Press
Bronx Art Exchange, 02/13/14
Cosmic Fury and Mother Nature's Rage
By Bronx Art Exchange | web link
Imagine you are going about your day and suddenly without warning you can see a rather large ball of fire in the sky hurtling itself ever closer to the ground you are standing upon. And then imagine, just as your brain makes sense of it—feeling the atomic-like explosion of it colliding into the Earth. What on Earth would that be like, to experience something so powerful and otherworldly?
That’s what happened in rural Russia, a year ago which coincides with the Bronx River Art Center’s opening of BRURAL: Shattering Phenomena in conjunction with Project 59. The exhibition marks the one year anniversary of the meteorite that crashed into the city of Chelyabinsk, going almost 60 times faster than the speed of sound before crashing into the Ural Mountains.
In conjunction with commemorating this disruption, BRURAL also seeks to explore the devastation brought upon by Hurricane Sandy that ravaged the Eastern seaboard of the United States leaving thousands homeless, and many dead.
Curated by the New York-based artist and curator Irina Danilova, and guest curator Svetlana Shlyapnikova (art director of the OkNo Gallery in Chelyabinsk), “BRURAL: Shattering Phenomena” features new works in a variety of media by 19 artists from the Bronx, Brooklyn and Chelyabinsk, with the New York artists responding to Sandy, and the Chelyabinsk artists to the meteorite.
The exhibition has a balanced concentration of work, several installation pieces that speak directly to both Sandy and the Meteor. The theme of disruption and futility in the path of something more powerful than us, is a constant throughout the show.
Alberto Bursztyn's installation is a literal metaphor of disruption, in it's wake we can see ourselves in the shattered aftermath. Alberto Bursztyn is an artist from Brooklyn.
Linda Cunningham’s installation piece of broken window frames, damaged walls and of paintings of an ocean gone wild evoke the power of nature, and remind us all that there is nothing we can build that she can’t wipe off the face of the Earth.
Installation by Linda Cunningham
BRURAL is filled with individual pieces of work that offer the viewer a different angle on the perspective of disruption and its consequence through a variety of mediums including video, sculpture and performance art. It's both powerful and haunting and highlights BRAC's exceptional ability at developing and showcasing innvotive artistic talent through collaborative efforts.
Irina Danilova's installation combines the imagery of both Sandy and the meteor to create massive dunes that willfully obstruct the viewer's path, distilling the singular message of nature's supremacy over us.
BRAC’s gathering with live performance takes place on Saturday February 15, from 6pm to 9pm, at 305 East 140th Street, the art center’s current off-site exhibit space. This is a free event featuring live performances and commentary throughout the evening from artists from the Bronx, Brooklyn and Russia. The event is part of BRAC’s new exhibit “BRURAL: Shattering Phenomena” running from February 7 to March 1.
Featured on February 15 are the Jamaica-born Davalois Fearon (from The Bronx), in solo dance “Consider Water;” Russian-born Brooklynite Dan Veksler whose sonic/musical spoken word performance explores the psychological impact of destruction, displacement and the power of nature; Sherry Aliberti’s movement piece “Inside the Future” spans primordial beginnings to apocalyptic ends; German-born Brooklynite Sindy Butz’s slow body movement performance “Aftermath” takes objects on a journey of life through death, and Chad Staybrook’s three-musician performance “A Siren Song,” created in postHurricane Sandy Red Hook, interprets the legacy of natural disasters from ancient times.
For more information visit: www.bronxriverart.org For more information about BRURAL series visit: www.project59.org About OkNo Gallery, visit www.oknogallery.ru.