NYAB Event - “Rise Above” Exhibition

“Rise Above” Exhibition

Joseph Gross Gallery

This event has ended.

ArtNow NY presents “Rise Above,” a group exhibition curated by Alex Corporan and Mateo Mize. The show brings together 26 artists, all whose artistic practice examines the role of skateboarding as a cultural act

All the artists in “Rise Above” identify in some way as “skateboarders,” though for each, their visual relationship to skateboarding culture manifests uniquely. There is no one, prevailing school of aesthetics; instead, skateboarding is a platform upon which each artist has built his or her own voice.

Within the various mediums that “Rise Above” brings together—including photography, painting, sculpture, collage, and mixed media—a sense of cultivated individualism prevails. From Joe Brook’s images of gravity-defying velocities, to Gabriel Angemi’s unflinching depictions of fire-scorched buildings, the work of both artists redefines “street photography.” On canvas, there are the lurid, expressionist paintings of David Ortiz and Sofia Maldonado, the former echoing the lines of late Picasso, the ladder even more provocatively vivacious. The conceptual context of Ched Muska’s work, and with the work of D Young V and Harif Guzman, the relationship between skateboarding and its visual kin, graffiti art, is kept vibrantly alive.

Today, skateboarding has been banned in most public spaces, and to be a “skateboarder” is to identify with a group whose historical spirit is tied to rebellion. It is dangerous, invasive, and destructive, the public bureaucrats say. Yet the work in “Rise Above” helps to widen the scope of skateboarding culture beyond the reactionary. These works are not merely loud, but hold nuance and depth. Many gesture towards new and alternative approaches to community building and individual identity.

A portion of the proceeds from “Rise Above” will benefit the Harold Hunter Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes skateboarding as a creative outlet for inner city youth. Hunter, whose untimely death in 2006 rocked the subculture of the Lower East Side, is well remembered for his charismatic way of connecting various communities, from celebrities and skaters, to artists and inner city youth. It is appropriate then, that “Rise Above,” in its collaborative spirit, acts as an ode to the memory of Harold’s congeniality and lasting influence.

Media

• Painting
• Photography
• Other
• Sculpture

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