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PRESS
RELEASE
PRESS CONTACT:
(syn·tax) Cynthia Kirk / 718-875-3502
FORMULAS FOR REVELATION
EXPLORES INTERPRETATIONS OF
SPIRITUALITY IN CONTEMPORARY ART
Formulas for Revelation, at the Rotunda Gallery Thursday, April 8 through Saturday, May 22, offers interpretations of spiritual concerns by nine contemporary artists. Organized by Michele Maccarone and Leslie Alexander, the exhibition opens with an Artists' Reception from 6 - 8 PM on April 8. The Rotunda Gallery is located at 33 Clinton Street in Brooklyn Heights. Gallery hours are Tuesday - Friday, Noon - 5 PM and Saturday, 11 AM - 4 PM. Admission is free. Information: 718-875-4047; or www.brooklynX.org/rotunda.
As society becomes more technologically advanced, the need for religious affirmation, revelation and transformation persists, often taking on new and divergent forms. Maccarone and Alexander have assembled a body of work in a range of media which does not refer to traditional religious symbols or icons, but rather examines the quest for enlightenment in our media-saturated and increasingly secular culture. The exhibition includes such seemingly unlikely juxtapositions as the intersection of meditative practice and media logos, and infomercials as a path to redemption.
An extraordinary aspect of this exhibition is the creation of a mandala sand painting by the Venerable Lama Tensin Yignyen, an ordained Tibetan monk. In a four-day ritual from Friday, April 30 through Monday, May 3, Lama Tensin will painstakingly place millions of grains of colored sand to create a brilliant, mesmerizing design. In accordance with tradition, the mandala will be ritually dismantled shortly after its completion. The Gallery will have extended hours as Lama Tenzin creates this devotional work: Friday/Saturday, April 30/May 1, 9 AM - 4 PM; Sunday, May 2 10 AM - 4 PM; and Monday, May 3, 9 AM - 1:30 PM. The dismantling begins on Monday, the 3rd at 12:30 PM.
In media ranging from painting and photography to video, Formulas for Revelation includes the following artists:
- Chris Beirne whose other-worldly color photographs recall 19th century "spirit photographs"
- Jeremy Blake whose computer-generated photo-collages create a powerful painterly surface
- Jenny Gage whose self-portraits, in large color photographs, capture the artist in isolated moments of revelation
- Michael Joseph whose video of a plunge from the Brooklyn Bridge is a wry comment on issues of faith and salvation
- Tony Just who uses mundane materials -- graphite, corporate logos and Photomat stickers -- to create works that evoke the meditative and ecstatic
- Alex Kim whose cube-constructions of iconic images suggest the interchangeability of godheads
- Rossana Martínez whose "molés" of handmade paper evoke pre-Columbian art and rituals
- Michael Scott whose repetitively-patterned canvases have an energizing luminosity
- Andrea Zittel whose CD ROM film explores how her art redefined the lifestyle of an ordinary citizen.
Michele Macarrone studied Art History at Barnard College, specializing in 17th century Roman Baroque art, created during a time when religion, politics and art were closely connected. She is currently director of Luhring Augustine Gallery, in Chelsea. Leslie Alexander is an artist and curator whose work combines the technology of our time with concepts that are timeless. She is curator of the Fred Alger Management Company Collection of Art.
The Rotunda Gallery is cooperating with the Brooklyn Public Library in bringing its artists to Grand Army Plaza. In the third of three projects, Alex Kim presents excerpts from his The Continental Shift series. Kim's work is on display at the Library through April 19; an artist's reception takes place March 29 at 6:30 PM, at the Library.
The Rotunda Gallery, housed in an award-winning space designed by Smith-Miller + Hawkinson, showcases the work of Brooklyn artists. It plays a leadership role in supporting Brooklyn's artist community and provides gallery talks, lectures, panel discussions and tours. Founded in 1981, its computerized slide registry now includes the work of over 850 Brooklyn-affiliated artists. Searchable by primary media, specific materials, stylistic approach, and scale, it is used extensively to plan Gallery exhibitions and is consulted regularly by curators, writers, private dealers, and other art professionals.
The Rotunda Gallery has an important educational mission reaching more than 5,000 students each year with Gallery visits, mini-museums, murals and other in-school arts-in-education projects. For many, the Gallery's programs are their first exposure to contemporary art.
Janet Riker is the Gallery Director; Meridith McNeal is Associate Director. The Rotunda Gallery is a project of the not-for-profit BRIC/Brooklyn Information & Culture, Inc. (Nanette Rainone, President), a leader in the development of arts and communications programs in Brooklyn. Formerly known as The Fund for the Borough of Brooklyn, BRIC benefits nearly one million people each year through its six projects: BCAT/Brooklyn Community Access Television; BrookLynX; the Brooklyn Tourism Council; the Celebrate Brooklyn Performing Arts Festival; the Rotunda Gallery; and the Welcome Back to Brooklyn Homecoming Festival. For more information about BRIC call 718-855-7882 or visit their website, www.brooklynX.org.
Located in Brooklyn Heights, just over the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, the Gallery is also easily accessible by public transportation. It is a short walk from the 2, 3; 4, 5; M; N or R trains at the Court Street/Borough Hall station; or the A, C trains at High Street.
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