JUN–JUL
2016

INVITATION

Debra Broz
Erin Cunningham
Candace Hicks
William Hundley
Mark Menjivar
Meredith Miller & Deborah Poe
Joseph Noderer
Jessamyn Plotts
Becki Smith
Donya Stockton
Simon Walker
Jaime Zuzvera

The penultimate show at 1800 Koenig Lane, INVITATION gathered a collection of open intimacies and floating questions.

Paintings, design objects, installations, photographs, performances, graphics, sculptures, boxes, embroidered books, and poems await in a room where all are welcome, for free. Curated by Phillip Niemeyer & Rachel Freeman.

Jaime Zuzvera (painting on left),
William Hundley (center photograph),
Joseph Noderer (painting on right),
Donya Stockton (baskets on mirrored base)

Erin Cunningham A Little Lace, A Little Bling from Ladies Knuckles Series, 2015, copper, sterling silver, cubic zirconia — Erin Cunningham
A Little Lace, A Little Bling from Ladies Knuckles Series, 2015, copper, sterling silver, cubic zirconia

Leon Alesi (photographs on walls),
Candace Hicks (embrodiered books on table)

APR 2016

PERFORMANCE AND DOCUMENTATION

Brad Tucker as Bad Trucker
Caroline Gormley
Jared Leibowich
Bridget Evarts
Lisa Choinacky
Benjamin Cissner
Matthew Steinke/Octant
Monika Rostvold
Rachel Freeman
Sarah Saltwick & Katy Taylor
Sean Ripple
Shafer Hall
Sol LeWitt Bootlegs

BLUE FLAMES and WARM ASHES were companion events. BLUE FLAMES was a day-long show of music, performance art, experimental theater, poetry, story-telling, and visual art as choreographed movement. Weeks later, WARM ASHES presented documentation and remains of the previous show.

A flame is a verb as a noun — the object (the plume of fire) is an action (burning, a rapid chemical change). The is is a does. Ashes are what flames leave behind.

At BLUE FLAMES, Lisa Choinacky drew and hung two large pieces. The video documentation and the pieces were shown at WARM ASHES. Artist Bridget Evarts spoke as Liza Minnelli at BLUE FLAMES. At WARM ASHES she made a encore appearance, signing 8×10 glossies photographed at the previous event. And so on… Poets’ readings were made into texts. Stages for performance became installations. Singers’ songs were played on an old tape recorder at the spot in the room where the tape was recorded.

Lisa Choinacky

Sean Ripple
passenger Instructions for “This is Hardcore” – a performance for car

MATTER is a one-actor play about an astronaut written by Sarah Saltwick and performed by Katy Taylor at BLUE FLAMES. For WARM ASHES, Taylor’s space suit costume was displayed floating weightless above the room.

Sol LeWitt Bootlegs are instruction art pieces very loosely based on Sol LeWitt wall drawings and geared toward drafts-people of any skill level. Two were made during BLUE FLAMES.

FEB–MAR
2016

WE MAKE SPACES MAKE US

Adreon Henry
Alyson Fox
Articulture
Brad Tucker
Brooklyn Woods
Christine Gray
Dan Forbes
Dana McClure
4th Edition Design
Haley Ann Robinson
Igor Siddiqui
Ike Krumenacker
Irena Stanisic
Jaime Zuverza
Joseph Phillips
Leslie Webb
Madeline Gallucci
Michael Villarreal
Michael Yates
Mike Reddy
Petrified Design
Rachel Freeman
Sara Willadsen
Wayne Alan Brenner

Work about or for living in rooms. Designed and curated by Phillip Niemeyer & Rachel Freeman. Contributors included designers, architects, artists, and artisans.

Michael Yates (chair on left),
Leslie Webb (end table),
Michael Yates & Alyson Fox (chair on right),
Igor Siddiqui (rug),
Christine Gray (paintings/collages),
Monique Capanelli at Articulture Designs (wall plants)

Sara Willadsen (picture)
over Phillip Niemeyer (wallpaper)

Michael Villarreal (yellow broom),
Dan Forbes (Oscar)

4th Edition Design (lamp and chair), installation view

Mike Reddy, Alandale, 2016, ink on paper

DEC 2015

NEW GIFT DESIGN

W. A. Brenner
Cuniform Press
Jené DeSpain
Colin Frazer
Tony Hall/Balls Pedals
David R. Head Jr.
Adreon Henry
Bas Mantel
Michelle Marchesseault
Monkey Town
Phillip Niemeyer
The Octopus Project
Palaxy Tracks & Paul Kremer
Mike Reddy
Simon Walker
& more

PRESENT is the gift shop as an installation. Semi-unique objects created by contemporary designers and artists in the last five years were available for sale.

OCT 2015

Stella Alesi
Daniel Gray & Billi London-Gray
Taylor Holland
Brian Johnson
Germaine Keller
Dameon Lester
Claude Van Lingen
Ender Martos
Caitlin G McCollom
Andrew Murray
McKay Otto
Brad Tucker

ALMOST NOTHING was an exhibition of new Texas minimalism and conceptual things curated by Shawn Camp. The objects and images in the show embrace ontological ambiguity, toggling between being and other options.

Claude Van Lingen, 1000 Years, installation view

Claude Van Lingen discussing a white on white piece by Germaine Keller at the ALMOST NOTHING opening reception.

Adreon Denson Henry
David R Head Jr
Dax Norman
Karen Gelardi
Michelle Marchesseault
Mike Reddy
Phillip Niemeyer
Rachel Freeman
Sibelle Yuksek
TransMountain

Rhythm, repetition, and the feeling of summer feelings…

Karen Gelardi (banners on window at left),
Mike Reddy (swimming pattern on wall),
TransMountain (furniture design in foreground)

David R Head Jr (left),
Michelle Marchesseault sanded (center),
Phillip Niemeyer (right)

FEB 2015

CONTEMPORARY WOMEN AND FANTASY

Blevin Blectum
Mindy Briggs
Lisa Crystal Carver
Lisa Choinacky
Jené DeSpain
Leah Haney
Robin Henry
Knoxy Knox
Michelle Marchesseault
Dana McClure
Tanya Newton John
Simona Prives
Rachel Stern
Rachel Staples
Alyssa Taylor Wendt
Susan Tureen

Jené DeSpain (jewelry),
Rachel Staples (gown)

Dana McClure (mixed media collages),
Michelle Marchesseault (wallpaper)

Leslie Sisson performing in front of paintings by Leah Haney at the XANADU closing reception.

OCT–DEC 2014

THINGS TO BE LOOKED AT AND THROUGH

Adreon Denson Henry
Dan Forbes
David R Head Jr
Elana Adler
Hannah Cole
Jeana Baumgardner
Marsha Owett
Paul Kremer
Phillip Niemeyer
Shawn Camp
Vincent Venturella

Windows … outside, inside, open, closed, curtained, cracked, rear, stained, great, tiny, taped-up, jammed, clean, clear, cloudy, open, rolled-down, tinted, painted shut …

Vincent Venturella (photograph mounted on window),
Jeanna Braungardner (painting on wall on left)

A zine on the subject of eavesdrop was published to accompany the show. Nancy Kricorian, Ray Patrick Colgan, Kristen Meyers, Sherry Parnes, Chris Lyons, and Janet Thomae Higdon contributed.

Chris Lyons
page one of “Private Eye” from the WINDOWS zine

SUMMER 2014

Derek Beaulieu
Anselm Berrigan
Noel Black
Brenner Brenner
Jett Butler
Jean Cocteau
Hannah Cole
Glen Cummings & Adam Michaels
Neil Donnelly
Colin Frazer
Jeila Gueramian
Tony Hoaglang
Devin King
Bas Mantel
Dawn Lundy Martin
Dana McClure
Kristen Meyers
Victoria Messner
Lisa Lynn Moore
Hoa Nguyen
Phillip Niemeyer
Jiwon Park
Deborah M. Poe
Cindy St. John
Ksenya Samarskaya
Kyle Schlesinger
Kathie Sever
Simon Walker
Maia Wright
Chris Wu

A show of writing, lettering, typography, and/or art by graphic designers, artists, poets, and/or writers.

In conjunction with the exhibition, Northern–Southern published a zine pairing contemporary poets with typographic designers.

The letter, on the left, was written by Jean Cocteau to a friend in mirror-writing. It is decoded by the mirror on the right.

Colin Frazer
Northfork is a new monospaced typeface. The characters were vinyl-ed onto the baseboards, an exhibition way-finder.

Derek Beaulieu (text),
Neil Donnelly (typographic design)
from the LETTERS zine

Glen Cummings & Adam Michaels, X-Book, installation view

APR–MAY 2014

CLAW (Chris Lyons & Alan Watts)
Joe McKay
Matthew Steinke
Leslie Sisson
Brandon Durham

BUTTONS was a show of interactive sculptures and objects designed to be pushed. Critical and playful, pieces combined the lowest and highest of techs.

CLAW constructed a custom box to play a set of a compilation of button sounds by The Octopus Project, The Wrens, Jim Eno, Cookies, connect_icut, Katie Porter, Deison/Mingle, Philippe Petit, Vin Vinturella, and Sound Machine.

FEB 2014

Alec Dartley
Conrad Keely
Cristina Berretta
David R Head Jr
Marie Hejl Saba
Peelander-Yellow (Kengo Hioki)
Genevieve Niemeyer
Ryan Junell
Tae Won Yu
Tanya Newton John
Tyler Mallory

A show of art and design on an elusive goal, happiness. Pieces ranged from the quiet and nostalgic to the effervescent and immediate.

Felicia Rains performing Bach in front of a drawing of the surf by Alec Dartley at the HAPPINESS closing.

OCT–DEC 2013

Ben DiPietro
Brandon Durham
Carlos Orozco
Chris Lyons & Alan Watts (C.L.A.W.)
Dan Forbes
Jené DeSpain
Kristen Scott
Mary Becky Cortez
Mike Reddy
Ryan Junell

The first show at the 1800 Koenig space was LUCK, an inquiry into the nature, culture, and experience of fortune.