October 2–November 19, 2015
Artspace
50 Orange St
New Haven, CT 06510
Dubbed an exhibition the size of a city, Artspace’s City-Wide Open Studios offers audiences unparalleled access to artists living and working in the Northeastern United States. From October 2–November 19, CWOS will activate over 60 sites around New Haven via three weekends of open studio hours and an expansive series of site-responsive commissions, workshops, avant-garde dinners, and programs. The festival’s blueprint begins in the private homes of artists and extends into shared work spaces, alternative artist-run spaces, abandoned buildings, and unconventional sites.
This year’s title takes inspiration from Martin Heidegger’s controversial 1951 essay “Building, Dwelling, Living,” which radically rethinks the comforts and stereotypes of 21st-century living. Heidegger asks, “What is the state of dwelling in our precarious age?” Artists and guest curators respond with projects that complicate the terms “architecture,” “urbanism,” “community,” and “sustainability.” Am Norgren and Reese Ramponi of Gender, Projected have constructed a locker room of garments, photographs, and personal statements, gathered from New Haven residents who identify as trans. Their project rethinks flesh as the architecture of the bones, and clothing as the architecture of the skin. Nick Pfaff will display a series of 24-hour photo essays documented by New Haven residents experiencing homelessness. Performer and educator Sarita Covington leads a self-critical community round table and public poll on the dynamics of temporary, site-based interventions. Artspace has partnered with the Yale School of Architecture’s First Year Building to present this workshop on the lawn of the student-built house, designed to pioneer the possibilities and aesthetics of affordable design.
Ultimately, the reason for CWOS resides in the work of the 360 artists, who will open their studios to the public over three consecutive weekends to share their diverse practices. On Saturday, October 10 and Sunday, October 11, 180 artists will exhibit their work in the historic Goffe Street Armory (established in 1929), located one mile northwest of the New Haven Green (290 Goffe Street). On Saturday, October 17 and Sunday, October 18, 60 local artists will open their private studios in New Haven, North Haven, Westville, and Hamden. And on Saturday, October 24 and Sunday, October 25, 120 artists will open their year-round studios at the renovated Erector Square Factory building (315 Peck Street). 18 guest curators and art historians will lead tours through these open studios, including Cassandra Albinson, Tyler Coburn, Susan Fischer Greenberg, Jennifer Gross, and Olu Oguibe.
CWOS kicks off at Artspace with an opening reception on Friday, October 2 from 6–9:30pm that features one work by each participating artist. As day turns to night, the crowd moves outdoors to view the DJ’ed Fantasmagorie Light exhibition, organized by artist/guest curator Johannes DeYoung.
A Giant House Party benefit will take place on Friday, October 9 from 6–9:30pm in the labyrinthine Drill Hall and side rooms of the Goffe Street Armory, featuring a festive dinner served from New Haven’s renowned farm-to-table food trucks, wine, live local music, and intimate curator-led studio visits. Reservations are suggested, as seating is limited. Tickets are 100 USD, or 70 USD for young patrons.
Visit cwos.org to purchase tickets and view the full calendar of events.
About Artspace
For 30 years, Artspace has championed the ideas of local artists and organized exhibitions on some of the most urgent issues of our time. These topics have spanned the AIDS crisis (with the group exhibition Interrupted Lives in 1991), the War on Terror (Between Fear and Freedom, 2002), immigration (Mythical Nation, 2003), globalization and the loss of manufacturing jobs in Connecticut (Factory Direct, 2005), climate change (Futurecast, 2013) and, in 2015, racial bias in the criminal justice system (Arresting Patterns).
Press contact Katie Jurkiewicz: katiej [at] artspacenh.org / T +203 772 2709
