo, 2000, 8 min, english with spanish subtitles)
El Correo de Las Horas (Sandino Burbano, 2005, 14 min, fiction, english with spanish subtitles)
Domingo Orgiástico (Sandino Burbano, 2006, 7 min, short documentary, english with spanish subtitles)
Solo (Wilson Burbano, 2001, 16 min, fiction, spanish with english subtitles)
Ira Muda (Wilson Burbano, 2000, 11 min, fiction, spanish with english subtitles)
País en Guerra (Wilson Burbano, 2004, 6 min, spanish with english subtitles)
Las Bodas del Silencio (Wilson Burbano, 1995, 16 min, spanish with english subtitles)
Angelus (Wilson Burbano, 1996, 11 min, spanish with english subtitles)
(total runtime: 103 min.)

CINEMAROSA - Queens Only Queer Film Series

Sunday, April 19, 3 - 6 pm

Becoming Quentin (Andrew Delaplaine, USA, 2006, 114 min.)
David Leddick is an actor, novelist and playwright and has written a one-man musical stage show about his 20-year friendship with Quentin Crisp, titled Quentin & I, which he has performed in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and other cities. Becoming Quentin is the documentary that followed Leddick during the process he went through creating the show. Includes rare footage of Quentin Crisp performing his own one-man show.
David Leddick, major queer influence in the arts and music of NYC will be in attendance for a discussion with the audience. Light refreshments will be served.

  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.

Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs' Immigrant Heritage Week Event – Immigration Stories Bookmaking Workshop

Sunday, April 19, 3 - 6 pm

In connection with Queens International, our biennale of Queens-based artists, multiple hands-on activity stations will be situated next to works in the exhibit that deal with immigration and personal narrative. These will generate materials that will culminate in the creation of art books of immigration stories. The finished books will be on display in our museum's café, where we will have a light reception. While in the cafe, participants can also explore a jukebox filled with submitted CDs that illustrate diverse immigration journeys through sound. Participants will be able to take their finished books home. Suitable for participants 8 years and older.
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: IMMIGRATION JOURNEYS JUKEBOX PROJECT (PDF), DEADLINE: April 15.

St. James and New York Books present their annual Book Fair

Sunday, April 19, 1 - 6 pm

1 - 3 pm: Books for Children of All Ages - Outside the Museum kids can join in painting a flag of peace for Colombia, while in the Unisphere Gallery there will be an exhibition of children’s books.

3 - 5 pm: Expo of books by Latino authors

5 - 6 pm: Participants in the Immigration Stories Bookmaking Workshop are invited to receive free books.

Hats Off to You! Queens Borough President’s Immigrant Heritage Week Closing Event

Thursday, April 23, 5:30 - 8 pm

Queens Borough President Helen M. Marshall is proud to host her second annual Immigrant Heritage Week event, celebrating the diversity of Queens, the most multi-ethnic county in New York City. This year's event will focus on the hats and head coverings that have religious, cultural, and/or personal significance to Queens residents. Members of Borough President Marshall's Queens General Assembly and Immigration Task Force will share the meanings behind these hats & head coverings. The public is welcome to participate in this cross-cultural exchange as well. Performances will be a part of the program, and international food will be served. Additionally, meet an artist who makes clothing and ritual objects and who share anecdotes from her experiences of buying different ethnic fabrics for her work & art. Photographs will be taken at the event, resulting in a Hats Off to You! photographic exhibit at Queens Borough Hall during the summer of 2009.

Closing Celebration Queens International 4 & NYC Bike Month Kick Off

Sunday, April 26, 3 - 6 pm

Join QMA and Transportation Alternatives for a Bike Rally headlined by Future Shock, an Indo-Caribbean bike gang from Richmond Hill whose rides are tricked out with thumping sound systems. We’ve invited bike gangs, artists with bike projects, bike advocacy groups, modders, and bike clubs and crews, including Mexican Pride, for an outdoor celebration to close Queens International 4 (QI4) edition with a bang! BMX bike demos will be taking place inside the museum utilizing QI4 artist Ryan Humphrey's undulating ramp. Also see the Human Sculpture performance by Chin Chih Yang, SP Weather Station’s presentation in the Panorama, and live rock musical performances by Unstoppable Death Machines, Tough Slutting, Shining Mantis, Karuhata, and Elextra!
We invite families to come early as Bike New York and NYC Parks Dept. are offering FREE bike riding classes for kids from 1 - 3 pm before the event.
Plus the NYC Dept. of Transportation will be on hand to giveaway free bike helmets from noon - 4 pm!
Please call 718-592-9700 at noon that day for rain announcement, Rain Date: May 2.

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.

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