Sunday, April 18, 3–4:30 PM
In-person at Smack Mellon with a limited capacity* and streamed live on Zoom, starting at 3:00PM EDT (find the full Zoom call details at the bottom of the page)
Join us for a discussion with the artists about their current solo exhibitions. In conversation with curator Gabriel de Guzman, jc lenochan will speak about the issues of race, class, and social injustice that he confronts through his work in UNDOING WHITE MESS. Katya Grokhovsky will discuss the themes of migration, displacement, and consumerism in her mixed media sculptural installation FANTASYLAND, moderated by Smack Mellon’s Rachel Vera Steinberg.
*This program at Smack Mellon has a limited capacity of 25 in-person attendees. All visitors must read and comply with the guidelines of our COVID Courtesy Code. Please arrive early to ensure your entry to the event, which is first come, first serve. In-person attendees will not be admitted into the gallery after the event begins.
Multidisciplinary artist jc lenochan’s recent exhibitions include solo shows at Real Art Ways in Hartford, CT, and The Gateway Project in Newark, NJ. His work has also been featured in group shows at BronxArtSpace, The Drawing Center, NY; Tarble Arts Center, Charleston, IL; Harvey B. Gantt Center, Charlotte, NC; and the National Czech and Slovak Museum, Cedar Rapids, IA, among many other venues. He is the recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Grant, Artist in Residence at Art Omi, Denniston Hill artist residency, Artist in Residence at the Newark Museum, Franklin Furnace Grant, The Brodsky Fellowship for print and paper innovation, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, Puffin Foundation Grant, SIP Robert Blackburn Fellowship, Fountainhead Residence in Miami, Step Up Artist at Real Art Ways, Open Sessions at The Drawing Center and a New Jersey Council of the Arts fellowship/grant. He earned an MFA from Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of Art, and he has also attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.
Born in Ukraine and raised in Australia, Katya Grokhovsky is a New York-based artist, curator, and Founding Director of The Immigrant Artist Biennial. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Grokhovsky has received support through numerous residencies including The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (EFA) Studio Program, School of Visual Arts MFA Art Practice Artist in Residence, Kickstarter Creator in Residence, Pratt Fine Arts Department Artist in Residence, Art and Law Fellowship, The Museum of Arts and Design Studio Program, BRICworkspace Residency, Ox-BOW School of Art Residency, Wassaic Artist Residency, Atlantic Center for the Arts, Studios at MASS MoCA, NARS Residency, Santa Fe Art Institute Residency, Watermill Center, and more. She has been awarded the Brooklyn Arts Council Grant, NYFA Fiscal Sponsorship, ArtSlant 2017 Prize, Asylum Arts Grant, Australian Council for the Arts Grant, and Freedman Traveling Scholarship for Emerging Artists, among others. Grokhovsky earned an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a BFA from Victorian College of the Arts, and a BA in Fashion from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.
Gabriel de Guzman was recently appointed Director of Arts & Chief Curator at Wave Hill, where is responsible for shaping the visual and performing arts program at this public garden and cultural center in the Bronx. Until February 2021, he was Curator & Director of Exhibitions at Smack Mellon, where he organized group and solo exhibitions that feature emerging and under-recognized mid-career artists whose work often explores critical, socially relevant issues. Before joining Smack Mellon’s staff in 2017, de Guzman held a previous position at Wave Hill; as Curator of Visual Arts, he organized solo projects for emerging artists, as well as thematic group exhibitions that explored human connections to the natural world. As a guest curator, he has also presented shows at Dorsky Gallery Curatorial Programs, BronxArtSpace, Dyckman Farmhouse Museum, Rush Arts Gallery, En Foco at Andrew Freedman Home, the Affordable Art Fair New York, Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance, and the Bronx Museum’s 2013 AIM Biennial. Prior to Wave Hill, he was a curatorial assistant at The Jewish Museum. His essays have been published in Nueva Luz: Photographic Journal and in catalogues for the Arsenal Gallery at Central Park, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, and the art institutions mentioned above. He earned an M.A. in art history from Hunter College and a B.A. in art history from the University of Virginia.
Image above, left to right: Detail from Katya Grokhovsky, Becoming American, 2021, Tarp, rope, teddy bear, mannequin, wig, clothing, fabric, foam mattress, cardboard, dollar store plastic shopping bag, paper mache mask, wig, acrylic, wall paint, glue, wire, TV screen, HD video ed 1/9; jc lenochan, language is never neutral, 2018, discarded journals and concrete on canvas, 36” x 48”. Courtesy of the artist.