News

Columbia University's Wallach Art Gallery Launches "Uptown" Triennial - Curated by Deborah Cullen

Posted May 29, 2017

For the past few months, I've helped co-organize this ambitious undertaking and curated 7 of the 12 featured exhibitions. I'm now so very excited to share with you details on the special exhibitions and public programs we have planned. "Uptown" baby, we gets down baby!-Souleo 

Uptown

Curated by Deborah Cullen, Director & Chief Curator

Reception:
Thursday, June 1, 2017, 6-8 pm

Wallach Art Gallery
Lenfest Center for the Arts, Columbia University
615 West 129^th Street (enter on 125^th Street just west of Broadway)
 
Artists included are: Ghada Amer, Sanford Biggers, Vladimir Cybil Charlier, Marta Chilindron, Elizabeth Colomba, Renee Cox, Reza Farkhondeh, Alicia Grullón, Maren Hassinger, Michael Kelly Williams, Miguel Luciano, Julie Mehretu, Leeza Meksin, José Morales, Ademola Olugebefola, Shani Peters, John Pinderhughes, Jessica Rankin, Elaine Reichek, Bayeté Ross Smith, Duhirwe Rushemeza, David Shrobe, Virginia Inés Vergara, Tomas Vu, and Nari Ward.


Image: Duhirwe Rushemeza,Chief Bunda Bunda's Long Walk in the Cow Field, 2016.
Courtesy the Artist. 
The Conversation

Artist: Beau McCall
curated by Souleo

Oral History Recording Dates with StoryCorps:
Registration Required: info@souleouniverse.com  
Saturday, June 3, 1-4pm  
Saturday, June 10, 1-4pm  
Saturday, June 17, 12-4pm  
Saturday, June 24, 12-4pm 

I, Too, Arts Collective @ The Langston Hughes House
20 East 127 Street (between Fifth and Madison Avenues)
 
Who gets to have a seat at the table in America? It’s a question Langston Hughes addressed in his poem, “I, Too.” Now 50 years later since the transition of Hughes, visual artist Beau McCall presents, The Conversation. Join McCall, at his button embellished dining room table, in The Langston Hughes House, for an oral history recording of what it means to be an American. In partnership with StoryCorps, the recordings will be archived at the Library of Congress and/or the Smithsonian's National Museum of African-American History and Culture.

Image: Beau McCall, The Conversation, 2017. Detail Shot.
Within Reach

Artist: Kathleen Granados
curated by Souleo

Reception:
Wednesday, June 7, 6-8 pm

Russ Berrie Medical Science Pavillion
1150 St. Nicholas Ave at 168^th Street
 
Set against the tense political backdrop of health care reform, mixed media fiber artist Kathleen Granados presents a large-scale site-specific installation reflecting the collective efforts, hopes, and challenges of those seeking and providing health care. Presented in conjunction with NoMAA (Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance) and the 15^th Annual Uptown Arts Stroll.

Image: Kathleen Granados, Within Reach, 2017. Courtesy the Artist.
Betty Blayton

curated by Souleo

Reception:
Tuesday, June 20, 6-8 pm

Elizabeth Dee Gallery
2033/2037 Fifth Avenue bet. 125-126^th Streets
 
The first posthumous solo exhibition of the legendary Harlem artist, activist, and Studio Museum in Harlem co-founder, Betty Blayton. This exhibition highlights a select group of paintings and archival material, bringingBlayton’s work full circle: to the original home of The Studio Museum in Harlem, the current location
of Elizabeth Dee.

Image: Founding members and staff of the Studio Museum in Harlem, including Betty Blayton, second from the right (courtesy of the Studio Museum in Harlem).
uptown: nasty women/bad hombres
curated by Rocío Aranda-Alvarado, Senior Curator

Opens with Museum Mile
Tuesday, June 12, 6-9 pm

El Museo del Barrio
1230 Fifth Avenue at 104^th Street
 
Artists included are: Elan Cadiz, Vladimir Cybil Charlier, Pepe Coronado, COCO144/Roberto Gualtieri, Jaime Davidovich, Carlos De Jesus, Rene De Los Santos, Francisco Donoso, Carlos Jesús Martínez Dominguez/FEEGZ, Sandra Fernández, Marquita Flowers, Reynaldo García Pantaleón, Alex Guerrero, Leslie Jiménez, Sara Mejia Kriendler, Lauren Kelly, Rejin Leys, Stephanie Lindquist, Miguel Luciano, Luanda Lozano, Ivan Monforte, José Morales, Darío Oleaga, Jaime Permuth, Kenny Rivero, Moses Ros-Suarez, José Rodríguez, Aya Rodriguez-Izumi, Ruben Natal-San Miguel, Sable Elyse Smith, Rider Ureña,
Regina Viqueira, and Nari Ward.

Image: Nari Ward, Swing (2010), shoe tips, car tire, shoe tongues, rope, variable dimensions. Courtesy of the artist and Lehmann Maupin.
Re: Harlem

Artist: Dianne Smith
curated by Souleo

Video screening and conversation:
Thursday, July 13, 6-8 pm

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a division of The New York Public Library
515 Malcolm X Boulevard @ 135^th Street
  
Artist Dianne Smith juxtaposes images of Harlem from the Schomburg Center archives with photographs she has taken of the neighborhood over the past 20 years. The result is a video remix, graphic mash-up, motion picture collage fusion blurring the lines between the past, future, and now
of Harlem’s landscape, culture, and people. 

Image: Dianne Smith, Harlem, 2017. Courtesy the artist.
Untitled

Artists: Carlos Jesús Martínez Domínguez/FEEGZ
and Pepe Coronado
curated by Souleo

Reception and live artmaking event:
Saturday, July 15, 2-4 pm

Windows on Amsterdam Community Art Gallery,
City College Center for the Arts 
CCNY NAC Plaza, Amsterdam Avenue (at 137^th Street)
 
Explore the New York Caribbean experience through a combination of prints, painting, typography, and hanging street signs. 

Image: Carlos Jesus Martinez Dominguez and Pepe Coronado, Interactions-Borders, Boundaries and the historical relations of the US-DR, 2016.
Harlem Postcards Summer 2017

organized by Doris Zhao, Curatorial Assistant

Uptown Fridays!
July 7th, July 21st, August 4th and August 18^th, 7-10pm

The Studio Museum in Harlem
144 West 125^th Street

This summer series transforms the Studio Museum courtyard and galleries into a vibrant social hub. Dance to the sounds of Libation's DJ Ian Friday with Manchildblack and Afro Mosaic and enjoy signature cocktails and drink specials. Guests are also invited to join free guided tours of current exhibitions and browse the Museum Store’s incredible selection of books, jewelry, t-shirts, and gifts.

Image: American Artist, Marvellous’ Dignity Image, 2017. 

Derek Fordjour: Parade

guest curated by Manon Slome, Chief Curator, No Longer Empty

Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling
898 St. Nicolas Avenue @ 155 Street
 
Family Opening & Reception 
Thursday, July 27, 1-4 pm
 
Calling all families! Join Derek and the Sugar Hill Children's Museum to celebrate the opening of Derek Fordjour: Parade. Families can enjoy an afternoon of guided exhibition tours and a visit to Derek's open studio at the Museum. Snacks and beverages will be provided.

Image: Derek Fordjour, Three Stack, 2014.
The Uptown Artist Group Portrait

Artist: Jason Lazarus
Arden Sherman, Curator/Director

Hunter East Harlem Gallery of Hunter College
2180 3rd Avenue at 119th Street
 
Group Portrait Shoot @ Marcus Garvey Park (exact location coming soon!): Saturday, August 5th, time to be announced (check website for schedule details). 
 
Photo Unveiling Reception: Saturday, August 12^th (time TBA) @ Hunter East Harlem Gallery of Hunter College
 
The Uptown Artist Group Portrait is a public event for the exhibition project, Jason Lazarus: In Residence (June 19-August 12, curated by Arden Sherman, Curator/Director) that invites any self-identifying artist living and/or working north of 99th Street in Manhattan to present themselves in a group portrait organized by Jason Lazarus. The goal of the project is to foster exchange amongst the fluid artist communities that comprise Uptown, showcase the identity of this community, and to create a historical moment for the present, and future, generations.   

Image: Jason Lazarus, All Chicago Artists Portrait, 2015.
Uptown Everyday

Artist: Ginny Huo
curated by Souleo

Reception:
Friday, August 11, 6-8pm

Arts Horizons LeRoy Neiman Art Center
2785 Frederick Douglass Boulevard @ 148 Street
 
In this photography exhibition, artist Ginny Huo asks five individuals to use five disposable cameras, to capture five life stories within one neighborhood.
This is Uptown Everyday. 

Image: Ginny Huo, 116 and Frederick Douglass Avenue, 2017.