SEMINAL ARTISTS SERIES

WhiteBox Harlem @ El Barrio’s Artspace PS109 
215 E 99 St, New York, NY 10029
April 1 – 30, 2021 | Tuesday – Saturday | 11 AM – 6 PM

Program:

Sunday, April 4 | Opening Reception and Performances
—4PM  | Music by mbira NYC | Nora Balaban, Susan Rapalee, Chris Dingman, Sylvain
Leroux, Isabel Thompson
—5PM | Poetry by Jesús Papoleto “The Singing”, Ode to Spring
—5:30PM  | Music by Matt Sullivan, performance by Beatrice Antonie Martino
Watch on WBX TV

Saturday, April 24 | Closing Performances
—Music by Elliott Sharp, Matt Sullivan, performances by Maho Ogawa, Beatrice Antonie
Martino
Watch on WBX TV

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WhiteBox, in collaboration with 2B&2C, is honored to present “Ken Cro-Ken: The Conduct of Paint,” a survey exhibition part of WhiteBox’s ongoing Seminal Artist Series (WBX SAS). The title of the exhibition is inspired by the artist’s lifelong engagement with the writings and ideas of Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson, in particular, his work: “The Conduct of Life.” The work of Ken Cro-Ken, self-ascribed ecosystem painter and environmentalist videographer, invites the viewer into conversation with Nature, through exuberant improvisational paintings that simultaneously capture the great expanse of the universe and the delicate intricacies of time in motion. 

Working at the intersection of the microscopic and macroscopic, Cro-Ken considered himself a conduit for Nature’s expressivity, co-creating in concert with seasonal and elemental forces. Cro-Ken used chemical catalysts – what he called “Speed Elements” – to set his paintings in motion, and reveal the invisible push-pull forces of nature. These durational paint experiments were conducted in a variety of climates and atmospheres – in the snow, the rain, and the beating heat of the summer sun – in order to capture the wide range of nature’s manifestations through the seasons. Through this process, ordinary found objects were transformed into multidimensional landscapes of the universe. A true experimentalist, Cro-Ken allowed each painting to take on a life of its own, acting both as vessel and witness. 

Cro-Ken considered Nature a co-collaborator in the creative process, allowing its improvisational alchemy to transform and consummate his physical investigations. Action, reaction, and improvisation with time and Nature are evident in Cro-Ken’s entire oeuvre. In addition to his paintings and writings, he engaged in time-released performances with composer, improviser, and oboist Matt Sullivan. Live and pre-recorded videos of Cro-Ken’s painting experiments were juxtaposed with Sullivan’s music, creating a multi-sensory experience for the audience. Matt Sullivan and dancer Beatrice Antonie Martino will collaborate in a performance on April 4th, honoring Cro-Ken’s love for interdisciplinary and improvisatory creation.  

Cro-Ken died on July 30, 2020, as a result of cancer contracted at Ground Zero, where he taught art to local children. This survey exhibition will be a celebration of his life, legacy, and work. Inspired by what we imagine as Cro-Ken’s curatorial eye, as mediated by his longtime collaborative partner and husband, Matt Sullivan, the exhibition has been designed and organized by Juan Puntes and Kyoko Sato of WhiteBox. It is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue, including a selection of Cro-Ken’s writings and ponderings on his role as artist and conversationalist with the ultimate creator – Nature.

*****

Selected quotes by the artist, on his work:

“My pursuit is constant: to remain connected to nature with a sense of play and all that results from it. I manipulate space, time, and matter, though the matter is never just paint. Speed Elements reveal universal motion and an idea of why the multiverse appears as it does.” 

“Rather than conjure images in my mind, my imagination is instead challenged to consider external factors that affect the outcome of the process and the painting … paint is not merely color or pigment but an object also subject to the laws of nature.”

“It goes beyond my imagination but not my abilities or effort to peer into the vastness of the multiverse. With endless combinations of materials, techniques, and countless outside influences, such as weather conditions, I journey into the great unknown. With experience, I begin to recognize external forces that affect this ecosystem-sensitive palette.”

“I prefer to create experiments of which I do not know the basic outcome. My response to unique conditions and unique catalysts is an attempt to understand some of the countless factors involved with each day, each night, each season, and each paint experiment. Such is reactive and proactive improvisation. Speed of time and interactive timing establishes my location within a paint experiment and, ultimately, within the universe.” 

“Abstract Expressionists recorded gestures, whereas I record my shared experience with the actual world. Each unique paint experiment becomes a surprising dance between action and reaction.”

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