Commencement: Groundwork10.02 2024
Commencement: Groundwork
Works by Zoe Strauss and the 3212 Think Tank
October 4th – November 18th 2024
Opening Reception Friday, October 4th from 7pm to 9pm
Space 1026
844 North Broad Street, Philadelphia
Space 1026 is pleased to present Commencement: Groundwork, one of the first steps in an ongoing and developing exhibition by photographer Zoe Strauss.
Strauss is known internationally for her vision of the world highlighting the constants and the changes that reside in the same place as shown through her photography. Strauss’ photographs challenge the authority of the image through repetition, context shift, and historical reframing. While rooted in reality, her images assert themselves as subjective pictures of the world as we feel it as well as how we see it, and cast doubts and propose questions about the veracity of the documentary image.
This exhibit is an introduction, a prologue if you will, of work that points to specific concerns about place and space and makes us ask basic questions about our perception of what is reality. The world we are living in together, at this very moment, is always a balance between here and there. The question Strauss poses is are we seeing, evaluating, and judging things in their entirety or are we the parable of the blind men and the elephant? What are the limits and objectivity of documentary photography? As we stand on the ground, this exhibit asks us to recognize that as it is above, so it is below.
Commencement began as an examination of what it is to be a person living in America among the ever increasing anxieties and critical situations around the globe. It was initially conceived in 2016 as the foundation for a Guggenheim Fellowship Award, which Strauss received the following year. With the cataclysmic upheaval in society and politics since then her concerns over civic and environmental crises became less conceptual and more of an immediate reality.
Since then, Strauss turned her focus towards developing the 3212 Think Tank. Named for the Doomsday Clock’s prediction of our proximity to the end of civilization as we have known it (three minutes to midnight). The 3212 Think Tank is a classroom study space for researching, learning, and discussing the impact of the ebb and flow of our society and culture. It operates within a public high school serving as a laboratory for students to critically think about the world around them.
As a way to illustrate and acknowledge the evolution of our lives, culture, and the world in which we all live and co-exist in, some of the photographs in the exhibit will change during the course of the show. Which is to say that like life, some things enter and some pass away, and other things arise to take their place.
Zoe Strauss was born in Philadelphia, PA in 1970. She began taking photographs after receiving a camera for her 30th birthday. Her work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, The Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, The Bruce Silverstein Gallery, NYC, DePauw University, Greencastle Indiana, SFMOMA, San Francisco, The International Center for Photography, NYC just to name a few.
She has been a part of group exhibitions at the Indianapolis Installation Festival, Indianapolis, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, the Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC, the Carnegie International, Pittsburgh, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, NL, the Brighton Photo Biennial, Brighton, UK, the Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PPOW Gallery, NYC and the Art Institute of Chicago.
Strauss has been awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Pew Fellowship in the Arts, the Tiffany Foundation Grant, the United States Arts Fellowship and more.
She currently acts as mentor to upper lever public high school students at the 3212 Think Tank at Science Leadership Academy at Beeber in Philadelphia.
08.08 2024
I Don’t Believe In Time Anymore
A retrospective of the work of the late, great Daniel Hughes of Philadelphia, “I don’t believe in time anymore” was a quote by the artist texted to friend. When Daniel passed away suddenly in September 2022, he left behind a massive amount of work, a prolific catalogue now frozen in time. With this show, we hope to showcase the work of Daniel Hughes and continue to preserve his legacy.
Join us Friday September 6th from 6-10p at Space 1026 for the opening ceremony.
844 North Broad Street
Philadelphia
08.01 2024
Apotropaica
Apotropaica
Mandy Cano Villalobos & Gina Tibbott
August 2nd – 25th
Opening reception Aug 2nd 6-10pm
Apotropaica – an object, assemblage, or act assigned the purpose of warding off evil.
The desire to ward off misfortune and evil persists in every human culture throughout history. Charms, talismans, sanctified ointments – these apotropaic elements testify to our enduring belief in the unseen forces that shape our lives. Their general grotesquery gives away their purpose: grinning gorgons stand watch over medieval cathedrals; a frightening face decorates ancient pottery. Their ugliness guards against those atrocities we wish to evade.
This practice also appears in assemblages and hordes. Throughout history, hordes of protective objects have served as communal fortresses against malevolent forces. In ancient Greece, devotees offered small terracotta or bronze votives to Asclepius, the god of medicine. Molded legs, breasts and eyes represented afflicted body parts, and functioned as physical prayers for divine healing. Witch bottles, dating to the 17th century, were protective containers filled with various items such as nails, hair, urine, and thorns. Buried under hearths or near doorways, these bottles were believed to capture and neutralize malevolent spells and spirits directed at the household. In the Season 1 Episode 4 of Hoarders, ‘Jake’s Fresh Start’ (2009), a young man collects the hair of a deceased pet as an offering against evil. Hoarding is human. So too, is the assigning of meaning to tangible barriers between ourselves and evil.
The bulk of objects presented here are made from ceramic and plastic – two of humankind’s most environmentally-impactful innovations that share a physical permanence. In this permanence, they embody a collective assertion to control the chaos and unpredictability of life.
06.06 2024
No Hard Feelings
No Hard Feelings
Heather Sundquist Hall & Max Seckel
Opening Reception
Friday, June 7th from 6pm to 10pm
844 North Broad Street
Philadelphia
View Price List
Contact gallery@space1026.com for purchase details
05.17 2024
Expanded Dimensions is on view through May 31st
Check out Store 1026 for a some of the available works from the show and stop by the gallery Wednesdays through Fridays from 5pm to 7pm.
Closing Reception
Friday, May 31 from 6pm to 10pm
844 North Broad Street
Philadelphia
About the Artists
Clyde Jurysta
I am an artist currently living in Philadelphia. Born to artist parents, I have been trained in various art forms from an early age, though I did not go to ‘art school’ for college. I consider the knowledge I have gained through working in the trades useful to my art making career. I enjoy putting various techniques to practice including welding, forging, wood working, electrical, printmaking, painting, casting and sculpting etc., and source my materials from the street, trash (wanna see my collection of salvaged motors?) construction sites, hardware stores, the scrap yard, and the woods.
Growing up in Manhattan in the 90’s, I was fascinated by all of the neon lights that were everywhere. All of the strip clubs and adult stores had such good signage. A colored light bulb isn’t just color, it’s color being pushed into your eyeball. Your eye isn’t receiving the color passively. The color waves are flowing into you. That’s also why I love fluorescent colors. They vibrate with light, almost as if the colors are emitting light themselves.
Lately I’ve been very intrigued by geometry. Geometry is in everything. It’s microscopic and infinite. Don’t get me started on fractals! Exploring these topics from a base level, using materials I know and enjoy such as wood, has been a great way to learn more about the math and science behind these forms. The geometric frame pieces have been a kind of challenge to myself to see if I can make some of the shapes I’ve been making, but well enough that I don’t need (much) filler. I love how the oiled mahogany highlights the beauty of the shape, and the brass detail highlights the beauty of the mahogany.
The optical illusion paintings have been a really exciting way for me to explore color. How colors interact with each other and how they interact with the senses. Exploring color, pattern and texture might be a never ending path of learning for me.
I derive inspiration from life. The human form, queerness, music, nature, science, folklore, old wisdom, communing with nature, and the unknown. My current themes include gateways to other worlds, optical illusions, and the supernatural. My queer identity influences my art and subject matter. In a grander sense, I want my art to bring light and joy to those who see it.
Free Palestine. End genocide everywhere. Land back. Destroy capitalism. Power to the people!
Yianni Kourmadas
Yianni Kourmadas is a tradesperson, trash-picker and tinkerer using raw materials to create Living Objects that blur the human/machine boundary. Inspired by the mechanical and sonic possibilities inherent in each physical scrap, Yianni designs and builds objects that wake up into existence, explore their desires, and talk or move with the aid of motors or hand-cranks. Creatures of irregularity, Living Objects, unlike their mechanical counterparts in the Crumbling World, do not do work.
04.19 2024
BIKE TOUR of the NAVY YARD. History, Now and Future!
Arts and recreational sports at the Navy Yard. ALL part of a healthy community. Active. Fulla vigah, plus more than a little vim!
That includes, of course, cycling as an integral part of the entire scene. Think Amsterdam. Fewer cars, lots of bicycles!
BIKE TOUR OF THE NAVY YARD THIS SATURDAY!
More details here.
04.16 2024
EXPANDED DIMENSIONS
Opening Reception
Friday, May 3 from 6pm to 10pm
Gallery Hours
Wednesdays-Fridays from 5pm to 7pm
Musical Performances
Friday, May 10 at 7pm
Saturday, May 18 at 7pm
Closing Reception
Friday May 31 from 6pm to 10pm
04.03 2024
CIRCUMAMBIENCE
SPACE 1026 Presents:
CIRCUMAMBIENCE
A Solo Exhibition by Caroline Mills
April 5 – April 27, 2024
Opening Reception: April 5th, 6pm – 10pm
Caroline Mills is a Philadelphia based illustrator and printmaker with a BFA from Tyler School of Art. Her work features imagery coinciding with childhood nostalgia and growing up as a person processing trauma and mental illness. Her pen and marker drawings are inspired by pop culture, music, cartoons, and fashion.
03.08 2024
STOCK Zine Fest
Hang out with your favorite zine & comic artist from around town, plus access to some exclusive collectors collectible collections
Sat. March 30th
FREE
03.08 2024
Alaina Ewins Solo Show
Cats & Chick’s
A retrospective of comics, thoughts, & sketches from 2015 – 2024
March 1st – 30th
Opening First Friday 3.1.24
6-9 pm