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Esopus Space opens with Michael Iskowitz Exhibition

June 25, 2009

The Esopus Foundation Ltd., the 501(c)(3) organization that publishes the award-winning arts magazine Esopus, has just opened Esopus Space, a new exhibition and performance venue in New York City’s Greenwich Village neighborhood. Planned exhibitions in Esopus Space will showcase work from Esopus contributors as well as from both emerging and established figures in the contemporary art world. The schedule will feature one-person exhibitions and group shows, with some conceived by guest curators.

The space opens on June 30th with a solo show of 37 self-portraits by Michael Iskowitz, whose “A Doll House Society” project appeared in Esopus 12. Executed over the past two decades, the paintings range in size from 8" x 10" to 30" x 40" and have never before been exhibited publicly. With their psychological intensity and expressive, assured use of color and form, they bear comparisons to the self-portraits of Van Gogh or Egon Schiele. But Iskowitz’s ability to probe his unconscious via different identities (or “masks,” as he calls them) also invokes the practice of artists such as Frida Kahlo or Cindy Sherman.

The show, which will run through August 15th, represents Iskowitz’s New York City debut. A reception for the artist will take place on Thursday, July 23rd, from 6 to 8pm.

Beginning this fall, Esopus Space will also host a series of readings, musical and theatrical performances, panel discussions, lectures, and screenings. Citing the modest scale of the venue, which seats approximately 60 people, Foundation president and Esopus editor Tod Lippy says, “The events we program will always have an intimate, accessible feel—very much an extension of the kind of tone we’ve tried to create with Esopus over the past six years.”

Esopus Space is open to the public on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 12–4pm, and also by appointment. For more information, visit the Esopus Space website or send inquires to [email protected].

Esopus Space is supported by funding from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

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