We are the Bronx gallery for the 2013 Curate NYC and we've chosen our 25 artists from over 1,900 entries!


October 29 - November 23, 2013
Opening Reception - Tuesday, October 29 6-8pm

Closing Reception - Saturday, November 16 5-7pm

Curate NYC Bronx Gallery


Elisa Contemporary Art has been selected as the Bronx Gallery to showcase artists selected by owner/curator Lisa Cooper from the Third Annual Curate NYC competition.

The exhibit featuring 25 artists selected from over 1,900 entries from the New York City area will open on October 29th and run through November 23, 2013.

There will be an opening reception on Tuesday, October 29th from 6-8pm and a closing reception sponsored by Bronx Brewery on Saturday, November 16th from 4-7pm.

Our 25 selected artists from over 1,900 entries include: 7 from the Bronx, 8 each from Manhattan and Brooklyn, and 2 from Queens. We will be featuring artwork across all mediums including painting, mixed media, works on paper, photography and sculpture.

Selected artists are:
  • Jonathan Alonso         Bronx          Photography
  • Donna Diamond          Bronx          Drawing
  • Glenn Fischer              Bronx          Mixed Media
  • Robert Presutti          Bronx          Photography
  • Barnabas Quigley          Bronx          Sculpture
  • Nancy Quigley             Bronx          Sculpture
  • Rhynna M. Santos          Bronx          Photography

  • Alexis Duque             Manhattan          Painting
  • Elizabeth Knowles        Manhattan          Painting
  • Cheryl Koralik              Manhattan          Photography
  • Francis Minien             Manhattan          Photography
  • Enrique Ortiz          Manhattan          Photography
  • Saul Robbins          Manhattan          Drawing/Photography
  • Claudia Vargas          Manhattan          Drawing
  • Art Zamora          Manhattan          Painting

  • James Burger          Brooklyn          Photography
  • Jon Elliott          Brooklyn          Drawing
  • Elsie Kagan          Brooklyn          Painting
  • Jennifer M Murray          Brooklyn          Mixed Media/painting
  • Douglas Newton          Brooklyn          Painting
  • Charlotte Thorp          Brooklyn          Mixed Media
  • Deborah Ugoretz          Brooklyn          Mixed Media
  • Zaria Forman          Brooklyn          Drawing

  • Yoko Naito          Queens          Photography
  • Robert von Leszczynski          Queens          Photography


  • ABOUT OUR SELECTED ARTISTS AND THEIR ARTWORK::
    Jonathan Alonso
    When reading the novel Night by Elie Wiesel a few years ago, I decided to go back and capture a moment that I imagined. The theme of the holocaust that came to mind were faith in GOD, and silence. I try to capture both themes in one shot, resulting to Abandoned.

    James Burger
    This image is part of a series-in-progress that explores the concept of unease, using primarily inanimate objects and contrived situations. A sense of unease can be triggered by many different stimuli, and the cause for one person might be entirely different than for another. What might cause minor unease in one person might have no effect on another, or might even instill a sense of true horror in a third.

    Donna Diamond
    ‘Unanswered Questions’ is a series of ink drawings on paper. The drawings are an investigation into the nature of light and shadow. These images are begun by drawing with reflected sunlight onto my studio wall. The gesture of my body creates shadows onto which strong morning sunlight can be reflected and manipulated. The character of these sunlight drawings is ephemeral and fleeting, and the nature of light and shadow on a wall is two dimensional. Working with ink on paper allows me to re-imagine the light and shadow unconstrained by time. It also allows me to suggest a three dimensional space in which light becomes a fragile structure that glows, moves, and saturates the surrounding air.

    Alexis Duque
    Alexis Duque was born in Colombia 1971, he currently lives and works in New York. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The University of Antioquia, Colombia. His works rely on just a few colors. Notwithstanding the use of acrylic paint, he makes the influence of illustration apparent, equally attending to all of the aspects of the painted surface without leaving anything to chance. The Colombian artist introduces architectural features that are characteristic of the Western Civilization, from ancient Greece and Rome: columns, capitals, and niches. They are symbols of the bygone ruling culture and the aesthetic model of the European colonizers, now an integral part of daily life of the populations of Latin America.

    His work has been exhibited in numerous venues including: at El Museo del Barrio, The Drawing Center and Praxis International Gallery in New York; The Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA), Long Beach, CA; Champion Contemporary, Austin, TX; RudolfV Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands and Galleri Oxholm in Copenhagen, Denmark. Duque’s work has been featured in several publications, including: Blue Canvas Magazine, LandEscape Art review, Beautiful Decay, Artistaday, New American Paintings, Studio Visit Magazine, The East Hampton Star, The East Hampton Press and El Diario of New York.

    His most recent exhibitions to date were at "Sommerudstilling ’13" at Galleri Oxholm, Copenhagen, Denmark; "For which it stands" The Lodge gallery, New York, NY;"Seeking space" 3rd Ward Brooklyn, Bushwick, NY; "A House Full of friends" Curated by Turid Meeker and David Gibson at NOoSPHERE, New York, NY; "Paintings" at Galleri Oxholm, Copenhagen, Denmark; "The Architecture of an idea: Illustrations and concepts", The Alden B. Dow Museum of Science and Art, Midland, Michigan (2013).

    Jon Elliott
    This is a conceptual sketch for a potential wall installation that will either be comprised of ceramic tile, or from handmade paper. I have made several of these wall installations, but am excited about some of these new designs.

    This work is about the spontaneous creation of wholes from multitudes of individual parts following a few simple rules. This kind of modeling can be used to understand phenomena on both the macro and micro scales, from the human to the cosmic, etc.

    Glenn Fischer
    In my current work I use materials like found paper, textbooks, vintage album covers and magazine clippings to construct my collages. I’m especially drawn to color, imagery and subject matter from the 1950’s, 60’s & 70’s and use color, line and shape to achieve different patterns in my work.

    Inspiration often comes from a wide range of places. The repetition of patterns found on buildings in urban settings, woven textiles and handmade quilts all continue to influence the direction of my work.

    The materials I use are meticulously hand cut into strips and shapes and deliberately arranged to create different patterns. Fragmented images and parts of words and phrases very often offer clues to underlying narratives.

    While there is clearly a lot of control exercised throughout the construction of each piece, the creative process overall remains an intuitive one. Materials are selected mostly based on color and I always let the materials dictate in the end where a piece of work will go.

    Zaria Forman
    n August, 2012, I led an Arctic art expedition called Chasing the Light aboard the Wanderbird up the NW coast of Greenland. It was the second expedition to this area whose mission was to create art inspired by the dramatic geography. The first was in 1869, led by the American painter William Bradford.

    This body of work documents climate change through art. In a deeper sense, this series addresses the concept of saying goodbye on both a personal and global level.

    My mother, Rena Bass Forman, had conceived the idea for the voyage, but sadly did not live to see it through. During the months of her illness her dedication to the expedition never wavered and I promised to carry out her final journey. In Greenland, I scattered her ashes amongst crackling ice diamonds, on the towering peak of one of earth’s oldest stones and under the green glow of northern lights. She is now a part of the landscape she loved so much. I am deeply grateful for the team of talented artists and scholars and the Wanderbird captains and crew for helping me carry out her wishes and realize her dream.

    My hope is that these drawings bring awareness, and invite viewers to share the urgency in a hopeful and meaningful way. Art can facilitate a deeper understanding of any crisis, helping us find meaning and optimism in shifting landscapes.

    Elsie Kagan
    I want to recapture the moment I awakened to painting at nine years old, examining a small Dutch oil sketch and feeling it had been made precisely for me. My recent works are 5-foot square canvases that capture a sense of landscape. They draw from 16th and 17th Century Northern European painting, tangled with glimpses of Brooklyn city life. I try to fuse the form and depth of these familiar older paintings with my contemporary obsession with paint’s materiality; looking for both illusion and surface ‘presence,’ without sacrificing the power of each.

    This work evokes the experience of being outside – water glistening, wind blowing, a bulb gleaming on a dark street – but also the sweep of the arm, and gravity pulling liquid down the canvas. I strive for the moment when paint is at once a smear and a hazy view of a town across a bay.

    Elizabeth Knowles
    Natural patterns inspire my work. Some are biological patterns on the cellular level of organisms. Others are geological patterns of the earth’s natural landscapes. My work particularly derives from a fascination with the fractal aspect of life forms as patterns replicate on differing scales.

    Starting with the most simple and building to the more complex, my creative process becomes a recreation of the interaction of different levels of life. I begin with one small component such as a circle and I connect it with another and another and another until a more intricate whole is created. This action is similar to that of a cell grouping together with other cells to form a more multifaceted organism.

    By layering clear pools of acrylic polymers with textural applications of acrylic paints and gels, I experiment with a variety of textures and effects similar to the fluid qualities of the microscopic world. Ranging from the atomistic to larger organizational systems, I explore how dynamic patterns connect landscapes and life forms, physiology and physics, death and detritus, growth and form. The paintings depict the complex interface between the various levels of life and the mysterious connection between them.

    Cheryl Koralik
    My career as a photographer began while studying at Columbia College in Chicago under the tutelage of Bob Thall, Ruth Thorne-Thomsen and Alan Cohen. These mentors helped me develop a particular affinity for portraiture and encouraged me to explore fashion photography.

    This exploration led me to Milan and, after developing my own style, I began shooting fashion editorials for magazines such as Vogue, Marie Claire and Harper’s Bazaar. Exposure from this work brought me international recognition, resulting in fashion advertising assignments for Bloomingdales, Macy’s and Saks Fifth Avenue in New York; Matsuda/Monsieur Nicole in Tokyo; Adidas, Austin Reed and Mulberry in London; Cacharel in Paris; and numerous other clients.

    My work then segued and became more focused on advertising. I produced award-winning campaigns for BMW, British Airways, MasterCard, Martell Cognac and the Smithsonian Institution, among others. The awards included a Ceba for Excellence (1990), Communication Arts Award for Excellence (1991, 1995, 1999 and 2001), the Art Directors Club Annual Exhibition (1991), a Studio Magazine Annual Award of Excellence (1992), and an Annual American Photography Award of Excellence (1995).

    During this time, I was reintroduced to portraiture, shooting celebrities such as John Hurt, Willem Dafoe and John Lee Hooker for clients including Rolling Stone, Harper’s Bazaar and Vibe magazines. Through this work I reconnected with my photographic origins and realized that, at this point in my journey as an artist, I needed to take my work to a more personally gratifying level. I began to explore a photojournalistic path and traveled to India and Burkina Faso on humanitarian assignments with the non-governmental organization, Action on Disability and Development. This is when I discovered the West African masques. And, suddenly, my life changed completely. I found my true voice, my own personal work. Thus began a new chapter in my photographic career—the masque series.

    Over the next two decades, I made several expeditions to various West African countries, researching and photographing tribal masques—mediums of the spirit world—and their associated rituals. Based on the ancient belief system of animism, the ceremonial masques are a tradition that has been passed down through generations. My documentation is a portrait of a secret society, a sacred part of African heritage.

    The masque photographs have been exhibited internationally in galleries and museums including the Musee de L’Elysee in Lausanne, the Center of Photography in Woodstock, and Charlotte Jackson Fine Art in Santa Fe. A selection of the masque series resides in the permanent collection of the Musee de L’Eysee as well as other private collections. These photographs have been featured in publications including The Sunday Times magazine, Blind Spot, Good Weekend Magazine/The Sydney Morning Herald and will soon be published in The Unseen Eye by Thames & Hudson, as part of William M. Hunt’s photographic collection.

    Francis Minien
    The series evolved after one day a close friend asked me; When did I last climb a tree? What a question, when did I? When was that day that all the joys of childhood slipped away and I became that teenager that was too cool to climb a tree? With this notion came many images and many more thoughts, when did I put away my Action Man or where did my sister’s Barbie go!? Come to think of it, Where did my toys go?

    At some point at the end of my childhood I put down my toys, and at some point at the end of my teenage years the toys had disappeared. I did not have any younger siblings, my toys were not inherited or passed down so where did they go?

    If I think back to my childhood, I can see many opportunities for my toys to disappear, maybe they went to the numerous car-boot or garage sales my mother went too, or maybe it went into the rubbish or trash bag that my mother threatened us with when we left our toys out. I do not know….

    With this collection of staged photographs I wanted to evoke memories of ones youth and childhood on an adult scale, in a familiar landscape, my new playground, New York City.

    Jennifer M Murray
    My work is both an exploration and resolution of my personal observations of the patterns of human culture and power structures. In general I do not believe in fully defining the intent or meaning of works of art, particularly ones that directly reflect the artist’s personal experience. Therefore I employ a metaphorical language to communicate personal experiences, struggles, desires, and dreams. I place people, animals and objects into folkloric, fable-ish compositions that are abstract and obsessive. In each piece, I strive to identify and exploit the tension that comes from placing images in unfamiliar territory. Through association, I create character personalities whose interaction and astonishment at their environment helps us accept the displacement of their images, and therefore, the idea of the piece.

    My newer body of work is an exploration of the permanence and transience of the culture of human time. Part of being human is coming to terms with the fragility of our lives. The tenuousness and tumult of our sociopolitical climate only adds a layer to the papier-mache that quickly hardens and suffocates. The animal characters I employ illustrate the trials of being human via their dissociation from the literality of human life. Seeing an animal cast in a human role can lay bare the comedies, tragedies, and irrelevance of events in life that can seem overwhelming. It is my belief that utilizing animal characters, cast in specifically gendered human roles, helps more clearly to illustrate the fragility and often absurdity of the existence of these conventions in the first place. It is my hope that experiencing the tension of my characters’ hard emotions and sisyphean scenarios results in not only resolution, but also revelation, for myself and the viewer also.

    Yoko Naito
    The indigenous peoples in northern part of Japan, Ainu who has fortune-teller told me that I died in the ocean in my previous existence. I realized that’s the reason why I’m scared of the ocean ever since I was a child. In front of the sea, I feel like I obtain the endless world. The sound of waves calms me down. However, at the same time, I feel like I fall into a sensation that all my ways are shut down and I cannot go anywhere ahead As if my existence is swallowed by waves. I’ve always been tormented by this ambivalent vague emotion which cannot be verbalized. People regard the cognitive experience and the language as all means. The person who can persuade us with language become a winner. Consequently, I who can’t connect the feeling with words am a loser. Therefore the world is always infinite loneliness space for me. Thus I devote myself into the tranquil scenery of the earth in order to avoid ‘the language world’. The distinct boundary, a self-assertion and language become meaningless in the tranquil world. Everything is intangible and every feeling does not necessarily to be verbalized. I accept myself on the desolate nature in an atmosphere of oblivion.

    Douglas Newton
    My paintings often use toys, candy and other objects of childhood, juxtaposed in fresh, unexpected ways, to evoke memories and associations of childhood, which are our deepest memories. I like to capture the colors and textures of objects in oil paint, without following the usual conventions of still life painting. The paintings also work as abstract compositions. Oil paint best captures the magical quality of light with all its attendant reflections, shadows, and subtle graduations of tone.

    Enrique Ortiz
    Spoken language and text can convey complex thought but visual communication is more basic because there is no exchange of words. Our natural instinct to recognize various emotions in the faces of others has been honed over the course of human existence.

    Through evolution, our minds have been trained to recognize emotion just by looking at others, likely because sight is the most fundamental and immediate form of communication. A person can be deaf or mute, but through sight they are still capable of perceiving others’ thoughts and intentions.

    Consequently, our minds have also been trained to recognize these qualities in other animals and inanimate objects alike.

    Throughout history there have been many variations of the quote “the eyes are the window to the soul.” It can be traced as far back as Cicero (106-43 BCE), who is quoted as saying, “Ut imago est animi voltus sic indices oculi” (The face is a picture of the mind as the eyes are its interpreter). Since then, it has also been attributed to various poets and writers, from Shakespeare to the Bible.

    What people have alluded to over the centuries when they say things like “ the eyes are the window to the soul”, or any of its many variations, is that through the eyes they can honestly see what one truly feels or thinks. In other words, our eyes are a more authentic reflection of our thoughts.

    In this series I attempt to portray the relationship of the eyes to emotion. Whether real, glass or painted on, the eyes are essential to non-verbal communication, and even in a doll, we can instinctively recognize shared, universal emotions.

    Robert Presciutti
    I photograph to connect to my reality, to the way I feel about people to always show the positive and proud side in all.

    I like to observe the relationship between people, between people and nature, old and young, opposite sex, the structure of an indian tribe or the busy streets of a large city.

    I love believing in optimism but never loosing site of the dark side of mankind

    Barnabas Quigley
    My interest has moved away from functional pottery in converting wheel-thrown pieces into sculptures. Some of the work is completely cut apart and recombined into assemblages; some is incised [cut into] for a more interesting and intricate form of the original. The combining of wheel-thrown forms and clay slabs representing human figures and settings is another direction of recent work.

    Nancy Quigley
    My medium is clay, a natural, organic and deeply responsive ‘canvas’. Some pieces are combinations of functional and art pottery. I am exploring the creation of masks and abstract ceramic sculptures and wall hangings.

    My work tends to reflect my strong response to colorations and designs from the art of many cultures. Another shaping influence: the incredible variety of forms and designs in nature.

    Saul Robbins
    Where’s My Happy Ending? is my attempt to step back and make sense of the desires and struggles my wife and I have had to start our family. After too many tests and procedures and more emotional upheaval than we care to recount, this collection of photographs, drawings, and ephemera is the closest I have come, so far, to making sense and taking control of this extremely challenging and personal struggle. Daily, my wife and I remain united, actively engaged in, and focused on our desired outcome: a healthy happy family of our own genetic makeup. What began as a few simple snapshots and drawings has become a uniquely meaningful and rewarding project, as the intentions that infuse my creative process remain a constant meditation on the outcome we so desire.

    Where’s My Happy Ending? intends to be as subjective as it is provocative, interpreting the world of medically assisted fertility treatments and the range of anticipation, promises, and disappointments as experienced by prospective parents.

    Rhynna M. Santos
    My work is a reaction to mainstream media that restricts the gaze of communities of color. The play of light and angularity is important as it demonstrates a grander to the urban landscape of the Bronx not commonly seen. As a Bronx resident my relationship with the borough has shaped my work. Artistically I want to give back by moving away from the stereotypical, one-dimensional interpretation of the Bronx and its people. My photographs lend to complicate and portray the drama of the people who live and thrive in the Bronx. I am compiling a photographic collection called The Bronx Unstaged.

    Charlotte Thorp
    My objective: To add some artful trinkets to the general treasury of civilized delight. My means: shifu (Japanese paper which I hand-spin into cords), waxed linen thread, sisal, leather cord–formless materials which can be transformed into objects with structure and volume. My technique: twining, which I have explored extensively, breaking all the rules of the craft in the process. My works have no purpose other than to please and, perhaps, provoke. Some of the contemporary artists whose work is important to me are Hiroshi Sugimoto, James Turrell, Andy Goldsworthy, Lissa Hunter, Winifred Lutz, and Edouardo Chillida,. Their collective vision is inspiring and awesome. Although they work in entirely different media, they share–and I share with them–a fascination with organic form and the guiding principles of understatement and attention to detail.

    Deborah Ugoretz
    I like to address the idea that negative spaces are infused with meanings that are as important as positive space. Doing works in cut paper is one way I speak to this. The process is subtractive and so I have to think a few steps ahead. Even with planning, what comes out when I cut away the background is a delightful surprise. The simplicity, flexibility and strength of paper enables me to transform this material into two and three dimensional art forms with a range of expression that is limitless. Thus the craft of building and forming merges with the expression of ideas. The thing I enjoy most about creating is the process of discovery, that one idea leads to another. I am constantly learning how to master the tools and materials. The tactile, physical act of making something is a journey that gives me great satisfaction.

    A good deal of my work deals with the dynamic balance between what is known and what is mysterious. I try to investigate this by using the modalities of color, light and movement, through the exploration of negative and positive space and through the juxtaposition of ironic elements.

    Claudia Vargas
    Vargas received her MFA from the École Nationale des Beaux Arts in Paris where she studied for six years. She has been actively involved in international residencies, having completed a one month residency in Tibet at the studio of Master Tsering Wangchok and a two month residency at The Cholamandal Artists' Colony in India. Claudia Vargas' work has been written about in Cambia 16, New York Magazine, and The American Journal of Germany. An interview with Louise Bourgeois discussing Claudia's work was included in "La Rivière Gentille," a film by Brigitte Cornand. Her works are included in the collections of The W. Pincus, J. Peabody, and La Fondation Salomon pour l'Art Contemporain. Solo exhibition venues include La Maison de l'Amerique Latine, Galerie A.S in Knokke le Zoute, De Fabriek in Eindhoven and the Durst Organization in New York. Group exhibition highlights include "Polarities" curated by the late Willoughby Sharp at the Durst Organization in New York, Musee des Beaux Arts de Caen and ART/MA in Budapest.

    Robert von Leszczynski
    I am a NYC-based photographer fond of fine art and pop culture, and I am excited when I see these two worlds intersect. When I produce an image, I usually know what popular song or film it could be paired with. The result is an artwork that could potentially represent a particular song, film, or a book in a promotional campaign.

    Art Zamora
    My ideas was to paint the elements of ZIRKULAR shape that symbolize the circles of multi-cultural people living in New York City and this kind of ZIRKULAR abstraction is full of symbolical meaning of connectivity and continuous cycles of life in all different perspective. As an artist, i believe that art develops a great language and communication. I believe visual art is the most effective medium of our expression, religiously and politically. This kind of medium can establish forms of worshipping and consciously seeking reconnection with human being. This is the most important instrument to develop our culture and beliefs and spirit of oneness.

Jonathan Alonso
Jonathan Alonso
James Burger
James Burger
Donna Diamond
Donna Diamond
Alexis Duque
Alexis Duque
Jon Elliot
Jon Elliot
Glenn Fischer
Glenn Fischer
Zaria Forman
Zaria Forman
Elsie Kagan
Elsie Kagan
Elizabeth Knowles
Elizabeth Knowles
cheryl Koralik
cheryl Koralik
Francis Minien
Francis Minien
Jennifer M Murray
Jennifer M Murray
Yoko Naito
Yoko Naito
Douglas Newton
Douglas Newton
Enrique Ortiz
Enrique Ortiz
Robert Presciutti
Robert Presciutti
Barnabas Quigley
Barnabas Quigley
Nancy Quigley
Nancy Quigley
Saul Robbins
Saul Robbins
Rhynna M. Santos
Rhynna M. Santos
Charlotte Thorp
Charlotte Thorp
Deborah Ugoretz
Deborah Ugoretz
Robert von Leszczynski
Robert von Leszczynski
Claudia Vargas
Claudia Vargas
Art Zamora
Art Zamora