art materials

Pipe Cleaners & Works on Paper - Blanka Amezkua

Opening:  Saturday October 15, 2016 @16:00 - 19:00
Duration:  October 15 - November 15, 2016
Hours:  Thursday and Friday 14:00 - 19:00 / Saturday by appointment only

"If it is true that for most civilizations the circle, square and triangle are marked out as religious, philosophical, magical, astrological and cosmic symbols, then this is especially the case for the circle.  So generous in form is the circle that it can be easily made to symbolize a mass of objects, within any given pattern of civilization, on a variety of different levels, their interpretation depending on the context in which the circle is being manipulated.  The many qualities of the circle—the constant relationship between centre and the never-ending, continuous circumference—make it a highly fascinating, obsessive form, one which can refer at one and the same time to the cyclical passage of time, the movement of heavenly bodies and of the cosmos, the limit of the void, emptiness or completeness..."

Mark Verstockt, From Chaos to Geometry: The Genesis of Form

In this recent body of work, I rediscovered the nobleness of working with paper and pipe cleaners all over again, through the use of simple forms, primarily the circle.  I found that in its apparent simplicity lies an infinite world yet to be unfolded.  And the door seems to be opening for loads of new unrestrained and creative possibilities for me.

Recipient of the BRIO award from the Bronx Council on the Arts in 2007, Blanka Amezkua began an artist-run project in her bedroom called the Bronx Blue Bedroom Project (BBBP) in 2008.   In 2010, BBBP's two-year trajectory was included in several shows in New York City.  The first was Greater New York: 5 Year Review at MoMA-PS 1 and Alternative Histories at Exit Art.

Blanka was formally trained as a painter, studying in Florence, Italy and received her B.A. from California State University, Fresno.  Her work and projects have been shown in the United States, Mexico, Belgium and Greece at MoMA-P.S.1, Exit Art, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, El Museo del Barrio, Queens Museum of Art, Towson University, Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts in San Francisco, Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana (MACLA), Casa John Spencer, and The Taller Boricua, among others.

Between 2010 – 2016 she made Athens, Greece her home, where among other things, she was involved in "social / mobile art & performance", curated and organized art related events, and initiated and ran an alternative art space in the intimacy of an apartment in the center of Athens.

Mentions of her work and projects are included in Art News, the New York Times, TimeOut, Daily News, Art21:blog, athinorama, Athens News, Queens Chronicle, International Museum of Women, WNYC, as well as other publications.

Pipe Cleaners and Works on Paper will inaugurate the artist run space AAA3A.
AAA3A will host gregarious living room occurrences, face to face exchanges, victual, dialogue, workshops, residencies and art inside the former home of the Bronx Blue Bedroom Project.