By Mark Westall | FAD Magazine
Silver Art Projects has announced the 25 international artists, selected from a competitive field of more than 500 applicants, who will receive pretty cool studio space at 4 World Trade Center. Artists have already begun moving in on a rolling schedule.
The 25 artists form Silver Art Projects inaugural residency cohort. Following the announcement of the formation of Silver Art Residency in summer 2019, Silver Art Projects convened a jury of art world professionals who have overseen a competitive, multi-month selection process to determine the 25 creative individuals who will receive free of charge, purpose-built studio space, for up to eight months, at 4 World Trade Center. Set Downtown, in the heart of the World Trade Center’s network of Fortune 500 companies, tech startups, and creative enterprises, the Silver Art Residency occupies an entire floor of 4 WTC.
The residency space, comprising the entirety of the building’s 28th floor, is dedicated to art making, providing residents with customized studios and the tools, platform, and resources needed to expand their practices and further their careers. A spacious, open studio plan, which also features community spaces for study and socially-distanced dialogue and exchange, allows artists to collaborate while enjoying sweeping, 360-degree views of the New York City skyline. Silver Art Projects hopes that its artists will draw inspiration from the views, energy, and vibrancy of Lower Manhattan, transforming their practices on a radical scale.
Valorus, a Carnegie Technology company has also launched Portal: Silver Art—a new artist-focused discovery and e-commerce platform to support the 2020 cohort as the artists navigate the unique challenges and ongoing financial impact of COVID-19. Portal: Silver Art is an artist-focused platform which includes personalized pages featuring artist information, previous exhibition images, bespoke live video functions, and access to interactive content such as videos and virtual studio tours—all of which support enhanced digital engagement. Portal was conceived through a collaboration with Valorus Technologies, a Carnegie Technologies company, and is in-line with both Silver Art Projects’ mission of fostering constant artistic and professional growth, as well as Silverstein Properties’ vision of the World Trade Center campus as an epicentre of technology and culture.
Cory Silverstein, co-founder of Silver Art Projects, said:
“Silver Art Projects remains steadfast in our continued commitment to supporting the arts, which is needed now more than ever. We are pleased to officially welcome this cohort of artists and to experience their individualized use of the space, which features flexible, virtually column-free interiors and panoramic views of the New York and New Jersey skylines. Furthermore, we are particularly excited to encourage and facilitate relationships between talented artists and the technology, political, and business leaders of their respective industries that comprise the tenant mix of the WTC. The harmonization of artists within the exceptionally designed 4 WTC, creating beautiful and meaningful artwork that will be shared and displayed to the wider public, will surely take one’s breath away. We hope the artists will have a positive experience and that our initiative will serve as a model for others in their patronage of the arts.”
The 25 artists were chosen by a jury of art world professionals including Isolde Brielmaier, Curator-at-Large, International Center of Photography (ICP) & Professor, New York University (NYU); Evan Moffitt, Associate Editor of Frieze magazine; and Nicola Vassell, Founder of Concept NV and Curatorial Director of the Dean Collection.
The inaugural 2020 cohort comprises a dynamic group of artists working across a variety of media—from oil painting and digital art to sculpture and design. Examples of participating artists include: Maryam Turkey, an Iraqi-American artist who plans to develop a new body of work during the course of her residency, spanning sculptural paintings and sculptural furniture, all of which reflect her ability to transcend traditional materials and forms; Athena LaTocha, an artist known for monumental works on paper inspired by her native Alaska, which explore the relationship between the industrial and the natural world; Zoe Crosher, a widely-exhibited American artist whose manipulated conceptual photography probe the disconnect between fantasy and reality that photography enables; Mario Navarro, a Mexican-American artist who focuses on the decomposition of architectural paradigms like balance, symmetry and the figure of the architect; Tourmaline, whose films and installation videos highlight the capacity of black queer/trans social life to impact the world; Victoria Manganiello, an artist named as one of Forbes’ 30 under 30, whose textiles explore the intersection between installation, abstract painting, and kinetic sculptures; Jason Hanchong Wee, a Singaporean artist with a dynamic practice spanning art, architecture, poetry, and photography, and will be a part of the inaugural Asia Society Triennial that will open later this year. The full list of artists in the 2020 cohort follows below.
Silver Art Residency’s flexible, open studio plan and panoramic views will allow the cohort to expand their creative process. Artist Rachelle Bussieres commented:
“Not only will the studio offer an incredible view of the city, but the unprecedented quantity of light entering the room will far exceed that of any studio I’ve worked in to date. I am most excited for the accessibility to the sky that the studio will provide.” Tariku Shiferaw adds: “Space has always been a limitation in New York, so I am looking forward to utilizing the unique space of the Residency to experiment with new scales and make large works.”
_news_small.jpg)