Past Residents
Past Resident2011: Artadia
Michael Jones McKean
Michael Jones McKean’s work plays with the poetic potential in objects, materials and their arrangement while pointing toward the possibility of a larger narrative or allegorical structures. His sculptures skid across time, organizing disparate objects into unifying constellations that make appeals to the imagination while also seeking a re-articulation of our ancient involvement with forms, meaning, representation, and poetics.
A recipient of numerous awards, McKean was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2010 and recently a Nancy Graves Foundation Award and an Artadia Foundation Award. McKean has participated in numerous residencies including The Core Program at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; The Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, RI; The Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, NE; Central Michigan University as the Stephen L. Barstow Fellow, MI; The Archie Bray Foundation in Montana and ThreeWalls in Chicago, IL. His work has been shown extensively nationally and internationally including the Quebec City Biennial, Grand Arts in Kansas City, MO, DiverseWorks in Houston, TX; The Bemis Center in Omaha, NE; Horton Gallery in New York City, Project Gentili in Italy and Berlin and ThreeWalls in Chicago, IL. McKean is currently an Assistant Professor in the Sculpture and Extended Media Department at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Michael Jones McKean, Certain Structures And Predetermined Sequences, 2008, Hand-knotted Persian wool rug circa 1968, cardboard, tar, wig, pine tree branches, popular wood, burlap, paint, wax, and glitter, 204 × 168 × 60 in. (518.16 × 426.72 × 152.4 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Michael Jones McKean, The Wake, 2008, Pine, 1000 pounds of clay, orchid flower arrangement, glass vase, formed sheet metal, paint, insulation foam, canvas, plaster, gold leaf, paper mache, and 1970’s camping back pack , 780 × 156 × 204 in. (1981.2 × 396.24 × 518.16 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Michael Jones McKean, The Possibility Of Men And The River Shallows, 2007 , Plywood, dimensional lumber, foam board, paint, 800 gallon acrylic water tank, 10 horsepower special effects fan, 1986 J1 Super Jumbo Promax boom box, fragments from the Teignmouth Electron (a boat involved in a failed attempt to circumnavigate the earth), brass, chainsaw cut/first aid kit, flashlight, night lights, florescent lighting, freezer, fog machine, custom spring, plexi-glass, house plants, grow lights, jet pump, 2 sump pumps, 60 gallon water tank, misting nozzles, water filters, pressure gauge, exhaust fan, industrial dehumidifier, carpet, one ton of clay, 5000 watt sound system, 12 volume reference library, VFD drive, 2 iPods, 1983 Ocean Pacific wind breaker, gold leafed papier-mâché conquistador helmet, sword, jug, spoons, banjo, and harpoon, dismantled papier-mâché river raft, papier-mâché helm, anchor, cemetery stones and barrels, hand made clothes and death/theater masks for Donald Crowhurst, Hernando DeSoto and Albert Ayler, Hall and Oates’ LP H20, Hall and Oates’ One on One (1982), and Albert Ayler’s Love Cry (1967). Courtesy of the artist.
Michael Jones McKean, She Hangs Above To Spit And Sing, 2010, Wood, paint, gold leaf, aluminum, paper, conch shell, and magazine cutout, 83 × 64 × 22 in. (210.82 × 162.56 × 55.88 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Michael Jones McKean, Other Progress, We Hope This Will Work Too, To Be Clear To Others, 2010, Digital print from a larger installation which included: 50 acres of land purchased in Abitibi, Quebec, Canada, framed inkjet prints, upright piano, 5000 year old Campo del Cielo meteorite from Argentina, petrified wood from Arizona, United States, plastic spectral prism from China, 1970’s rug from Qatar, bags of dirt, cans of mussels, wood, paper mache, package of tissues, velvet, medicated ointment, Nivea skin lotion, and bottles of orange juice and water. Courtesy of the artist.
Residents from United States
Past Resident2011: Dr. Elisabeth Salch-Klauser & Dr. Frank Klauser
Birthe Blauth
Munich-based conceptual and video artist Birthe Blauth’s video works examine human individuality in the tension between cultural, biographical and neurological parameters. Her image sequences playfully combine fiction with reality and their subtle variations prompt the observer to question his or her own perceptions.
Blauth graduated in Chinese studies, Ethnology and European Art History from Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany, specialising in iconography, mythology and religious ethnology. Herart has won her the HausderKunst award in Munich as well as the support of the Prinzregent Luitpold Stiftung, the Region of Upper Bavaria and the City of Munich. In January 2011, the BundesGEDOK will award her the Dr. Theobald Simon Preis in Bonn, Germany, where she will also mount a solo exhibition at the Artists’ Forum.
Events & Exhibitions
Salon: Birthe Blauth and Alban Muja
January 4, 2011
Birthe Blauth: Adam & Eve, 2009, Photo print taken from 14 channel video installation performance with 14 actors, 39 × 79 in. (99.06 × 200.66 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Birthe Blauth, The Frog Queen: On Emotions, 2007, Video installation, Variable. Courtesy of the artist.
Birthe Blauth, The Hare and the Tortoise: The Grass Is Always Greener On The Other Side., 2010, Interactive video installation, 27 min. Courtesy of the artist.
Birthe Blauth, Sammy, The Ferryman: Trip Into The Realm Of The Dead, 2005, Video. Courtesy of the artist.
Birthe Blauth, The Sirens: Male And Female Ideals, 2010, Sound installation. Courtesy of the artist.
Residents from Germany
Past Resident2010: CEC Artslink, Inc
Svetlana Kuyumdzhieva
Svetlana Kuyumdzhieva is a curator and art critic from Sofia, Bulgaria. Her research focus and curatorial practice are centered on the relations between the aesthetics of form and current social and political issues within the new generation of Bulgarian artists. Recently, she carried out a series of projects that dealt with the cultural features of the local context, among them The Temptation of Chalga (2009), curated in collaboration with Vessela Nozharova, and The Bold and The Beautiful (2010). In 2009, she was invited as a guest curator at the 15th Week of Contemporary Art in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, with Alter Ego, a project discussing the artists role in the global processes of political and supranational growing.
Svetlana Kuyumdzhieva (1977, Bulgaria) holds a Master Degree in Art History from the National Academy of Arts, Sofia. In 2010, she enrolled in a PhD program at the Institute for Art Studies of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Since 2003, she has been the curator of the Cibank Gallery, where she has organized more than 80 exhibitions. Svetlana Kuyumdzhieva is a committed art critic and writes a column for Kultura, Bulgaria’s foremost culture and art weekly. She is also an independent consultant on contemporary art to several Bulgarian weekly and monthly pubications. In 2008, she co-founded the Art Affairs and Documents Foundation (A.A.D.F.), the sole association of young curators in Sofia.
Svetlana Kuyumdzhieva, The Temptation of Chalga, 2009, Installation view. Courtesy of the curator and Sofia City Art Gallery. Photo courtesy of Vessela Nozharova.
Daniela Kostova, Body Without Organs, 2006, Installation view. Courtesy of the curator. Photo courtesy of Vessela Nozharova.
Svetlana Kuyumdzhieva, Alter Ego, 2009, Installation view. Courtesy of the curator and Center for Contemporary Art.
Nikoleta Marković, Alternative Economies, 2009. Courtesy of the curator.
Svetlana Kuyumdzhieva, The Bold And The Beautiful, 2010, Installation view. Courtesy of the curator and Raiko Aleksiey Gallery. Photo courtesy of Simeon Stoilov.
