JANE KIM

Current

PO Box 130039, New York, NY 10013
Tel: 347 278 1500, Email: info@thrustprojects.com

Jane Kim is no longer at 114 Bowery NYC,
and will be re-locating to a new space in 2011.
Please check back for updates,
off-site projects, and news of our artists.

Please contact us at Tel. 347 278 1500 or info@thrustprojects.com

Alonso, Daniel. Interview, "Jane Kim, American Artists Series," aWantedmag, Issue 3, pg. 72, February 2010, http://awantedmag.com/book/14.html.

2) The current show up, "RISD: Random Individuals Seeking a Dealer", features the work of four recent graduates from the Rhode Island School of Design's photography department (my Alma Mater). How important is it for you to seek out young, new artists and effectively help usher in a new guard?

A gallery that takes risks should showcase new talent in a group exhibition context. RISD, Random Individuals Seeking a Dealer speaks to the times as the four artists, who recently graduated from the RISD photography department, represent a new generation of contemporary artists working in new modus operandi. They used the acronym of the school to express that they are, like any recent graduate, trying to find an outlet for their work. They pose questions about process, suggesting we are fully in the digital age, by wrapping the gallery walls with one 86-foot roll of paper printed with all their images.

3) In your opinion, how does the "art scene" and artistic communities differ in Paris (where you worked at Galerie Xippas and Galerie Thaddaeus) and here in New York?

The art scenes in Paris and New York are completely different in scale and character. The most obvious difference is in the number of galleries – Paris has on average 50 and New York 500 (maybe Berlin has the most of any European city). The artists also function differently. In France, artists can count on financial support from the government and their museums are completely subsidized by the French State. (Things are changing as Michael Kimmelman noted in the New York Times article “In Europe, the Arts Ask for Alms,” January 20, 2010). The flip side is in New York, where artists have to fight and work tooth and nail to exist. It is an aggressive business atmosphere. II worked at Galerie Xippas and Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac in Paris to understand art from a European standpoint – the dialogue, approach, and collecting it. Neither one nor the other is better, just different, and it was important to understand these differences.

4) As curator, you are ultimately the one responsible for the work being shown and either the praise or scrutiny it garners. How does that responsibility affect you?

It is a difficult responsibility but how can anyone create anything - an exhibition, a work of art, music, words, films, a moment – without caring what others will think and wondering how it be received?
In the beginning Thrust was a platform for my ideas, a curatorial exercise; I have tried to keep true to a program based on the content and not the market, which has been tough in the current financial climate. Many shows go unnoticed by the public and critics and it’s difficult not to feel defeated and disappointed, but if one knows history, the most important ideas and artworks are and were and are sometimes later acknowledged-or never. We forget that creation and art is about the process and curating shows is a process I enjoy. We have had great responses to shows of which I’m grateful but I would never say that a show that didn’t have critical success was a failure. Our culture is obsessed with the outcome; we’ve become judgmental (this is good, this is bad) and have forgotten what it is to rely on oneself to discover new and interesting experiences without the response or praise of others. On the other hand, it would be a lie to say that one doesn’t need that recognition.

5) What are some of the upcoming projects that Thrust Projects has in store?

Curated by Mimi Wheeler and myself, the next show is a special group of works inspired by Louise Lawler’s “Who are you close to,” a set of four postcards (in red, green, blue, and black – the colors of the Israeli and Palestinian flags) with the phrase written in three languages, Arabic, Hebrew, and English. Loosely based on the idea of relationships, which are often complex, the works will engage the audience in a dialog about such complexities and encourage spiritual, political, and cultural responses.

Alongside Louise’s work, in which the red postcard is a give away during the show, will be Lawrence Weiner’s stencil – “Moi, Toi, et Nous,” a response to apartheid; Alighiero e Boetti's silk embroidery piece "Order Disorder" made in Afghanistan; Zolaykha Sherzad’s, (an Afghan artist based in Kabul and New York who had a piece in the East West Divan in the Venice Biennale last year,) red silk sculpture representing a modern abstraction of a traditional burka; Jack Pierson’s commissioned photograph of Yves Saint Laurent’s bibelots in Paris; Pat Place’s (a key figure in the NY music scene in the late 70’s) work of 100 kisses (gay and straight); Yasser Aggour’s hilarious photograph an Egyptian man in his living room with a picture of Tom Selleck on the wall; the young French artist Bianca Agrimon’s work on phobias; and additional works by Michaela Griffo, Bill Owens and Eric Guzowski.

6) What criteria do you use to decide which artists to book at Thrust?

There are no set criteria. I go by instinct to discover work through exhibitions, Internet, or introduction through contacts, but also I believe in chance and spontaneity. I do not look at artist submissions for the reason that I would have an enormous pile of mail, cd-roms, and emails to look at daily. Once an artist came in and asked if I would look at his work and I told him no, and he yelled at me, “but that’s your job!” in which I responded, “no, it’s not.” Artists sometimes think that people who work in galleries are there to review their work, and this depends on the gallery. If an artist is feeling frustrated because a gallery won’t view their work, I suggest working as an intern or volunteer at a gallery, non-profit, museum, or for an established artist.

7) Lastly, I'm curious, as you are someone working on the other side of the industry so to speak, how would you define "American" art?

That’s a hard one, particularly in terms of style- I’m not sure we could coin it in one word.
Diverse. As diverse as the artists who are making the work.

Fifty years ago the art scene was dominated by Abstract Expressionism and Jackson Pollock and a bunch of drunk guy artists, sitting in Cedar Street Tavern in New York City arguing about it’s merits.

Today’s art can be characterized by the diversity of ethnic origins of the artists – African American, Asian, African, Hispanic, White American, etc. Media and technology have permeated the medium-not just painting and sculpture but installations, video, multi-media, and photography.

Today’s culture in general is different; the media and the Internet immersed in every aspect of our lives. Warhol and celebrity culture started it in the 60’s and now the art world is consumed by making celebrities out of it’s artists.