The proverbial scent of paper is in the air!
I am delighted to be showing in two exhibitions focussed on PAPER in the months of February and March.
First up is the exhibition “PAPER” is presented online February 13, 2025 – March 13, 2025 by Site: Brooklyn
SEE THE SHOW HERE!
The 20th century marked the peak, and subsequent decline, of paper’s dominance over everyday life. “Paperwork” is still a near-universal experience, but like everything else, has taken a more-and-more virtual form. Paper, unlike most artistic mediums, is a substrate first and artistic medium second. Created from textile waste, paper is woven very deeply into the fabric of modern life. It can be equally associated with the transformation of work, easy replication, industriousness, disposability, creativity, and experimentation. Since its invention, these qualities have encouraged artists to prepare, design, and experiment on paper. Ironically, it was in the later part of the 20th century when artists like Dorothea Rockburne. Ed Ruscha, and Robert Rauschenberg took the investigations of the Cubists into papier collé and developed paper as both a physical object, and a subject. Site:Brooklyn is looking for works that continue and expand this tradition.
Exhibition Juror, Rachel Gladfelter is the Director at Pace Paper. Previously, she was the gallery director for the Pace Prints NYC, a fine art print gallery specializing in original, limited-edition prints in collaboration with printmaking affiliates, Pace Editions and Pace Paper. Before that, Gadfelter held the position of Studio Director for Dieu Donne Paper.
I am deighted to show “Excavation of the Interior”, 2021, 12 x 28 x 12.5″, wood, paper, cloth, hemp cord, linen thread 
Curatorial Statement: Rachel Gladfelter
Paper is an exhibition that brings together 42 artists working within this versatile medium. Ranging from intimate collaged ink drawings like Christopher Miller’s Dog Sitting to Svetlana Grigoryeva’s earthy and tactile Breathing of Bark, paper promotes ideas as expansive as its material capability.
Ancient and versatile, paper has historically acted as a carrier, allowing the sharing of ideas, image and word. With the advent of exploratory papermaking studios and residency spaces in the mid to late 20th century, artists began creating work within the medium itself, bringing new energy and innovation. Paper’s potential is infinite as both substrate and essential substance.
As a substrate, it is luring. To quote Ellsworth Kelly, “When I see a white piece of paper, I feel I’ve got to draw. And drawing, for me, is the beginning of everything.” As a medium in and of itself, the ability to create new ideas from the raw materials of fiber and water has a romantic tactility. Paper can be additive: poured, painted and brushed. It can be constructed into a new form. It can be a lightweight shell of an object, or it can be a solidly cast shape. It can be wrapped around an armature, and it can be cut, torn or shredded. Paper can be painted on, photographed, crumpled up, eaten, heard, touched, twisted, drawn on, printed on and carried in protest. It is fragile yet resilient. It transports history, stories and secrets. It moves as easily in a systematic mail system as in the unpredictable wind. Paper is responsive. It is historical and present, bringing life and purpose to ideas. Paper is an analogue in a digital age. The works in Paper share the significance of this medium’s intimacy and clear purpose in its utilization; albeit shown in a digital exhibition. The artists exhibited create works where paper is intrinsic to their ideas around themes of pattern, nature, politics, structure, and memory. Each wall highlights one of these motifs. – Rachel Gladfelter
Site:Brooklyn Gallery is dedicated to exhibiting the current practice of contemporary artists. We are taking Site:Brooklyn online with a new series of interactive exhibitions. Our goal remains the same, to connect artists with an expert and diverse set of jurors through the open call format. Our new program focuses on online open call exhibitions, selected by a cast of new jurors, solo artist features, and spotlights.
