A Curious Thread

the unexpected return to idealism as experienced by

five current students or recent graduates of NYC MFA programs

Maria Jose Duran, Max Glaser, Lori Merhige, Tom Pnini, and James Weingrod

Opening Reception: Saturday, September 18, 2010 from 4:00 to 6:30pm

Exhibition Dates: Saturday, September 18 – Saturday, October 30, 2010

Cuchifritos Gallery and Project Space is pleased to announce A Curious Thread, curated by DTL Projects, a collective initiative by contemporary art curators. This group exhibition, the debut presentation by DLT projects, offers the work of five emerging artists, selected and brought together by DTL Projects, who collectively argue for new, post-ironic 21st century romanticism.

Focusing on the agency gained by artists in the studio, A Curious Thread explores the development of a new movement – one that reinvents and redefines a previously out-of-fashion, well-trodden trope.

The works reference domestic spaces, materials, and actions via media, concept, and construction. Each artist alludes to some element of childhood, craft, or memory and, through re-imagining or re-purposing their media, encourages viewers to enter into an altered reality or illusion: i.e. “fall down the rabbit hole.”

James Weingrod’s self-illuminating grandfather clock, Max Glaser’s fragmented wood and mirror constructions, and Maria Jose Duran’s yarn shelters mediate and explore transcendent icons of children’s stories: the looking glass from Alice in Wonderland and the grandfather clock from The Nutcracker. Lori Merhige’s installation, Matriarch, explores family mythology and personal narrative through a reconsideration of a family heirloom – her grandmother’s embroidery – repositioning it as part of a larger installation driven by loss and reconciliation.

The artists in A Curious Thread are participating in or are recent graduates of M.F.A. programs in New York City.

DTL | Projects is a collective initiative by contemporary art curators Diane Vivona, Tara Riley Chazen and Lexie Palmer. The group looks to support artists in the formative stages of their career by providing formal opportunities for the public to view the work, and informal events during which artists and an interested public can interact. Email: [email protected]

Cuchifritos is open Monday through Saturday 12 – 6pm

The exhibition is FREE and open to the public. Cuchifritos gallery and project space is handicapped accessible.

CUCHIFRITOS is a program of Artists Alliance, Inc.(AAI) and its focus is on art as it relates to community, social issues, and public space. This program is generously supported in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. This program is made possible by public funds from The New York State Council on the Arts, celebrating 50 years of building strong, creative communities in New York State’s 62 Counties. We thank the following for their generous support: The Greenwall Foundation, The New York City Economic Development Corporation, One Art World and members of Artists of Artists Alliance Inc. Special thanks go to our team of dedicated volunteers, without whom this program would not be possible.