My Little / Membrane, curated by Zeljka Himbele-Kozul and William Heath, opens at NURTUREart Gallery at 910 Grand Street in Williamsburg on May 9th. Featured artists include Michele Beck and Jorge Calvo, Thomas Doyle, Bethany Jean Fancher, Vlatka Horvat, Yuliya Lanina, Janell Olah, Jihyun Park, Anna Stein, David McQueen, Alejandro Almanza Pereda, and Traci Tullius.

Thomas Doyle and Vlatka Horvat What happens when two curators independently curate two shows containing identical works? How do these curatorial projects cross paths and how does this broaden our dialogue on the practice of curating? William Heath and Zeljka Himbele-Kozul explore these (and other) questions through an innovative exhibition of twelve talented emerging artists who investigate themes of portals into other spaces and worlds. Within My Little / Membrane, the process of curation becomes visible as we are asked to review the subjective nature of art interpretation from close up.

Intrigued by manmade structures such as biospheres and greenhouses, curator William Heath developed a curatorial narrative, My Little, based on the idea of constructed parallel universes and our innate tendency to imagine ourselves within such worlds. Often these other places are nostalgic and innocent; mini-utopias free from the chaos of our modern lives. The manipulation of scale becomes a metaphor for not only our natural ego-centrism, but also our continual desire to return to the forever unattainable innocence of our childhood.

Taking a different approach, curator Zeljka Himbele-Kozul analyzes the same works using the idea of a membrane. Membranes form barriers while simultaneously allowing selective passage. For Zeljka, the works in the show, which she has titled Membrane, similarly involve the dichotomy of separation and connectedness. Some of the membranes created are literal; others are more metaphorical. Many deal with the relationships between one and one’s environment and the different means through which these relationships are mediated. The artists, who create visually intriguing and interesting work in varying media, have been linked by Heath and Himbele-Kozul into two different yet cohesive curatorial agendas. Thomas Doyle creates small-scale sculptures encased in glass that depict what he calls “remnants of the past.” The video 440.0 Hz by Michele Beck and Jorge Calvo was shot with a spy camera inside the mouth during a walk down the streets of New York. Janell Olah’s life-size installations are built environments made of plastic, vinyl and other fabricated materials. A soft, zoomorphic sculpture by Bethany Jean Fancher is installed on a gallery wall and spills down onto the floor and into the viewer’s space. Vlatka Horvat’s piece Packages depicts the artist’s body wrapped in different materials. Alejandro Almanza Pereda’s sculptures are constructed in what appears to be a serious state of imbalance. Creating intricate video scenes, Yuliya Lanina combines elements of traditional Russian folklore and contemporary pop culture. Humor pervades much of the work of Jihyun Park, who plays with language and cultural themes. Anna Stein references past art history greats and re-contextualizes them in radical ways. Mechanical structures by David McQueen mimic natural phenomena and turn the gallery space into a living environment of its own. Traci Tullius presents a video in which she attempts to slow down her daily actions and confront social conventions.

Bethany Fancher

A unique curatorial collaboration, My Little / Membrane presents 12 fantastic artists in a gallery-stretching exhibition. Heath and Himbele-Kozul have created fascinating new ways to think about the subjectivity of art and the ever-changing role of the curator in the art world.