featuring the Space 1026 collective, and friends

From July 20th – August 17th, 2007, the main gallery of BravinLee programs will be transformed into an installation on paper. The work will be a collaboration by the members of Space 1026, an artists’ collective based in Philadelphia. During the week of July 16th-19th, members of the press and others are invited to preview the work in progress.

This installation will focus on drawing practices that explore the potential of repetitive, obsessive mark-making. The members of the Space 1026 collective have been chosen for their interest in this type of drawing and their ability to bring it to the level of a full-scale installation. Driven by an interest in the redefining of a space, these artists have been invited to produce a work that will completely cover the walls of the gallery. They will create freely, adhering only to the rule that every mark made can be repeated. During the week prior to the opening, the gallery will become a fully functioning studio where the artists will use everything from silkscreen printing, pencils, paint and stitches to create the piece. The result will be an all-encompassing hybrid of their diverse styles. The final outcome is unknown, and the piece could remain unfinished.

At the conclusion of the exhibition, the wall installation will be cut into 12” strips which will be bound into unique accordion-fold artists’ books. These will be available as a limited edition.

Space 1026 is an artists’ collective in Philadelphia, PA. Located at 1026 Arch Street, the Space functions as a gallery, a music venue, a store for independent designers, and houses a micro-press as well as studios for its artists. Founded in 1997, the collective has had over 40 members, providing for an ever-changing array of creative energy. Their work, both individually and as a group, ranges from book arts, silkscreen, video, soft sculpture, graffiti and installation. By providing an encouraging and supportive work environment, Space 1026 has served as an experimental base for scores of artists from all over the world, fostering collaboration and participation at every level. Various projects by Space 1026 have been reviewed in publications such as The New York Times, Swindle and Paper Magazine. This past winter they created a site-specific piece for the critically acclaimed exhibition “Locally Localized Gravity” at The Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania. The collective has numerous self-produced publications available.

This exhibition is curated by BravinLee programs Director, Lauren van Haaften-Schick.