cardboard, store bought tape, found objects and bungee cords. chukwumaa will present a new perspective, positioning, and understanding of an older work called "HURR POEM," featuring performance, video and impermanent sculpture. The new work is titled "HURR POEM (Document)."
Ali Halperin: In her exploration of consumer culture, mixed media artist Ali Halperin entombs clothing in black tar. She pairs these works with plush handcrafted knits and fur textiles to construct bodily wall sculptures. She applies a hardening formula to the fabric, that she created herself over time, to couple the soft material with a rigid surface. The tar simultaneously represents the "elite" through its slick, black sheen, while nodding to the ostracized or maligned, those "tarred and feathered." She deconstructs the relationship between the physical body and commercial objects, exploring the fetishism of commodities and concepts of luxury and leanness.
Halperin received her BA from Barnard College at Columbia University in New York City, her Post-Baccalaureate Certificate at Maryland Institute College of Art, and a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Ariel Klein: For his 2014 exhibition at Strathmore, Ariel Klein painted "The President's Own" United States Marine Band from life. Klein shadowed the musicians at public concerts, ceremonies, nighttime parades and to the funeral of a three-star general at Arlington National Cemetery, using his iPad as a canvas to make digital sketches which he then translated into oil paintings. By capturing band members in a contemporary style, Klein creates a fresh visual interpretation of the patriotic spirit represented by "The President's Own" United States Marine Band.
Named a distinguished Scholar in the Arts by Governor Martin O'Malley, the Silver Spring resident studied painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art and the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Bellas Artes.
Nguyen Khoi Nguyen: Nguyen Khoi Nguyen is a multidisciplinary artist with expertise in drawing, painting, film-making, and music. He is currently working on a multimedia graphic novel titled The Gulf, the third chapter of which he created for his residency at Strathmore. The project is a nonlinear narrative; each story is its own vignette. The Gulf is inspired by Nguyen's experiences and family history, particularly living in Vietnam, Southwest Florida, and Washington, D.C., and includes stories, drawings, music, and animation. The title refers to the physical location of the Gulf Coast of Florida, where the artist was raised, as well as the idea of division—between adulthood and childhood, parent and child, and Vietnamese and American identity.
Nguyen studied visual art at the Cooper Union, music and integrated arts at Bard College, and completed a master's degree in jazz piano at the University of Maryland. Nguyen was the recipient of the DC Commission for the Arts Artist Fellowship Grant for 2012.