Helping world artists take a bite out of the Big Apple

Volume Number 1 Issue Number 8 / November 17 - 23, 2006

Dennis Elliot, founder and director of the International Studio and Curatorial Program, left, stands with Tobias Zielony, a German photographer and videographer who is currently an artist in residence at I.S.C.P.

By Lawrence Lerner

In a barren eighth-floor art studio overlooking the streets of Hell’s Kitchen, Tobias Zielony hovers over a row of grainy, 30-inch-by-36-inch photographs spread before him on the gray concrete floor. He points to a black-and-white shot of two young men standing on a wooded path, lit up like ghosts by the camera’s flash and staring intently, if sullenly, at the lens, their rumpled button-down shirts hanging over ripped jeans. Adjacent to it is an image of one of the men, asleep on a filthy sofa chair in a dilapidated porn cinema.

“These are male prostitutes smuggled into Germany from Eastern Europe,” he says in a mild German accent, his strawberry-blond hair and light, freckled complexion reminiscent of his countryman and former tennis star Boris Becker. “Here, they’ve arrived in Berlin at a cinema known as ‘Big Sexyland.’ They think it’s going to be the place of their dreams, only to discover this desolate place.”

The 32-year-old Zielony landed in New York City to work on and exhibit this series as part of a six-month residency, courtesy of his government’s cultural ministry and the International Studio and Curatorial Program, a nonprofit organization that brings artists and curators from all over the world to live and work in New York, long regarded as the epicenter of the art world.

Tonight through Monday, Zielony will share his work with some of the more than 2,000 arts professionals, enthusiasts and foreign-consulate officials who will descend on I.S.C.P. for one of its Open Weekends, where they will mingle with artists and curators from 20 countries currently in residence at I.S.C.P.’s 26 studios. The exhibit will feature a range of mediums, including painting, sculpture, drawing, installation, performance, video, film, new media, photography and architecture.

“Visitors can expect to see a certain level of art from all over the world and come into contact with arts practices they may be unfamiliar with,” said Dennis Elliot, I.S.CP.’s founder and director. “You rarely can talk to artists and curators at galleries, so this is an opportunity for people to come into an informal situation to meet with them and see their work.”

Zielony is looking forward to getting valuable feedback during the four-day event, which is free and open to the public.

“I hope many people come here and see the work,” the photographer/videographer said. “I’ve never shown in New York before, so it’s a good opportunity for me. I’m looking forward to talking to curators and galleries, anyone who might be interested in my current projects.”

Founded in 1994, I.S.C.P. teams with government cultural ministries, foundations and other sponsors to provide free private studio space to promising international artists and curators, most of whom are selected by their countries’ governments after a lengthy and competitive application process. During their stay, which typically lasts from three months to a year, residents are regularly connected with a who’s who of the New York and international art worlds, including guest critics, established curators and artists, gallery owners, journalists and foundations.

“Most residency programs are about giving artists space to do a body of work. We do that, of course, but we also focus on marketing artists and promoting their careers,” said Elliot. “That’s part of what the Open Weekend is about.”

But sending an artist to I.S.C.P. for a year is not cheap.

The organization charges an annual tuition of $19,500 for each artist ($14,000 for curators), which goes toward the cost of running the program and is prorated for residents staying less than a year. Factor in airfare, apartments, living expenses, health insurance, travel and materials, and sponsors are looking at an annual investment of $80,000 per artist.

That may be part of the reason only half the artists and curators stay the entire 12 months.

“We encourage them to stay as long as possible, since it’s hard to help them as much as we’d like in just three months,” said Elliot. “It goes by so fast. The artists say that even the year residency goes by fast.”

I.S.P.C., nevertheless, has current long-term commitments from 13 countries that have “permanent” studios with the organization. Granted, those represent some of the wealthiest countries on the globe, including Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Denmark, Germany, Taiwan, Mexico, Portugal, Italy, the U.S. and Canada.

According to Elliot, most of the artists in residence are “fairly well established in their respective countries. They’d have to be to get selected and funded by their cultural ministry or foundations.”

Geir Haraldseth, a Norwegian who recently graduated from the Center for Curatorial Studies program at Bard College, is the lone curator currently in residence at I.S.C.P., having beaten out 12 competitors for his spot. He is the fourth curator sent by his government since 2002.

At the Open Weekend, Haraldseth will present short clips from cartoons and television shows demonstrating how contemporary artists are represented in the mass media.

“It’s great to have the institutional backing of I.S.C.P., rather than just working out of my office on my own,” Haraldseth said. “It provides symbolic capital and means a lot as I move forward and try to make a name for myself as a curator. That alone is invaluable.”

I.S.C.P. is located at 323 W. 39th St. between Eighth and Ninth Aves. The Open Weekend schedule: Fri., Nov. 17, opening reception, 7 p.m.-9 p.m; Sat. and Sun., Nov. 18-19, open-studio visits, noon-6 p.m.; Mon., Nov. 20, open-studio visits, 2 p.m.-8 p.m.