a group art event curated by Alberto Cortes

PERFORMANCE // Friday Mar 16 / 8PM EXHIBITION // through Sunday Mar 18 GALLERY HOURS // Sat & Sun / 1-6PM & by appointment

PSYCHOPOMP ANSWERS ‘THE HOW’ ON HUMANITY’S ALLEGED REAWAKENING

We live in a time of a dwindling middle class, a wasting natural environment and of our nation’s degraded from its position as the single most influential power. Many attribute these transitions to a spiritual sickness of humanity. It is no wonder, then, that theories such as the Mayan Prophecy of 2012 are being considered as means of igniting our awareness of the passing world and as a case for hope about what lies beyond. But what is the message of awakening?

Marshall McLuhan famously wrote, ‘the medium is the message.’ I care to argue that the messengers are the artists.

We all have personal guides, former friends and ancestors who are willing to lend a helping hand in connecting us to the spiritual world. In healing practices, the ‘Psychopomp’ is a mediator between the unconscious and conscious realms and literally translates to ‘guide of souls’. It is symbolically personified in dreams as a wise man or woman, or sometimes as a helpful animal. Their role may include not only accompanying the soul of the dead, but also vice versa: to help at birth, to introduce the newborn child’s soul to the world.

In this first show of the performance and art series, artists presents themselves as Psychopomps of the modern era as they bring back their interpretations of the message that will raise us into a greater realm of spirituality through dance, music, literature, film and photography. This series will serve as a means to go to the beyond.

— Alberto Cortes, albertoplanet.com

// ARTISTS

Soigné Deluxe is a visual and performance artist. Since moving to NYC in 1993, he has made drawings and paintings of people and creatures that come from a planet he created called Zubenelganubi. His artwork is vivacious and bold. He is also a singer/songwriter and performs in outrageous creature-like costumes designed by himself and his lover. You can often find Soigné at local markets selling his line of hand painted t-shirts.

Jarrod Kentrell was born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama. He trained as a dancer at The Ailey School and Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts, then joined the prestigious Atlanta Ballet under the artistic direction of John McFall. He is currently a Fine Arts major at Parsons The New School of Design.

Lise Lavallée is a Canadian filmmaker, editor and photographer who lives in Brooklyn, NY. As a filmmaker and photographer she works primarily with analogue formats and has been experimenting in the Super 8 medium for over a decade. Juan Carlos Valencia is Colombian-born photographer and teacher who lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Sokhna Heathyre Mabin is a performance artist, yoga teacher, herbalist, doula and mother of two gorgeous cubs. In her free time she creates magic as vocalist and temptation priestess in the band The Crystal Ark. Sokhna teaches in Brooklyn and privately in her home, where she blends her teas & makes plant medicines.

Spanish artist Antonio Ortuño, expresses himself through single-channel video, video installation, and video combined with art. These are the empathetic tools that help him better reflect circumstances that are otherwise hard to assimilate or understand, sometimes due to our own ignorance about ourselves, given the little interest we have in introspection or, simply, due to the fear of knowing how we actually are in our most intimate beings.

Ósculo Santo workshop (Jorge Clar, Daniel Lariño and Daniel A. Zapata) is dedicated to co-creation, bringing the mysterious into tangible realms via video, photography, performance and/or spoken/ written word.

Music by Unique Class Sounds

SPLATTERPOOL ARTSPACE Director: Kelly Armendariz 138 Bayard St Williamsburg / Greenpoint, Brooklyn 11222 (917) 412.9220 [email protected] www.splatterpool.com

• MARK YOUR CALENDAR – SERIES/2 – JUNE 13 – MUNCH GALLERY, LOWER EAST SIDE *