Denise Treizman
Curated by Kelly Schroer
Opening Reception: Friday, May 6 from 6-8p
On View: May 6 through June 5, 2016
Galley Hours: Tuesday -Sunday, 12-6p
Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space
Cuchifritos Gallery is pleased to present Denise Treizman’s first solo exhibition in New York, DelanceyLudlowRivingtonNorfolk. This recent body of work takes its starting point with the gallery’s neighborhood in mind, considering site-specificity in both the use of found materials, as well as the sentiment and spirit of the Lower East Side. Continuing and expanding upon her process-oriented and material-centric practice, Denise’s work conjures a sense of hopefulness and resourcefulness reminiscent of the area’s history.
Perhaps best known for her use of found objects, Denise’s oeuvre has an inherent sense of surprise that is shared by artist and viewer. Her intuitive process is led by a response to materials and a formal interest in the finished work. The rubbery sheen of a ball or grainy texture of sand can inspire a particular direction in her making. While the works might seem haphazard at first glance, Denise’s use of color, texture, and spatial relationships between objects are carefully decided through a process which is playful yet restrained. She takes the traditions of readymades and assemblage, and pairs it with her own unique perspective in which formal concerns meet an ephemeral or durational approach.
Each found object has a history, both in its prior life in its intended use, and in its extended narrative within Denise’s practice. A delicate touch of glitter over a thin board that falls accidentally onto the floor under the sculpture becomes part of the piece; not only to express the joy and fear of the unexpected, but also as way to allow the work to have a life of its own. Complete only in their moment of exhibition, Denise’s works are in constant flux as her materials are reused and re-imagined in future pieces. When improvisation meets intent, the dual potential for limitlessness and finalization creates a significant moment in the life of these combined materials.
A relatively recent addition to Denise’s use of material is the incorporation of ceramics. Traditionally considered precious, the fragile and handmade nature of ceramic further emphasizes an ongoing interest in the perceived value of materials. Combining a gritty object from the street with this art historically “pure” medium evokes tension in its pairing and in its physicality. To the same end, a tire with its rough texture and durability is rendered fragile by the simple cut of applied rubber paint, pinned and delicately clinging to the wall that supports it. This potential for the work to break or fall apart is crucial to Denise’s practice, and creates a continued feeling of suspense in the work. The possibility for breakage is met with humor, wit, and a resulting resilience through her process of discovery and experimentation.
For this presentation, Denise’s site-specific approach goes beyond repurposing materials in the blocks surrounding the gallery. The Lower East Side’s history of immigration and the ideas of discovery, struggle, and reinvention that surround the neighborhood, are echoed in the dichotomy of optimism and melancholy in Denise’s sculptures. With this in mind, her interest in the way objects blend seamlessly into the cityscape is addressed in both formal and poetic references. She has said, “The way things were just left on the street, placed on the sidewalks, leaning against trashcans or fences made me conscious of placement and arrangement…but also made me think about displacement, lack of space and how replaceable things are these days.” In this way, both artist and place find themselves in a constant state of regeneration.
Denise Treizman is from Chile and is currently based in New York. She has a MFA from the School of Visual Arts, and her work has been exhibited in cities around world including Santiago, Buenos Aires, Shanghai, San Francisco, Chicago, and New York City. She has been a resident at the Vermont Studio Center with the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation fellowship award for Latin American Artists; Berlin Collective/APT Institute residency; Ox-Bow Residency; Nars Foundation; ACRE Residency; and Triangle Workshop. In 2015, she was a fellow at the Bronx Museum’s Artist in the Marketplace program. She has recently been awarded a studio membership at the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts in New York. Concurrent with her Cuchifritos Gallery exhibition, she will be presenting a public art installation for FLOW.16 at Randall’s Island. In November, she will have a solo exhibition at the Wave Hill Sunroom Project Space in the Bronx.
Kelly Schroer holds a BA in Art History and MA in Contemporary Art, and has worked in the visual art world for over ten years in both non profit organizations and commercials galleries. For the past five years she has worked at David Zwirner gallery while also taking on independent curatorial projects. Between 2012-2014 she curated a series called “Art Jam” which presented artist collaborations in visual art and sound. In 2014 she was Bric’s Emerging Curator Fellow, which culminated in a group exhibition titled “The air we swim in” as well as a public performance by sound artist Thessia Machado. This year she also curated a group exhibition for the Spring Break art show in March titled “The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life,” which featured Jeremy DePrez, Hannah Whitaker, Liz Nielsen, Graham Caldwell, and Eric Shows. At the end this month, Kelly will be presenting the first pop-up exhibition under her new organization, “Strongroom, Inc” sixty miles north of the NYC in Newburgh, NY (across the Hudson River from Beacon), which will feature an immersive solo installation by Julie Tremblay in an empty warehouse space.
Image: Denise Treizman, Another Day in Paradise, 2015, Duct tape, ceramic tiles, 14 x 10 inches
Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space is a program of Artists Alliance Inc., a 501c3 not for profit organization located on the Lower East Side of New York City within the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center. Cuchifritos is supported in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. This program is made possible by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. We thank the following for their generous support: Marie and John Zimmermann Fund, Gilbert MacKay Foundation, New York City Economic Development Corporation and individual supporters of Artists Alliance Inc. Special thanks go to our team of dedicated volunteers, without whom this program would not be possible: Kara Nandin, Katie Ahladas, Stephen Bickford, Fan Chen, Chelsey Forbes, Sequoiah Thomas Fraser, Chalzan Johnson, Melanie Lannon, Anjelee Miranda, Ellie Pang, Marina Rodriguez, Heidi Russell, and Cindy Zaglin. For more information, visit artistsallianceinc.org.