All By Myself : Online Collaboration

I made these watercolors on my kitchen wall during lockdown. Being mostly indoors throughout that time and unable to see people or socialise, time felt different. Each day was as endless and dull as the previous one, yet strangely weeks seemed to be flying by. I spent a lot of time either reminiscing and remembering the past or hoping and worrying about the future.

I found myself paying more attention to the things around me at home, like bodega flowers or candles, and the way they spoke simultaneously of both loss and joy, and the passing of time. Sightings on my daily walks also provided inspiration - things I might have overlooked before became creative encounters (a fountain at night or a delivery sign in a restaurant window).

Aglaé Bassens (b. 1986, Belgium) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Solo exhibitions include Surface Tension at Nars Foundation, Brooklyn (2018), You Can See Better From Here at CRUSH Curatorial, New York (2018) and Front Parting, Cabin Gallery London (2016). Recent group shows include Still Here, Newington Gallery, London (2019), Chains, Central Park Gallery, Los Angeles (2019), HEADS, The Java Project, Brooklyn (2017), Contemporary British Painting Prize, London (2016), Biennial Of Painting: The Painter's Touch, Museum of Deinze, Belgium (2014), PAPER, Saatchi Gallery, London (2013) and Jerwood Drawing Prize, London (2012). Her work is featured in New American Paintings No 134 Northeast Issue, and in 100 Painters of Tomorrow published by Thames and Hudson (2014). She has a BA in Fine Art from the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford University (2007) and an MFA in Fine Art Painting from the Slade School of Fine Art, London (2011).

During these challenging times I find comfort in drawing. I return over and over again to the repetitive, meticulous, and meditative practice drawing provides. My work is often driven by the desire to animate my internal state, seeking understanding by creating tangible forms of sentiment, memory and relationship. I am fascinated by the desire for bodily containment; the concept of nature, and our inability to control it. Quarantine has highlighted these internal spaces, taking away many distractions from daily life. The current climate demands a greater outward awareness while granting an opportunity for singular introspection. I aim to combine these postures, creating art that extends from personal to universal, while highlighting sympathetic tropes.

Devra Fox (b. 1989) received her MFA in visual art from Columbia University in 2016 and BA in studio art from Bard College in 2011. She participated in residencies at The Women’s Studio Workshop, The Vermont Studio Center, Pocoapoco, Kala Art Institute and was a Visiting Artist at Cow House Studios.

Devra was a Neiman Fellow at Columbia University and received the Christina R. Tarsell Award for Studio Arts from Bard College. She has received merit based awards from The Morty Frank Travel Fellowship, The Hemera Foundation, and Urban Glass. She has shown in galleries in New York and California, and internationally in Germany and China.

Devra lives and works as an artist and educator in San Francisco, CA.

Drawing and works on paper are essential to my studio practice. Covid 19 has amplified that fact. I made 93 free drawings as part of my "Quarantine Drawing Project", where I asked people what their favorite colors are, and where their Happy Place is. My hope and desire was to do something positive and constructive in light of the pandemic. The portability and immediacy of my marker drawings helps to shortcut the layered process of painting and sculpting, to share other people's visions, entertain my own intuition, and rapidly explore new territory.

Barry Hazard is an artist living and working in Brooklyn. He holds an MFA from the School of Visual Arts (2008), a BFA from Tufts University (1989) and a Diploma from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (1988). In addition to being an artist, he is also a construction supervisor, and youth worker for YouthBuild.

Barry has displayed his work in group and solo exhibitions including the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, HallSpace Gallery, Boston MA, Holy Cross College, Worcester, MA, Exit Art, NY, Jack the Pelican, Brooklyn and Like the Spice Gallery, Brooklyn. His work has been reviewed and included in the Provincetown Arts Magazine, Art New England, Brooklyn Rail, New American Paintings and the Boston Globe.

I work in a "studio" of sorts in my apartment so when in March we were all asked to stay at home it was not a great change in terms of space but it did mean that my partner and 5 year old were also always home. Working on paper was the perfect medium for this time when I would only have a handful of moments throughout the day to make work. Though not totally alone during this period, the extended quarantine forced me to confront the important role loneliness and isolation play in the work I create. 

Sophie Larrimore (b. 1980) grew up in Annapolis, Maryland. In 2004 she received a B.F.A. from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York. She lives and works in Brooklyn. Recent solo and group exhibitions include Make me One with Everything, Grifter (New York, NY); We Go Fast, Left Field Gallery (Los Osos, CA); Some New Paintings, 0-0LA, Los Angeles, CA; Between The Acts, Mother Gallery, Beacon, NY. Her work has been featured in New York Magazine, Artsy Editorial, Art Maze Magazine, It's Nice That and others.

Larrimore is included in the citywide exhibition Art on the Grid organized by The Public Art Fund which asked 50 artists to make work in response to the current pandemic and social justice movements - Art on the Grid