Hello, friends—
Happy Wednesday! After the trip to Miami last week, it’s really nice to be back in the north—where, I guess I just have to admit, I like the cold and definitely enjoy a less frenetic pace. That said, it was lovely to catch up with numerous artists, dealers, and friends, many of whom I’ve not seen for quite a few years or have been in touch with—in some cases for years—without meeting in person until now.
No matter how much emailing or DMing through Instagram that we do, nothing replaces being able to meet or catch up with people in the real world. At the end of the day, the relationships and their natural evolution are what it’s all about, and it’s always a good thing to be reminded of that from time to time. How lovely it is to find connections, make new acquaintances, and be surprised!
And in other news, I’m so excited that this newsletter has surpassed 5,000 subscribers! (!!) Thanks so much for your support and interest in the work and ideas that fill this digest.
See you next week!
—Kate
If you don’t already, you can get twice as many newsletters—plus bonus editions with even more open calls and news—by becoming a paid subscriber. You’l be directly supporting my work here and on Dovetail, Young Space’s sibling project. Thank you!
What you’ll find below:
Tyler Macko is an artist to watch
From Dovetail: Ashwini Bhat’s Assembling Calfornia
Five exhibitions on view this week in London, New York, and Antwerp
Twelve opportunities for artists with deadlines coming up soon
Featured Artist: Tyler Macko
Tyler Macko’s work stood out last week at NADA in Miami, in Brussels, Belgium-based gallery Super Dakota’s booth—a great one all around. It might sound a little twee to describe my first impression of Macko’s works as elaborate frosted sugar cookies, but I think if you check out the details (below) you’ll see what I mean.
What first catches your eye are all of the wooden shapes, cut from ply and sanded on the edges into biscuit-like pieces that look like they’re iced with thick paint. I kept thinking, is it a bad thing that I want to snap a piece of this off? The textures are almost irresistible, layered and woven among other objects like bones, painted mirrors, nests, lights, and more.
See much more of Macko’s work on his Instagram.
From Dovetail: Ashwini Bhat
When Ashwini Bhat first visited the U.S. from her small, rural hometown in southern India in 2012, she knew only two people in the country. Three years later, she migrated on an artistic merit visa, and in 2017, she was ready to set down roots in Petaluma, Sonoma County, California. In October of that year, the catastrophic Tubbs Fire swept through neighboring Santa Rosa, burning much of it to the ground.
“While it was terrifying, I was deeply moved by the way the community came together to help one another,” the artist says. “Until the Tubbs Fire encounter, I had thought of fire mostly as a generative force. But observing the devastation in Santa Rosa, I found myself wanting to better understand the phenomena of forest fires and the complex natural history of California.”
Starting in 2018, Bhat endeavored to learn as much as she could about the nature of forest fires, teaming up with biologists who were documenting how post-fire sites were gradually re-inhabited. This experience spurred the artist’s ongoing project Assembling California, comprising what she calls a “a personal, artistic field survey of California’s ecology in a time of climate change, shifting habitats, and devastating forest fires.”
Continue reading on dovetailmag.com.
Exhibitions
LONDON | COB GALLERY
Chinaza Agbor: Kindness and Hospitality from a Foreigner
Atmospheric oil paintings by Nigerian-American artist Chinaza Agbor combine atmospheric abstraction and figuration through an autobiographical lens of her experiences growing up in the American South and her search for self-love.
Runs through December 16
ANTWERP | SOFIE VAN DE VELDE
Art Antwerp 2023: Gommaar Gilliams
I love a small art fair, especially an invitational one, because the presentations are often strong and curated, giving a good sense of galleries’ programs in an environment that doesn’t overwhelm. I’ve long been a fan of Gommaar Gilliam’s paintings, and Sofie Van de Velde Gallery presents a solo booth of new works at Art Antwerp, which in its third year includes 70 galleries from 12 countries.
Runs through December 17
LONDON | ROYAL DRAWING SCHOOL
The Drawing Year 2023
I always look forward to this annual exhibition presented by the Royal Drawing School, featuring works on paper by students from the past year. More than two dozen artists, comprising the 2023 cohort, have numerous works on view. Pictured above is a piece by Lucy Gogoliuk, who I happened to meet in Edinburgh right before she headed to London to begin this program.
Runs through December 19
NEW YORK CITY | PETZEL
Derek Fordjour: SCORE
Combining new work with sculptures and installations made throughout the past decade, New York-based Derek Fordjour’s solo exhibition at Petzel is phenomenal, exploring a wide range of media and meaning, including a collaborative performance (2 and 5pm daily, through December 16th).
Runs through December 22
LONDON | HUXLEY PARLOUR
Catherine Repko: A New Season’s Dawning
I’ve always been drawn to Catherine Repko’s dreamy figurative compositions, which often reference her relationships with her sisters and loved ones. Moments of tenderness and togetherness glow in her solo show at Huxley Parlour.
Runs through January 13
Artist Opportunities
Deadlines are coming up soon to apply for these grants, fellowships, residencies, and more.
Tarabya Cultural Academy Residencies
Deadline: December 15
Open to artists in Germany or with connections between Germany and Turkey, Tarabya Cultural Academy awards four- to eight-month stays in Istanbul for practitioners working in architecture, visual art, performing art, design, literature, music, film, journalism, and cultural theory. Residents receive accommodation and a lump sum grant amounting to €2,500 per month.
Submission fee: none
Dovetail Call for Pitches
Deadline: December 17
Dovetail (Young Space’s sibling publication) is commissioning two new stories for January. Writers are invited to submit pitches for articles that explore connections between visual art and place, and are compensated $300. This opportunity is directly supported by you as a paid subscriber to this newsletter. Thank you!
Submission fee: none
Creative Debuts Black Artist Grant
Deadline: December 31
Creative Debuts offers unrestricted monthly grants of £500 to Black artists based in the U.K.
Submission fee: none
MyMa Artist Grant
Deadline: January 1
MyMA Artist Grant is a monthly juried grant that provides an unrestricted $500 award to one artist each month.
Submission fee: none
Derwent Art Prize
Deadline: January 4
The Derwent Art Prize invites international artists to submit 2D and 3D artworks created using any type of pencil, including color, water-soluble, pastel, graphite, and charcoal pencils. The Derwent Art Prize presents an international exhibition at gallery@OXO, Southbank, London, and awards prizes to winning artists worth £13,000.
Submission fee: £15 for the first work, £5 for each additional work, up to 6 images. Artists under 25 years of age will pay £5 per work.
European Media Arts Festival 2024 Open Call
Deadline: January 7
Artists working in the areas of film, installation and expanded live projects such as performances, interactive works, or workshops can be submitted to the European Media Arts Festival in April 2024.
Submission fee: none
Cow House Studios Parenting Artist Residency
Deadline: January 7
The two-week Parenting Artist Residency at Cow House Studios in Wexford, Ireland, is designed specifically for parenting artists with dependents between two and twelve years old; children and partners are welcome. This residency will offer childcare, a stipend of €500, accommodation, and meals. This residency aims to provide a platform that is notably missing from existing offerings; fostering solidarity among artists who often as a result of having a family end up isolated and alienated from existing art structures.
Submission fee: none
South Arts Southern Prize and State Fellowships
Deadline: January 8
The South Arts Southern Prize and State Fellowships acknowledge, support, and celebrate the highest quality artistic work being created in the American South, open to individual artists living in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Each of nine-state fellowship winners will be awarded a $5,000 state fellowship and will compete for one of the two Southern Prizes. The $25,000 Southern Prize will be awarded to the artist whose work demonstrates the highest artistic excellence, and a runner-up will be awarded a $10,000 prize.
Submission fee: $25 (a waiver may be available)
Anderson Center Residency Open Call
Deadline: January 9
The Anderson Center at Tower View's Artist Residency Program is an opportunity for early-career, mid-career, and established artists working across all disciplines and based anywhere in the world. Artists are provided room, board, and workspace/studio space at Tower View in Redwing, Minnesota.
Submission fee: $30
Anderson Center Deaf Artists Residency
Deadline: January 9
The Anderson Center at Tower View’s Deaf Artists Residency (DAR) provides five deaf artists the opportunity to come together to live, work and share ideas in ASL, while advancing their own personal artistic projects. Artists selected to participate in the cohort will receive a $1,400 stipend for the month, reimbursement of up to $600 in travel costs, art-making resources, lodging and studio space, groceries, and chef-prepared communal dinners.
Submission fee: none
Anderson Center Early-Career Artist Residency
Deadline: January 9
Anderson Center’s Early Career Artist Residency Program offers month-long residency-fellowships at Tower View to a cohort of emerging artists from Minnesota or one of the five boroughs of New York City. Selected artists receive a stipend of $625 per week, documentation support, art-making resources, lodging and studio space, a travel honorarium, groceries, and chef-prepared communal dinners.
Submission fee: none
Joshua Tree Highlands Artist Residency
Deadline: January 10
Seven-week residencies at JTHAR include $1,000 in scholarship funds, living accommodations, and studio space designed to accommodate a broad range of artistic activity and open studio events. The Gothard Family Artist Scholarship awards a $1,200 stipend to a JTHAR residency recipient of African American heritage.
Submission fee: $45
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