Room/Mates Abdu Ali and Hoesy Corona on Wednesday, February 20, Jeffrey Kent: Preach! Artist Talk on Thursday, February 21, Zoë Clark and Chase Biado: The Absolute Comic at sophiajacob Saturday, February 23, the sophiajacob lecture series continues with Sam Korman and Deirdre Smith on Sunday, February 24th and the BMA screens Matthew Porterfield’s Putty Hill on Sunday at 1.
Room/Mates on Wednesday, February 20th: Abdu Ali and Hoesy Corona
City Arts, Apartment # 2L
Throughout the month of February Michael Anthony Farley will be hosting Room/Mates, a series of salon-style two-person shows in his apartment at City Arts, artist housing in Station North. Room/Mates presents new queer binaries outside the box of “couple” in the context of the bedroom. In the shadow of Valentine’s Day and Black History Month, Baltimore artists spanning different gender identities, sexual orientations, races, backgrounds, and creative practices will present alongside each other or collaborate. It’s all about encouraging an alternative dialogue in an informal, welcoming space.
The reception on Wednesday, February 20th will bring together Abdu Ali and Hoesy Corona, two local artists whose very different work is woven from common threads. Both artists are known for performances featuring unique energy and extravagant style. Ali draws inspiration from the street fashion and local couture of Baltimore, while Corona constructs whimsical garments that reference his Mexican heritage and love of plant life, transforming himself into a walking oasis appearing more organic than urban.
Both artists are known throughout the Baltimore art scene for gregarious projects such as Corona’s Copycat Theater, Ali’s Eatonthis.com culture blog, and numerous collaborations (although the two have not worked together until now).
Ali has worked with TT the Artist as well as local video artists and producers Johnny Rogers, Joy Davis, and Schwarz on music videos and songs. Corona was a central organizer and performer in Rooms Play, 2011’s queer performance night Obfuscation, and countless collaborative events in warehouses and galleries across the city.
Despite the gregarious nature of both artists personalities, performances and practices, both bodies of work remain fiercely personal and centered on issues of identity. Whether confronted by Ali’s assertive, confident vocals and stage presence or invited into Corona’s colorful paintings full of allusions to Gaian mysticism, anthropomorphic nature, and playful eroticism, viewers can expect a memorable, refreshing look at how identity is presented and constructed through creative practice.
Room/Mates is located at 440 E Oliver Street #2L, Baltimore, Maryland 21202. Abdu Ali and Hoesy Corona will show on Wednesday, February 20th at 7 p.m. The events are open to the public at openings (buzzer 2L) or by appointment (Michael: 443-838-5566).
///////////////////////////
Preach! An Artist Talk with Jeffrey Kent at the Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park and Museum
Thursday, February 21 from 6-9 pm
The artist will share his inspirations, process, and exhibition experiences with Preach! New Works by Jeffrey Kent.
Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park and Museum
1417 Thames Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21231
Free with MICA ID; a donation is otherwise requested
http://www.preachjeffreykent.com
///////////////////////////////
Zoë Clark and Chase Biado: The Absolute Comic at sophiajacob
Curated by Sam Korman
February 23 – March 30, 2013
Opening reception February 23, 7 – 10pm
For some misdeed or other, Pierrot had in the end to be guillotined. Why the guillotine rather than the gallows, in the land of Albion? I do not know; presumably to lead up to what we were to see next. Anyway, there it was, the engine of death, there, set up on the French boards, which were markedly surprised at this romantic novelty. After struggling and bellowing like an ox that scents the slaughter-house, at last Pierrot bowed to his fate. His head was severed from his neck – a great red and white head, which rolled noisily to rest in front of the prompter’s box, showing the bleeding disk of the neck, the split vertebrae and all the details of a piece of butcher’s meat just dressed for the counter. And then, all of a sudden, the decapitated trunk, moved by its irresistible obsession with theft, jumped to its feet, triumphantly ‘lifted’ its own head as though it was a ham or a bottle of wine, and, with far more circumspection than the great St. Denis, proceeded to stuff it into its pocket! – Charles Baudelaire, “On The Essence of Laughter” [1855]
Zoë Clark has participated in exhibitions with Recess Gallery, half/dozen, Place, and Car Hole Gallery. She was a founding member of 12128, an exhibition space and studio. Clark recently published an anthology of her collaborative publication series, Summer Sigs with Container Corps this fall. She currently lives and works in Portland, OR.
Chase Biado has participated in exhibitions with 12128, Ditch Projects, Car Hole Gallery, Recess Gallery, University of Ulsan, South Korea, and Appendix Project Space. He currently lives and works in Portland.
Sam Korman is the assistant director of White Flag Projects. He has curated exhibitions in Portland, Marfa, and St Louis. Korman has contributed texts to Pastelegram, BOMBlog, and numerous exhibition catalogs. He was the founder of Car Hole Gallery. Korman lives and works in St Louis. He will also be presenting at the sophiajacob lecture series on February 24th at Floristree, from 8-10pm.
A full color-catalog will accompany the exhibition. This exhibition is funded in part by the Regional Arts & Culture Council of Portland, Oregon.
Gallery hours are Saturdays 1 – 4 p.m. or by appointment. For further information or inquiries, please contact the gallery by email at info(at)sophiajacob(dot)com.
sophiajacob
510 W. Franklin Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
sophiajacob lectures: Sam Korman and Deirdre Smith Sunday, February 24th, 8-10pm at Floristree
//////////////////////////////
Matt Porterfield’s Putty Hill – Screening Sunday, February 24, 2013 – 1:00pm at the BMA
Join us for the US premiere of the 35mm print, Putty Hill (2010), a moving look at a working-class Baltimore community by Sondheim Prize winner Matt Porterfield. Followed by a Q&A with Porterfield and film critic Max Weiss.
TRAILER: http://vimeo.com/8948657
Sponsored by the BMA’s Friends of Modern and Contemporary Art
