Open House

Lia Lowenthal

Pooneh Maghazehe

Sophie Stone

In the dismantling of form and content, integral structural elements and decorative, more incidental elements remain co-present. In the space of their co-presence, their weaving together, their folding in and enfolding, we may come undone, disoriented, forget how touse things. Or we may build new vocabularies of use and gesture, of style, of setting. Open House, the third event of Season 2: “Against, Beside, Above and Beyond,” invites actors to assemble in this domestic scene. There is no set schedule to the day. Guests are welcome to stop by at any time, stay for as long as they wish, and participate on any level.

The Open House encourages prolonged and expanded engagement with new artworks by Lia Lowenthal, Pooneh Maghazehe and Sophie Stone, in an intimate context. The day considers different unscripted activities in a space of mutual reverberation. Self-organized and group study sessions may occur organically. By this we mean, talking and walking around with other people, working, dancing, suffering, some convergence of all three, collected under the name of speculative practice (Fred Moten and Stefano Harney on “study,” The Undercommons). Reading and discussion of a selection of texts chosen by the artists may take place independently or in groups spontaneously and/or continuously. Other activities may include the screening of a short film, listening and writing sessions, demonstrations by the artists, arranging flowers, cooking and tea-making. OPEN HOUSE stages an ongoing scenography in the living space, around and with works of art, by cultivating atmosphere, attention, and conversation in a variety of directions.

Works by Gloria Maximo and Carter Mull, installed earlier in the season, continue to be on view.

Organized by: Josephine Shokrian, Rachel Valinsky and Lulu Wolf.

Lia Lowenthal (b. 1984, New York City) is an artist based in Brooklyn. She holds an MFA from the Milton Avery School of the Arts at Bard College, and a BA from University of California, Los Angeles. Recent exhibitions and collaborations include 321 Gallery (NY, 2015), Wendy’s Subway (NY, 2015), Southfirst (NY, 2014), Swiss Institute (NY, 2014), and Art in General (NY, 2012). Her work has been written about in the New Yorker and Paletten Magazine.

Pooneh Maghazehe (b. 1979 Brooklyn, NY) has exhibited works and collaborative performances at ZKM Center for Art and Media, Beijing 798 Biennale, Newark Penn Station, DePaul University Museum in Chicago, ICA Philadelphia, 247365, and ICA Portland. She received an MFA from Columbia University (2011) and MS in Interior Architecture from Pratt Institute (2005). Maghazehe has worked in the field of architectural design for the past 11 years. She owns and operates the interior design firm LM // PM Productions LLC and teaches at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore.

Sophie Stone (b. 1987, lives and works in New York) received her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2009. Her work has been shown at Nicole Klagsbrun, Shoot the Lobster, Night Gallery and Del Vaz Projects. Stone is also a co-founder of Petrella’s Imports.