Interview with Leo Kuelbs from Light Year

Brooklyn’s DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) neighborhood has long attracted artists and other creative types, and on the first Thursday night of each month, a special neighborhood event celebrates that. Hundreds of spectators gather in the Pearl Street Triangle near the Manhattan Bridge (on the Brooklyn side) to view Light Year, a video presentation of works by innovative digital artists projected onto the side of the bridge.

The presentation, known as LIGHT YEAR, was started in 2015 by longtime DUMBO resident Leo Kuelbs whose goal is to highlight work by Brooklyn-based artists and artists around the world. Kuelbs splits his time between New York and Berlin, where he owns the project space, Fata Morgana. Kuelbs tells Arte Fuse about the success of LIGHT YEAR, how DUMBO became an artist hub, and upcoming shows in New York and Berlin.

Alison Martin: Before Light Year was founded, you’d been projecting work on to the Manhattan Bridge for a while. What are some of the other projects you’ve done and what made you choose the Manhattan Bridge as a backdrop?

Leo Kuelbs: I have actually been presenting video work on the Manhattan Bridge since 2010.  I had a couple of basic shows I presented as Leo Kuelbs Collection, then John Ensor Parker and Farkas Fulop from Glowing Bulbs joined in, along with many others, for “Immersive Surfaces” and “Codex Dynamic,” in 2011 and 2012. These were HUGE mapping and single-channel video art projects.  Those shows made the careers of a lot of people, but they began with the three of us and grew from there.  But what a great venue and our work, along with the foresight of the DUMBO BID [Business Improvement District] and NYC DOT {Department of Transportation] really helped set a tone that is known now all over the world.

I’ve been a resident of DUMBO for about 15 years, so the bridge was always there, always beckoning!  It’s a great site for public art works as it is massive, yet still so weirdly personal.  I love the Manhattan Bridge, and all of the programming that’s going on there really inspires me and makes me feel happy.

AM: How have people responded to the Light Year shows? Has the attendance grown since you started the event two years ago?

LK: The whole program has grown and has turned into an international phenomenon.  I think we have included work by well over 300 artists and curators.  Attendance on a per show basis varies, typically depending on how many artists are local or not.  It’s ranged from almost no one (during winter) to several hundred people.  

But you can never forget how important and meaningful it is to artists from different countries, who have never visited, and may never be able to, visit New York.  The comments I hear when I’m traveling and meeting with artists who have participated in LIGHT YEAR are really touching.  It reminds me of why I do this.  We’re building bridges between cultures –  on the Manhattan Bridge in Brooklyn, New York – through the use of video art.  It’s a great platform and an honor to be a part of it.

We’re also focusing a little more on the LIGHT YEAR live stream, which happens for 24 hours on the first Thursday of every month.  We hope that the LIGHT YEAR vibe can get out there to everyone interested, wherever they are.

3_Search members Leo Kuelbs, Farkas Fulop of Glowing Bulbs, and John Ensor Parker in DUMBO.

AM: Can you tell me when and how you, John Ensor Parker and Glowing Bulbs came to form 3_Search? What is your overall mission?

LK:  3_Search grew out of us working together on “Immersive Surfaces,” “Codex Dynamic,” and two big shows down in Dallas, Texas.  It was created as a way to simplify crediting and things like that.

When we began 3_Search, it had a greater scope, but as time went on, we realized that it can be restrictive and isn’t a good fit for certain projects.  So now, 3_Search shows are collaborative, public art events, usually in NYC.  LIGHT YEAR on the Manhattan Bridge is really 3_Search’s main focus.  And we’re also really happy to work with the DUMBO Improvement District and city’s Transportation Department.  We’ve had an altogether great working relationship—all of those entities—for over seven years, in one way or another.

AM: Have you always been based in the DUMBO or in the area?

LK: Pretty much since I have been in NYC I have lived in DUMBO.  I was in Manhattan for a couple of years and was really happy to get to DUMBO, back in 2005.  

AM: What do you think it is about DUMBO that makes it so attractive to artists and people in art-related fields?

LK: DUMBO was a typical “artists first” kind of development scheme, so artists were baked into its DNA.  Sadly, almost all of the artists I know have been priced out, and DUMBO Art Center is long gone.  But tech companies are happening now and, in general, it’s been a hub for creativity and it still is.  

I think the developers understand the need for the vibrancy of creativity and how it attracts attention and thus drives the value of the property.  The only problem going forward is where do the artists go once they cannot afford any neighborhood in NYC?

But DUMBO itself is beautiful, and the city and powers that be have done a great job with the amazing and scenic parks.  It’s very international, has been featured in loads of movies, and [street artist] Craig Anthony Miller’s work has been a great calling card.  When I’m traveling, seeing DUMBO in movies always makes me smile and want to hurry back.

In Budapest with David Adamko, Leo Kuelbs and Eike Berg.

AM: Can you tell me more about what the “First Thursday Gallery Walk” is that takes place in conjunction with the screening? Which galleries do you visit?

LK: The DUMBO BID and the crew from Superfine have done a great job with the First Thursdays programming.  I could not be more impressed and inspired.  The Brooklyn Americana Music Festival [Sept. 21-24] is also amazing.  The biggest thing for me has been the programming (especially music) in the archway.  I love it.

The Gallery Walk is also really fun, but I tend to go to the galleries more in the Autumn.  I like AIR, Smack Mellon, Usagi—which also has a nice coffee shop.  I really like it when September rolls around and the galleries are packed with art students and guests, drinking wine.

Also, the Made in NY Media Center by IFP on John Street is a wonderful place for Digital Art.  Their LED wall is one of my favorite things to check out in DUMBO and their screening room has a 2K projector and a killer sound system.  When you see video art in that space, it changes into experimental cinema.

AM: Do artists based in DUMBO specialize mostly in digital art or do you see more variety?

LK: I know several painters, a print-maker, and lots of photographers.  But, I think most of the artists have moved out of DUMBO.  You certainly don’t need an expensive office to make video art, so there are fewer around than in years gone by.

But with LIGHT YEAR and the events at IFP especially, DUMBO is known all over for being a very important hot spot for the support and presentation of video art.

Fata Morgana in Berlin, Mitte.

AM: I see you opened up a project space in Berlin called Fata Morgana. What made you decide to open a gallery space in Germany?

LK: I am living part time in Berlin and have had a long relationship with the space that Fata Morgana currently occupies.  My German partners (coGalleries and K. Kopietz) and I were able to hold onto the lease going forward, so it was a very rare opportunity to have a project space in Mitte, Berlin, near my flat.  It’s a great location.  And I can host artists from anywhere in the world.  Just a couple of weeks ago, the Austrian New Media artist and Columbia Professor Richard Jochum was staying at my place and having a show at Fata Morgana.  It’s a great platform to be able to offer particular colleagues.

Berlin still has a funky economy when it comes to art, but it’s nevertheless a very important city for artists.  It is, like NYC, becoming more expensive and artists are leaving, but it still so much cheaper by comparison to cities like NYC.  Good food, good night life, nice galleries and some good museums.  Centrally located in the heart of Europe!

Also, Berlin has a very complex history with a lot of pain in it.  The overall energy dynamic there is so vast.  It is sad and attractive and kind of beautiful while also being ugly.  It’s a very human city—for better and for worse, I think.

AM: What do you have coming up for Light Year and for the Berlin art space?

LK: Next up is LIGHT YEAR 28: Brooklyn-based on August 3rd.  Should be a very fun show with lots of work from my video collection by Brooklyn-based artists.  I’m not sure of the exact time, but I invite everyone to Archway Café (57 Pearl St.) for a glass of wine at our pop-up reception!

The curator Erin Joyce is curating September, and We’re also planning an “Oktoberfest” themed show for October.  A new show I’m curating (with Aaron Riedel) titled “Identity 0.0” will debut in November.  There’s “Digital Fairy Tales: Chinese Stories” happening next year, and a show called “Avalanche!” in the pipeline, as well.  And those are just the ones I’m working on personally.  John Ensor Parker is bringing great curators on board too.  

There’s a show by the Canadian artist Adrian Poccabelli at Fata Morgana coming up in August, then in October, Britta and Ron Helbig are working with Leo Kuelbs Collection for a special show using the “Day of the Dead” as its starting point.  Fata Morgana programs in one-week installments mostly, so there’s always something going on, always something worth checking out.

"The Secret Life of Plants" at Freight and Volume

The Freight and Volume gallery on the Lower East Side is currently presenting a group exhibition entitled The Secret Life of Plants, inspired by a 1973 book of the same name by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird. The book theorized that plants have feelings and that their physical, emotional, and spiritual relationships with humans go beyond their obvious role in providing food and oxygen.

The works in the exhibition, which is co-curated by Jennifer Coates and Nick Lawrence, explore the relationship between plants, humans, and the psychology behind their interactions.

As climate change threatens Earth’s flora and fauna, connecting our minds to plants can help us see how they adjust to their environment. The show includes paintings, drawings, photographs, and other installations to illustrate plant and human relationships.

Paintings by Emilia Olsen and Alexis Rockman hint at the menace of a warming world. Rockman’s Wallace’s Vision depicts animals and insects in a liquid, melting landscape, and Olsen’s untitled desert scene shows a giant cactus with a woman sleeping next to a skeleton. 

Untitled by Emilia Olsen

On the other hand, David Humphrey and Daniel Heidkamp present a more dreamy, bucolic state of mind amidst vegetation.

Heidkamp’s Beast Bath, for instance, has a calming effect. With this painting, Heidkamp illustrates the harmonious environment of a garden with a birdbath with water showing the reflection of the plants and colorful flowers that surround it. Humphrey’s Plant Dreamer portrays a sleeping person having a pleasant dream of abstract trees with large, colorful leaves.

Flowers by Alec Egan

Alec Egan focuses on the beauty of plants. His painting simply entitled Flowers is set against a muted background of gray and white stripes. The painting is a still-life of a vase decorated with sharp black and white zigzag patterns, holding an assortment of vibrant plum-colored flowers each of which has a pastel yellow stripe in the center.

Peter Hutchinson shows how plants provide food with his installation entitled The Red and the Black, which consists of small tubes containing American red currants and French black currants.

Also of note is Sangram Majumdar’s painting Paper Tree. His inspiration for this work came from a tree with perfectly trimmed leaves in a well-maintained garden that Majumdar saw in India amidst an area of ruins. He says, “I recreated it using colored craft paper on my studio wall, thinking about how the same tool, the scissor, can be used to both trim a tree perfectly, or turn its leaves into basic triangles. The painting is a depiction of this process, of remaking and reassembling. The light at the top is both the sun and spotlight illuminating.”

At Freight and Volume, 97 Allen St., through Sep. 3. The gallery is open Wed.-Sun. from 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

Interview with Kristina Adduci from Art Zealous

Art enthusiast Kristina Adduci founded Art Zealous, a growing online arts media platform, to help young people get a better understanding of art with language and layout that’s clear and easy to follow. She took the time to tell us about how Art Zealous got started, her background, and future prospects.

Alison Martin: Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and how you ended up in the art world as a publisher?

Kristina Adduci: Since I was very young, I filled my time with painting and doodling. I was an only child so I had to be creative and the only thing that truly made me happy was when I was creating something. While I realized I didn’t want to be an artist, I did want to be more socially engaged with the art world. I received my Master’s Degree in Public Policy and then decided to move to NYC in the Summer of 2009. I joined many museum groups such as the MoMA JA’s, Whitney Contemporaries, and The Guggenheim Acquisition Council. I was on the Founding Board of the American Folk Art Museum’s Young Patrons group as well as the Bronx Museum. I wanted to scope out the landscape of how young people were getting their daily dose of art.

AM: When did you first launch Art Zealous? What do you hope to accomplish with the website? 

KA: After joining these groups and leaving some, I had this network of brilliant minds in the art world. The one thing that seemed to be missing was an art platform that was geared toward young people to help them understand art better. Many art publications have a dense language and my friends were having a hard time understanding what was going on or in some cases not feeling confident enough to walk into a Chelsea gallery or a museum. I decided I wanted to break that barrier; I wondered if I could help my friends and colleagues feel less intimidated by the art world. Art Zealous launched a year and half ago and it’s been growing ever since!

AM: As someone who has an interest in of art, is there a particular type of art that you identify with the most?

KA: I identify with artwork that inspires people and enacts change. As a Political Science nerd, I get excited when artists use art as an instrument to empower people and talk about our current political landscape.

AM: Do you do any artwork yourself?

KA: I actually like to paint when I’m stressed out. I recently picked up an interest in interior design as well, so my creativity definitely has a few outlets.

AM: Where do you see the contemporary art scene going in the future?

KA: I think how people will experience art in the future is exciting. Recently, Google Arts & Culture teamed up with Google Street View to allow anyone with a computer to take a virtual tour of museums throughout the world. Users can zoom in on a painting and read its annotations. I think it’s pretty astounding that my family in Puerto Rico, who may never get to visit the Met, can explore works and artists remotely.

AM: Are there any artists out there today who are just starting out that you see as having the potential to be the next big thing in the art community?

KA: Part of my job at Art Zealous is conducting interviews, and we’re lucky that we’ve interviewed some outstanding emerging artists. To name of a few: Mark Dorf, Christine Wang, Adrienne Elise Tarver, Addis Goldman, Elizabeth Waggett, Natalie Baxter. You can find more artists here.

AM: Which cities or countries would you say has the biggest art market?

KA: New York will always be to me the best place to live, work, play and see art. I do have to say that Amsterdam is my other favorite art market or art city. It’s home to some of my favorite museums and galleries in the world including Rijksmuseum, Stedelijk, and FOAM. Everything about Amsterdam I find quite inspiring from the people, food, culture etc.

AM: Do you have any advice for artists who are just starting out and navigating the art scene?

KA: Trust your gut, never stop meeting new people and learning, and be authentic. Authenticity will take you far in this industry.

AM: What is next for you? Where do you see yourself going from here?

KA: Art Zealous just launched photography services specifically for art events, and we’re really excited. Photo agencies tend to be very expensive and it’s hard for galleries and institutions to find a great photographer or agency at an affordable price. We have a staff of supremely talented photographers that can shoot an event at a price point that galleries are comfortable with.

Kelley Walker at Mamco (The Contemporary Art Museum of Geneva)

The MAMCO Museum of Contemporary Art in Geneva, is currently presenting a retrospective of work by Kelley Walker, a Georgia-born post-conceptual artist who lives and works in New York City. Kelley incorporates elements of Pop Art, such as collages, photography and screen-printing, as well as contemporary digital tools to examine how various images are recycled and interpreted in different ways by the media and general public.

Curated by Fabrice Stroun and Lionel Bovier, the exhibition brings together Walker’s most significant and well-known works. These include the Black Stars Press, a series of superimposed screen-printed images similar to those used by Warhol and incorporated with layers of chocolate; the Rorschach, which are a series of fragmented mirrors alluding to the Swiss psychiatrist’s famous test; and the Brick Paintings, a series of mixed patterns of bricks juxtaposed with text from printed media.

Installation view, Kelley Walker at Mamco.

For example, the photographs in Disasters have been scanned from magazines, then transformed using infographic software and confronted with a political slogan. As simple digital files, these pieces allow their owner to choose the print dimensions and modes of distribution that suit them best, thus alluding to the judgments made in the world of the media.

Installation view, Kelley Walker at Mamco.

The paintings of bricks, which include the use of documents relating to the American civil rights movement, (which Kelley, like Warhol did, has taken from Life Magazine) are some of the routes that he has adopted in drawing up an anthropological landscape of the USA depicting its ideology as well as racial and sexual violence.

The technical process that allows images to be displayed as icons or messages is a process Walker uses as a way to reduce the images’ power.

The exhibit runs through Sep. 10.