Rites of Passage
Opening Reception: Thursday, January 21, 2010, 6-9 pm
Exhibition on view: January 21 - February 11, 2010
Rites of Passage is a group exhibition, organized by guest curator Thomas Micchelli, that considers the multiple paths taken by new forms of expression at the turn of the 21st Century, specifically those found in the work of alumni of The Cooper Union who graduated between the years 1995 and 2009 from The School of Art, The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, and The Albert Nerken School of Engineering. Their explorations range from the intangibility of light and sound to the poetry of infrastructure, autobiographical reflection to political outrage, naked terror to absurdist humor. Rites of Passage takes its title from a poem by Audre Lorde that speaks of the transition between generations, of young people as agents of change as well as witnesses to the passing of obsolete ideas.
The works in this exhibition, most of which were made especially for the show, denote some kind of journey that signaled a turning point in the participants' lives or worldviews. Whether the passages are interior or external, they are accomplished through an openness and honesty of expression, a blurring of the lines between disciplines, and a willingness to try anything that might break apart an old paradigm and engender something new.
In connection with the exhibition there will be a panel discussion entitled Rock the Boat: Art as Intervention on Friday, February 5, 2010, from 6 to 9 pm in the Frederick P. Rose Auditorium, 41 Cooper Square, New York City.
Participants:
| Courtney J Angermeier | Charles H. Krekelberg |
| Dorit Aviv and Dionisio Cortes | Georgia Küng |
| Rush Baker + Sam Vernon | Laura Lee-Georgescu |
| Salman Bakht | Fiyel Levent |
| Vivek Gopal Baliga | Edmundo Majchrzyk |
| Sofia Berinstein | Gaurav Namit |
| Mitsuko Brooks | Laura Napier |
| Adrien Casey | Ryan and Trevor Oakes |
| Krystal Chang | Miroslav Ovcharik & Maximiliano Ferro |
| Jaeho Chong | Kate Parnell |
| Nicky Enright | Anik Pearson |
| Adriana Farmiga | Noëlle Raffaele |
| Grigori Fateyev | Jenevieve Reid |
| Josephine Halvorson | David A. Ross |
| Sue Havens | Taylor Shields |
| Kim Holleman | Natalie Shook in collaboration with Mike Circosta |
| Jane V. Hsu | Veronica Tyson-Strait |
| Kenny Komer & Boris Rasin | Spring Ulmer |
| Peonia Vázquez-D'Amico |
Curated by Thomas Micchelli
Panel Discussion:
Rock the Boat: Art as Intervention
Kim Holleman, Nicky Enright, Spring Ulmer, Sam Vernon, moderated by Thomas Micchelli
Friday, February 5, 2010, 7pm
The Frederick P. Rose Auditorium
41 Cooper Square
New York, NY 10003
41 Cooper Gallery
41 Cooper Square (Lower Level)
New York, NY 10003
[MAP]
Gallery Hours:
Tuesday - Saturday, 11 - 6 pm
Closed Sunday, Monday by appointment only
For more information please contact The School of Art at The Cooper Union at artschool@cooper.edu or 212.353.4200.