Primary Projects announces its December exhibition program, launching contemporaneously with Art Basel Miami Beach 2012 during one of the most important art weeks in the country. In a two-part, two-venue initiative, curators Books IIII Bischof, Chris Oh and Typoe present RANEYTOWN, a solo exhibit by Rebeca Raney that will metamorphose Primary Projects gallery into a rainbow-coated site. With drawings and sculpture, this show also comprises a pop-up boutique unveiling Raney’s first collection produced in collaboration with Madewell. By contrast, the Wynwood satellite space, Asif’s Guns by Asif Farooq, aims to simulate a gun shop with more than 300 firearms handcrafted from cardboard. Designed to illicit disparate impulses, RANEYTOWN and Asif’s Guns will take viewers on an emotional rollercoaster. For more information, please email info@primaryflight.com or visit www.primaryprojectspace.com.
RANEYTOWN by Rebeca Raney
Opening Reception: Thursday, December 6, 7 – 10 p.m.
Gallery Hours: December 6 – 9, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
PRIMARY PROJECTS Gallery
4141 NE 2nd Avenue, Suite 104
Miami Design District, FL 33138
RANEYTOWN is a transformative, joyful show by Miami native, New York-based artist Rebeca Raney. With a world depicted in more than 250 ink and gouache drawings and works on panel, present in the artist’s playful imagery of hybrid animals, flora and fantastical people is the compelling wish for her two-dimensional drawings to come to life. Raney’s earnest conviction that the characters which inhabit her drawings must exist “in the flesh” has yielded a populace of sculptures that cavort, take baths, and suspend from the ceiling in booby-traps of their own making. A looming 10-foot “Plant Person” will preside over the havoc.
In a special collaboration with Madewell, Raney’s imagery will also debut in a limited edition fashion collection at Primary Projects, and at Madewell stores in Miami, New York and Los Angeles. Raney’s signature backwards-facing llamas and intricate floral elements provide the inspiration for a luxurious cashmere sweater, pendant necklace, silk top, scarf and custom leather transport tote. Dubbed “Boutique by RANEYTOWN,” the gallery’s pop-up will feature the complete Rebeca Raney x Madewell collection, along with treasures including bronze figurines, hand-painted paper rocks, letterpress stationary and more, ranging from $20 – $900.
Asif’s Guns by Asif Farooq
Artist Reception: Saturday, December 8, 7 – 10 p.m.
Store Hours: December 6 – 9, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.
PRIMARY PROJECTS Pop-Up Space
167 NW 25th Street
Wynwood Arts District, FL 33127
Asif’s Guns is a pop-up installation, showcasing more than 300 firearms handcrafted from cardboard by Asif Farooq. Curated to simulate an authentic gun store at a 400-square-foot retail space in the heart of Wynwood Arts District, Asif’s Guns will be loaded with replicas that range from a traditional snub-nosed revolver to an M16 assault rifle.
This installation will serve as a sweeping survey of contemporary weapons by the Miami-born artist, who is meticulously faithful to reproducing the size, shape and individual components of each gun model, using found cardboard boxes, an x-acto knife and glue. Asif’s Guns is a romantic testament envisioned through the eyes of an artist raised in a gun-friendly environment, and delivered to the senses of a gun-obsessed America. Farooq challenges viewers to become aware of their instinctive reactions and principles as it relates to gun culture and the place of art, toys and iconography in probing controversial questions about communal and personal values.
Farooq’s own response, “My guns are a confessional: if a gift doesn’t hurt to give, then it isn’t much of a gift at all,” references how these objects of destruction are fashioned as private portraits of the artist’s fallen brother. Books IIII Bischof, founder and curator of Primary Projects, explains, “Asif Farooq exceeds the standard definition of artist. With or without the viewer, with or without the gallery, he will always make guns and he will always absorb everything pertaining to projectile weaponry. I have learned that for Farooq, it all breaks down to the two simple concepts of love and respect – something that a mass majority of gun-toting society will never be able to ascertain as a unified concept.”
More About Primary Flight | Primary Projects
Since its inception in 2007, Primary Flight has brought together more than 150 of the world’s most influential artists to install their bodies of work live in the streets of Wynwood Arts District, the Design District and greater Miami-Dade. Launching Primary Projects in December 2010, the offshoot gallery was conceived as a multidisciplinary space that explores various forms of aesthetic expression from established and emerging artists. The creative forces behind Primary Projects utilize an extensive and wholly specific experience in producing curatorial endeavors, and unite the commercial and critical efforts of artists, curators, professionals and patrons. The result is the vital presence of an intelligent, alternative arts environment with a bold sensibility. For more information please visit www.primaryflight.com and www.primaryprojectspace.com.