Antonio Jose Guzman, Piertopolis, 2010-2012, courtesy the artist
Thursday, April 21, 2011, 6-8pm
Piertopolis Mappings: Goa – Panama City – NYC – Amsterdam – Dakar. Rush Arts Gallery and Sasha Dees present the artist talk “Piertopolis” by Antonio Jose Guzman. Antonio will be talking about what he has been doing during this visit in New York and will be showing visual results of the project so far in Panama and India.
Piertopolis interventions in public spaces features photos and wooden piers on which one can walk and connect to other piers in different parts of the world. A pier accommodates the act of leaving, of traveling and embarking – it is a place where the gone and lost are contemplated. At the same time, a pier is a place easily associated with arrival and return, with reconnection, and with the fulfillment of hopes and wishes. Besides, a pier is also a continuously changing structure. Its features are affected by wind and sea, by the people, boats and animals that use it. A pier never looks the same. The structure-like characteristics of the pier make one think of small meccano constructions, architectural fantasies and utopian landscapes in which the border between reality and illusion is blurred.
In Piertopolis, the subjects treated in these two former projects are re-evaluated. The installation includes different references towards the transatlantic travel of the African DNA. However, Piertopolis differs from the former projects in the sense that, instead of local heritage, unity in movement and fluidity is emphasized: Piertopolis is one place where people can move. Moreover, pictures that are taken of the installation present a new reality by means of the connection of the two older ones.
Antonio Jose Guzman, Piertopolis, 2010-2012, courtesy the artist
Sasha Dees is an independent curator that works between Europe, the Americas and the Caribean focused on international exchange and collaborations. She works a.o. as a curator for Open Ateliers Zuidoost Artist in Residency.
Rush Galleries, which includes Rush Arts Gallery (Chelsea) and Corridor Gallery (Brooklyn) are part of the core programs of the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, a 501 © 3 organization founded in 1995 by brothers Russell, Danny and Joseph “Rev. Run” Simmons. Rush Galleries are dedicated to providing exhibition opportunities to an emerging artistic community and exposes urban youth to contemporary arts and culture through educational programming initiatives. Corridor Gallery is also the home of the Rush KIDS Education Programs.
The Rush Arts Gallery
526 W26th Street #311
New York, NY 10001
Tel.: 212-691-9552
