Third Coast National - PRESS RELEASE

What: Third Coast National – Third Annual National Juried Exhibition

When: Opening Saturday, October 17, 2009 - 6:00pm to 8:00pm.

Gallery talk with Juror Fairfax Dorn at 5:30pm.

Exhibition runs through November 21^st.

Where: K Space Contemporary, 415 D Starr Street, Corpus Christi, TX 78403

Contact: V. Michelle Smythe, 361-887-6834, info@kspacecontemporary.org

Images: “Mansion” by Melissa Wilkinson, “Now What” by Russ Orlando

K Space Contemporary proudly presents its third annual juried exhibition, Third Coast National, drawing artists from as far as San Francisco, CA and Athens, GA. This non-thematic exhibition utilizing artistic mediums such as photography, painting, sculpture, film, and graphic design will be on view from October 17^th through November 21^st.

Juror Fairfax Dorn, artist, Executive Director, and co-founder of Ballroom Marfa, left a highly successful position at the Whitney Museum of American art in New York City for the West Texas desert landscape. Formerly a resident of Corpus Christi, the juror currently engages emerging and established artists to promote new ideas on an international scale. Recent projects include an eco-friendly Drive-In theatre/music hall and ongoing missions to bring people together though the arts.

A gallery talk by Fairfax Dorn will take place at 5:30 pm. Admission is free, with refreshments and live music by Oscar Guerra and Bruno Andrade. Also opening this evening: Dyslexic Dreams Go Green by Robert Cockrell and Jim Forsythe in the 3^rd floor Hot Spot Gallery and Blackbird People, drawings by Ricardo Ruiz in the Art Star Gallery.

Sponsors include the Arts and Cultural Commission of Corpus Christi, KUQI Fox, Grande Communications, V Boutique Hotel, and Andrews Distributing. This exhibition was also made possible through the efforts of the Texas A&M Museum and Gallery Practices class led by Elizabeth Reese, Phd.

Participating artists include: Therese Bauer (El Paso, TX), John Bissonette (Las Vegas, NV), Peter Combe (San Francisco, CA), Casey D. Cooper (San Antonio, TX), Bryan Drew (Lincoln, NE), Stephen Gambill (Corpus Christi, TX), Andrea Land (Springfield, MO), Haejae Lee (Richmond Hill, NY), John Mastenbrook (Corpus Christi, TX), Leigh Merrill (Denton, TX), Russ Orlando (Franklin, MI), James R. Pace (Tyler, TX), David Politzer (Youngstown, OH), Shravan Rajagopal (Marquette, MI), Kaletia Roberts (Dallas, TX), Greg Rubio (Corpus Christi, TX), Martina Shenal (Tucson, AZ), Alison A. Smith (Athens, GA), Josh Smith (Portland, OR), Cliff Tisdell (Hoboken, NJ), Susan Smith Trees (Lake Forest, IL), Vaugn Wascovich (Commerce, TX), Marqi Weir (Placitas, NM), Jonathan Whitfill (Lubbock, TX), Melissa Wilkinson (Hewitt, TX), and Brandy Wolfe (Allston, MA).

PRESS RELEASE- Premier Film Event- Art:21

 For Immediate Release:

Corpus Christi, Texas 

K Space Contemporary Premier Film Event 

Art:21- Art in the Twenty-First Century  

Now in it’s fifth season, Art:21 will screen at K Space Contemporary.  This prime-time television PBS series is the only one of its kind to focus exclusively on contemporary art and has received the Peabody Award for distinguished achievement in electronic media.  

Free premier showings for two episodes of Art:21 will be screened at K Space Contemporary on Thursday October 1^st & 8^th from 7-9 pm. The event will be complimented with a panel discussion led by guest artists and professionals.  Art:21 the television series airs beginning October 7^th on PBS. 

Art:21 is a series of artist interviews which provide rare access to individuals who grapple with the complex issues of our time, ask tough questions, and make works that delight, amaze and sometimes unsettle audiences worldwide.  Featured artists include Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, and Yinka Shonibare. 

October 1^st- Episode 2: Fantasy

Fantasy presents four artists whose works or personal stories transport viewers to imaginary worlds and altered states of consciousness.

Jeff Koons utilizes symbolically charged images and objects from popular culture to frame his questions about taste and pleasure in modern society. His painstakingly crafted artworks were recently exhibited at a groundbreaking and controversial installation at the Chateau de Versailles.

Mary Heilmann filters her inner world through her work, imbuing abstract paintings, ceramics, and furniture with references to memories and aesthetic influences.

Florian Maier- Aichen is a German-born landscape photographer. His works— alternately romantic, cerebral and unearthly—question German Romanticism and myths of the American West. A young Beijing-based Chinese artist, Cao Fei’s videos, photos, and new media works explore perception, reality and inner lives in places as diverse as a Chinese factory and the virtual world of Second Life. 

October 8^th- Episode 3: Transformation 

Whether observing and satirizing society or reinventing icons of literature, art history, and popular culture, the artists featured in Transformation capture the sensibilities of our age while at times inhabiting the characters they have created.  

 Yinka Shonibare MBE -Working in multiple mediums, including painting, sculpture, photography and film, Shonibare draws upon his bicultural upbringing, European literary classics, 18th and 19th century history to create tableaus of dazzling color and patterns that provoke re-consideration of stereotypical colonial narratives.

Cindy Sherman, well known for her photographic series, creates a myriad of characters, metamorphosing herself from Hollywood starlet to clown to society matron in her photographs and early films. 

Paul McCarthy has created works of video, installation, sculpture and performance. His video-taped performances and multimedia installations satirize polite society, ridicule authority, and bombard the viewer with a sensory overload of spectacular imagery. 

For more information, please call (361) 887-6834 or email info@kspacecontemporary.org

 

 

Enmascarados Press Release

K Space Contemporary Exhibitions

Sept. 4 to Oct. 9, 2009

Opening Reception: Friday, September 4, 2009, 6 to 8 p.m. Exhibition continues through October 9, 2009. Hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 11 am to 5 pm. FMI: call 887-6834 or visit www.kspacecontemporary.org.

Image: "Tag Team Death Match," Acrylic - Enrique Martinez

Enmascarados: Homage to the Social Phenomenon of Lucha Libre

Also in the Main Gallery: Michael Ryan Howell: New Work, Project Slicker: Condom Couture for the Runway in collaboration with Planned Parenthood of South Texas.

In the gift shop Art Star–Lisa Harrison Ramirez.

In the Hot Spot: Alone in a Crowd: Cody Jones

ABOUT ENMASCARADOS:

Corpus Christi, TX: K Space Contemporary is pleased to announce the opening of a new art exhibition, Enmascarados: Homage to the Social Phenomenon of Lucha Libre. Enmascarados (the masked ones) is an art exhibition that showcases top Chicano artists’ interpretations of Lucha Libre, Mexican freestyle wrestling. Displayed are photos, paintings, mixed media, video, and sculpture. The exhibition was curated by curator, artist, and musician Angel Quesada, and is currently traveling throughout the state of Texas.

Statement by Exhibition Organizer, Angel Quesada:

Since the spectacle of Lucha Libre (freestyle wrestling) began in Mexico, it has captivated audiences and created a phenomenon that has gained popularity all over the world. The fact that the wrestlers don a mask is very compelling and beckons us to assume a role in the ring. Whichever side you choose to play in the ring; the "rudo" (rude boy brawler, bad guy) or the "tecnico" (traditional technical wrestler, good guy), the mask acts as a portal allowing our imagination to embody the luchador (wrestler).

This exhibit sits us, the audience, on the edge of the dark and controversial, the childish and even spiritual… rendering for us a colorful allegory of good versus evil. Although the mask's use in the sport hides the luchador's face, what emerges as a result of this masquerade is the paragon of a Mexican visual past and a newfound adoration and creation of a new iconic face of Mexico.

"Enmascarados: Homage to the Social Phenomenon of Lucha Libre", is not simply an exhibit but a collection of Chicano artists participating in a happening. It is a tour de force of artistic talent celebrating a slice of culture. The work included displays photos, paintings, mixed media, video, and sculpture which continue a dialogue of diversity and irreverent playfulness, nostalgia and exoticism.

Participating Artists:

Federico Archuleta (El Paso), Jesus Cimi, Fidencio Duran (Austin), Celeste De Luna (Brownsville), Faustinus Deraet (Mexico City), Xavier Garza (San Antonio), Beto Gonzalez (San Antonio/Los Angeles), Hector Hernandez (Laredo), Gerald Lopez (Corpus Christi), Enrique Martinez (El Paso/San Antonio), Marcela Moran (Laredo), Abel Ortiz-Acosta (Val Verde/Del Rio), Angel Quesada (Los Angeles/Boston), Bonifacio Rodriguez (Austin), Jose Rodriguez Venezuela/Leander), Ricardo Ruiz (Corpus Christi)

About the exhibition curator, Angel Quesada (www.angelquesada.com):

Quesada, has worked as an artist, curator and preparator, and was production manager at Mexic-Arte Museum 2005-2009. Quesada has coordinated numerous exhibitions including, YLA 12: Embracing Chaos on behalf of Mexic-Arte Museum at the inauguration of The Mexican American Cultural Center Austin in 2007 and Del Otro Lado in Houston for the Art League of Houston in conjunction with Chase Bank in 2008.

Quesada, originally from Laredo and Eagle Pass, has lived in Boston, Los Angeles and Del Rio. He currently lives in Austin, Texas and is a Master Instructor at the Mexican American Cultural Center.