Friday, November 23, 2007

MENKILLER BLOG

[ Reposted from here ]


Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Apparently my old friend Astria Suparak is caught in the middle of some sort of academic ego battle at the Syracuse art space that she founded a little while back. I don't really know the whole story, but I guess she's been forced out and has had to cancel some shows, which I can attest is a really lame position to be in.

Astria has been super helpful to me over the years, hooking me up with artists Seth Price and Miranda July for different articles and generally schooling me on art film. I was lucky enough to screen one of Astria's short films in a program at Anthology Film Archives years ago, and I can testify that she's a true believer in the DIY community aesthetic. It's been ages since I saw her - upstate is pretty far away sometimes - but I sincerely hope this gets sorted out and she can get back to doing what she does best... This whole situation seems pretty weird and unnecessary.

Check the links:

www.keepastria.com
www.astriasuparak.com


No comments:



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BACKGROUND

Syracuse has lost one its greatest assets. Astria Suparak, Inaugural Director of The Warehouse Gallery of Syracuse University, was removed from her position as of Sept. 30th, 2007, despite widespread support from community members, students, faculty, and the international art community. This decision was made unilaterally by Jeffrey Hoone, Executive Director of the Coalition of Museum and Art Centers (CMAC).

At the time of Suparak's dismissal, Hoone also canceled her forthcoming exhibitions, including "Keep It Slick: Infiltrating Capitalism with The Yes Men," due to open in November 2007.