22 FEBRUARY 27, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Dakota Gearhart’s “The Sextant of the Rose.” Photo courtesy of Knockdown Center
Maspeth’s Knockdown Center unveils
new art exhibitions and music series
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
The Knockdown Center is gearing up to host a
night full of art and music on Saturday, Feb.
29.
The art center, located at 52-19 Flushing Ave. in
Maspeth, will celebrate the opening of three new
art exhibitions with a variety of pieces that range
from murals to videos to sculpture works. Following
those exhibit openings, they will kickoff a
multi-disciplinary music series entitled “Outline,”
which will feature a special musical lineup.
See the programs that are opening for the fi rst
time on Feb. 29:
UPCOMING ART EXHIBITS
Fift yTwo Ft: Laurel Sparks’ “Quad Relay”
Laurel Sparks’ “Quad Relay” will be part of the
Knockdown Center’s Fift yTwo Ft., a series where
they invite artists to create wall-based artworks
in their East Corridor. Sparks is a Brooklyn-based
artist whose work is oft en inspired by geometric
symbol systems and the way they transmit patterns
and materiality.
Her piece, entitled “Quad Relay,” is a mural based
on sestinas, a complex form of mathematical poetry
structured by six stanzas organized in numbered
sequences. The art piece will be on display from Feb.
29 to May 31. The opening reception on Feb. 29 will
be from 5 to 8 p.m.
Dakota Gearhart: “The Sextant of the Rose”
Dakota Gearhart’s artwork, her fi rst solo presentation
in New York, will be on display in the
Knockdown Center’s gallery. Gearhart is a multidisciplinary
artist who focuses on examining
the environment and how it’s perceived through
technology and mythology.
”The Sextant of the Rose” creates an immersive
world with its series of video-sculptures that incorporate
psychedelic videos as well as living and
dying roses. The piece is informed by Gearhart’s
day job as a fl orist, and is meant to conjure an otherworldly
setting with a combination of bouquets
and videos within a suite of organically shaped
sculptures.
The exhibit will run from Feb. 29 to April 12. The
opening reception on Feb. 29 will be from 5 to 8
p.m.
Catalina Ouyang: “it has always been the perfect
instrument”
Catalina Ouyang’s “it had always been the perfect
instrument,” will also be on display at the gallery.
Ouyang works with a variety of modalities, including
sculpture, text, installation, performance, video,
and participatory projects, with which she explores
the “interstices of myth, desire, subjugation, and
monstrosity.”
Her exhibit at the Knockdown Center will feature
large-scale interactive sculptures, salvaged objects,
assemblage, text, and video. Ouyang will present
sculptures that were made over the last two years,
some of which are refi gured and fused together,
and a new two-channel video that is a continuation
of the artist’s ongoing project “Conclusion
and Findings.”
The exhibit will run from Feb. 29 to April 12.
The opening reception on Feb. 29 will be from 5 to
8 p.m.
NEW MULTI-DISCIPLINARY MUSIC
SERIES
“Outline: Winter”
The Knockdown Center is presenting a new
series of multi-disciplinary events entitled “Outline,”
centered on showcasing music and artists
from across genres. The series will have a unique
event for each season, with its fi rst being “Outline:
Winter.” The event will feature an eclectic lineup
of performances in order to mark the leap year and
“bid farewell” to the cold season.
Their headline performance will be by avant-pop
artist John Maus. He will be followed by fellow
avant-pop artist Katie Gately, Chicago-based jazz
musician Ben LaMar Gay with Bitchin Bajas instrumentalist
Rob Frye, Vancouver-based experimental
producer DEBBY FRIDAY and Patience, the new
project from ex-Veronica Falls vocalist Roxanne
Cliff ord and new age synth legend Don Slepian.
There will also be an immersive installation by
artist Aya Rodriguez-Izumi, meant to accentuate the
unique architectural elements of the Knockdown
Center’s space with tinsel.
The performances for “Outline” will begin at 8
p.m. Tickets are $30 per person online or $35 at the
door.
The Knockdown Center’s gallery is open on
Thursday and Friday from 2 to 6 p.m., and on
Saturday and Sunday from 2 to 7 p.m. For more
information, visit www.knockdown.center.
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