Red Root, Green Root
Michael Assiff, Mark Ryan Chariker, Ficus Interfaith, Rocki Swiderski
May 1 – June 12, 2021
May Day (May 1) is a holiday rich in history and folklore- celebrating the return of spring and the rights of workers. While early May Day celebrations may have been intended to ensure fertility for crops and, by extension, for livestock and humans; in most cases this significance was gradually lost, so that the practices survived largely as popular festivities promoting relaxation and a reprieve from the demands of work (green root). Since the mid-1850's, May Day has also been a focal point for demonstrations by various socialist, communist and anarchist groups in support of working-class demands, labor unions, immigrants rights, and workers protections (red root). Halfway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, this exhibition will celebrate rites of spring, taking inspiration from spring festivals in rural and agricultural societies, labor and craft practices, and the pastoral.
Michael Assiff (b. 1983, St. Petersburg, Florida) currently lives and works in Queens, NY. He received his BFA at Rhode Island School of Design in 2008. He has participated in shows at Valentin, Arsenal Contemporary, Galeria Mascota, Jack Hanley, Salon 94, M+B, Ashes/Ashes and Martos Gallery. He has participated in projects with Del Vaz at Balice Hertling, Room East/P!, Tarwuk at Essex Flowers, Korakrit Arunanondchai at 032c. Assiff's work has been written about in Artforum, Mouse Magazine, Flash Art and dis magazine. He is currently represented by Galerie Chez Valentin in Paris and has work in the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Haute-Vienne. Upcoming shows include a solo presentation at Ashes/Ashes, inaugural show at Katia Rosenthal Gallery, and an offsite group show in Fall River, Mass curated by Harry Gould Harvey IV.
Mark Ryan Chariker (b. 1984, Spartanburg, SC) currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Chariker’s work has been included in numerous group exhibitions across the United States, most recently with 1969 Gallery at Untitled Art Fair Miami Beach. Chariker has completed residencies at the RAiR Foundation in Roswell, New Mexico, SÍM in Reykjavik, Iceland, and NES in Skagaströnd, Iceland. He received a BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts/Tufts University. Mark Ryan Chariker is represented by 1969 Gallery, New York.
Ficus Interfaith is a collaboration between Ryan Bush (b. 1990, Colorado) and Raphael Martinez Cohen (b. 1989, New York City). Their sculptural practice is grounded in richly researched initiatives that explore personal and collective interactions with nature and natural history. Their work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Deli Gallery, New York; Incident Report, Hudson, NY; Jack Chiles, New York, NY; Interstate Projects, Brooklyn, NY; Prairie, Chicago, IL; among others including Noplace at P.P.O.W. Gallery in New York, NY and In Practice: Total Disbelief at SculptureCenter, Queens, NY. In 2018, they were artists in residence at 2727 California Street, Berkeley, CA and Shandaken: Storm King, NY. Ficus Interfaith is represented by Deli Gallery, New York City and In Lieu, Los Angeles.
Rocki Swiderski (b. late 20th century, California) is an artist based in Tucson, Arizona. Utilizing object and image making, their work reflects on the role of sentience and modes of human protection as a means of coping and survival. At present they are interested in the weaponization of language, pattern identification, vulnerability, and what it means to daydream. Recent solo exhibitions include POM–––PALM at Williamson Knight (2018, OR), and Brushing Out the Brood Mare's Tale at Nationale (2017, OR). Their work has been included in numerous group exhibitions nationally and internationally including most recently Working From Home at MOCA Tucson (2020, AZ), Fundament at darkZone (2020, NJ) and Lazy Susan with Blue Arrangements (2019, AZ). In 2015 they received their BFA from the Pacific Northwest College of Art and in 2018 they launched The American Institute of Thoughts and Feelings, an experimental project space based out of their home in Tucson.