stot spotlights

gallery spotlight

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 10:32:02 -0400

KW:: Berlin, Germany

Founded in the early 1990s by Klaus Biesenbach and a group of young art enthusiasts, KW Institute for Contemporary Art is located on the site of an abandoned margarine factory in Berlin's Mitte district. The institution possesses some 2,000 square meters of exhibition space extending over five floors, six artists' studios in the front side wings, and one of the most striking courtyards in central Berlin.

In 1997 KW launched the Berlin Biennale, which in 2004 successfully took place for the third time. In 2003 the event was designated a "cultural beacon" by the German Federal Cultural Foundation, a distinction guaranteeing funding over a five-year period to projects considered to be exemplary representatives of the spectrum of contemporary art.

www.kw-berlin.de

organisation spotlight

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 18:55:06 -0400

S1 Artspace :: Sheffield, UK

S1 Artspace is an artist-led organisation providing studio space for over twenty artists and a project space, which presents an annual programme of contemporary exhibitions, screenings and events. S1 Artspace was founded in 1995 by a group of artists seeking to create a sustainable studio environment in Sheffield City Centre. The organisation evolved under the direction of its artist member base and it continues to adapt in response to shifts in current practice. The project space was initiated through a series of exhibitions organised by the artists at S1 studios who were aiming to provide a platform for new work and ideas.

The current programme includes a two-month artist residency, two commissioned exhibitions a year, an annual programme of artist film & video screenings (S1/salon) and the annual S1 members' show. The studios are managed by a committee of artist members who work with the Curator and Board of Trustees to determine the direction and future of the organisation.

www.s1artspace.org

gallery spotlight

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Catalyst Arts :: Belfast, Ireland

Formed over 13 years ago in response to what was seen as a cultural vacuum. Catalyst Arts is as an agency for promoting culturally engaged artistic endeavours on both a local and international basis. Catalyst Arts is Belfast's primary non-profit artist led organisation. As the name suggests, Catalyst Arts was envisioned as an agency that would act as a 'catalyst' cajoling, supporting and promoting culturally engaged artistic endeavours on a local, national and international basis.

Catalyst Arts is run by unpaid volunteers who are motivated by a passion for the arts and an intense interest in the cultural development of Belfast. Today Catalyst Arts has a reputation and proven track record as an organisation which consistently programs and supports artistic projects of a socially and culturally engaged nature. Aside from programming and supporting art projects, Catalyst Arts also facilitates and programmes talks, seminars, screenings and music events.

www.catalystarts.org.uk

organisation spotlight

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Furtherfield :: London, UK

Furtherfield creates imaginative strategies that actively communicate ideas and issues in a range of digital & terrestrial media contexts; featuring works online and organising global, contributory projects, simultaneously on the Internet, the streets and public venues. Furtherfield focuses on network related projects that explore new social contexts that transcend the digital, or offer a subjective voice that communicates beyond the medium. Furtherfield is the collaborative work of artists, programmers, writers, activists, musicians and thinkers who explore beyond traditional remits.

Furtherfield's core activities of review, criticism and discussion are currently sustained and driven by the research, skills and energy of the Furtherfield team, its diverse, international artist membership and audience on a mainly voluntary basis. Furtherfield volunteers continue to be employed in the fields of education, arts, technology, psychology and science as well as facilitating creative projects in community contexts.

www.furtherfield.org

gallery spotlight

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0400

SSamzie Space :: Seoul, South Korea

SSamzie Space was founded in 2000 as a nonprofit, multi-disciplinary, cultural and arts organization to support the cutting-edge progressive artwork of Korea. SSamzie Space works to fulfill the mission of the SSamzie Art Project which was the precedent project of SSamzie Space, sponsored by Korea's leading fashion and accessories company SSamzie Co. Ltd. The various alternative programs of SSamzie Space have quickly become an integral part of the Hong-ik University area's art scene as well as the contemporary art scene of Seoul, Korea.

The SSamzie Art Project was designed during the 1998 IMF crisis in Korea to support emerging young artists. By providing artists with financial support, art studios, exhibition programs and indie band music album production, the SSamzie Art Project functioned as a bedrock for creative activity amoung young, avantgarde artists.

www.ssamziespace.co.kr

gallery spotlight

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Kukje Gallery :: Seoul, South Korea

Since it opened in 1982, the Kukje Gallery has been at the forefront in representing the most current and significant tendencies in Korean and international contemporary art. The gallery has established itself as a leading venue for showing works by major international figures such as Helen Frankenthaler, Frank Stella, Robert Mangold, Anthony Caro, Cy Twombly, Ed Ruscha, Joseph Beuys, Anselm Kiefer, Louise Bourgeois, Rachel Whiteread, Jeff Wall, Bill Viola and Anish Kapoor. The exhibitions provide the first rare opportunity for the Korean art audiences to view the works of world-renowned contemporary artists without going abroad.

In addition to exhibiting established international artists, Kukje Gallery is committed to promoting Korean artists, many of whom after having shown with the gallery have gone on to participate in special exhibitions at international biennials such as the Venice Biennale, Lyon Biennale and Gwangju Biennale.

www.kukjegallery.com

gallery spotlight

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0400

PLUG IN ICA :: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Established in 1972, Plug In was created as a not-for-profit exhibition space directed by a board of practicing artists. It began as one of the first (and few) organizations on the prairies to focus exclusively on contemporary art, and has retained this model while expanding its vision in significant ways. In the late 90s, after twenty-five years of operation as an artist-run-centre, Plug In began to re-envision its role in local, national, and international art circles. Having arrived at a position of notable critical acclaim for its exhibitions and publications program, Plug In sought to have these programs matter in a "larger" way.

After several new initiatives and surveying ICA models in the UK and the US, it was confirmed that Plug In's mission, priorities and activities fit most comfortably within this model - and while it is itself a relatively fluid one, for their purposes this ICA distinction means: the generation of a thoroughly researched mix of exhibitions offering multiple access points to contemporary art and ideas.

www.plugin.org

gallery spotlight

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Optica :: Montreal, Canada

Located in downtown Montreal in the vicinity of art galleries and the Musee d'art contemporain de Montreal, OPTICA is among the first artist-run centres to be established in Quebec and Canada. William A. Ewing launched the centre in the early 1970s to make up for the scarcity of venues for exhibiting photography. From spaces in the Centaur Theatre building, the centre was first exclusively dedicated to photography. Its spectrum soon broadened, however, with a multidisciplinary mission emphasizing new forms of art and proposing symposia and conferences with artists from Montreal, Canada, and around the world.

Many artists have been connected with the centre: Rebecca Belmore, Genevieve Cadieux, Vera Frenkel, Jochen Gerz, Jenny Holzer, General Idea, Jana Sterbak, Gabor Szilasi, and many more. In keeping with the mandate of artist-run organisations in Canada to diplomatically represent innovative trends in contemporary art, the program of exhibitions is selected from a yearly call for proposals from artists and curators and through invitations.

www.optica.ca

gallery spotlight

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0400

White Columns :: NYC, USA

White Columns is NYC's oldest alternative space. It was founded in 1970 by artists Gordon Matta-Clark and Jeffrey Lew as an experimental exhibition space at 112 Greene Street named 112 Workshop. When the organization moved to Spring Street in 1979, it was renamed White Columns. In 1991, White Columns moved to Christopher Street in the West Village. In 1998, the gallery moved to its current location on the border of the Village/Meat Packing District. White Columns has a proud history of finding pivotal artists working on the edge of contemporary art, and giving them museum quality exhibitions early in their careers. White Columns gave significant early exposure to the work of Jon Kessler, Michael Byron, Cady Noland, Ashley Bickerton, Meyer Vaisman, Sue Williams, Michael Jenkins, Sean Landers, John Currin, Marlene McCarty, Fred Wilson, Nayland Blake, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Andres Serrano, Gary Simmons, Group Material, Act-Up, Allen McCollum, and Lorna Simpson. Now, as in the past, White Columns is committed to the most significant contemporary art.

www.whitecolumns.org

gallery spotlight

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Tramway :: Glasgow, Scotland

Housed in an old tram terminus depot, Tramway was launched as a direct result of the search for a venue which had the capacity to accommodate what would be, in 1988, the only UK performances of Peter Brook's Mahabharata. The tremendous scale of the former tramsheds offered an unrivalled exhibition space which, in 1989, staged acclaimed British sculptor Andy Goldsworthy's internationally renowned project 'Snowballs'.

Over the years Tramway has developed an enviable reputation in the arts. Major international visual artists such as Thomas Hirschhorn, Pierre Huyghe, Philippe Parreno, Raymond Pettibon, Joao Penalva and Pipilotti Rist have shown at Tramway in the past two years. Alongside the focus of exhibiting acclaimed international visual artists, the gallery maintains a program devoted to Scottish artists: Henry VIII's Wives, Janice McNab, Alan Michael, Sally Osborn, Carol Rhodes, David Sherry, Joanne Tatham and Tom O'Sullivan are only a few of the artists to have shown in all three of Tramway's visual arts spaces.

www.tramway.org

gallery spotlight

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Mercer Union :: Toronto, Canada

Mercer Union, A Centre for Contemporary Art is an artist-run centre dedicated to the existence of contemporary art. They provide a forum for the production and exhibition of Canadian and international conceptually and aesthetically engaging art and related cultural practices. They pursue their primary concerns through critical activities that include exhibitions, lectures, screenings, performances, publications, events and special projects.

Established and incorporated in 1979, Mercer Union began as an artist-run centre through the collective efforts of artists who believed in alternative art production and presentation. Throughout their twenty-four year history, they have maintained ambitious programming, exhibiting national and international artists and presenting cultural professionals both in formative and established stages of their careers.

www.mercerunion.org

gallery spotlight

Mon, 02 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Hallwalls :: Buffalo, New York

Hallwalls was founded on Buffalo's West Side in late 1974 by a group of young visual artists - including Diane Bertolo, Charles Clough, Nancy Dwyer, Robert Longo, Cindy Sherman, and Michael Zwack - who carved an exhibition space out of the walls of the hall outside their studios in a former icehouse. Their focus was always interdisciplinary as well as outward looking, featuring not only visual artists, but also musicians, writers, filmmakers, and video and performance artists. Hallwalls soon established itself as an influential force for innovation within the community as well as nationally.

In the ensuing three decades, Hallwalls necessarily enlarged not only its reputation in the field, but its outreach within the community, embracing wider and more diverse publics. Hallwalls' programs grew in distinctly different directions, depending on their curators' interests and the needs of the disciplines and communities they served, always unified, however, by Hallwalls' mission to bring the newest and most challenging work in the contemporary arts.

www.hallwalls.org

organisation spotlight

Sun, 01 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0400

The Centre of Attention :: No fixed address

Founded 1999, The Centre of Attention is curated by Pierre Coinde and Gary O'Dwyer. Its experimental approach stems from an ongoing enquiry into the phenomenon of art production, presentation, consumption and heritage-ization. The Centre has no fixed premises and though many of the early shows took place at 15 Cotton's Gardens (Shoreditch, London, UK), most have been presented in different venues across London and internationally.

This independent no budget enterprise not only manage to stage compelling exhibitions, performances, etc., working with emerging and established artists such as Paul Rooney, Franko B, Wolfgang Tillmans, Erwin Wurm, Jenny Holzer, Anri Sala and the Guerrilla Girls to name a few but they also produce their own publications; a bi-annual limited edition magazine, exhibition catalogues and limited edition sound pieces.