The Warehouse Gallery at Syracuse University presents Three West Coast Street Artists

Written by Julie Cartwright Friday, 09 September 2011 23:01

Syracuse, New York.- Syracuse University's contemporary art venue, the Warehouse Gallery, is proud to present "Colofronian Construction: Public Street Art" on view from September 15th through October 29th. For this exhibition, the artists Apex, Jet Martinez and Chor Boogie have been invited to each create new temporary murals inside the Warehouse Gallery. The work is based on improvisation, collaboration, and the notion that how and what they paint is recognizably Californian in its focus on strong colors, patterns, forms, and nature. Their language consists of colorful abstract forms pertaining to optical illusions and movement, faces, evoking real and imaginary urban settings, and tropical imaginary landscapes.

All three of them have significantly contributed to public art in San Francisco, San Diego, and other major cities within (Minneapolis; Washington D.C.) and outside of the United States (Beijing; Dubai; Oaxaca; Sydney; Tokyo; Zurich) through their use of spray (Apex; Chor) and traditional paint (Jet Martinez) to achieve elaborate compositions with high attention to detail.


“How they envision the project once they see each other’s work is so important,” says Anja Chávez, curator of contemporary art at the Warehouse Gallery and SUArt Galleries. Chávez understands the importance of fulfilling the gallery’s mission to bring cutting-edge, international, contemporary art to Syracuse. The street art (art developed literally ‘in the streets’) of these artists fits well under this charge. They’re renowned in the San Francisco community, as they’ve been involved in missions to beautify the area through utilizing the unique dialect that street art offers. The artists each carry their own style among this broad heading. Chor Boogie works with complex emotion to create soulful, intricate patterns which oftentimes feature hidden faces and geometrical elements. Jet Martinez draws on nature to illustrate social issues, and Apex focuses on the abstract, using extreme color and pattern-work to catch the eye and evoke feelings. “These three artists have developed a language for what they do – and particularly for what Californian street art stands for.

That’s what makes it so interesting,” Chávez notes.  This is a language, according to Chávez, that consists of colorful, abstract forms pertaining to optical illusions and movement that blurs the lines between urban and tropical settings. “[The installation] gives people the opportunity to see what’s going on in street art,” she explains. “It creates a platform for discussion so people can juxtapose their art with current public art projects in Syracuse, or just to think about art in general. It’s another angle for public art.” The Warehouse Gallery is an interesting spot for this coincidence, as it’s a melting pot for students, faculty and community members alike due to its university affiliation and downtown location. Chavez oftentimes works with other local galleries and university members to put ideas into motion and transform the gallery space into something different for each artist.


The Warehouse Gallery is an international contemporary art venue of SUArt Galleries at Syracuse University. The Warehouse Gallery has been a member of the Coalition of Museum and Art Centers (CMAC) and Th3: The Third Thursday-citywide arts event night since 2006. Housed in a former furniture warehouse renovated by Gluckman Mayner Architects, it is located on the edge of downtown Syracuse's Armory Square. The Warehouse Gallery, on the ground floor, encompassing 2,000 square feet, comprises of a main exhibit space with 21-foot high ceilings and The Vault (former vault of the building), a smaller exhibit space, adjacent to the main gallery and offices, suited for sound pieces (best acoustics in the space), and more intimate projects and projections, and the street-level Window Projects Gallery, viewable 24/7 via W. Fayette St. The gallery opened to the public with its first exhibition in 2006 under the directorship of Jeffrey Hoone, Executive Director of the Coalition of Museums and Art Center (CMAC). In 2007 it was merged with SUArt Galleries and has since been directed by Domenic Iacono and David L. Prince. Visit the gallery's website at ... http://thewarehousegallery.syr.edu

---

Click on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~