Past Residents
Past Resident2012: Foundation for a Civil Society
Tomas Rafa
Tomas Rafa’s work explores the line between patriotism and nationalism. Through photographs and videos, Rafa focuses on displays of racism and xenophobia in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. Over the last three years, Rafa has created a video project set against the background of political demonstrations, blockades, protests, and scenes of everyday life in these countries. The project features group demonstrations and displays of extremism where national and sexual majorities are in opposition to minorities, often complimented with the artist’s own actions and performances. Just as the famous Czech director Karel Vachek, Rafa keeps the camera on at all times during these events, even when the journalists have left. In this way, the footage presents situations one would not have the chance to see on a television news program. Rafa won the Oskár Čepan’s Award for 2011 in Slovakia.
Tomas Rafa (born in 1979 in Zilina, Slovakia) graduated from the Department of Digital Media at the Academy of Fine Arts in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia. He also studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw.
Tomas Rafa, Antifa and Feministic Groups Block March of Catholics Against Abortions, 2011, Video still. Courtesy of the artist.
Tomas Rafa, Poles Protest in Front of Russian Embassy, 2011, Video still. Courtesy of the artist .
Tomas Rafa, Roma People Citizens Block March of Neo fascists, 2011, Video still. Courtesy of the artist.
Tomas Rafa, Antifa block private meeting of Neo fascists, 2011, Video still. Courtesy of the artist.
Tomas Rafa, Antifa and feministic groups block March of Catholics against abortions, 2011, Video still. Courtesy of the artist.
Past Resident2012: The New York Community Trust’s Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund
Abigail DeVille
Through bricolage, painting, and sculpture, Abigail DeVille cobbles together a visual mass that speaks to the material culture of the present moment. She experiments using found and inherited domestic objects in order to make a connection to the universe. W.E.B. Du Bois’ concept of double-consciousness is the conceptual frame DeVille uses to deconstruct two spatial relationships: the claustrophobic space of the urban environment violently clashing with the infinite expanse of the universe. Black holes are an integral metaphor. DeVille warps the time of physical objects. Her objects speak to the physical infinite expanse of universal time and societal ills of the present moment. DeVille’s work is interested in making the visible representation of the invisible.
Abigail DeVille (born 1981, New York City) received her BFA from the Fashion Institute of Technology in 2007. She received the Camille Hanks Cosby fellowship to participate in the Skowhegan Residency Program in 2007. DeVille was a participant in the art world’s first reality television show, Artstar, which aired on Gallery HD from June 2006 – January 2009 and culminated with an exhibition at Deitch Projects (NY). She has exhibited at El Museo Del Barrio, Vogt Gallery, project spaces Recess Activities Inc., The Bronx River Art Center and Marginal Utility in Philadelphia, PA. DeVille is a 2011 MFA graduate in painting at The Yale School of Art.
Abigail DeVille, Mirror, Mirror..., 2011, Empty Alexi vodka bottles and broken mirror, Dimensions variable.
Abigail DeVille, Untitled (Boots), 2011, Three Timberland boots, tar, trash bags, and chicken wire, Dimensions variable.
Abigail DeVille, New York at Dawn, 2010, Tyvek, enamel and latex paint, dirt, American flags, graphite, lamp shade, synthetic hair, polyurethane varnish, chicken wire, plastic sheeting, plaster, garbage bags, pâpier-maché, fake eyelashes, duct tape, wood chips, wire, canvas, cigarette butt, acrylic yarn, metal, salt dough, and hardware, 102 × 114 × 96 in. (259.08 × 289.56 × 243.84 cm).
Abigail DeVille, Dark Star, 2010, Trash bags, wood, paper, paint, paper pulp, fabric, colored lights, and plastic drop cloths, 342 × 15413/16 in. (868.68 × 393.19 cm).
Abigail DeVille, Black Hole Pit, 2010, Trash bags, chicken wire, and accumulated signifiers, 72 × 36 × 72 in. (182.88 × 91.44 × 182.88 cm).
Residents from United States
Past Resident2012: Mondriaan Fund
Jennifer Tee
Jennifer Tee creates symbolic, synthetic, sculptural installations that the visitor can not only contemplate, but also sometimes enter or engage with ritually. Her work often balances seemingly contradictory factors: great sculptural sophistication with a transparency in production and an interest in evoking spiritual realms with active material experimentation. In recent years, Tee’s often-voluminous installations reveal a special interest in being in an in-between state, or what she calls “the soul in Limbo”, in her performances. She researches intermediate forms of cultures and languages, and various forms of religion. She tries to answer questions about the mythology of contemporary human beings, about cultural identity and soul-searching. In her area of research Tee constructs poetic dispositions between fact and fiction, between present and past. Her latest works hover between sculpture and stage, performance and choreography.
Jennifer Tee (born 1973) is based in Amsterdam. She has exhibited internationally, including at the 26th São Paulo Biennial; Gwangju Biennial, 2006; and The World Expo 2010, Shanghai. She was awarded third place in the Prix de Rome in 1999 and the Uriot-prijs by the Rijksacademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, in 2000 and 2001. Recent group shows include: The Knight’s Tour, De Hallen Haarlem, Haarlem, The Netherlands; Feminine and Formal, Triangle France, Marseille, France; Double Dutch, HVCCA, Peekskill, NY: De Nederlandse identiteit?, Museum de Paviljoens, Almere, The Netherlands; and Secret Societies, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Germany. In 2010, Tee had a solo show at Eastside Projects, Birmingham, UK, and performed Gridding Sentences at theStedelijk Museum in 2011. Tee is represented by Galerie Fons Welters.
Events & Exhibitions
Jennifer Tee: Ether Plane∼Material Plane
March 6–June 8, 2018
Stichting Fonds voor Beeldende Kunsten Vormgeving en Bouwkunst, Entwined Bolero, Performance, 18 min. Courtesy of the artist.
Jennifer Tee, Duration Gridding Sentences, Performance, 33 min. Courtesy of the artist.
Jennifer Tee, Torrid Zone, 2004-2011, Metal structure, bamboo beads, fabric decoration, 3 foam mills, 6 foam wings, 6 neons, cacao fruits, porcelain letter tiles, power shells, and palm tree, 185 × 94 × 86 in. (469.9 × 238.76 × 218.44 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Jennifer Tee, Star-Crossed, 2010, Collection of vessels and coiled stoneware, Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist.
Jennifer Tee, Complex Interiors, Trance-lucent Concrete, 2009 , 20 porcelain feathers, wooden octagram-construction and natural rope , 55 × 110 × 47 in. (139.7 × 279.4 × 119.38 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
