Liene Bosquê and Nicole Seisler: Shifting Impressions

About

Shifting Impressions consists of three public walks in the Lower East Side, and an exhibition that highlights a collection of objects and tools developed from City Souvenirs, an ongoing collaborative project by artists Liene Bosquê and Nicole Seisler. Created in 2009, City Souvenirsfocuses on a series of participatory walks through city neighborhoods, where public audiences are invited to make direct impressions of the built landscape with fresh blocks of clay. Embarking on a conceptual and physical exploration of site, Bosquê and Seisler collect these clay objects after participants have made their marks. One side of the clay records sharp architectural details, while the other retains the shape of the hand and its subtle lines and fingerprints. Blending their mutual site-specific practices, the artists utilize the contemplative action of walking as an artmaking tool that enables audiences to slow down and notice the small details that amount to our daily urban experience.

Through the lens of the Essex Street Market and its impending redevelopment in 2018, audiences will have a chance to join the artists on an expedition through the neighborhood, where they will investigate the multiple histories of the Lower East Side and create impressions of forgotten or overlooked spaces. The newly reshaped objects will accumulate in the gallery, located inside Essex Market, and create an abstract record that conflates both personal and collective memory of the market and its surrounding areas. In the gallery, audiences will be able to handle and study the clay objects, as well as create new marks through sand and graphite, reimagining the origin of each impression and contributing to the project’s shared narrative.

Shifting Impressions aims to bridge public space and the gallery space to inspire exchanges between audiences that examine the historically shifting identity of LES, existing points of contention and possibilities for the future.

This exhibition is made possible in part with public funds from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Additional support provided by Artists Alliance, Inc.

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Liene Bosquê (b. São Paulo, Brazil) is a visual artist based in New York City. She received an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2011, and a BFA from the São Paulo Estate University in 2003, as well as a BA in Architecture and Urbanism from the Mackenzie University in 2004. In addition to participating in artist residencies around the country, Bosquê has exhibited her work in national and international venues including William Holman Gallery (New York), Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago), Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Arts Center (New York), Elmhurst Art Museum (Illinois), Carpe Diem (Lisbon, Portugal), Museu de Arte de Ribeirão Preto (Ribeirão Preto, Brazil), and other galleries and public spaces in Brazil, Portugal, Turkey, and United States.

Nicole Seisler is an interdisciplinary artist who creates sculpture, installation, and public art that investigate themes of time, ephemerality, and the overlapping roles of artist/viewer/participant/collaborator. Nicole received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Her exhibitions include the Museum of Contemporary Photography​ (​Chicago​),​ Elmhurst Art Museum​ (​Illinois​),​ Museum of Fine Arts​ (​Boston​),​ Museum of Fine Arts​ (​Tallahassee​),​ Armory Arts Center​ (​West Palm Beach​),​ CMA North Gallery​ (​Seattle​)​ Customs House​ (​Sydney​),​ Alto Galleria​ (​Brussels​),​ and Flash Atoyle ​(​Izmir, Turkey​)​. Nicole has been awarded multiple public art grants in Boston and New York City, and she is currently a Full-Time Lecturer of Ceramics at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Lynnette Miranda is an artist, curator, and organizer from Miami, FL, currently working between New York City and Chicago. She received an MA in Visual Arts Administration from New York University in 2014, and a BFA in Fiber and Material Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2010. Her visual work has exhibited in spaces such as Booklyn Artists Alliance, Peninsula Art Space, Sullivan Galleries at SAIC and Open Gallery at Lipscomb University. She has curated exhibitions at ACRE Projects, Mana Contemporary Chicago, and alternative venues in Chicago and New York. Lynnette is the Summit Coordinator at Creative Time, and she founded Make Space, a contemporary art initiative (and website) dedicated to promoting contemporary artists and investigating studio methodologies through studio visits, writing, and exhibitions.

Cuchifritos is FREE to the public and handicap accessible. Located inside Essex Street Market at the south end nearest Delancey.

Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space is a program of Artists Alliance Inc., a 501c3 not for profit organization located on the Lower East Side of New York City within the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center. Cuchifritos is supported in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. This program is made possible by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. We thank the following for their generous support: Foundation for Contemporary Arts, New York City Economic Development Corporation and individual supporters of Artists Alliance Inc. Special thanks go to our team of dedicated volunteers, without whom this program would not be possible.