July 15 - July 31, 2004
Opening Reception: Thursday, July 15, 6 - 8pm
Salad Expos: Public events with the artists and curators
July 21, 6 - 8pm; July 24, 4-6pm; July 31, 4 - 6pm at Artists Space

12 Curators select 12 Artists Tomoko Ashikawa Isolde Brielmaier Jennifer Chapek Amy Davila Dean Daderko Louky Keijsers Heather Kouris Luisa Lagos Jennifer Musawwir Nicole Russo Jeffrey Walkowiak Letha Wilson   Brigitte Boyer Hank Willis Thomas Lisa Hamilton Matthew Siegle Ross Cisneros Emily Katrencik Claudia Joskowicz Jiae Hwang Jackie Salloum Ezra Johnson Lisi Raskin Drew Gilmore

A person's "salad days" are the days of youth, when he or she is "green" (without experience), but fresh and hopeful.… the important connotation of the phrase is the sense of crisp, fresh youth, tossed with abandon and topped with the tangy vinaigrette of boundless optimism. - The Word Detective, Evan Morris, 1998

Salad Days presents the work of twelve emerging artists who are at a particular moment in their artistic career described as their “salad days”. Ten emerging curators were invited by Artists Space’s Associate Curator, Letha Wilson, and Program Coordinator, Jennifer Chapek, to collaborate with them and each select one artist for this exhibition. This group of curators, also in their "salad days," met several times to address conceptual and organizational aspects of the show. Each curator brings to the table their unique curatorial perspective and experience, reflected in their choice of artists. The end result is an exhibition that showcases an exciting group of artists at the beginning of their careers, and provides them with an opportunity to present their work to a broad audience.

In order to shed light on the curatorial process, each curator will present both an essay on the work of the artist they have chosen, and an essay expressing their own curatorial perspectives and philosophies. The exhibition will also be accompanied by three public events called Salad Expos. At each event four artists, along with the curators by whom they were chosen, will participate in activities ranging from discussions to performances.

Salad Expos at Artists Space: A chance for the public to meet Salad Days artists and curators. Each artist will be in attendance with the curator who chose them, and activities will range from casual discussion to performance events. All events are free and open to the public.

Wednesday, July 21st, 6:00 to 8:00 pm: Lisa Hamilton and Jennifer Chapek, Lisi Raskin and Jeffrey Walkowiak, Jackie Salloum and Jennifer Musawwir, Hank Willis Thomas and Isolde Brielmaier

Saturday, July 24th, 4:00 to 6:00 pm: Drew Gilmore and Letha Wilson, Ezra Johnson and Nicole Russo, Emily Katrencik and Louky Keijsers, Matthew Siegle and Amy Davila

Saturday, July 31st, 4:00 to 6:00 pm: Brigitte Boyer and Tomoko Ashikawa, Ross Cisneros and Dean Daderko, Jiae Hwang and Luisa Lagos, Claudia Joskowicz and Heather Kouris

*Click on the artists or curators names below for essays and background information related to that person.

Brigitte Boyer selected by Tomoko Ashikawa	Ross Cisneros selected by Dean Daderko
Through her own experiences with chemotherapy as an early adolescent, Brigitte Boyer's work, The Sick Collection, discusses issues of the human body, the inorganic versus the organic, the natural against the fabricated. By using modern medical practice as a vehicle to visualize her experiences, her work portraits how the human body could be changed into a different form, like a cyborg.	Ross Cisneros' Native is a video work that addresses the evangelical concerns of the artist and Bubbles, the film's narrator. Native is a duel between the existential real, the myth of the West, and what's cool.

Drew Gilmore selected by Letha Wilson	Lisa Hamilton selected by Jennifer Chapek
Drew Gilmore takes urban icons and objects and transforms them through specific materials into minimal sculpture and installation. The content of his work is a re-evaluation and contemplation of urban experience though specific building types or geological formation, often skewing or reversing their original meanings.	In the paintings of Lisa Hamilton, fragments of reality, perceptions, thoughts and dreams weave in and out of the picture plane as exact lines, dizzying swirls, and quasi-representational images. This confrontation takes place on wood panels, creating places of tension with the vibrantly colored paint.

Jiae Hwang selected by Luisa Lagos	Ezra Johnson selected by Nicole Russo
In the series I am the Real Princess of the Magical Land, Jiae Hwang confronts the images of power, youth, hope, and uncanny innocence as a statement of individualism or standardization. In these works, the artist celebrates and neutralizes reality by deploying a weapon of cartoon-like figures (anime) to reinterpret the universal image of school girls' uniforms.	Ezra Johnson uses painting, drawing, and sculpture to create pieces that capture everyday scenes and commercial products. His work can be seen as a filter through which cultural clutter is processed, blending together the media's constant bombardment of images to create a balanced scene from all the chaos.

Claudia Joskowicz selected by Heather Kouris	Emily Katrencik selected by Louky Keijsers
Claudia Joskowicz's work focuses on the lapses in narrative that are formed when texts or events are taken out of their original context and represented through popular media; be it television, film or the internet.	In Architecture: Consuming that Which Consumes Emily Katrencik examines space and architecture by balancing between social boundaries and structures. Part of the piece presents lollipops made from sugar, corn syrup and concrete of a Le Corbusier building, suggesting an invitation for the spectator to consume the wall alongside the artist.

Lisi Raskin selected by Jeffrey Walkowiak	Jackie Salloum selected by Jennifer Musawwir
Lisi Raskin's projects include mock test sites, fictional neurotic scientists and make-believe spaceships that are at once playful and carefree but also laden with anxiety and fear. Her most recent work = (equals) is a landscape portrait that examines and compares three different sites: the desert, an active nuclear power plant, and an Olympic diving and swimming pool that was once a large Jewish cemetery.	Jackie Salloum's Arabs-a-Go-Go presents a lively video montage of Middle Eastern films from the 1930's through 70's paired with an equally invigorating soundtrack. Salloum's video is a reminder that lighthearted, popular culture occurs around the globe and despite regional/ethnic variations, they share the characteristic youthful and good-humored elements of American pop culture.

Matthew Siegle selected by Amy Davila	Hank Willis Thomas selected by Isolde Brielmaier
Matt Siegle constructs meticulous collages of Sports Illustrated football players and greeting card animals using quotidian materials such as plastic baggies, Scotch tape, discarded frames and contact paper. These iconic figures are placed within a new context, giving the viewer a fresh look at banal images and prosaic resources.	Hank Willis Thomas' images and objects explore the tenuous relationship between history, the body, race, class and commercial markets, visually examining the ways in which each of these aspects comes to bear on today's carefully and intentionally developed products, logos and corresponding ad campaigns.