PRESS RELEASE: HOLLAND TUNNELL

SUBJECT:MOVING INTO OUTSIDE
Williamsburg Artists on the Pulse of the Environment

Opening Reception: Friday July17,1999, 5-9pm
Exhibition Schedule:July 17-August 29

curated/Directed by Marni Kotak

"The intersecttion of nature, culture, history and ideology form the ground on which we stand--our land, our place, the local"
(Lucy R. Lippard, Lure of the Local, 1997).

The self is inextricably entwined with the environment. When we create art, language, or technology we shape the community around us which in turn transforms us. How important is it then to create, conscious of the relationship between our work and the context in which it is made?

Holland Tunnell, which will host Moving into Outside from July 17 through August 29, is a perfect venue for integrating art with the environment of Williamsburg. The space , originally envisioned as a storage shed for director Paulien Lethen, is set in the courtyard behind Lethen's brownstone home on S.3rd Street in the predominantly Latino section of Williamsburg/Greenpoint--opening onto the street and surrounded by views of the Williamsburg bridge, the Domino sugar factory, local bodegas, neighborhood houses and their inhabitants.

The participating artists, all from the Williamsburg/Greenpoint community, including its prominent Polish, Latino and Hasidic groups__ Danica Phelps, Jennifer Ditacchio, Patrick Killoran, Vincent Cianni, Marni Kotak, Christopher Moore, Diane Lowey, Phillis Yampolsky, Elizabeth Campbell, Lukasz Dublanski, Rueda Pacheco, Heather Cassils, Karl Frederick Haendel, Bryan Hiott, Andrezj Gumiela, Jane Klotz, Rachel Beane, Lisa Greagh and Gabriela Swiatkowski and Irving Herzberg-- will be exhibiting work of various media exploring the ongoing dialogue between themselves and the local community. Five of the artists will give workshops on community art to children from the local Eastern Distric YMCA during the weeks of the exhibition, through an educational outreach program.

Moving into Outside is curated/directed by installation artist Marni Kotak, assisted by Mariska van Dalfsen, both residents of Williamsburg/Greenpoint. This exhibition is the forth in a series of community based shows curated by Marni Kotak over the last year that deal with local artists' relationship to their environment.