"From the Cold Edge: Creative Meditations on Svalbard and the Arctic Circle Residency"
Amos Eno Gallery, a non-profit, artist-run gallery in Bushwick, Brooklyn, is pleased to present From the Cold Edge: Creative Meditations on Svalbard and the Arctic Circle Residency, a group exhibition curated by Candace Jensen, Jacinda Russell, and Hester Blum.
The show will be on view from October 10 to November 4, 2024, with an opening reception at the gallery's location at 56 Bogart St. on Friday, October 11, from 6 to 8 pm.
This international curatorial project will feature 21 artists and writers from over 5 countries, representing a diverse reflection on their shared experience in Svalbard during the Arctic Circle Residency in October 2022. The exhibition includes manifold responses to the unique ecosystem and cultural significance of the Svalbard archipelago; the complex realities of survival, visitation and civic society there; and the mythical significance of the Polar North, its symbolism and beauty. The work grapples with questions about belonging, climate change, differing experiences of time, human impact on the land, and the privilege of stepping foot in such a remarkable place. Media in From the Cold Edge spans lyrical writing and poetry, data-collection and aggregation, sound recording, performance, and work from a broad spectrum of visual media such as painting, multi-channel video, photography and sculpture. Due to challenges of scale, temperature, and adapting practices to being nearly off-grid for 2 weeks aboard the tallship Antigua, much of this work was completed and refined in the 2 years since the Arctic voyage. The show does however, include artifacts of the creative process as it happened at 80º North, including paintings, glacial rubbings, film photography and a few lithic mementos, to name a few.
Notably, this exhibition also presents a partial preview of the curatorial selection made for a forthcoming special issue of the journal Regeneration: Environment, Art, Culture (formerly Resilience: A Journal of the Environmental Humanities), titled "On the Cold Edge". Preparation for the special issue served as inspiration for the curatorial team to organize From the Cold Edge at Amos Eno Gallery. The publishing date is anticipated in 2025.
The journal, which is peer reviewed, has been a leading academic voice on environmental literature and art in the past decade. Artists and writers to be included in the exhibition: Joan Albaugh, Leonor Anthony, Ashlin Aronin, Hester Blum, Sergei Chernikov, Harley Cowan ,Jessica Creane, Sarah Gerats, Laurie Glover, Brian House, Candace Jensen, Hannah Larrabee, Greg Lecker, Andrea Legge , Felicia LeRoy MFA 17 GL, Jia-Jen Lin, Alexandra Lockhart, Zoriça Kelly, Markovich Terhi Nieminen, Jacinda Russell and Paula Sćiuk.
