Schema Projects

Volume 2 : Black & White

November 6 - December 6, 2015
co-curated by Mary Judge and Enrico Gomez

VIEW EXHIBITION             

Press Release:

Volume 2 is one bookend of a two-part exhibition exploring the ways in which artists respond to paper and transform it from the 2 dimensional into the 3 dimensional in innovative and engaging ways.

On the highway of art, paper as an organic and primary material has a long and noble history. The word 'paper', derived from papyrus, was used by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans but is only one of the predecessors of paper, collectively known by the generic term 'tapa', indicating the inner bark of the mulberry and fig tree. Paper, as we know it today, traces its roots back to China circa AD 100. The craft of papermaking spread throughout the world and remained a relatively small-scale, artisan activity until its industrialization during the 19th century. In our show Volume 1, our artists expand on the manifold aspects of this ancient media adding a new chapter to its rich history.

Working with paper is primary for our artists who use it as a central part of their practice. It can be said that the use of paper today is often a rejection of the conventional hierarchy that privileges painting and sculpture over other visual media. To choose paper is a bold challenge to that convention, a political choice, which focuses our attention on a humble and often times discarded material and on the preconceptions we bring to ideas about the "value" of materials in art.

For our artists, paper is a serious play tool, a material like the mud puddle of our youth, where we can connect without overthinking. The reasons our artists use paper are as varied and personal as each individual: "it is portable", "it is intimate", "folding and tearing is meditative", "it is spontaneous and non precious", "it is alive, breathing, shrinking and expanding", "it can be transformed easily and quickly; it’s the blankest of slates". All hail noble fiber!

David Ambrose, Etamar Beglikter, Jerry Birchfield, Astrid Bowlby, Amélie de Beauffort, Lorrie Fredette, Liz Jaff, Christopher Michlig, Gelah Penn, Debra Ramsay, Lauren Seiden, Matthew Shelley, Barbara Siegel, Renee van der Stelt, Allan Wexler, Etty Yaniv.

For more information and images, please contact: info@schemaprojects.com

92 St Nicholas Ave between Hart and Suydam Brooklyn NY 11237      info@schemaprojects.com      © 2016 Schema Projects