FATVillage Projects and FAR Gallery
CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE
FATVillage Arts District
521 nw 1st ave, Ft Lauderdale 33301

“Nocturnes V: The Second Life of Trees” at the Projects in FATVillage
Curated by Leah Brown and Peter Symons
October 31 – December 11, 2015
Preview October 30, 6-8pm
Artwalk/Opening Reception: October 31, 6-10pm
Artwalk: November 28, 6-10pm
Art Basel Brunch: December 5, 9am-1pm
The Projects
FATVillage Arts District
521 NW 1st Ave, Ft Lauderdale, FL 33301
An Enchanted Forest Was Cut Down. These are the works that grew from its remains…
Every October for the past five years, curators Leah Brown and Peter Symons have exhibited a show in the “Nocturnes” Series. Previous years’ themes have included the Day of the Dead, Monsters, Hyperstitions, and always have an air of mystery, the supernatural, and the strange. Nocturnes V: The Second Life of Trees is an exhibition-turned-forest, where each invited artist has created work that responds to the theme either materially through works made of wood or paper, or is creating a tree-inspired form, or recreating a forest experience. The resulting exhibition relies on light and shadow and form to give the viewer an immersion into a new kind of forest, where objects retain a glimmer of the life from which they have been reincarnated, imbued now with intent and significance.
Several works are made specifically for this exhibition, including: a site-specific installation of bent strips of wood by Zachary Gilliland; a site-specific light sculpture by Luke Jenkins that recalls light filtering through a forest canopy; lacey paper chandeliers laser-cut from the Enchanted Encyclopedias by Donna Haynes; flower forms that on close inspection have miniature coffins as petals by Georgeta Fondos; a rope and wire and video installation by Allison Kotzig that brings out the spirits of the inhabitants of the forest; a digitally fabricated forest sprite by Peter Symons; and by Lauren Shapiro, a faceted ceramic trunk blooms with ethereal paper foliage. Other works include Richard Herzog’s intricate, wood and acrylic creeping ivy, as well a steel sculpture of a tree’s fallen trunk with new growth emerging; Mark Joseph Oliver’s “St Sebastion” of a matte-black tree trunk pierced with arrows; Onajide Shabaka’s video recently shot while in residence at the AIRIE (Artists in Residence in the Everglades) program; Tyler K. Smith’s darkly whimsical personifications from logs and lumber; and Michael Harris’ impressive “Water Wave Falls” made from carved wood.
EXHIBITING ARTISTS:
Georgeta Fondos
Zachary Gillilland
Michael Harris
Donna Haynes
Richard Herzog
Luke Jenkins
Allison Kotzig
Mark Joseph Oliver
Onajide Shabaka
Lauren Shapiro
Tyler K. Smith
Peter Symons
About the CURATORS:
Leah Brown (MFA 2014, UM) and Peter Symons (MFA 2008, Pratt) are a husband/wife team who have been collaborating as artists and curators since they met as undergraduates studying sculpture at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2000. They relocated from NYC to Ft Lauderdale in 2008, and began co-curating The Projects Contemporary Art Space in 2010. They have written for and received funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s Knight Arts Challenge to fund basic operations and expanded programming for FATVillage Arts District from 2015-2017. In addition to their curations, they collaborate as the art team for Art+Light+Space Studios, and each maintains their own separate studio practice.
About the GALLERY:
The Projects is an 8000 square foot warehouse gallery, in the heart of FATVillage Arts District (Flagler Arts and Technology Village), the impetus for Fort Lauderdale's ever-growing arts community. Monthly last-Saturday Artwalks run shuttles between clusters of artist’s studios, galleries & creative businesses throughout Flagler village. This unique exhibition space allows artists to make very large or very tall artworks. The Projects exhibition space was recently awarded the Knight Arts Challenge Grant, which is in part funding this exhibition. Other sponsors include: The City of Fort Lauderdale, the Florida Panthers, and most recently Whole Foods Fort Lauderdale. www.fatvillageprojects.com and www.fatvillage.com