smile artist

"NonSelf/NonSite" Exhibit at the Coohaus Art Mora

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Another important art event sponsored by jason J Kim oral Design NY! This time it's a our-woman exhibition curated by David Cohen entitled  "NonSelf/NonSite" featuring the works of Carla Gannis, JeeYoung Lee, Katherine Mangiardi, and Yooah Park.

So wonderful to be working yet again with the AHL Foundation on this important exhibit.

 On view from March 19 to April 1, 2015 at the Coohaus Art Mora (547 West 27th Street, Suite 307, New York, NY 10001)

Read below for more on the artists and curator David Cohen! Hope you can all find time to check it out!

 

About the Exhibit:

Working in modes between photo-based or digital technologies and more traditional, handmade expression, the artists explore issues of the projection or negation of visage within found or constructed environments.

All of the artists have, at times, worked with their own facial features but in each instance in disguised, veiled, camouflaged or displaced aspects.  None of the artists appear to use themselves as means of self-exploration, but rather as vehicles for understanding the potential or actuality of perceptual diminution of distinct identity.  Of related significance, each artist deliberately blurs boundaries between traditional and innovatory mediums and accepted or subverted conventions of portraiture.

Carla Gannis, for instance, has throughout her career actively challenged the divide between digital media and hand-made modes of expression.  For many years she has used her “self” in conceptually and perceptually disrupted avatars as a disembodied presence in the virtual realm, often exploiting the psychologically disruptive relationship between physical and virtual supports.

JeeYoung Lee works in a literal and taxonomical space between mediums, constructing sculptural environments within which she places herself as a camouflaged protagonist.  Her large scale C-prints in turn occupy an ambiguous position between performance and fixed image, sculptural event and cinematic or painterly composition.

Katherine Mangiardi has worked within various mediums to explore the extension, displacement and diffusion of the body in elaborately skilled activities such as lacework and figure skating. She has acknowledged overlooked or undervalued female originality in the historic lace industry through veiled, historically costumed photographic self-portraiture.

The career of Yooah Park has assiduously drawn paths between national tradition and contemporary alienation, incorporating studio painting and ritualistic performance art.  There is an in-built tension in her painterly reworkings of her own photographs of self-conscious social players in which life-like individuality is undone through layered, veil-like whiting-out of faces.

— David Cohen —

David Cohen is editor and publisher of artcritical as well as founder-moderator of The Review Panel which takes place at the National Academy Museum, New York, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Arts, Philadelphia, and is podcast here at artcritical. He was Gallery Director at the New York Studio School from 2001-10 and art critic and contributing editor at the New York Sun from 2003-08. His books include “Serban Savu” (Hatje Cantz verlag, 2011) and “Alex Katz Collages: A catalogue raisonné” (Colby College Museum of Art, 2005).

 

 

The Smile Artist's Exhibit To See: Wonju Seo: Dual Identities

Another incredible art exhibit presented by the AHL Foundation and sponsored by jason J Kim Oral Design NY!

You simply can't miss the solo exhibition by Wonju Seo entitled Dual Identities: a contemporary interpretation of Korean Bojagi from February 11 to June 8 at the BBCN Bank Manhattan Branch. 

Seo’s boldly colorful yet delicate contemporary textile pieces are inspired and rooted in the tradition of bojagi making (patchwork). Combining traditional hand sewing, embroidery and silk painting techniques with contemporary mixed media collage techniques, the abstract, beautifully hand stitched textile works reflect the intimate daily life experiences of the artist while evoking a mirror through which the artist redefines herself as a contemporary woman who grew up under a patriarchy in Korean cultural. The artwork acts as a window through which Seo views, defines, and experiences the outside world around her. The unique geometric abstractions bring together the artist’s dual identities of being a Korean woman and a woman who is living in a western society.

This exhibition is presented as part of AHL Foundation’s Art in the Workplace Program which exhibits contemporary artwork within the work and business environment. BBCN Bank and AHL Foundation’s initiative to provide cultural enrichment to the local business community has received much applause from employees, customers, the local community, and art enthusiasts. The program aims to create greater exposure for talented artists while fostering easier access and support for the arts among Korean-American business leaders.

Date: February 11 – June 9, 2015

Place: BBCN Bank, 16 West 32nd Street, New York NY 10001

From the Artist himself:

"The main theme on my work is my root where I came from including the history of Korean women’s lives. My work answers several life-long questions of where I come from, where I am, and where I am going. The colors I have selected in my work represent my own visual language that contains various personal circumstances, life experiences and knowledge. The significance of the rectangular shapes of my work mirrors the window from where I would gaze and imagine the outside world as a child. In addition, the “window” evokes the freedom to explore the unknown world around me that so many Korean women who grew up in a traditional Confucian culture like me has often wondered about. From inside my window, I redefine my confidence and boldly throw open the window to the outside world and understand its limitless opportunities, just like the developments in the lives of contemporary Korean women. Certainly, my work brings together dual identities of being a Korean and being a woman who is living in a modern society. "

You can learn more about Wonju Sep on his website HERE.

Jensen Education Day 2015 In Pictures

It was such an honor to be a keynote speaker at JED 2015 in Chicago this year! I love how Jensen Dental made sure everyone could participate and learn from this event, even if they couldn't make it to the windy city, by holding a webcast of their lectures that was streaming live!

They really innovated this event by introducing a new education format to allow for further development of participants skills in a small group, interactive environment with some of the industry’s leading experts in the dental field.

Below are some more great photos from they day as I got to speak one on one with some very engaged students and colleagues in the field!

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Vegas Baby! The Dental XP 2015 Global Symposium

Sure, it's not like you NEED many more reasons to visit Vegas, but I'm still giving you one! I am so proud to announce that I am sponsoring 2 lectures by some of the best dentists in the field of oral design at the Dental XP Global Symposium on February 6th.

Dr. Jay Lerner and Dr. Gerard Lemongello are pioneers and what they have to teach is invaluable, and that is why I think it is the utmost importance to support them as they try to educate the next generation of smile artists. The relationship between the ceramist and dentist is critical and I truly believe the only way to achieve perfection is to be able to work seamlessly together.

The lectures they are presenting are entitled: Predictable Implant Aesthetics Utilizing a Custom Fabricated Provisional, Provisional Abutment and Impression Coping: A Prosthetic Technique. To register just click HERE.

Below is some more information on Dr. Lerner and Dr. Lemongello. I urge you to take advantage of this opportunity!