Queens Museum's Finkelpearl gets NYC Cultural Affairs top post

Museum Director to Be Commissioner of Cultural Affairs
Mayor de Blasio Names Tom Finkelpearl of the Queens Museum
by Robin Pogrebin, The New York Times, April 6, 2014

Contemporary visual art from India

Indian Images Reflect the Present
A Review of ‘Goddess, Lion, Peasant, Priest,’ in Ewing
by Tammy La Gorce, The New York Times, November 2, 2012

Surveying Manila's contemporary art scene

Works from Bastards of Misrepresentation

TOPAZ ARTS will participate in presenting Bastards of Misrepresentation: New York Edition, curated by artist Manuel Ocampo, featuring 20 leading contemporary artists from Manila. In addition to the Woodside-based TOPAZ ARTS, hosts for this multi-venue exhibit, on view October 27 to December 30, include:

Queens Museum of Art/Partnership Gallery
Crossing Art in Queens
NYU Asian/Pacific/American Institute
Tyler Rollins Fine Art

Bastards of Misrepresentation is a show about the cultural scene happening in the Philippines yet is not a definitive show about Philippine art. The 20 artists included represent the “now” of contemporary art in Manila whose works entice and challenge perceptions. Many of the artists have been recognized by the country’s most prestigious awards from the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Artist Awards and the Ateneo Art Awards, and are establishing reputations in Europe, Australia, and Asia, while locally others are highly visible as performers in the underground art, performance and music scene. With an Asian Cultural Council award for the exhibition, TOPAZ ARTS has invited three of the artists from Manila — Yason Banal, Lena Cobangbang and Maria Jeona Zoleta — to participate as Artists-in-Residence, creating new works, site-specific installations and performances.

Artists

Poklong Anading, Yason Banal, Bea Camacho, Valeria Cavestany, Lena Cobangbang, Maria Cruz, Gaston Damag, Dex Fernandez, Arvin Flores, Dina Gadia, David Griggs, Robert Langenegger, Romeo Lee, Pow Martinez, Jayson Oliveria, Carlo Ricafort, Timo Roter, Gerry Tan, MM Yu, Maria Jeona Zoleta

For complete exhibition details, including artist information and a schedule for each venue, click here.

Solo in Queens

Yesterday, I attended Dance in Queens 2010: Solo Flight--a showing of works-in-progress developed at TOPAZ ARTS in partnership with the Queens Museum of Art. Hosted and introduced by TA's co-director Paz Tanjuaquio, the program featured solos choreographed by Dina-Verley Sabb-Mills, Ursula Eagly (danced by marvelous Lindsey Dietz Marchant) and Daniel Charon.

I won't review these unfinished pieces. (Charon considers his dreamy This Much I Do Remember "fairly finished, because in my life, I like to move on to other things.") But I will say that the entire event, including the Q&A, was gracious and enjoyable.  And I do want to introduce you to an interesting artist who was new to me. 

Dina-Verley Sabb-Mills, from Philadelphia, is an MFA graduate of Temple University. Her piece--A (happy) Life, set to music by Corrine Bailey Rae, Kanye West and Miles Davis--calls to mind something of the stylish stage presence, agility and vigor of Camille A. Brown but with an insightful psychological honesty and vulnerability that's all her own. Sabb-Mills demonstrates the near-impossible juggling act of coping with trauma while trying to live one's public life, putting on the public face day after day. Made after a period of grief, demanding change and disconnection from her dancing, this solo is really one hell of a way to come back. It represents a personal turning point, for sure, but if it also hints at the strengths she will bring out in the future, then keep watch. Here's her website and schedule of upcoming gigs.

Queens Summer Residency for Choreographers

Call for Proposals for Dance in Queens: Summer Residency 2008

Deadline: April 25, 2008 (postmarked)

TOPAZ ARTS and Queens Museum of Art announce a call for artist proposals for the sixth annual Dance in Queens summer residency and performance series. Four choreographers will be selected from a competitive application process. Awardees will receive free rehearsal space, a stipend of $500 and a public presentation of their work at the Queens Museum. New this year, rehearsals will take place both within the galleries of the museum and at TOPAZ ARTS during June-August 2008. Choreographers from all five boroughs of New York City may apply.

Click here to download current guidelines and application form.

Application seminar & walk-through at the Queens Museum of Art
Saturday, March 22 (3:30pm) with Paz Tanjuaquio (Topaz Arts) and Hitomi Iwasaki (Associate Curator QMA)

Applicants are strongly encouraged to attend this free application seminar. This is an opportunity to tour the museum where rehearsals and performances will take place. The application process, review criteria, and questions will be covered. Learn how proposals can be strengthened and see the available galleries that can be used as a performance space. For directions to Queens Museum of Art, click here.

Dance in Queens residency began in Summer 2003 as a collaborative project between TOPAZ ARTS and Queens Museum of Art. Dance in Queens is funded, in part, by American Express, Independence Community Foundation, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

TOPAZ ARTS, Inc. founded in 2000 by artists Todd Richmond and Paz Tanjuaquio, fosters the creative process, producing new works and provides public programs for contemporary dance, new music and visual arts. TOPAZ ARTS maintains a 2,500 sq. ft. multidisciplinary arts center in Woodside, Queens which includes a dance rehearsal space, audio room, and gallery. Providing affordable space, technical support, residencies and presentation opportunities, TOPAZ ARTS enables artists to realize their projects and the process shared with audiences. For more info, click here.

The Queens Museum of Art was established in 1972 to provide a vital cultural center in Flushing Meadows Corona Park for the borough's unique, international population. The Queens Museum of Art is home to the Panorama of the City of New York, a 9,335 square foot scale model of the five boroughs, and a collection of Tiffany glass from the Neustadt Museum of Tiffany Art. The museum presents changing exhibitions of modern and contemporary art that reflect the area's cultural diversity. Click here for more information about upcoming exhibitions and events.

TOPAZ ARTS, Inc.
Co-Directors: Todd Richmond and Paz Tanjuaquio
ph/fax: 718.505.0440
info@topazarts.org