Contemporary artists have long embraced varied forms of dialogue between themselves and the spectator. Chat Room explores this dynamic with the work of seven contemporary artists-Fanny Allié, DELIRIOUS Dances, Kelli Miller & Kendra Eash, Lori Nelson, Tattfoo Tan, Lisa Young-who are similarly informed by various forms of conversation, dialogue and exchange with the public at large. Taking its cue from the intimate environment of the BRIC Rotunda Gallery Project Space, Chat Room evokes the artist salons of nineteenth-century Europe, while referencing the multitude of online forums we participate in as citizens of a digital age.

In conjunction with the exhibition, curator Krista Saunders will host Chat with the Artists, a discussion on Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 7-9 pm at BRIC Rotunda Gallery. The evening will open with LIAISONS, a performance by the Brooklyn-based Delirious Dances. Saunders will then mediate an intimate conversation with the artists of Chat Room and the audience about the performance and the themes and topics of the exhibition.

Krista Saunders is an independent curator based in Brooklyn, NY. She has worked for the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, the Queens Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the New Museum of Contemporary Art in various capacities. Recent exhibitions include PLAN B at NURTUREart Gallery, Brooklyn and Limited Engagement at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists in Philadelphia (Limited Engagement will also be shown at the Lesley Heller Workspace on the Lower East Side this December). Saunders has been selected as one of two 2010-11 Lori Ledis Curatorial Fellows at BRIC Rotunda Gallery where her exhibition, Chat Room, is on view from March 16-April 30. She is also the creator and co-curator of the G-Train Salon, a roving, conversation-based exhibition platform that allows her to work with emerging artists in a variety of intimate and offbeat spaces including Urban Alchemist Design Collective and The Old Stone House in Park Slope.

Annually, BRIC dedicates the Project Room at BRIC Rotunda Gallery and full staff support to the Lori Ledis Curatorial Fellowship, which realizes the vision of an emerging curator selected through a competitive process. The fellowship program is supported by family, friends, and professional associates of Lori Ledis, a pioneering Brooklyn art dealer and music producer.

The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated brochure with an essay by curator Krista Saunders. The brochure is available on request and is free of charge.

Also on view March 16 – April 30, 2011 in the main space: Water Water Every Where curated by Director of Contemporary Art at BRIC, Elizabeth Ferrer.