Even though Henry didn’t think he would ever work as curator, he believes, “it does make sense that artists do end up curating. I see it as analogous to any other artistic discipline. It just happens that the curators use other people’s work as a medium, the gallery as a substrate. The finished piece is the exhibition.” The curator is kinesthetically involved, connecting the dots for the viewers.

For both curators, art has been used as a point of reference throughout their lives, anchoring their childhoods and subsequent careers. Robert’s father was an artist and a professor of art; making his son’s transition into the art world smoother than most. Henry credits the influence of his mother to lead him in a creative direction. She would take him to the Brooklyn Museum every Saturday, where they took art classes together. “My memories of these moments are quite profound. They were some of the first times I saw my mother as a whole person who could do things other than ‘mom’ things.”

Given their longstanding investment and experience with art from an early age, both curators agree that the origins of their curatorial projects can stem from anywhere, sometimes the farther away from the visual arts the better. Henry interjects, “inspiration can happen anywhere.  The more unconventional, the more compelling the exhibition could be. Getting back to the connect-the-dots metaphor, it’s not so much fun if you’re only connecting dots that are close to one another.”

The gallery presents mainly solo exhibitions, and tends to hearken back to the visual and conceptual principles that both curators share. They use their gallery as a point of exploration, in which the exhibitions function as a continuous string of challenges and experiments. While some shows are conceptually closer to their personal visions, “other shows are farther away. So, rather than a series of curatorial projects Robert Henry Contemporary functions as one continuous curatorial exploration with every show, containing some, but not necessarily all of the ideas in the cluster of interests that Henry and I share.”

Considering the name of their curatorial endeavor, Robert Henry Contemporary, art of the moment is of primary interest. While both curators share much in common, their artistic preferences and interest tend to be quite different. Henry states, “I’m attracted to somewhat minimal work. I also have a tendency towards works on paper, as well as works that are heavily process oriented.” Robert admits he has a great love for Dutch portraiture and landscape paintings of the northern Renaissance. “Rogier van der Weyden, to name one.”

Every show is an amalgamation of Robert and Henry’s personal visions and philosophies, and while this may appear to be a daunting task, the duo isn’t too stressed about it. “I think collaboration often requires compromise by all parties involved. The most successful collaborations are ones where you can see the dialog between the voices, and not simply the lowest common denominator.”

And if you asked these two what they would change about their space if they could, you’d find they’re perfectly satisfied just where they are. Henry states, “I actually don’t like to think about our gallery and our curatorial vision in those terms. Any space can be the most beautiful space in the world if you knew what to do with it. As for a dream artist, this is Brooklyn, after all. There are a lot of artists out there. In that mix is some really exceptional work.”

Robert and Henry are always looking to their next project, anticipating how they can provoke their viewers to ask questions, and engage with their space and the work they believe in. They aren’t slowing down anytime soon. This fall the gallery is anticipating a number of solo shows by artists James Cullinane, Richard Garrison and Noah Loesberg. In December 2013, Robert Henry Contemporary will head to the beach for the Aqua Art Fair in Miami. We have no doubt they will work hard together to bring the heat.

roberthenrycontemporary.com

The post Robert Henry Contemporary: Connecting the Dots appeared first on NY Arts Magazine.

When I moved to New York ten years ago, I majored in graphic design and began a career in creative marketing and art direction. After college graduation in 2007, on the cusp of the economic recession, I worked for a magazine making designs for marketing programs. I moved on to a swiftly growing youth media colossus that was artistically minded. Amongst all of this, I still felt a pull to get back to my roots, to build upon my passion for art and design.

During these ten years in New York City I have met many extremely talented people, and continued to make my own art. After years of planning and building upon my experiences in marketing and advertising, in 2012 I launched Ballast Projects. I began working with my network of friends and looked to the emerging artists I respected, those who I believe to be the next, new generation of remarkable artists. One of my passions is painting, and so that was the area of art on which I focused. I feel it is one of the most humanistic of art forms and one that people seem to relate most to on a personal level.

Ballast Projects is not a space, not just a gallery, but a curatorial initiative amongst a growing group of young, contemporary artists and supporters who believe in the necessity of showcasing the new generation of artists who are breaking boundaries, both large and small. Ballast Projects is what keeps me working every free hour, constantly making sure it continues to grow, show after show. The programming has been able to expand incredibly fast as these talented artists and peers come out and voice their excitement for the new platform that Ballast Projects provides. My goal is to build a bridge with emerging artists who take themselves and their work seriously, with new and established collectors and institutions that are open to seeing a new generation mold the art world into what it will become in the twenty-first century.

My most recent show was with the SPRING/BREAK Art Show this March at a former Catholic school on Mott Street in Soho. It was a pleasure to curate a show in a venue with so much character, especially given the location. Knowing that it was an empty building in one of the high rent areas of the city that was to allow curators to show fine art really made me smile. I appreciated what a rarity it was. A large majority of the work that was shown throughout the fair was video art, installation based sculptures, and interactive pieces. I felt that the theme of New Mysticism was perfect to showcase the ritualistic nature of paintings and sculptures. Having a history of showing young contemporary abstract work, I felt I would go this route again to illustrate to the the public that Ballast Projects’s goal is to exhibit strong paintings from this new generation of successful abstract painters. Myself and two of the artists spent a rigorous day (and night) using fifteen gallons of white paint to bring the gallery atmosphere to the school.

A few months before the show, I was on a studio visit in Bushwick, and saw these intimately wrought hand sculptures that had recognizable objects cast within them. They were colorful and raw, and I knew this would be the finishing touch to the show. I wanted to juxtapose the paintings with a figurative, humanistic element that would bring the viewers back to how the works were created. Rachel Rossin created the hand sculptures that encircled the paintings of Russell Tyler, Matthew Hassell, Chuck Webster, Matt Mignanelli and Ted Gahl.

The SPRING/BREAK SHOW has been a springboard into early summer programming for another show with the SPRING/BREAK founders and the New Museum as well as a show at Kinfolk Studios’ gallery this June. In addition I am planning an outdoor show that I will be announcing in May for the end of summer!

Ballast Projects has been established to create open programming and to showcase and embrace the emerging, intelligent, cutting-edge artists of our generation.

By. Adam Mignanelli

ballastprojects.com

The post Curated: Adam Mignanelli appeared first on NY Arts Magazine.