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Compulsion group show
Compulsion A group show curated by Dina Brodsky and Maria Kreyn
Mark Miller Gallery 92 Orchard Street, New York, NY 10002 May 8 - June 7, 2013 Opening reception: Friday, May 10, 6-8 PM
No commodity is more irreplaceable than human time. While some of us spread it across many undertakings, others focus obsessively on a single endeavor. Compulsion, co-curated by Dina Brodsky and Maria Kreyn, opening at the Mark Miller Gallery on May 8, explores works by artists in the latter category – works that channel hundreds of hours into a single piece of art. Compulsion celebrates the obsessive efforts of sixteen such artists. Working with different materials, they share an unwavering devotion to executing their visions, producing pieces that are exceptional in their beauty, craftsmanship and technical complexity. These run the gamut from K. Nancy Fang’s ultra-detailed paper filigree sculpture evoking a futuristic, cylindrical cityscape to James Linkous’ meticulous 3D images summoned through drawings on layers of glass. Tun Myaing’s oil on mylar paintings take seemingly common objects and infuse them with the echo of untold stories, while John Haverty’s elaborate ink drawings portray the opposite, a wall-wide sprawl of elaborate storytelling. Co-curator Maria Kreyn, whose light-based artwork is constructed using painstaking etchings on plastic, feels there is great merit in laboring to create something so detailed. “In a world where everything is mass-produced and disposable, these works are a call to action to value the objects that really matter to us. This level of time investment forces the artist to be more present with the work and encourages viewers to be enriched by examining pieces more slowly and deeply.” The show aspires to rouse viewers into becoming aware of their own human time, to contemplate the things they simply cannot give up, to find their own compulsions and – under inspiration from these artists – to give in to them.
American Alien/ Flux Factory interview
 American AlienNew episodes posted here on August 12th, September 9th, and September 29th. Comprised of conversations with Burmese American intellectuals and prominent artists of Burmese descent, this project questions notions of individual identity and belonging in a country, which from its very beginning, has been inhabited by displaced people: immigrants, outsiders, refugees, third culture kids and third culture adults. In this light, America’s unifying characteristic is one of difference. Ye Taik has written the following statement about this project:
The series of three episodes includes interviews with New York-based curator and artist,Tun Myaing; the Library of Congress Florence Tan Moeson Fellow and Burmese American Collective Director, Saw Sandi Tun; and Co-founder of Sulu DC, as well as “proud Burmese American Gypsy,” Simone Jacobson. Tun Myaing transformed from a high school gang member into an artist and curator whose work highlights the unusual circumstances of his childhood and the juxtaposition of ordinary mundane things with extraordinary internal conflicts.
Interviewer Alethea Vasilas practices west african dance, post-modern dance theater, and butoh ritual movement. She has recently become a master of cultural anthropology and currently cultivates an organic vegetable farm, continuously orienting herself towards creation. She hopes one day to coalesce an experimental Art Farm that would bring together movement, ecology, emotion, nourishment, and sublimation.
Living Things September 21 - October 12, 2012, Opening reception September 21 (6-9pm)
 For immediate release: Art Foundry September 21 –
October 12, 2012 New York, NY. The Art Foundry celebrates its grand opening and presents the exhibition Living Things, a group show curated by Heidi Elbers
and Tun Myaing featuring original paintings, drawings, installations and more
from 16 emerging and established artists in the NYC area. “But after a
time allowed for it to swim, “Instead of
proving human when it neared “and someone
else additional to him, “as a great buck
it powerfully appeared.” We
are creatures built for encounters. Some of our favorite past times
revolve around meeting new people, talking to them, passing a judgment, and, if
we are lucky, understanding them a little. This is who we are –
frequently judgmental, occasionally insightful, hopelessly social, and
hopefully, empathetic. These are traits we living beings picked up from
our encounters with fellow living beings. Once in a while, however, this peculiar
chance presents itself to us: to encounter not a person, but an object.
Not to simply see and acknowledge it, but to meet it; not to simply consider
it, but to empathize with it; not to see it through our eyes, but to see
ourselves through its eyes. This moment is almost always fleeting,
indecipherable, and indescribable; we feel it for a moment – and often walk
away with a cautious shrug, unable to tell anyone precisely what we felt.
What we felt, however, was a kind of encounter – an encounter with a nonliving
being, a greeting from the universe, a momentary conversation with Everything
Else. The Living Things Exhibit has one aim – to make the conversation
longer. Our penchant for using objects as
metaphors is well documented. Dutch still life is replete with depictions
of spoiled fruit, bones, half-empty glasses, and human skulls – objects that
represent our fears, our mortality, and us. The work of a few newer
artists (such as Antonio Lopez Garcia) expands on that idea. An object is
no longer a symbol. The sense of time and decay tells us the story of the
object; our story, merely one of many, takes a back seat to the stories of
Everything Else. Changed and molded by time, the object lives a non-life,
emphatically still and indifferently different. We too are objects. The human
body – our first birthday gift, a collection of mechanical and electric
machinery, is among the most familiar and least understood objects.
Intricate and capricious, it has its own rules that we are not privy to.
It grows and withers, it becomes hungry, it lusts after other bodies, it gives
away our deepest secrets. Sometimes it is treated as a tool, traded for
pleasure and, in its workings, it remains an object - an object that
frustrates, fascinates, and inspires.
Only in death does the body reveal what it truly is – a thing, an
object, a story of Everything Else.
The living world of animals and botany all live to tell this tale, a
union of universal conversation. This connection of the living world and
the world of things has inspired many artists throughout centuries - to this
day.
Hi-resolution jpegs of the selected works and artists bios are available upon request: tmyaing01@gmail.com
For further information on the Art Foundry, please visit: theartfoundry.us
Art Foundry 310 East 23rd Street, No. 12F, New
York, NY 10010 T:
(917) 378-3700
The Drawing Room May 8th-May 22nd, Opening reception on May 8th 6-9pm
 The Drawing Room: Artists and Their Sketchbooks Occupy a New York Gallery: by Patrick McGinnis Drawing is a highly intimate form of expression. Even
thought it's highly relatable (we've all done it at one point or another), it's
underappreciated. With the endless rush of blockbuster auctions and the
celebrity-driven art scene, representational art is out of fashion. The
tweeting masses aren't looking for the quiet beauty of a sketch. Drawings, it
seems, get lost in all the noise. Drawing, both in its intimacy and its immediacy, is the
theme of a new show called "The Drawing Room," that runs through May
22 at the Milavec Hakimi Gallery in New York. The show, which is curated by
Dina Brodsky, Karl Koett, and Tun Myaing, strips down and re-imagines the
gallery experience by taking it back to the drawing board, err, drawing room. The eponymous "Drawing Room" is a substantial
installation that has taken over Milavec Hakimi's space on Cooper Square. The
gallery walls, painted in the hues of Victorian England, are covered with a
chaotic arrangement of pieces hung salon style. The space, taken as a whole,
evokes the kind of drawing room where side conversations about life and art are
not uncommon. In one corner, a large desk, in this instance co-opted as
sculpture, is cluttered with what seem to be found items -- there are books,
sketching pencils, and small animal skulls. The installation's designer, Ian
Gaudreau, conceived the space with a sly wink to "Sleep No More." As
with "Sleep No More," the spectator is compelled to explore his
surroundings. A desk drawer opens to reveal a glass display case of mounted
butterflies. A miniature shark suspended in liquid among the clutter reminds us
that we're not in DamienHirstLand anymore. On the surface of the desk, a
half-filled sketchpad and a set of pencils sit at the ready. Some intrepid and
evidently talented passersby have already taken up the invitation to add their
own works to the drawing room's artistic conversation. The clutter on the desk is not by happenstance, but instead
is a collection of "oddities" contributed from the nearly thirty
artists represented in show. It turns out that artists like to keep the things
that they sketch. These items are little pieces of inspiration, the models of
past sketches that now hang on the walls of this drawing room or perhaps
another. The works, while largely figurative, range from highly
technical studies to ambiguous narrative scenes. James Adelman, who has three
pieces in the show, favors a monochromatic approach with pieces in both
charcoal and oil, albeit oil that has been deployed with the sensibility of a
sketch artist. In another part of the gallery, a sketchbook by Nic Rad, sits
open, as if awaiting his return. The characters, interspersed with shreds of
writings, are impatient. They seem ready to jump off the pages. This is Milavec Hakimi's last show in its current space, and
the impending closure of the gallery has liberated the creative team and the
show from commercialism. There is enormous talent represented, but there are no
obvious "art stars." Instead, the presentation shows artists in their
essence and it wins with intimacy rather than noise. As one attendee commented
to me, "if you really want to get to know an artist, look at his
drawings." In this particular drawing room, artists reveal what they draw
when the galleries are closed, the auctions are over, the twitter accounts are
silent, and the art buyers have returned to their lofts.
Line - A drawing show April 5th- 25th, opening reception April 5th 6-9pm
 LINE @ the cell
Opening reception:
April 5, 6PM – 9PM Curated by Dina Brodsky, Karl Koett and Tun Myaing, LINE
features drawings from some of the most talented and intriguing artists in New
York City on view at the cell from April 5 – April 25, 2012. Perhaps more so than any other
form of art, drawing reveals the pure intent of the artist. Drawing does not
allow for multiple revisions; it is for the artist what improvisation is for
the actor. The raw talent, the creative spirit of the artist is tangible in the
drawing. Thus LINE allows you a rare glimpse into the private universe of the
artist, with all the intricacies of structure and elegance of creative motion
revealed. Using a diversity of approaches, the artists reveal themselves as
they are: inventive, sublime, thoughtful, playful, absurd – stripped of
artifice and pretense. Ranging from the inarticulate to the sharply defined in
their unbroken linearity, these masterful renderings will draw you in, engage
you, entrance you with the unique promise of meeting some of the most
interesting and talented artists of today mind to mind. It is our sincere hope that the viewer
will leave aesthetically engaged, but also with a sense of connection; that
particular solace offered only by the well-crafted thoughts of an articulate
mind. Featuring Art by: Jean Pierre Arboleda, Bonnie DeWitt, Dina Brodsky, Matthew Conner, Cara DeAngelis, Nancy Ke Fang, Robert Fundis, Caitlin Hurd, Karl Koett, Maria Kreyn, Michael Meadors, Guno Joe Park, David Pettibone, Nic Rad, Misha Rosnach, Vithya Truong, Melanie Vote, Tyler Vouros and Daniel Esquivia Zapta With a special performance by the Art Liars http://artliars.tumblr.com/ ——————————————————– the cell, A Twenty
First Century Salon™
SALVAGED
 "Salvaged" By Frederick Lembeck They say that artists see the future ahead of the rest of us. What does it mean then that the new show at Island Weiss Gallery is named “Salvaged?” The dollar is collapsing, the euro is collapsing even faster, Wall Street is under occupation and Washington is helpless to save us. Salvaged may be the word they'll use to describe what's left of our civilization when they finally get it all worked out. That much said, “Salvaged” is a superb show, illustrating very well the excellent work currently coming out of The New York Academy of Art down in Tribeca. It's stuff you'd actually consider hanging on your own wall. (When was the last time you saw that in a Manhattan gallery?) The whole show is rich with the kind of old master craftsmanship that's so sadly absent from much of what's hanging nowadays. The most impressive detail work is the painterliness of Dina Brodsky's enchanting miniatures. You sense at once this woman must have a whole can full of brushes with only one bristle each. This kind of concern with precision is out of fashion nowadays, and yet it's as engaging today as ever. Most notable is her Farewell 5 Pointz, a minutely exact rendering of throwaway, nickel-deposit empties, apparently just a pile of cans until you remember that the theme of the show is Salvaged. Also, as if to remind us that the pigeons will survive come what may, her Union Square offers an enchanting collection of miniature pigeon portraits (symbols of self), done in oil on Mylar on Plexiglas. The word miniature is no exaggeration – most of the pigeon portraits are a mere 2” x 2”, far from huge, and yet every one is a model of precision. The Salvaged theme is found throughout the show. The catalog speaks of it as salvaging evidence of life after life is ended, but real art always speaks on many levels at once, including the salvaging of society itself. One can scarcely believe that serious artists are or could ever be divorced from the reality afflicting the society around them. Heidi Elbers sensual self-portrait in a red negligee, for example, Wishing I Could Wrap Them in Fur isn't about erotica but instead features the artist's legs wrapped in bandages. Could the metaphor be more obvious? The official reason was a passing injury that Ms. Elbers actually experienced, but thematically the idea of depicting what remains after the damage is done comes through clearly. This thematic coherence speaks of a well-curated show. Michelle Doll, whose portraits have long been a pleasure, was wisely included in the show, but her recent pieces like Stole and Zephyr have a darkness of hue and lighting that one doesn't remember in her earlier, more optimistic work. Likewise Peter Drake's Shell Shock Study, exactly what it sounds like, a portrait of contemporary man if ever there was one, frazzled, electrified, more skull than face. Ours is a time of gathering darkness and the artists sense it. Maya Brodsky's (Dina's little sister) Mendelsohn Family Reunion seems so innocent until one realizes it's a group portrait of dead people. Likewise Mischa Rosnach's St. Francis Saving the Eggplant, in which the Saint's anguished face makes it plain that there's plenty more to that eggplant than just an eggplant, and Brian Drury's evocative but unpeopled paintings of an empty New York City. The artists see the future ahead of the rest of us, and what they're see is a salvaging. Salvaging after what? Which of us wants to try to guess? Maybe we should be stockpiling canned goods. Tun Myaing, one of the curators of the show, also contributes some fine, enigmatic oils of machinery, and two portraits of The Rat King, although they appear to be more a study of the Rat King's remains than a portrait of the Rat King himself. Myaing paints a stark picture of the future but metaphorically it's incisive. If the Rat King himself isn't going to make it, who will? Bonnie DeWitt's Horse Massacre, in turn, is every bit as jarring as it sounds. But when you see the horses as symbols for all of us living in these last hours before the collapse, you realize the blood on the canvas is ours, not the horses'. Also intriguing is Jean-Pierre Roy's Brokenspectre, a mountain whose sides have collapsed to reveal a building inside. At the base and peak both there are doors, and horses trying to find their way to the top in spite of the collapse. A few have done so. Most have not. How like us humans. In the same vein, Karl Koett's paintings of sea shells. Not the marine life within, but the shell that remains after the marine creature's life has ended. Likewise Melanie Vote's Excavation and Discovery, pictures of statues, but broken not whole. John Wellington, in turn, offers two strong paintings of undisguised ruins populated with unsmiling faces. Cheerless, but forceful and clear. “Salvaged” is on display at the Island Weiss Gallery, 201 E. 69th Street, one of those cozy, ultra-quiet penthouse galleries, until December 22. It's a cutting-edge show, timely as few recent exhibitions have been. But also painful. It's a picture of what's coming, done well, and and it's beautifully truthful but as unsettling as the future itself.
New York Academy of Art 5th Annual Summer Exhibition
 JuNE 24 - AuguST 6 2011 OPENING RECEPTION ThuRSDAY JuNE 23 6 - 8pM Flowers is pleased to announce that it will be hosting the New York Academy of Art‘s 5th Annual Summer Exhibition. The show will open with a reception on Thursday, June 23rd from 6 - 8pm and will remain on view through August 6th 2011. This highly anticipated group show brings together a wide range of new work by more than 50 established and emerging talents. Comprised of paintings, drawings, limited-edition prints and sculpture, the chosen works will be selected from over 500 submissions by jurors Matthew Flowers, Carter Foster and Julie Heffernan. Flowers and the Academy have previously collaborated several times, including two 3-person exhibitions by artists who have participated in past Summer Exhibitions. Former jurists include Eric Fischl, Jenny Saville, Will Cotton and David Salle. The New York Academy of Art was founded in 1982 by artists and collectors, including early trustees Andy Warhol and Tom Wolfe. The Academy’s rigorous MFA program promotes the development of an artist’s personal vision and the creation of vital contemporary art by building on the enduring traditions of figurative painting, drawing and sculpture. The Academy is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational and cultural institution. Flowers is an internationally recognized gallery with locations in London and New York. The program in both the UK and US comprises all media by established and emerging artists, is an active publisher of prints and multiples, and has a growing department in contemporary international photography. For further information and images, please contact Brent Beamon: 212.439.1700 / brent@flowersgalleries.com www.flowersgalleries.com www.nyaa.edu
Intimate Immensity. Opening Reception: Dec 11th from 6-8pm
 Intimate Immensity, a group show curated by Yigal Ozeri at Dean Project. Included artist: Dina Brodsky, Michelle Doll, Karl Koett, Tun Myaing, Rachel Deutsch, Caitlin Hurd, Cory Morgenstein, Jason Talley. Dean Project 511 West 25th Street No.207 New York, NY, 10001 Tel. 212-229-2017 WWW.DEANPROJECT.COM
Journey to the End of the Night, Solo Exhibition. August 6
 CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE FOR THE INTERVIEW WITH SAMANTHA LEVIN Burmese artist Tun Myaing creates the work of the introvert. Seemingly extroverted himself, his works seek out those who hide within their thoughts; sad and pensive are his subjects. Yet, his paintings are vibrant with color and contrast, teeming with fights between shadow and light: in one there is hope and in the other there is despair. Such is the confusion he experienced first while growing up and then after arriving in the United States: "In my work I try to convey the sense of desperation and claustrophobia that overwhelmed me as I grew up in a country under dictatorial rule, and then feeling the same oppression through the social rejection I experienced when I arrived in America. The images are framing metaphors designed to reflect viscerally and without decoration a collage of experiences. They present the lingering suspicion of “human bondage”, and perpetual imprisonment that is true as air but as easily forgotten or ignored. Through the act of making these paintings one gets a notion that there is hope – and that one can win freedom from misery and fear. We can separate ourselves from these oppressive memories; we can expel them by separating ourselves from them, by viewing them from a distance and in a disconnected way." Tun is a graduate of the ever-traditional New York Academy of Art and has been exhibiting since 2002, most recently with Fuse Gallery. He lives and works in Queens, NY. "…I cannot refrain from doubting that there exist any genuine realizations of our deepest character except war and illness, those two infinities of nightmare" ~ Voyage au Bout de la Nuit, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, 1932 ** Please join us for the opening reception on Friday, August 6, from 7-10pm White Rabbit 145 East Houston (between Forsyth and Eldridge) DJ Redboy will return to spin for us (redboy.com) Video artist to be announced!
Highlights from the New York Academy of Art
 CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE FOR THE ONLINE GALLERY OF THE SHOW Champagne Reception Thursday June 24 2010  CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE FOR THE ONLINE GALLERY OF THE SHOW Serenity is found in the wake of destruction, gradual disintegration, natural decay and residual experience. Through the traces left behind, stories are told and secrets are discovered. They are a reminder of mortality, and yet suggest a life after death. Remnants is an exhibition presenting this aftermath through artistic technique and as subject matter. Participating Artists: Katelyn Alain, Melissa Anderson, Carrie-Ann Bracco, Charis Carmichael Braun, Dina Brodsky, Maya Brodsky, Daniel Brusky, Lyndsea Cochrane, Tim Daly, Bonnie DeWitt, Michelle Doll, Peter Drake, Samuel Evensen, Debra Goertz, Kathy Goodell, Jane Hamill, Jim Harris, Paul Hazelton, Catherine Howe, Caitlin Hurd, John Jacobsmeyer, Alan Bur Johnson, Christian Johnson, Michael Kagan, Alex Kanevsky, Karl Koett, Bryan Leboeuf, Lisa Lebofsky, Amy Mahnick, Alyssa Monks, Cory Morgenstein, Tun Myaing, John Nickle, Linnea Paskow, Rafael Perez, Jennifer Presant, Jean Pierre Roy, Kristen Schiele, Charlotte Schulz, Julia Schwadron, Viviane Silvera, Damian Stamer, Melanie Vote, Mitra Walter, and Eric White About the curators: Michelle Doll received her BFA from Kent State University and her MFA from the New York Academy of Art. Her artwork has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the United States and internationally. She has received several awards including residencies in St. Barths and Normandy and has taught art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Michelle lives and works in Hoboken, New Jersey. Lisa Lebofsky is a painter residing in Bronx, New York. She has an MFA in painting from the New York Academy of Art and BFA in metals from SUNY New Paltz. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group shows both nationally and internationally. She teaches fine art and design classes at private and public institutions in the tristate area and is the director of Fuse Gallery. Among several awards and residencies, she is the recent recipient of the BRIO (Bronx Recognizes Its Own) grant and Terra Nova National Park Residency in Newfoundland, Canada.
Poetry of Space show Feb 26 - March 19 2010 @ Artana
 "Poetry of Space" suggests art that evokes an aesthetic and emotive response while transcending the narrower limits of the traditional framed image. The nine artists exhibiting in "Poetry of Space" move beyond their rigorous and broadly classical apprenticeship in creating work that shows both freshness and evolution. We have attempted to provide significant breadth and contrast in the pictures exhibited. Michelle Doll's figures reflect sensual warmth and communicate the beauty of life in unexpectedly pensive scenes while in Jason Talley's portraits one can sense both the erotic and the emotional. By way of contrast Karl Koett demonstrates an ability to capture nineteenth-century solidity and earthiness, elements far removed from the whimsicality of Caitlin Hurd's animals in flight. In a further contrast, James Adelman's methodically detailed portraits are Presque vu on canvass, leaving the viewer on the brink of recognition, wishing desperately to have the darkened scene thrown into light. Maya Brodsky's paintings play on the mind's struggle to define time, while Dina Brodsky's work reconciles the simultaneous presence of textures, tones, and colors of the past in a distinctly contemporary form. Tun Myaing has captured his models in motion at a point in time, but the streaks running from the canvas edge intimate that motion and time continue. Finally, Ke Feng's works are made from an algorithm of the artist's creation, translating the late 16th century Chinese text of Journey to the West into ethereal landscapes. The pleasure of poetry lies in ever-changing voices and themes operating within flexible boundaries; the reward of this exhibition is, we hope, different creative energies working both within and beyond standard space, engaging the viewer as poetry engages the listener. The effect of "Poetry of Space" is the visitor's moment of discovery as the exhibited works show him how his mind unconsciously understands time, space, and memory together as a single faculty. —Peter Skinner
Contemporary-Burmese-Art-Ideas-and-Ideals-Exhibition Feb 6-9 2010 @ The Open Center
 ***PRESS RELEASE*** 15th January 2010 Contemporary Burmese Art: Ideas & Ideals A View into the Creative Diaspora New York Open Center Hosts its First Exhibition on Contemporary Burmese Art Organized and Curated by Burmese artists from the Tri-State Area The New York Open Center announces a contemporary art exhibition focusing on the talent and creative motivations of the Burmese diaspora. In a show organized and curated by the artists themselves, “Contemporary Burmese Art: Ideas and Ideals” will explore the modern landscape in which Burmese diaspora artists find themselves today. The artwork, and their creators, will bridge the gap between tradition and creativity, between one homeland and another. A roster of sixteen Burmese artists from across the United States have come together to jump-start a dialogue on creativity, censorship, tradition, modernity, “stranger-hood,” identity, and the irreverent boundary-shattering power of art. “Contemporary Burmese Art: Ideas & Ideals” will delve into the complexity of the Burmese creative spirit while examining what it means to be a Burmese artist in the U.S. Drawing from a rich and nostalgic tradition, how do these artists define their creative identities and as artists in limbo, between one homeland and another, what are their values and their inspirations? One of the show’s artists, Chaw Ei Thein reveals that “Burmese artists used to do self-censorship on ourselves whenever we create our art while we were in Burma to show the public. The question becomes, are we continuing this self-censorship once away from Burma? Do we change, adapt, or remain the same. During this exhibition, can an audience see or feel the sensitivity to this dilemma through our artwork?” Join Burmese artists and the Open Center February 6th through February 10th 2010 as they take a view into this creative diaspora and contemplate the ideas and ideals that breathe life into Burmese contemporary art today.
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