Ballast Projects at Kinfolk Studios
90 Wythe Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPINDLES: A Group Exhibition
Curated by Adam G. Mignanelli

Samuel T. Adams
Gordon Douglass Ball
Trudy Benson
Jon Blank
Palma Blank
Michael Dotson
Amy Feldman
Ryan Foerster
Oliver Jones
Maia Ruth Lee
Matt Mignanelli
Kris Scheifele

May 6 – May 12, 2012

Opening Reception: Sunday, May 6th, 6:00 – 9:00 pm

Ballast Projects is pleased to present Spindles, a group exhibition curated by Adam G. Mignanelli. On view will be new works by some of the most exciting emerging contemporary artists working in New York today.

Spindle neurons are massive cells that allow rapid communication across the brains of highly intelligent mammals. These neurons have a strong role in cognitive abilities generally unique to humans. Spindle neurons grant us the abilities that allow us to create, and the regulation of our emotional states.

Social behavior and art is the foundation of creative culture and influence. We expand our cognitive structure through natural form and geometric anomalies of contemporary art by grouping works with differing materials and textures. This visual arrangement engages us as humans, spindle neurons being the crucial relationship building components.

Samuel T. Adams
Samuel T. Adams  lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Recent exhibitions include Draw the Line, Allegra LaViola Gallery, New York, NY; The Incipient Image, Lesley Heller Workspace, New York, NY; Paper Chasers, Nudashank, Baltimore, MD; and BNA: Brooklyn to Nashville, ZieherSmith Pop-up Gallery in Nashville, TN.  Adams holds an MFA from School of Visual Arts.

Gordon Douglass Ball
Early in 2012, Gordon Douglas released a self-published photography book and was archived by the AGO (Toronto, Canada), Musée D’Art Contemporain de Montréal (Montréal, Canada), and the MoMA (New York City, USA).

Trudy Benson
Trudy Benson was born in Richmond, VA, 1985. She lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Benson received her BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2009 and her MFA from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn in 2010.  She is represented by  Mike Weiss Gallery in New York. Virtual worlds can be found in Benson’s intuitively constructed compositions and the tension between forms and voids speak to her fascination with the cosmos. Benson’s fervor for the physical act of painting is readily evident in her mark-making; her viscous gestures evoke the onomatopoeic language of comic books taking shape as bold splunks!, shoops!, and splats! that emerge sculpturally from the surface of the canvas.

Jon Blank
Jon Blank is a painter residing in Greenpoint, Brooklyn since 2007. He received his BFA from RISD in 2006 as an industrial design major and is currently pursuing his MFA in Painting at Rutgers.

Palma Blank
Palma Blank was born in Norwalk, CT, 1979. She lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She received a MFA from Yale University, New Haven, CT and a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI. Her work has been included in numerous exhibitions throughout New York. Fully Charged is the artist’s first solo exhibition with Horton Gallery and her first major New York solo exhibition.

Michael Dotson
Michael Dotson was born in Cleveland, OH, where he grew up hanging around his mom while she attended the Cleveland Institute of Art as she studied Industrial Design. After moving to Buffalo, NY and Providence, RI respectively Michael moved back to Cleveland to pursue a BFA in painting.  He later received his MFA from American University in Washington, DC before moving to Brooklyn, NY where he currently lives and works.

Amy Feldman
Amy Feldman received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and a MFA from Rutgers University. She has recently been included in exhibitions at Sue Scott Gallery, New York; Bronx River Art Center, Bronx, New York; and Participant Inc., New York. Feldman has been a Visiting Artist at Virginia Commonwealth University, Lehman College, and Wave Hill, and has received a New Jersey State Council on the Arts Grant. She also was awarded fellowships from VCU Arts at Plant Zero, The MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Amy Feldman is currently an artist-in-residence at The Henry Street Settlement/Abrons Art Center. She recently received a fellowship from the Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation and is preparing for a solo exhibition at Blackston Gallery, New York, and upcoming group exhibitions in New York and Los Angeles.

Ryan Foerster
Ryan Foerster was born in Newmarket Canada, 1983. He lives in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. Foerster has exhibited with Martos Gallery, New York, West Street Gallery, New York, and Ribordy Contemporary, Geneva. He was included in The 2011 Bridgehampton Biennial, curated by Bob Nickas, as well as most recently exhibiting in The Quality of Presence at the Chelsea Hotel.

Oliver Jones
Oliver Jones was born in Fredericksburg, VA.  He received his BA from the College of William & Mary where he studied Sculpture, History & Religion.  He apprenticed for four years at Bronze Craft Foundry in Waynesboro, Va.
In 2003, He graduated with a MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy for the Fine Arts where he ran the Visiting Artist Program and co-founded a student-run journal for theory and criticism.  In recent years, he has contributed to the Bruce High Quality Foundation’s University and has been awarded residencies at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT and Elsewhere Collaborative in Greensboro, NC.

Maia Ruth Lee
Maia Ruth Lee is a Seoul-born, Nepal-raised, and New York-based artist.
Maia works with found objects, himalayan folklore, and rituals.

Matt Mignanelli
Matt Mignanelli lives and works in New York City and is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. His paintings have been exhibited extensively, with solo exhibitions in Glasgow and San Francisco as well as in group exhibitions at Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York and Mark Wolfe Contemporary, San Francisco. He was awarded a 2011 artist grant from Vermont Studio Center as an artist in residence. He’s lectured at Parsons School of Design and his work has been reviewed in the San Francisco Examiner. Mignanelli exhibited at SCOPE New York, 2011 with Spinello Projects, Miami and painted a large-scale installation within the fair. Most recently he was included in New York – New Tendencies, a group exhibition of New York painting at Marianne Friis Gallery in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Kris Scheifele
Kris Scheifele is an artist based in New York City. She received an MFA in painting from Pratt Institute and a BFA in painting and a BA in English from Cornell University. She also attended Skowhegan and was a Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Grant recipient. Her artwork has been exhibited at CUE Art Foundation, PS122 Gallery, 92Y Tribeca, and Janet Kurnatowski.