Author: Stephan Apicella-Hitchcock

Aysha Hamouda: print(“Hello, World”) ?>

Aysha Hamouda: print(“Hello, World”)

Aysha Hamouda: print(“Hello, World”)

June 3 – September 23, 2022

ILDIKO BUTLER GALLERY
Fordham University
113 W 60th Street
New York, NY

The gallery is open to the Fordham community 9am – 9pm seven days a week. Outside visitors should call ahead to inquire about current admission protocol.

Fordham University’s Ildiko Butler Gallery is pleased to present Aysha Hamouda: print(“Hello, World”). Through the use of ultraviolet light, ultraviolet-sensitive paint, and florescent yellow string, this site-specific installation investigates the idea of “collective dissociation” — a term Hamouda uses to describe the physiological and psychological effects of technologies related to the Internet, information, and the virtual world.

The artist states: “The allures of the Internet are created by algorithmic poems that project/manicure/curate custom realities for each user under the accepted and untamed credo of A Better,(Hyper) Individuated Experience. The web, prized for its global networking, has also come under heat for its main source of capital — its users’ devoted attention or DATA. Meanwhile, the web’s growth of information — factual, fictional, personal — is relentlessly on the rise. The result is a growing Virtual Collective: a cluster of hyper-individuated realities dissociated from one another and yet becoming, somehow, whole.”

Recalling work from the Light & Space movement, Hamouda’s installation plays with optics: The strings and painted wall appear, at certain vantage points depending on the viewer’s height, to flatten into a glowing blue two-dimensional rectangle behind a dense set of yellow horizontal lines. (The effect is even more pronounced when the installation is viewed head on through a camera lens.) From this perspective, every element of the piece exists in a form of controlled unity. However, as the viewer moves physically to other points of perspective, the installation reveals itself as a chaotic web with unexpected depth and complexity.

Titled after Brian Kernigham’s 1972 book A Tutorial Introduction to the Language B., which first introduced “Hello, World” to illustrate variables within programing, print(“Hello, World”) (a Python version of “Hello, World”) explores viewers’ perception of a kinetic, fragmented “whole” and poses the question: How do we construct a sense of grounding when confronted with the groundless? By giving physical form to the primordial skeleton of the virtual world — the rectangle, its pale bluish light — print(“Hello, World”) lays bare our innate human desire to impose structure, systems, and order on a reality infinitely more complex and in constant flux.

Aysha Hamouda (she/they; b. 1991, Switzerland) is an installation and multimedia artist based in the U.S. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including in Germany, Switzerland, China, and the United States. In 2019, she was part of Wavelength Reset, an international platform and traveling exhibition based in Shanghai, China. As part of that project, her work Input/Output was shown at the Times Art Museum in Beijing and the Artron Museum in Shenzhen. Hamouda received a BFA from Lyme Academy College of Fine Art in 2014 and an MFA from Syracuse University in 2018.

Sarah Hirzel: Overburden ?>

Sarah Hirzel: Overburden

Sarah Hirzel: Overburden
June 3 – September 23, 2022
LIPANI GALLERY

The gallery is open to the Fordham community 9am – 9pm seven days a week. Outside visitors should call ahead to inquire about current admission protocol.

Fordham University’s Lipani Gallery is pleased to present Sarah Hirzel: Overburden, an exhibition of thirty-five digitally altered, pigment-printed drawings of the stuff we make, use, and leave in our wake in our time on this planet—hatchets, hairbrushes, computers, high rises, oil rigs, musical instruments, fireplaces, drainpipes, cars, boats, bones, furniture, roads, garbage—and of the organic matter that grows up among it.

Hung salon-style in an eclectic array of frames found by the artist in attics, thrift stores, and other out-of-the-way corners, the pieces in this show are by turns poignant, poetic, humorous, dark, and sometimes just simply odd, bringing together the mundane and the momentous in a kind of landfill logic both chaotic and stratified. In one piece, mounted in a small frame of carved black roses, a computer chip sprouts grass; in another, a battle between trumpets and leaf blowers rages; in yet another, the New York skyline morphs into a purple crystal.

Most people are familiar with the term overburden in its verb form—to load with too many things to carry. Fewer know its definition as a noun—rock or soil overlying a mineral deposit, archaeological site, or other underground feature. The works in this show plumb both meanings of the word, conveying the weight of accumulation yet retaining a sense of curiosity about what remains hidden, waiting to be discovered. Indeed, Hirzel likens her creative process to that of a detective searching for clues in a world that feels upside down, inside out, and still, somehow, strangely beautiful.

Sarah Hirzel is an artist and educator based in Massachusetts where she draws, wrangles a chaotic garden, hangs out with her family, and supports student artists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is a founding staff member of MIT’s Voxel Music and Arts Innovation Space and curates the MIT Wiesner Student Art Gallery. She is a graduate of the Yale School of Art and Wesleyan University, both located in post-industrial central Connecticut. You can find her in the household accent section of your local thrift shop.

MEN CRY ?>

MEN CRY

MEN CRY
Martin Nuñez-Bonilla

The Fordham University Galleries
Fordham University at Lincoln Center map
113 West 60th Street at Columbus Avenue
New York, NY 10023
fordhamuniversitygalleries
March 1 – March 20, 2022

The Visual Arts Program at Fordham University is pleased to present MEN CRY, a video series by Fordham alumnus Martin Nuñez-Bonilla (’18). This moving compilation of interviews began with the seemingly simple question: When was the last time you cried?

In the words of the artist:

Four years ago, when I was a senior at Fordham, I spent a month talking to men about their feelings in the studio of the Visual Arts Complex at the school. Those interviews would go on to become MEN CRY, a video series in which people talk about their feelings and experiences with masculinity. What started out as a response to sexism and the violence that comes from emotional repression in men has turned into so much more. The project has reached across the country and continues to build community with people who want to encourage authenticity in a suppressive world. Masculinity is a topic that is so much more nuanced and wide-reaching than I could have ever imagined. This nuance has created the current moment, in which MEN CRY has evolved and I’m trying to figure out what comes next. 

Today, four years later, I’ve turned 25, experienced a pandemic, left a 9 to 5 job, and been formally diagnosed with clinical depression and anxiety. This big moment in my life has inspired me to take a step back and examine my own habits, mental health, and masculine behaviors. It’s not enough to say the right things and be a “good guy” — I have to also challenge myself to improve.

I am in transition and the MEN CRY project is in transition, too. As I take this time to grow and explore, I also want to take the time to look back and appreciate the folks who have shared incredible stories and demonstrated such tenderness and love. I’d like to give a special thank you to everyone who was brave enough to cry, to laugh, and to feel on MEN CRY.
 JP Alba-Dennis
Dominick Alcantara
Jordan Almodovar
Daniél Alvarez
Miles Ballard
Arthur Banach
Mik Berry
Jason Bost
Isabella Breton
Michael Cole
Jose “Mozo” Cruz
Chandler Dean
Jack DeWahl
Sergio Echenique
Kelveen Fabian
Maribí Henriquez
Doug Horner
Amilcar Javier
Kyle Kilkenny
Lou Knows
“Juice” Mackins
Luis Mejicanos
Tony Quera
T Michael Rock
José Roldan Jr.
Dorien Russell
Vincent Rutherford
Ian Schafer
 Given how much love we’ve all put into this project, I hope you can walk away knowing: 

  1. Emotions are important.
  2. Mental health is important.
  3. Progress is non-linear.
  4. Tenderness is bravery.
  5. Pink is a kickass color. 

Martin Nuñez-Bonilla is an Afro-Latino visual artist and public speaker based in New York City with a passion for masculinity reform, BIPOC equality, and vulnerability. He currently works with organizations, causes, and events on their visual materials and communications. He can be reached at martinnunezbonilla.nyc@gmail.com or via his website (www.mnbnyc.com) or Instagram (@mnbnyc).

MEN CRY is an unscripted video series and digital platform for exploring modern masculinity, sharing stories, and sharing resources for people of all genders. You can watch past episodes on YouTube, check out the Instagram Live series on @allmencry, or learn more at mencry.nyc.

If you are a student struggling with your mental or emotional health, or if you just need someone to talk to about the challenges you are facing, Fordham’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS) offers free and confidential services on both campuses. To schedule an initial screening or walk-in appointment, please call or visit one of their offices (at Lincoln Center: 160 W 62nd Street, rm G-02, 212-636-6225; at Rose Hill/Westchester: O’Hare Hall Basement, 718-817-3725). If you are experiencing a mental health emergency during non-business hours, please contact the Public Safety Office at Fordham or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK. A representative from the CPS office will also be available outside the gallery from noon to 1pm on March 1, 3, 7, and 11 to answer any questions you may have.  

Link to the exhibition
mencry.nyc

Martin Nuñez-Bonilla can be contacted here.
For the Visual Arts Department Blog: click here.
For the Visual Arts Department Website: click here.

EXPERIMENTS WITH ART AND ACTION ?>

EXPERIMENTS WITH ART AND ACTION

EXPERIMENTS WITH ART AND ACTION 
Organized by: Matthew López-Jensen

The Fordham University Galleries
Fordham University at Lincoln Center map
113 West 60th Street at Columbus Avenue
New York, NY 10023
fordhamuniversitygalleries
February 14 – March 29, 2022

The Visual Arts Program at Fordham University is proud to present Experiments with Art and Action, a selection of student artwork from Matthew López-Jensen’s course Art + Action on the Bronx River. First offered in spring 2021, this course is designed around direct experiences with the Bronx River, which flows only a few minute’s walk from the Rose Hill campus. The river is a critical urban landmark, a scenic dividing line that runs from Westchester County to the East River. Throughout the semester, students study the history of the river, its ecology, its relationship to surrounding communities, and its connection to New York City’s watershed. Walking, collecting, observation, and boating are used to direct students’ creative output, as can be seen in the works on view. The course also directly engages with the Bronx River Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting and protecting the river, and many of the pieces in this exhibition will be donated to the Bronx River Alliance for use as educational tools.  
 
Some of the works included are the product of collective action, like a bottle cap cleanup in Starlight Park. The 3000 caps were collected, cleaned, and transformed into a snaking sculptural object and percussion instruments. Other projects include handmade plant identification cards, site-specific maps of landscapes along the Bronx River, landscape and underwater photography, and documentation from performative actions. Each project is the result of students directly engaging with the Bronx River and the adjacent landscapes. The show includes contributions from Lily Ashendorf, Josephine Cohen, Liza Cohen, Grace Dailey, Lina Diamante, Baily Dolgon, Liz Galeano, Nora Hogan, Maggie Hunt, Mack Hurstell, Helen Hylton, Alexandra Klapak, Hanwen (Lina) Li, Zoey Liu, Nicolette Makris, Amelia Medved, Angela Payne, Alexia Ramos, Julia Reynolds, Tayler Rogers, Rosa Schembari, Emily Yankee, Gregory Yared, and Sophia Zehler.
 
Image: Zoey Liu. Untitled (Concrete Plant Park on the Horizon). 2021.

Experiments with Art and Action Website

For further information, please contact Matthew López-Jensen.
For the Visual Arts Department Website: click here.

New Portfolio: Tarek Abbar ?>

New Portfolio: Tarek Abbar

Tarek Abbar
Curator: Stephan Apicella-Hitchcock

The Fordham University Galleries
Fordham University at Lincoln Center map
113 West 60th Street at Columbus Avenue
New York, NY 10023
fordhamuniversitygalleries

The Fordham University Department of Visual Arts Hayden Hartnett Project Space is pleased to present the fourth installment of our Online Portfolio Series with a selection of meticulously drawn and absurdly dense architectural maps by the Spanish/Libyan/Lebanese artist Tarek Abbar. Living in rural Japan certainly affected this globetrotter’s psyche, and you will certainly enjoy this project if you are comfortable with horror vacui (the fear of empty space). 

These works of ink on paper are all highly detailed maps of Japan created between 2015 and 2019 in an old house on a remote peninsula in northwestern Japan. Surrounded by cedar, maple, and pine, the studio’s only neighbor is a lonely Shinto shrine, and these drawings of urban concrete stand in stark contrast to the surrounding landscape.

Drawings of buildings create cartography, enclosed by the metallic clouds of industry and watched over by robotic gods. The buildings look Soviet but are the Japanese post-war quick fix structures that repeat across the archipelago like a mantra.

There are two semi-concessions to nature in these works: Mount Fuji in spirit form and the inclusion of water, which in Japan is rarely found in its wild state, instead typically entrapped by concrete.

Tarek Abbar Website
For further information contact Stephan Apicella-Hitchcock.
For the Visual Arts Department Blog: click here.
For the Visual Arts Department Website: click here.

BE GRATEFUL TO EVERYONE (Slogan 13, from the 59 Lojongs of 12c. Tibetan meditational practice)  Highlights from the Senior Seminar 2021 ?>

BE GRATEFUL TO EVERYONE (Slogan 13, from the 59 Lojongs of 12c. Tibetan meditational practice)  Highlights from the Senior Seminar 2021

This year’s Senior Seminar exhibition includes work from 12 Visual Arts majors who have worked to present an integrated exhibition, one that celebrates both individual direction and collaboration while inevitably responding to this moment of profound change. As the exhibition’s title suggests, students found ways to make space for new paradigms while engaging in an ongoing conversation revolving around themes of fragility, resilience, memory, transformation, silence, and song. Their work celebrates beauty, personal exploration, historical and political engagement, and empathy, as well as a connection to the sensorial pleasures of materiality, movement, and community.

Zane Austill’s work explores his decision to take a sustained vow of silence. The notes displayed in his installation provide insight into the nature of his conversations since taking the vow, moments both mundane and profound. His film traces the process as he works to understand how an individual need for silence conflicts or is accommodated both inwardly and by those around him.

Lenah Barge looks back to the form of Civil Rights era protest imagery to underscore the long, ongoing struggle for equity in our society. She infuses the form with images from her personal history and asks that we consider engagement, and work towards change.
 
Caitlin Bury’s installation is inspired by her aunt’s experience as a vocalist in a 1960’s group named The Shannons. Bury finds inspiration and strength in her aunt’s story as she pursues her own creative life, and her project looks at common threads running through their stories as a way of creating histories.

Kaila Cordova creates digital portraits which address the positive and negative emotions that people have experienced during quarantine due to COVID-19. Each image is named after a famous Victorian author and botanical collectives, structures, and arrangements, and relies on the symbolism of Florology to code the images with clues the sitter’s state of mind.

Ethan Coughlin’s My City, Your City is about exploration and the joy of finding unexpected beauty all around you. Coughlin explores New York City and finds wonder in the often unappreciated, hidden places he stumbles upon, such as a colony of Argentine parrots living in the heart of Brooklyn. His installation prompts us to invest attention in the places we call home.

Spencer Everett’s sculptural collages of paper and glass explore the liminal space that exists between the two-dimensional and three-dimensional world. His work addresses the impossible inconsistencies between tangible truth and a “bodiless imposition” experienced in the modern world.

Lara Foley presents painted images on paper and wood that are small in scale and meticulously detailed through layers of pale washes. Foley is interested in the way our subconscious holds onto unanticipated, often peripheral aspects of life, turning small afterthoughts into the moments that continue to carry significance in our lives.

Houze Han makes paintings that convey a deeper, narrative world beyond the canvas, using symbolic shape as language. The composition of each form, the edge, texture, and color, emphasizes the significance of logical, analytical choices made, which in combination transcend their particular forms to tell a story hidden deep inside the artist’s mind.

In her photographic series, Domestic, Nicole Perkins engages the constructs of the interior and the still life to create lush, tightly focused images that ask the question: how do we create a home for ourselves? What does it feel like to be home?

Mateo Solis Prada celebrates the communal experience of sharing a meal via sculpture, sound, and text. His work viscerally conveys the joy of continuity and connection. He sculpts foods that are family heritage, symbols of love and creativity passed down from generation to generation, and the color and care with which he sets his table invites participation in his celebration.

Sarah Hujber photographed the landscape of the American West, spending afternoons in ghost towns where nature was eagerly reclaiming the land lost to human-made structures. Hujber raises questions about lives abandoned, the American Dream, and power of nature in a series of black and white photographs.

In her painting, Not Finished, Jessica Sudol addresses the anxiety that results from the constant demands on one’s time through a slow, methodical meshing of painting and digital structure.

Highlights from the Senior Seminar Website

Christy Rupp: Leaf Litter ?>

Christy Rupp: Leaf Litter

The Department of Visual Arts at Fordham University is pleased to present, Leaf Litter, a new exhibition by Christy Rupp in the Ildiko Butler Gallery.

For the exhibition, Rupp is enlarging images of two cut-paper collages to the full scale of the gallery’s east and west walls and adding wall-mounted sculptures on top of the images. On the east wall is an image of a forest under assault by the construction of pipes and bulldozers, mounted on top is a sculpture of life-size Quetzal (an extinct bird from Guatemala ) made with credit cards, an illusion to borrowing from the future and the connection to extinction. On the west wall is an enlarged collage of burst pipes spewing oil underwater as small planktonic Crabs are carried by the currents directly into the oil spill. On top of this image, there is a Forest Newt, made of charred matches, which links air and water pollution, both destabilized by the effects of excess CO2. The south wall is a series of Aquatic Larvae composed of single-use plastic debris, made by the artist to visualize the integration of microplastic particles into the birth cycles of all living species.

Artist Bio: Christy Rupp is an American eco-artist and citizen scientist. Having grown up in the Rust Belt of upstate NY, she witnessed firsthand the hazards of industrial waste and efforts to conceal the underlying causes of pollution. She moved to NYC in the late ’70s as it faced bankruptcy and offered fertile ground for a generation of artists lucky enough to participate in the petri dish of history, culture, and nature that was late-capitalist downtown. Originating from an interest in urban ecology and the waste stream, Rupp’s work taps into universal themes of climate change and justice. Her work has focused on environmental hazards like fracking waste, oil extraction, and water quality.

Rupp has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, Anonymous Was A Woman Foundation, Joan Mitchell Foundation (Creating a Living Legacy Award), and Art Matters Foundation. Her work has been visible in the US and internationally since 1979. She lives in New York.

New book: by Christy Rupp. Leaf Litter also celebrates the launch of Noisy Autumn, a monograph of the ecological artworks of Christy Rupp over the past 45 years. It was designed with collaborator Abby Goldstein, Fordham Professor of Art and head of the Graphic Design area. Ms. Goldstein’s book credits are many with best-sellers about type history, and she has also produced numerous catalogs for artists and galleries and is a painter known for her organic imagery. The book is published by Insight Editions on wood-free paper.

Book event on Saturday, December 4, 2–4 pm at Printed Matter/ St. Mark’s.

Image caption: Aquatic Larvae, 2020 welded steel, and single-use plastic debris. Each approximately 33X13X8″

For Christy Rupp’s website, click here.
For further information on the exhibition, contact Abby Goldstein.
For the Visual Arts Department Website: click here.