image credit: Jodie Lyn-Kee-Chow

We are a collective of curators based in the Hudson Valley and New York City who aim to break away from traditional gallery walls to create new experiences.

ROOTS @ GRANJA PARAISO

UPSTATE ARTS WEEKEND, AUG 27-29, 2021

This project is a sensorial presentation in art, performance and food set against the bucolic backdrop, Granja Paraiso, at the residence of artist and curator Katiushka Melo Green in Germantown, NY. 

The Exhibition:

The exhibition, Roots, will feature more than 15 artists from around the world working in different mediums including on-site installation and performance art. The most essential meaning of the word Roots is the basic cause, source, or origin of something. Roots can evoke a wide array of feelings: a primal connection, belonging to a family, and also life and nature. It evokes deep attachment. We invited artists from diverse cultural backgrounds to present a work that questions their personal interpretation of Roots. We spotlight a few local artists, as well, who have, themselves, made their own recent migration from the city and explore their place within their new community and natural setting.

Roots is inspired by the story of a friend from a Mexican indigenous tribe: from generation to generation, a seed is inherited and planted. Within the growth of the forest you can see her literal ancestral roots, the passing of time is seen in each ring of the tree. 

The Space and Experience:

Granja Paraiso sits across 5 acres that include a renovated studio, a rustic barn, a robust garden and a chicken coop, with fields of open space.

The barn will have two installations and a video piece set aside the chicken coop. The audience will enter Granja Paraiso through the herb gardens where platforms will be set up and a programming of different performance artists will take place. Inside the studio we will find paintings on the wall and Ryan Franck’s on-site installation can be viewed from the outside of the structure. As the sun sets, performance artist Guadalupe Maravilla will activate the land with a gong ceremony meant to heal; all are invited to join. 

Some of the participating artists include: AES+F, Sama Alshaibi, Maarten Baas, Antonio Bokel, Ryan Franck, Christy Gast, Jeffrey Gibson, Jodie Lyn-Kee Chow, Katiushka Melo Green, Yeni Mao, Alexandra Mabes, Madeleine Roger Lacan, Sebastian Silva, Guadalupe Maravilla, Audra Wolowiec, Alejandra Vanderland, and others.

The curators come from different artistic backgrounds, Casey Burry, Dina Bizri and Katiushka Melo Green.

Casey Burry is an arts and cultural producer who has run numerous influential galleries, artist studios, initiatives and projects around the world. From turning storefronts into immersive pop-ups and building gift shops inside traditional institutions to developing artist residencies and producing large scale installations and docuseries, Casey advises a diverse range of clients and is a founding board member of Solidartsy, a non-profit resource platform for female artists.

Katiushka Melo-Green is a performance artist and chef based in the Hudson Valley (http://www.katiushkamelogreen.com/). She is an avid fermenter of all things and founded the probiotic ice cream brand Culture Cream. Katiushka has curated exhibitions in China, Mexico, Chile and the United States. Her work has been shown internationally, most recently at Museo de Arte Moderno, Art Basel Miami and Centro Cultural Veracruzana. 

Dina Bizri is an independent curator living and working in New York City. She has exhibited works in various spaces in Beirut, Paris and New York. She is currently co-curating the Lebanese Pavilion at the 59th International Biennale of Contemporary Art in Venice in 2022. She previously worked at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York and art galleries such as Perrotin Paris, CRG Gallery New York and Lehmann Maupin Gallery New York.