Two exhibitions, The Meek Shall Inherit and The Strong Shall Survive, will converse across Manhattan’s Upper Bay between Manhattan and Governors Island beginning in early September. The exhibitions are linked in their focus on how human self extension affects the lives of animals.

The Meek Shall Inherit features an international roster that includes Megan Evans, Melbourne, Australia; Tae Hee Kim, Busan, Korea; Roger Peet, Seattle, WA; Meredith Stern, Providence, RI; and New Yorkers Randy Polombo and Deborah Simon. The exhibition is co-curated by Elizabeth Keithline and BoxoPROJECTS Director Bernard Leibov.

The Strong Survive, a solo project by artist/curator Elizabeth Keithline, features an eviscerated woven metal motorcycle and its young. The exhibition is hosted by 4heads.org as part of the Governors Island Art Fair. See www.elizabethkeithline.com

When Elizabeth Keithline exhibits a solo show, her long habit has been to curate a group show in conversation with it. “When you’re working on an art project, you become very aware of other artists who are creating in the same field of inquiry. Why not gather them together for a larger conversation? A dialogue is more interesting than a monologue” she states.

Bios:

Artist Megan Evans is a multidisciplinary artist, based in Melbourne, Australia, working in video, photography, sculpture, and installation. Her work engages with the nature of community and relationships, examining the role of art as a dynamic for social transformation.Evans’ new media work builds on a background in the traditional mediums of painting and drawing. Passage, her work in this show, is a combination of video with original music, and photographic images.

Website: http://meganevans.asia/meganevans.asia/Home.html

Based in Korea, Taehee Kim studied Robotics and Artificial Intelligence to obtain his PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 1996. He worked as a senior researcher before joining Youngsan University in Korea, and is now an associate professor in the Department of Computer Games. Taehee earned an MFA degree in Digital Media from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2010. Taehee creates artworks using tools suggested by Artificial Intelligence and robotics, discovering new perspectives by using sensing in conjunction with motion. Butterfly Dreams, his work in this show, was first shown in Pixilerations, Providence, RI.

Website: http://www.taeheekim.net/

Artist Roger Peet is a Portland, Oregon based printmaker and a member of the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative. His work tends to focus on the contemporary crisis of biodiversity and what can and can’t be done about it. Mr. Peet has been the recipient of a Puffin Foundation Grant, a Grand Prix at International Print Biennial, Ljubljana, an RACC Artistic Focus grant, and an Oregon Arts Council Opportunity Grant. Moon, Ghosts and Moa is one of many prints that he has created, and shown internationally, on the topic of animal extinction.

Website: http://toosphexy.com/

Artist Randy Polumbo scavenges found objects, cannibalizes electronics, and creates hypnotic new forms in molten glass, metal, and crystal to create techno-organic sculptures that dissect, critique, and expand the genetic and biological processes of life. His work explores diffusing, healing, and celebrating the glorious, beautiful, grotesque, and horrific chords making up humanity while blurring boundaries to bring about alchemical transformations. Mr. Polumbo lives and works in New York City & Joshua Tree,California. He earned his BFA from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Art & Science, and received the Lash Award for Excellence in Sculpture. He has exhibited widely throughout the US in both solo and group exhibitions and his work can be found in both public and private collections including that of the Crocker Museum of Art. Randy’s works in the exhibition, Peeps and Pony 2 evidence the effect of man’s technological advance into the animal kingdom.

Website: http://polumbo.com

Deborah Simon’s work explores people’s perception and misconceptions of animals. She is influenced by her experiences working in veterinary clinics and at the Bronx Zoo, observing how people relate to animals, and how animals are presented for public consumption. Her sculptures, completely fabricated with faux fur, foam and polymer clay, walk the line between taxidermy, toy and sculpture. When she shows the animals in the bare whiteness of a gallery, she strips away the artifice of “naturalism” found in zoos and museums, and allows the animals to psychologically dominate the space. Northern Fur Seals, her work in this exhibition, consists of several large fur seals diving from the gallery’s high ceiling to confront the viewer face to face.

Website: http://www.deborahsimon.net/

Artist Meredith Stern obtained a BFA in Ceramics at Tulane University in New Orleans. She went on to develop a multifaceted practice that includes printmaking, ‘zine publishing and various social actions. Meredith has collaborated on several large scale art installations at Space 1026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; UWM Union Art Gallery at The University of Wisconsin at Madison; The Miller Gallery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as part of the Pittsburgh Biennial; and in Ljubliana, Slovenia as part of the 29th Graphic Arts Biennial. Owl and On the Border, two works in The Meek Shall Inherit, are part of a large body of work that Stern has done on the subject of animal life and the environment.

Website: www.meredithstern.org

Artist/curator Elizabeth Keithline invented a sculpture technique wherein wire is woven around an object and then burned out, leaving behind a wire memory. Her work has been exhibited at New York University, Mobius Boston, the Danforth Museum, the Newport Art Museum, Real Art Ways, the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit, the Fuller Museum, the Center For Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh and many others. Keithline’s other curatorial conversations include the solo exhibit The Lost House Project with the group exhibit The Shadow Show and the solo exhibit Smarter, Faster, Higher with the group exhibit A Tool Is A Mirror.

Website: http://www.elizabethkeithline.com/