PRESS RELEASE
ARTIST JAY CRITCHLEY ANNOUNCES SUMMER LONG ART AND PERFORMANCE PROJECT HOSTED BY NORTH BURIAL GROUND IN PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND: CRYPTIC PROVIDENCE; SIXTEEN VISUAL ARTISTS AND PERFORMERS SELECTED BY THE ARTIST TO CREATE ORIGINAL, SITE-SPECIFIC PIECES FOR THIS HISTORIC CEMETERY.
OPENS FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2008.
Providence, Rhode Island. The historic North Burial Ground in Providence, Rhode Island will host a summer long art and performance project by Provincetown artist Jay Critchley, entitled Cryptic Providence. Sixteen projects from visual artists and performers from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon, Ontario, Canada and New York City were invited by Critchley to create original, site-specific installations and performances at the cemetery. The project opens Friday, June 13 at 6:00 pm, with performances on the first two weekends. The cemetery is open to the public seven days a week from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm daily. All events are free and open to the public.
Critchley’s summerlong installation, Final Passage − a mummified 1963 Chevrolet sedan which will be “entombed” in the cemetery’s historic mausoleum − continues the artist’s fascination with American automobile culture and its ecological implications. With his father a 42-year veteran of General Motors, Critchley’s debut as a “born-again” artist in the early1980s featured a series of “sand cars” in the waterfront parking lot “gallery” in Provincetown. Final Passage, a muslin-wrapped burial vessel situated in the Faux-Greek “holding tomb” proclaims the end of gas-guzzling cars as it honors all those who are unburied, unaccounted for, unmarked, unnamed, unknown and disappeared.
Other visual artists creating site-specific installations include; Joseph Burwell, Justin Pollman, , and Stephen Thompson, installation artists; a team of installation artists and designers from Michigan and Ontario, Canada: Rochelle Martin, Valentine Mancini and Jay McGuire; and filmmakers Sandrine Silverman/Alfred Schoeninger from Quincy, MA; and the following from Rhode Island: installation artist Rebecca Siemering from Pawtucket; Erik Carlson and Erik Gould, new media artists from Pawtucket and Providence; visual artist Jae Willard, Barrington; installation artist Jen Raimondi, East Greenwich; and from Providence: Constance Crawford with students from Perishable Theater; historian and project consultant Robert O. Jones; and Nancy Austin, Newport, with Caroline Woolard.
The performance schedule will run Friday, June 13 from 6:00-10:00pm, Saturday, June 14 from 2:00-10:00pm, and on Saturday, June 21 from 2:00-10pm. It includes: dancer/choreographer Wanda Gala with sound artist Bob Bellerue from Brooklyn, New York; Hannah Verlin, installation and performance artist from Boston; JUMP with Mary Paula Hunter; musicians Arvid Tomayko-Peters and Christie Lee Gibson from Brown. Check www.arttixri.org, 401 621-6123 for detailed information.
Cryptic Providence is funded by a New Works grant from the Rhode Island Foundation and sponsored by the City of Providence Parks Department and the Department of Art, Culture & Tourism, with support from AS220. The Rhode Island Foundation’s New Works program was established to support artists in the creation of original art and exploration of new artistic directions. The program awarded grants from 2000 to 2005 to artists partnering with nonprofit arts and community-based organizations to expand the state’s cultural richness, develop new audiences and strengthen community connections to the arts.
Selected artists will examine and interpret the history of North Burial Ground, established in 1700, and burial practices in relation to the rich history of Rhode Island. The project also hopes to create new ideas, perspectives and images about our relationship to death, dying and burial customs, and bring increased visitation and use of the cemetery by highlighting the historical and cultural resources of North Burial Ground.
OPENS FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2008.
Providence, Rhode Island. The historic North Burial Ground in Providence, Rhode Island will host a summer long art and performance project by Provincetown artist Jay Critchley, entitled Cryptic Providence. Sixteen projects from visual artists and performers from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon, Ontario, Canada and New York City were invited by Critchley to create original, site-specific installations and performances at the cemetery. The project opens Friday, June 13 at 6:00 pm, with performances on the first two weekends. The cemetery is open to the public seven days a week from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm daily. All events are free and open to the public.
Critchley’s summerlong installation, Final Passage − a mummified 1963 Chevrolet sedan which will be “entombed” in the cemetery’s historic mausoleum − continues the artist’s fascination with American automobile culture and its ecological implications. With his father a 42-year veteran of General Motors, Critchley’s debut as a “born-again” artist in the early1980s featured a series of “sand cars” in the waterfront parking lot “gallery” in Provincetown. Final Passage, a muslin-wrapped burial vessel situated in the Faux-Greek “holding tomb” proclaims the end of gas-guzzling cars as it honors all those who are unburied, unaccounted for, unmarked, unnamed, unknown and disappeared.
Other visual artists creating site-specific installations include; Joseph Burwell, Justin Pollman, , and Stephen Thompson, installation artists; a team of installation artists and designers from Michigan and Ontario, Canada: Rochelle Martin, Valentine Mancini and Jay McGuire; and filmmakers Sandrine Silverman/Alfred Schoeninger from Quincy, MA; and the following from Rhode Island: installation artist Rebecca Siemering from Pawtucket; Erik Carlson and Erik Gould, new media artists from Pawtucket and Providence; visual artist Jae Willard, Barrington; installation artist Jen Raimondi, East Greenwich; and from Providence: Constance Crawford with students from Perishable Theater; historian and project consultant Robert O. Jones; and Nancy Austin, Newport, with Caroline Woolard.
The performance schedule will run Friday, June 13 from 6:00-10:00pm, Saturday, June 14 from 2:00-10:00pm, and on Saturday, June 21 from 2:00-10pm. It includes: dancer/choreographer Wanda Gala with sound artist Bob Bellerue from Brooklyn, New York; Hannah Verlin, installation and performance artist from Boston; JUMP with Mary Paula Hunter; musicians Arvid Tomayko-Peters and Christie Lee Gibson from Brown. Check www.arttixri.org, 401 621-6123 for detailed information.
Cryptic Providence is funded by a New Works grant from the Rhode Island Foundation and sponsored by the City of Providence Parks Department and the Department of Art, Culture & Tourism, with support from AS220. The Rhode Island Foundation’s New Works program was established to support artists in the creation of original art and exploration of new artistic directions. The program awarded grants from 2000 to 2005 to artists partnering with nonprofit arts and community-based organizations to expand the state’s cultural richness, develop new audiences and strengthen community connections to the arts.
Selected artists will examine and interpret the history of North Burial Ground, established in 1700, and burial practices in relation to the rich history of Rhode Island. The project also hopes to create new ideas, perspectives and images about our relationship to death, dying and burial customs, and bring increased visitation and use of the cemetery by highlighting the historical and cultural resources of North Burial Ground.