Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning (JCAL) has opened the new exhibition “Conundrum Express,” which will be on display through March 20.
The exhibit, which opened with a reception on February 3 and is being presented by the AHL Foundation, was curated by Shinnie Kim and features the works of five different artists.
This is the first time that Kim has worked with JCAL. She previously had been working with JCAL curator Heng-Gil Han on an unrelated exhibition when he introduced her to the AHL Foundation.
According to the organization’s web site, the foundation “was established to support cultural/artistic events with the purpose of building a wider public awareness of the contributions of Korean-American artists to contemporary art. It intends to discover talented artists and provide them with an opportunity to further their creative activities through grants and exhibitions.”
“Conundrum Express” is part of the foundation’s annual exhibition program. Kim began working on it in the spring of 2009.
“It’s more about the approach to understand the artwork,” Kim said of the exhibit’s theme.
She explained that the exhibit is trying to get people to think about and understand the logic the artists used while creating their pieces, and that it is about more than just what a person first sees.
Each year, Kim said, the AHL Foundation has a competition where they select six artists from. She said that she chose some of the people from the competition for “Conundrum Express.” Other artists in the exhibition are individuals she has known from residence programs.
The pieces in the exhibit are in a variety of mediums, including paintings, drawing, sculpture and video. The piece by Zaun Lee was made specifically for “Conundrum Express,” while those by Humberto Duque, Eun Hyung Kim, Jaye Moon and Dario Solman were all pre-made.
“The works in the show…remind us of different kinds of conundrums,” Kim said.
One piece is a “big maze made by Legos and Plexiglas,” Kim said. There is also a mobile-inspired sculpture, drawings that look like a puzzle and video animation that will remind people of a video game.
“I think it’s a show not only for the art lovers, but for those who are not very familiar with contemporary art,” Kim said, adding that younger people can also enjoy seeing “Conundrum Express.”
The participating artists are from a variety of backgrounds and represent both international and New York-based artists, including Queens resident Solman.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to show the international artists plus local artists,” Kim said.
Kim’s first experience with JCAL has been a positive one. She said that everyone was very help and that the art handlers were terrific.
The Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning, which was founded in 1972, is located at 161-04 Jamaica Avenue. For more information, visit www.jcal.org, call 718-658-7400 or email info@jcal.org.
JCAL is open Mondays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
To find out more about the AHL Foundation, visit www.ahlfoundation.org.
