CUTLOG NY GALLERY FEATURE: SPINELLO PROJECTS, MIAMI

Miami-based gallery Spinello Projects recently took part in the New York debut of Cutlog, an art fair which originated in Paris. Cutlog was established in 2009 by Director & curator Bruno Hadjadj. This year the fair took the Lower East Side of Manhattan by storm installing at 107 Suffolk Street, a former school that now houses artist studios, including Steve Mumford, and is home to The Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center. For its New York debut the fair presented a selection of international galleries as well as a number of performances, talks, and projectsions/screenings. One such performance was Communion by Sameer Reddy, held at the Cutlog Club on Friday May 10th. Another event of note was the screening of Noah Becker: New York Is Now (2012) a documentary style film with a direct focus on the art scene in New York.

Spinello Projects, lead by founder and director Anthony Spinello, installed a site-specific project titled  Classroom No. 203, in a large corner room with two walls of windows on the second floor.  Having taken an earlier, pre-fair trip to New York in order to scout out the location, they selected this particular sight based on the immense amount of natural light and the objects that already resided there. Working in-situ and in correlation with the items that had been discarded by previous occupants, the gallery chose artworks that were very similar to what not only could have been left behind, but was.

The selection of artwork presented required each visitor to really pay attention to the details in the room in order to recognize the art that was purposefully installed.  Above the doorway, in the view of many gazes of yesteryear who desperately searched the numbers and hands for when class would let out, was a clock by Agustina Woodgate. However, rather than keep a record of time, the object remains in a frozen state, the hands have been removed and rather than inform of hours and minutes the clock exists outside of it’s intention. The work sets an eerie tone to the room as most of the objects are familiar yet unexpectedly reproduced allowing for moments of inquiry, exactly what art should do.

As part of the fair, the gallery hosted several performances by Naama Tsabar, who performed with her sculptures Work on Felt (Variation detail), 2012. The sculptures are constructed of large pieces of felt that are curved upwards by way of a piano string and guitar tuning hardware which is plugged into an amp. The work is interactive and visitors were invited to perform as well. When I was in the room a ten year old boy was jamming out, instinctively strumming, beating the string with the provided drum sticks and vibrating the felt mat in order to change the intended sound.

Classroom No. 203 was installed in what was most recently a dance studio. The oil paintings of Aramis Gutierrez  reminded us of this via softly painted surface and the muscular male figure contorting within the confines of the stretched surface.  The piece located in the far left of the room featured After No Exit, 2012 a breakdancer, balancing on one arm, his back to the viewer and wrist baring the weight of the body. The other large painting, Amedeo Amodio, 2012, transported a more feminine energy though the positioning of the scantily clad male, arms spread, frozen movement. Upon closer inspection it is possible to recognize the silhouette of what appears to be a member of the SS (The Schutzstaffel) sitting in observance in the background adding further intrigue and mystery to the portrayed scene.