MAIN GALLERY:
Stefan Saffer, Derek Bailey and Will Gaines
“one guitar, two shoes and countless holes”
PROJECT ROOM:
Jill Simonsen
Opening reception on Wednesday, September 17th from 7 to 9 pm.
The exhibitions run through October 11th.
“I think of this exhibition as a jam session between an artist, a musician and a tap dancer. You can join in with whatever you bring.” – Stefan Saffer
Stefan Saffer had the pleasure of seeing Derek Bailey perform live on three occasions before the jazz musician’s untimely death in 2006. Each show was a completely unique and pure experience, inspiring the artist to strive to recreate in his own work the intense momentum of thought, experience, knowledge and wisdom he felt watching Bailey. This initial inspiration led to the eventual “collaboration” one guitar, two shoes and countless holes.
For this exhibition, Saffer creates and arranges his intricate cut out and folded works on paper around a video performance of Derek Bailey and legendary tap dancer Will Gaines. The installation, dynamic as a whole, is comprised of individual works, each with its own momentum and mood, an improvisation inspired by, and in homage to the experience of losing oneself in ones art while inviting others to lose themselves in the final creation.
Stefan Saffer’s work has been exhibited worldwide at galleries including Kate MacGarry in London, Andrea Rosen in New York and Villa Grisebach in Berlin. He earned his MFA from Goldsmiths, London and has received several prestigious grants and awards including Art for Architecture Award from the Royal Society of Architecture UK and the Whitney ISP Program. Currently, Saffer lives and works in Berlin.
In Jill Simonsen’s latest works, she explores the journey of personal relationships and human disconnection. She uses recognizable and inorganic imagery such as antennas, power lines and buildings as symbols of the various situations and experiences common to all of us. Rendering these elements in a graphic style, she attempts to understand and represent the means by which people communicate successfully or become isolated from each other. Inspired by the people around her and how they interact with their world and each other, Simonsen creates works that are both realistic and hopeful.
Jill Simonsen earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Penn State University. She now lives and works blocks from the gallery in New York City’s Lower East Side.
