Jairo Alfonso, 386, 2
Dear Abraham,
Gallery 8 New York opens in Harlem next Thursday with an inaugural exhibition 17 Cuban artists from FACTION Art Projects.
The exhibition, All That You Have Is Your Soul (Feb 2 – March 10) curated by Armando Marino and Meyken Barreto is a group show of 17 artists, all of whom are tied together by their responses to building identity within a foreign land. The exhibition uses the link of heritage between the artists to present artworks that celebrate difference in identity. Each artist in the show has some relationship to Cuba, some island-born emigres, some with careers developed in Cuba and others with more distant descendants. This starting point, a key point of identity for some, but not for others, offers a tangible bond in their linked roots, but the overriding premise is that as a group they mean to redefine themselves within their unique circumstance.
Artists exhibiting:
Alejandro Aguilera, Anthony Goicolea, Armando Mariño, Ariel Cabrera Montejo, Elsa Mora, Enrique De Molina, Ernesto Pujol, Geandy Pavon, Jairo Alfonso, Juan Carlos Quintana, Juan Miguel Pozo, Juana Valdes Maria Magdalena Campos Pons, Marc Dennis, Maritza Molina, Marta Maria Perez, Pavel Acosta, Quisqueya Henriquez
Throughout the show FACTION will seek to engage with local communities of the Harlem neighborhood. This will include a series of School Workshops, Curators’ Talks, a Neighborhood Welcoming Day, Artist Workshops, Panel Discussions and a Cuban Cultural Evening.
FACTION provides artists with promotion and opportunity to access collectors and a wider audience, with all the support of a gallery but without the constraints of the traditional model. FACTION is a new flexible collective, from the team behind the hugely successful Gallery 8 and Coates & Scarry in London, who in this, their foray into the US, are adapting a unique model for artists and gallerists to work together.
All the very best,
Anna
Thanks and congratulation on a significant program and exhibit.
Abraham Lubelski
Editor / Publisher
Press Release
Gallery 8 announces New York expansion, gallery opening February 2018
Gallery 8 has announced an expansion into New York after ten years on Duke Street St James, London.
The move, announced and directed by Gallery 8 London owner Celine Gauld, is an opportunity to return to the curatorial role as well as repurposing the successful London model.
Gallery 8 New York will provide a spacious gallery in a newly developed and historic 19th century building in Harlem. A cor- ner space on historic Striver’s Row, the gallery will contain vast street-facing windows, that placed in front of partitions, allow for the work on display to be witnessed by passersby. The gallery is located on Frederick Douglass Boulevard (cross street 139th Street), and is a stone’s throw away from the City College of New York campus.
Gauld has, since 2008, managed the London space as a rental venue in response to the burgeoning luxury retail market that has driven many galleries out of Mayfair. Seeing the need for high quality temporary exhibition space in central London, and the exclusion of many artists and independent gallerists, Gauld created a strong, profitable and sustainable model for the short term rental art market.
Now, seeing a similar trend in New York where rents in established areas are skyrocketing and again driving galleries out of the more affluent neighborhoods, Gauld has expanded to replicate the Gallery 8 model in the US and increase her own curatorial activity.
Gauld says of Gallery 8 New York:
I was keen to expand in London, but properties are now so expensive, that New York has become an interesting option. Having looked throughout the city, I realized I did not want to compromise on space. In Harlem you can still get the most extraordinary space. I’d rather have something amazing in Harlem than something mediocre on the Upper East Side. I also believe the New York market is very welcoming and open. Our two locations are very different, St James very traditional and conservative, Harlem is edgier, and I’m welcoming the change in projects we can deliver here.
The gallery opens with a show from Gauld’s new co-operative curation model FACTION Art Projects. Gauld has been co- curating with roaming gallerists Coates and Scarry since 2013, and together with them will launch FACTION Art Projects as the inaugural show in the New York gallery in February 2018. The show, All That You Have is Your Soul celebrates the building of identity from a common heritage within a community engaging Harlem exhibition
Regarding the new project FACTION, Gauld adds:
FACTION is a new flexible model, offering an alternative to the traditional gallery artist dynamic. FACTION offers curation as part of the package to artists from all over the world who are unrepresented in New York. Each project will have its own life and sense, and that’s the beauty of it. Harlem is an exciting and historical neighborhood. It’s inspiring to be part of that and feel the atmosphere that is there. FACTION’s approach will enable us to work with a diverse range of artists. Our one ethos is difference. We hope to push the boundaries both of what is accepted as an art zone outside the recognized enclaves, and as a business model. When you’re outside the expected, you have the freedom to explore, and challenge.
For more information please contact Damson PR, Anna Beketov via anna.beketov@damsonpr.com or +44 (0)20 7812 0645.
Notes to editors:
Gallery 8 Founder Celine Gauld has a background in art history and antiques, and 20 years’ experience running art galleries in central London who in this, her first foray into the US, is adapting a unique model for artists and gallerists to work together.
About FACTION
FACTION Art Projects presents All That You Have Is Your Soul, the first show at Gallery 8 New York, and a group show of 17 artists opening Thursday 1st February 2018. All That You Have Is Your Soul uses the link of heritage between the artists to present artworks that celebrate difference in identity. Each artist in the show has some relationship to Cuba, some island born emigres, some with careers developed in Cuba and others with more distant links. This starting point, a key point of identity for some, but not for others, offers a tangible bond in their linked roots, but the overriding premise is that as a group they mean to redefine themselves within their unique circumstance.
All That You Have Is Your Soul
Curated by Meyken Barreto and Armando Marino
FACTION @ Gallery 8 NY
2602 Frederick Douglass Boulevard NY 10030
February 2nd to March 10th, 2018 Private View February 1st 6.30-9.30pm
Geandy Pavon, Wrinkled Wing, 201
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NY Arts Magazine
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