Rhombus Space <> 183
Lorraine St. 3rd Floor, #33, Brooklyn,
NY 11231 <>
 |
| Samuel Jablon, "America Dreams", 2013, acrylic and glass tile on wood, 30 x 36" |
/////////////////////////////
Poetry Slam <> damali abrams, Jessica Campbell,
Samuel Jablon, and Mwamba-Salim Wilson
Rhombus Space is
pleased to present an inaugural group show titled Poetry Slam. The
show opens Friday September 20th 6-8PM and runs through
October 13th.
Poetry Slam is
a show featuring four artists who use text in their work. The works in this
show ranges from painting and drawing, to installation, sculpture, and video. damali abrams, Jessica Campbell, Samuel Jablon, and Mwamba-Salim
Wilson work with different content
and materials, but share an emphasis on a direct and arresting use of language in
their art. Traditional poetry slams consist of participants performing their
spoken word/poems for an audience within a limited period of time, with
rhythmic and emphatic presentation.
Forget that the use of
text as image challenged illusionistic space in visual art. Or that text significantly
contributed to the development of collage and to our notion of contemporary
composition in art. These artists go further…. damali abrams’ video pieces address the nature of performance
in intimate, thoughtful dialogues. Jessica
Campbell uses wit and humor in her work with an intense subjectivity that
is intellectually and visually captivating. Samuel Jablon plays on poetic sense and nonsense, legibility and
illegibility, while embracing formal concerns that come from using text as
image. And Mwamba-Salim Wilson embraces the powers of symbols and
idiosyncratic narratives that combine political commentary, cross-cultural signs,
and personal revelations with painterly abstraction.
These artists engage
with language inflected with their own individual histories and interests, in ways
that disrupt and complement their visual vocabularies. In Poetry Slam, there is an intuitive use of language that is as much
a part of the creative flow of ideas as the visual elements that form the
artworks.
-------------------------
damali abrams is a New York City-based artist working
primarily in video. She received her BA at NYU and her MFA at Vermont College
of Fine Arts. She was a 2009-10 A.I.R. Gallery Fellowship recipient. abrams
work has been shown in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Memphis, New
Orleans, Denver, and Miami. In New York City, her work has been exhibited at
The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art (MoCADA), A.I.R. Gallery,
JCAL, Rush Arts Gallery, BRIC Rotunda Gallery, and upcoming at El Museo del
Barrio. damali is a member of tART and a NYC coordinator for The Feminist Art
Project. She is currently working on a performance art documentary, posting one
chapter each month online, as part of an offsite residency with the
organization Fresh Milk in Barbados.
 |
|
damali abrams, "Walking With Linda Montano", 2009,
video, 3:49
|
Jessica Campbell was born in 1985 in
Victoria, B.C. She lives and works in Chicago, IL. Campbell completed her
undergraduate degree at Concordia University in Montreal, and is a
current MFA candidate at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Between 2006 and 2012, she worked as a designer, publicist and editor
for the graphic novel publisher Drawn & Quarterly, and she is
currently teaching in the continuing studies department at SAIC. Campbell makes
drawings, paintings, installations, and comics. She is represented by
Laroche/Joncas (Quebec), and TW Fine Art (Australia). Campbell’s comics are
published by micro publisher Oily Comics.
 |
|
Jessica Campbell, "I KNOW YOU’RE NOT LAUGHING NOW, BUT
I GUARANTEE THAT YOU’LL TELL THIS JOKE IN THE FUTURE", 2013, Oil on Wood,
18” x 24”
|
Samuel Jablon
is an artist and writer, living and working in Brooklyn, NY. He makes drawings,
paintings, and sculptures. Jablon received a BA in Poetry from Naropa
University, and an MFA in Studio Art from Brooklyn College. He’s been published
in Phati’tude, BOMB Magazine, Two Coats of
Paint, The Huffington Post, and Hyperallergic. He has performed and
exhibited at the MoMA, Socrates Sculpture Park, the Banff Centre, the HOWL
Festival Hunter College, White Box, and Show Room 170. Jablon’s project the
“Poet Sculpture” will be exhibited at the DUMBO Arts Festival, and Queens
Museum of Art
 |
| Samuel Jablon, "Poet Sculpture", 2013, variable dimensions, enamel on plywood |
Mwamba-Salim Wilson born 1980 in
Houston, TX. Wilson lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. He works primarily large-scale
using acrylic and mixed media on canvas and wood panel. Wilson began as a
graffiti artist in the late 90s in Houston, TX and later developed into a
self-taught and self-described Primitive Abstract and Primitivist painter. His
work has been exhibited nationally, including at Robert Hughes Gallery, Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston, and Austin Museum of Art: Art
House; and internationally at the Guildhall Art Gallery, London, UK, and
at YOD Gallery, Osaka, Japan.
 |
| Mwamba-Salim Wilson, "Consciousness", 2013, (Living Dreams Collection), 72 x 60", oil, acrylic, glow paint, paint stick, ink, and spray paint on canvas |
Rhombus
Space is located at 183
Lorraine St. 3rd Floor, #33, Brooklyn, NY 11231.
Open Saturdays & Sundays 1-5PM
Poetry Slam: September 20-October 13, 2013
email: info@rhombusspace.com
RS <> KL
No comments:
Post a Comment