SPACE IS THE PLACE
Annie Hayes, Nick Hobbs, Max Garcia-Rubio, josh graupera, Alissa Ohashi, SK Reed, Kayla Rumpp & Boryana Rusenova-Ina
11.03.23-11.17.2023
Space is the Place is a curated, group exhibition that explores the multifaceted dimensions of space. This exhibition is in partnership with our friends Dismal Niche, with the opening reception coinciding with the Columbia Experimental Music Festival. This year’s music festival features a performance by the legendary Sun Ra Arkestra and was the thematic inspiration for the open call for works.
Space is the Place brings together work by Kayla Rumpp, SK Reed, josh graupera, Max Garcia-Rubio, Annie Hayes, Alissa Ohashi, Nick Hobbs, and Boryana Rusenova-Ina, presenting a speculative journey through in-between, uncharted, cellular, and otherworldly spaces. Atmospheric textures juxtapose colorfully confined geometries, creating a playful conversation between proximity and vastness, micro and macro. Whether it's redefining a sense of place or delving into uncharted territory, the works within this show contemplate the limitless potential of space, crafting a constellation of possible worlds within the gallery.
Opening Reception:
Friday, November 3 | 6-9 pm
(free and open to the public)
In partnership with Dismal Niche and the Columbia Experimental Music Festival
SPECIAL FFESTIVAL HOURS:
FRI NOV 3 | 6-9 pm
SAT NOV 4 | 1-3 pm
SUN NOV 5 | 5-7 pm
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Annie Hayes (she/her) is a painter who has lived primarily full-time in upstate New York and maintained her artistic life in that beautiful, wild and challenging place. She was recently named a finalist for the NY Foundation for the Arts fellowship in the Printmaking/Drawing/Book Arts category. Currently she is working on a project with a 2023 New York State Council on the Arts support grant that is focused on making a series of drawings and a short film based on farm machinery manuals from the 1940s. She’s been a resident at the Vermont Studio Center, Anderson Ranch and the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation.
Nick Hobbs (he/him) is a visual artist living and working in New York City. He graduated in 2023 with an MFA from the University of Arkansas, received a BFA from the Louisiana Tech University School of Design in 2020, and attended the Undergraduate Residency Program at the New York Academy of Art in 2018. Recent exhibitions have been hosted by Weatherproof (Chicago, IL), IRL Gallery (Brooklyn, NY), Arcadia Contemporary (New York, NY), and the Masur Museum of Art (Monroe, LA). He has been published in print and online by ArtMaze Magazine, The Coastal Post, Friend of the Artist, and Booooooom.
Max Garcia-Rubio (he/him) is a multi-talented artist based in Columbia, MO. He has been working as a soup maker for the past 11 years. Max is known for his love of music, which he weaves into his identity as a seasoned guitar player, electronic music producer, and vinyl DJ. He has performed under the name Maxito Lindo, Chicago Sunspots, and has been involved in the avant-garde art band The Moody Pinks. Although Max pulls from a variety of influences, it’s the living legends amongst the Midwest and collaborators close by that have ultimately developed what Max represents as an artist today.
josh graupera (they/them) is an artist living in Philadelphia, PA. Their practice explores the relationship between visual art and community organizing, using drawing, screen printing, zine-making, and facilitation practices. Their work is visually anchored in sci-fi, fantasy and pre-Columbian art and is inspired by video games, tabletop role-playing games, daydreaming and “alternative” histories. They love video games, microelectronics and their dog Luna.
Alissa Ohashi (she/her) is an experimental, multidisciplinary visual artist. Ohashi received her MFA from Columbus College of Art & Design, and is an instructor of digital photography and collage. She recently completed Artist-In-Residence programs at Enos Park Residency in Springfield, Illinois, Surel's Place in Boise, Idaho, and served as a Fellow at the Columbus Printed Arts Center. Ohashi's work explores the deconstruction of identity and the reconstruction and reintegration of memory. She is also investigating the concepts of time and perception through philosophical and psycho-spiritual lenses. She was selected as an ArtPop award recipient and has had her documentary work featured on a billboard on the westside of Columbus, Ohio.
SK Reed (they/them) is an artist and curator based in Kansas City, Kansas. They received an MFA from The University of Kansas in 2023, an MA from Eastern Illinois University in 2020, and a BFA and BSE from The University of Central Missouri in 2014. Part of many curatorial projects, they run Beco Gallery in Kansas City and are one of five members in an international group named Peer2Peer. Reed’s paintings and ceramic figures feature “Creatures” learning from more-than-human species counter-capitalist and anti-hegemonic ways of being in the world. Strange and fluid bodies navigate landscapes which are informed by Science Fiction and their local environment. Reed searches for relief from an intensely gendered human world by encouraging a wider lens which sees themselves in relationship to a larger non-human kin.
Kayla Rumpp (she/her) is a painter, sculptor, and educator from Tennessee. Her work explores the relationship between painting and sculpture, driven by a fascination with childlike ways of making and seeing within a practice of play. Rumpp’s sculptural-paintings are informed by her exploratory research into color theory, and her time working as an elementary art educator. Rumpp earned a MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Iowa (2023), a MS in Art Education (2017) and BFA in 2D Studio Art (2016), from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Boryana Rusenova-Ina’s (she/her)work reflects on the entanglements of place and belonging by appropriating images from tourism, schoolbooks, and family albums. Her work has been exhibited across Bulgaria including venues like City Gallery Plovdiv and Credo Bonum Foundation's new platform “Young Artists to Watch”. In addition, Boryana's recent exhibitions in the U.S. include the 2021 Amarillo Museum of Art Biennial (TX) and a solo exhibition of her current project at the Springfield Museum of Art (OH). This past year, Boryana was a resident at the Headlands Center for the Arts (CA) and will be attending the Wassaic Project Winter Residency (NY) in 2023.
Financial assistance has been provided by the City of Columbia Office of Cultural Affairs
