Brand Activations & Partnerships: Joseph Gross Gallery
To position AVIV Vodka within the arts space during their NY launch and experiential campaign roll-out, Create Blueprint partnered with Joseph Gross Gallery throughout the year in sponsorship and support of some amazing exhibit openings. The gallery is dedicated to representing a staple of contemporary artists who exemplify a commitment to pioneering genres and mediums. Located in the Chelsea arts district of New York City, the gallery was founded by Joseph Gross, a dealer working in both primary and secondary markets since 2005. He also founded ArtNowSF in San Francisco in 2005 and ArtNowNY in Chelsea in 2012. Joseph Gross is known for curating exhibitions that challenge convention and bring the most cutting edge images and ideas by today’s most exciting contemporary artists to the fore.
In celebration of Joseph Gross Gallery’s move to a larger space in Chelsea, here are some of our highlights from the last year’:
“File Not Found” & “Urbanology”: Chad Wys, Hope Kroll, Kevin Peterson, Jessica Hess, Rodrigo Valles, Christian Jaquet, March 2015
Joseph Gross Gallery, ArtNowNY and AVIV Vodka hosted an opening reception for the Multi-Artist opening in ArtNowNY & Chad Wys and Hope Kroll’s solo exhibtions in Joseph Gross Gallery. In “File Not Found”, Chad Wys highlighted the connection between art, information and visual culture. “File Not Found” refers to the reaction many of us have to information that is perceived as unfamiliar because of its absence in our memory or experience: our databases. With this exhibition the artist focused on the intersection between what we tend to expect from a certain visual experience and the urge to identify what we see. In the adjacent ArtNowNY, “Urbanology” featured work by artists: Kevin Peterson, Jessica Hess, Rodrigo Valles, Christian Jaquet.
“God Complex”: Joseph Grazi, April 2015
“God Complex” focused on the interaction between art, nature and science. Joseph Gross Gallery and AVIV Vodka hosted the opening reception. “God Complex” is a new body of work created to illustrate man’s increasing dominion over the natural world. Grazi’s new work revolves around the irrational as well as inconsistent relationship that we have developed with the gods of nature over time and that doesn’t seem to lead to anything but reckless management of our resources, animal endangerment and self-destruction. Utilizing a wide variety of media, the artist composed pieces designed to neutralize fear through order and arrangement. Grazi’s unique point of view over reality carries a literal meaning that comes from the desire to talk about art and science without setting any boundaries. Animal and human skulls, bones and taxidermized bats are only some of the elements that, put together, can trigger fear and relief at the same time. His goal is to alleviate the most ancient fears through acknowledgment of individual power and control in the hope that such acknowledgment can lead to a better understanding of the animal kingdom.
“SHATTERING”, gilf! & “Looking into the World”, Mr. Song, May 2015
Joseph Gross Gallery, ArtNowNY and AVIV Vodka hosted an opening reception for “SHATTERING” by Ann Lewis (also known as gilf!) and Mr. Song’s “Looking into the World”. Incorporating mixed media installation, sculptural objects and interactive performance, SHATTERING presented the transformative power that rage and destruction can have in a socio-political context. SHATTERING marked Lewis’s first solo show at Joseph Gross Gallery and the second of a three-part series of participatory actions centering on destruction and transformation. At the opening, the attendees were invited to break glass and ceramic objects as a means of releasing anger and frustration. In this exhibition Lewis mounted selected shards to individual rods from prior shows to appear to explode from the wall. The second exhibit, titled “Looking into the World” by Korean artist Mr. Song in ArtNowNY, illustrated a critical take on the political situation in North Korea. Song used Korean rice paper (Hanji), wood framing and acrylics for his paintings.
“Fire Power”: Alison Mosshart, June 2015
“Fire Power” marked Allison Mosshart’s first solo show and included 127 never before exhibited pieces including paintings, drawings, mixed media, and tapestries that reflect Mosshart’s life on the road. Joseph Gross Gallery hosted an opening reception with AVIV Vodka in an accompanying lounge featuring a DJ, band and AVIV-Bar. Best known for her role as singer/songwriter for The Kills and The Dead Weather, Alison Mosshart is a self-taught artist whose work is personal, intuitive and responsive without being over-thought. A lifelong ‘maker,’ Mosshart created art as often as she could while on tour; only recently was she able to settle into a more formal studio space, allowing for the expansion into larger works. The work in Fire Power glorifies the transience of life on the road, with each piece a snapshot of a person, conversation, place, time or mood in Mosshart’s continuously mobile life.
Summer Group Show: Alex Yanes, Eric Inkala, Peter Gronquist, Ron English, Sebastian Wahl, Allison Mosshart, July 2015
Joseph Gross Gallery and AVIV Vodka hosted an opening reception for Summer Group Show, a group exhibition featuring the work of 21 artists; Alex Yanes, Alison Mosshart, Ben Venom, Dave White, Diane Munoz, Eric Inkala, Etai Rahmil, James Charles, Jet Martinez, Jessica Hess, John Felix Arnold III, Joseph Grazi, Pam Glew, Peter Gronquist, Ron English, Rune Christensen, Sebastian Wahl, , Sergio Garcia, Christopher Schulz, Tahiti Pehrson and Ted Lincoln.
