Curated by Something Projects (Suzan Shutan & Howard el -Yasin)
The curators' state that in the book “Ways of Seeing” by John Berger, he suggests that we each see things in a way no one has before. By doing so, we discover something about ourselves and the world we live in. If nothingness is matter and energy, then it includes everything that exists within that nothingness. Can we see everything and nothing simultaneously? In traditional Chinese and Japanese art, the use of empty space or large areas left blank/unpainted are understood as information and considered a vital part of the artwork and composition.
Our perception of realities are sensations that help us navigate the world, while our surroundings and our world is defined by the space we take up in it. The concept of there being emptiness and fullness in the same space is one that artists have long considered in their work. Abstraction refutes the Western world’s obsession with the visible and concrete. In nothingness a presence can be felt. In everything the material presence is seen. The artists’ work selected for this exhibition reveals an aspect of the autonomous inner essence of creation, as being everything and nothing, defining a way of seeing.
About SomethingProjects: It is an artist-run curatorial project founded by longtime friends and co-directors Howard el-Yasin and Suzan Shutan. As collaborators they are focused on empowerment and solidarity, studio productivity and communication among communities. They think holistically about how a project can impact both an artist, and an audience's intersectionality. They believe value is highly subjective and their goal is to push how we understand value outside the margins of dominant culture.
As a nomadic transitory and provisional space, SomethingProjects is an incubator for ideas, encouraging artists to step outside their boundaries and experiment with the intersection of materials, production, presentation and means of engagement with audience and space. Through collaborative projects,theybring together people of many different backgrounds- economic, geographic, geopolitical, age, BiPoc, queer and non-binary/gender identities. Their audience is all-inclusive and their projects are an opportunity to learn about one's neighbors, different ways of understanding art, acceptance of difference, and things happening within one’s everyday environment.
Brian Slattery: New Haven Independent
Artists Show “Everything And Nothing” At Ely Center | Nov 17, 2023
Patricia Grandjean: Daily Nutmeg
Everything and More | Nov 28, 2023
Featured Artists:
