March 14–August 12, 2012
118 South 36th Street
Philadelphia PA 19104
Opening Celebration
Whenever Wednesday, March 14, 6.30pm
Celebrate First Among Equals with a DJ set by Wendy Yao of Ooga Booga (Los Angeles), complimentary La Colombe coffee, and a cash bar. The evening begins with an exhibition walkthrough with participants and curators Alex Klein and Kate Kraczon.
Opening Reception
Wednesday, April 4, 6–8pm
Exhibition Description
In a moment of unprecedented social connection, how do artists work together outside of their individual practices? Focusing on Los Angeles and Philadelphia, First Among Equals considers the various modes that contemporary artists have developed to work with their peers and reach across generations. Cooperative, if at times contentious, contributions to the show include performance, publications, curatorial projects, and artworks that incorporate the work of other artists. Who comes first in these relationships? By highlighting the dynamics of negotiation, dialogue, influence, contingency, and competition at work in contemporary artistic practice, First Among Equals resists the notion that collaboration equals consensus.
First Among Equals draws on the respective communities of the exhibition’s curators. Philadelphia participants include Bodega, Alex Da Corte, Extra Extra, and Marginal Utility and Machete Group. Los Angeles participants include Kathryn Andrews, P&Co., Mateo Tannatt, and Wu Tsang.
The exhibition is organized by Program Curator Alex Klein and Assistant Curator Kate Kraczon. It will be accompanied by a catalogue documenting the many performances, events, and conversations that will take place over its five-month run.
Participants:
Kathryn Andrews
Bodega (Elyse Derosia, Ariela Kuh, Lydia Okrent, James Pettengill, Eric Veit)
Alex Da Corte
Extra Extra (Derek Frech, Joe Lacina, Daniel Wallace)
Machete Group (Avi Alpert, Alexi Kukuljevic, and Gabriel Rockhill)
Marginal Utility (Yuka Yokoyama, David Dempewolf)
P & Co. (Aram Moshayedi, Carter Mull, Jesse Willenbring)
Mateo Tannatt
Wu Tsang
In addition to participants invited by the curators, each artist or group has included additional artists and cultural producers in their projects, highlighting both overlapping networks of peers as well as an expanded intergenerational notion of community and influence. These collaborators include:
Sam Anderson, AP News, Polly Apfelbaum, David Armstrong, Darren Bader, Tenzing Barshee, Anna Betbeze, Strauss Bourque-LaFrance, Tina Braegger, Marco Braunschweiler, Xavier Cha, Ben Chapmen, Chris Chechin, Jay Chung, Yve Laris Cohen, Tony Cokes, Luisa Lorenza Corna, Paul Cowan, Abigail Deville, Oliver Falk, Mashinka Firunts, Fredi Fischli, Debbie Foster, Andrew Gbur, Richard Harrod, John Hawke, Jim Hodges, Barry Macgregor Johnston, Karen Kilimnik, Daniel Lefcourt, Aaron Levy, Brendan Lynch, Emilio Macchia, Q Takeki Maeda, Pooneh Maghazehe, Fabian Marti, David Mettler, Rory Mulligan, Jayson Musson, Onestar Press, Elizabeth Orr, Nick Paparone, Pauline, Dushko Petrovich, Megan Piontkowski, Possible Projects, Rit Premnath, Jen Rosenblit, Miljohn Ruperto, Allen Ruppersberg, Piotr Rypson, Danny Snelson, Nancy Soto, Federico Spadoni, Jacek Staniszewski, Shannon Stratton, Studiolo, Martine Syms, Kelly Taxter, John Transue, Paul Thek, Mike Vass, Wandering, Hannah Weinberger, Jesse Willenbring, Michał Woliński
Schedule of Events:
Kathryn Andrews: Performative Sculpture
Whenever Wednesday, March 14, 6.30–8.30pm
Wednesday, April 4, 6–8pm
Saturday, May 12, 2–4pm
Saturday, June 9, 2–4pm
Saturday, July 14, 2–4pm
Bodega: Performance Series
Saturday, March 31, 2pm – Nick Paparone with Pooneh Maghazehe
Saturday, April 8, 2pm – Elizabeth Orr
Saturday, May 5, 2pm – Yve Laris Cohen
Saturday, June 2, 1pm – Jen Rosenblit
Saturday, June 23, 2pm – Xavier Cha
Saturday, July 7, 2pm – Nick Paparone with Pooneh Maghazehe
Saturday, Aug 4, 2pm – Elizabeth Orr
Machete Group: Discussion Series
Whenever Wednesday, March 28, 6:30pm – Presentation of the Dictionary of the Present
Saturday April 28, 2pm – “Intention” with Shifter Magazine (Rit Premnath and Matt Metzger)
Whenever Wednesday, May 23, 6:30pm – “Unsearchable” with Mashinka Firunts and Danny Snelson
Saturday, May 26, 2pm – “Attention” with The Order of the Third Bird
Sunday, July 29, 2pm – Conversation between Machete Group and Bodega
Marginal Utility: Exhibition Schedule
March 14– April 8, Alexi Kukuljevic
April 13–April 22, Mike Vass
April 20–May 13, Jayson Musson
May 18–June 10, John Hawke
June 15–July 9, Daniel Lefcourt
July 13–July 30, Richard Harrod
August 3–12, Abigail DeVille
Wu Tsang: Screening
Whenever Wednesday, July 25 7pm @ International House – Wildness, 2012, Dir. Wu Tsang: 75 min.
Related events by Wendy Yao (Ooga Booga) to be announced
