Spaceworks Tacoma & Generis 01B: Community Association

Opening Reception & Vazquez Building Grand Opening: Friday, October 24, 6-10 PM

Open 1-6pm, Thursday, October 23 - Sunday, October 26
The Vazquez Building
Forrest Street @ Central Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11206

Spaceworks Tacoma artists: Sean Alexander, Sarah Gilbert, Sarah E. Gilbert, Nicholas Nyland

Generis artists: Dexter Ciprian, Nontsikelelo Mutiti, Megan Stockton

Sean Alexander, Being and Complex, unique digital illustration, 18" x 24", 2014

Community Association positions Tacoma, Washington and Brooklyn, New York as case studies for each other.  In Tacoma, artists and art spaces have a long civic tradition of integration into all walks of life as neighbors, educators, and exhibitors. But in larger cities like New York, which foster both art-world competition and developer-led real estate squeeze, artists have gained a perception as outsider-gentrifiers of naturally occurring cultural districts. Despite their geographic and circumstantial differences, the curators envision Tacoma as a model, at least in attitude and approach, of an artistic infrastructure for all.

Sean Alexander positions laser-eyed beings before step-and-repeat works of canonical Modernist abstraction, while Nontsikelelo Mutiti foregrounds the formal qualities of repetition and diagramming in African hair braiding. Sarah E. Gilbert's blown glass work recalls city blocks protecting the energetic activity of the street corner, complimenting Dexter Ciprian's sculptural misreading of architectural materials and Sarah Gilbert's conflations of construction tools with the body parts that handle them. Nicholas Nyland's ceramics reference craft sources that conflate painting and sculpture, offsetting Megan Stockton's Moat Table, which takes up most of the gallery's footprint and transforms a historical barrier into a communal gathering space.

Community Association is the inaugural project of Generis, presented with Spaceworks Tacoma. It is part of Exchange Rates: The Bushwick Expo. Its twin exhibition, Generis 01T, will take place in Tacoma, WA during the winter of 2014/15.

ZONING 101 FOR ARTISTS WORKSHOP

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2014. 12-145 PM with Center for Urban Pedagogy and Artist Studio Affordability Project

RSVP: info@generis.co

Zoning 101 For Artists introduces basic urban planning concepts as they affect spaces of art production and exhibition, with an emphasis on building solidarity between artists, small businesses, manufacturers, and long-term neighborhood residents in our rapidly gentrifying city. Con traducción al español.

Generis is a series of art, architecture and design programs addressing issues of public consequence in New York City. Programs are organized around administrative and political boundaries - Community Association, ZIP, Precinct, Tract, and Parish - and will take place at distinct venues in each of the City's five boroughs.