LMAKprojects :: Exhibitions

In Between Time

Presenting two bodies of work reflecting on the social concept of gentrification through drawings.

L Magazine review of the exhibit

In Between Time
Silvia Russel

September 12 – October 17, 2010
Opening: Sunday, September 12 from 5-8 pm
LMAKprojects is pleased to announce the presentation of In Between Time, the third solo exhibit by Silvia Russel at the gallery. In this exhibit, Russel sought to capture the process of gentrification in the Lower East Side through drawings. She has done so by interacting and interviewing members of the LES community.
Russel emerged herself in the LES neighborhood - she approached inhabitants on the street, took part in individually guided walks with locals and spent nights in their residence – all in effort to view the neighborhood through a different lens. She interviewed across the board - from inhabitants whose roots are cemented in the community to new arrivals, asking both ends about the ways in which gentrification has affected their lives.
Russel is interested - as an artist and outsider - if and where the old and new meet. Do social networks mix? Do different social groups work together in the neighborhood? Does the new replace the old? Or, do they develop a hybrid characteristic to the neighborhood?
In her work, Russel combined the stories she has been told with her own experiences and imagination. On view are colorful drawings accompanied by written statements of the interviewees depicting LES inhabitants, such as Chinese, Hispanic, Jewish and Caucasian persons in a background typical for the LES area. The drawings give a glimpse of the social positions in the neighborhood and how this has changed over time. The work offers a visual dialogue to the idea of gentrification in the LES, and makes the viewer a witness of a moment in the ongoing process.
In relation to this, Russel will also present a series of drawings, which was developed in a neighborhood in Amsterdam called the Bijlmer. It is a residential area that was developed in the 70’s and was presented as a suburban neighborhood, a utopia, however it became known as the ghetto of Amsterdam. In recent years the neighborhood has seen drastic changes and celebrates its diversity within the community. The two bodies of works offer an interesting relation and contrast to each other as the viewer can see the result of gentrification in neighborhoods from different hemispheres of the world, and finding that we don’t differ that much at the end of the day.
For additional information or images please contact the gallery at louky@lmakprojects.com or 212 255 9707