~YULIA TOPCHIY . . SPRING/BREAK

indie curator YULIA TOPCHIY, will present a small, very focused group show at this year’s SPRING/BREAK 2015.
titled ‘UNSPOKEN DIALOGUE’, it features the work of: RIITTA IKONEN, LUCIE KIM + FELIX VON DER WEPPEN, YASUE MAETAKE, YOLA MONAKHOV STOCKTON, NICHOLAS STEINDORF + DARREN WILL, and BEN K. VOSS.

and, man I am digging that D-I-V-E-R-S-I-T-Y.

and, C-O-D-E . . GRAPHICS !!

note: NICHOLAS STEINDORF + DARREN WILL . . have been reviewed in artlovers for their very original art/music collaborations. Nicholas, a visual artist has been reviewed here many times . . on his own. artlovers’ ‘NICHOLAS STEINDORF vs ANDY WARHOL’ . . does come to mind !!
in their collaborations, Nicholas does the visual/digital loop element, while Darren produces the original music – a most notable, epic ? example of which – we reviewed back in 2013, was their excellent, neo-classic, new wave, poetic, lyrical & most original video production . . titled, ‘SWOLLEN FOOT’. a re-telling of the OEDIPUS REX myth in digitally animated ‘abstract’ images and patterns . . accompanied solely by music, no words . . was presented at ENTWINE . . by Yulia Topchiy’s . . CoWORKER PROJECTS.
singer songwriter LUKE RATHBONE, and NICK STUMPF of FRENCH KICKS – also worked on the sound production.

see: NICHOLAS STEINDORF + DARREN WILL .. OEDIPUS REX, MARCH 1, 2013.

see: CoWorker Projects

see: SPRING/BREAK ART SHOW

/ FAIR.
New York City based, indie curator YULIA TOPCHIY aka CoWorker Projects . . at her booth at last year’s . . SPRING/BREAK ART SHOW / FAIR 2014.
YULIA just put on that break-out show, ‘THE DREAMS THAT I GAVE HER’, co-curated with KELLI BURTON . . an interweaving mosaic of writers, artists & musicians – at the NARS FOUNDATION.
the show’s email flyer featured a super graphic, dreamy, awesome skin-some, gorgeous mysterious photograph by JESSICA WYNNE, one of the artists in the show. the flyer was in turn featured on artlovers.

see: ‘THE DREAMS THAT I GAVE HER’ – NARS FOUNDATION

YULIA TOPCHIY . . . is a good representation of the many many indie curators who will be presenting mini-exhibits of new work, at SPRING /BREAK this year. many of them work ‘behind-the-scenes’ – in the art industry, staffing galleries and museums, the unspoken masses of media ‘creatives’, other manning tech start-ups, some slogging away as artist ‘assistants’ and fabricators, others, art handlers, and archivists. often they start life as part of the many off-shoot organizations that support this new age multi-faceted activity, pop-ups, and other more mainstream art events. many of them work in ‘front-of-the-scenes’, as writers, reviewers, and producers. many of them are curatorial collectives, composed of artist, and just as likely, non-artists. a diverse group . . many of them are just a bunch of whole lucky people . . who just happened to ‘back’ into some crazy great happening scene, most likely just next door !!

the city and esp Brooklyn is alive and kicking on this level – there are 90 curators in this year’s SPRING/BREAK show – who will collectively be exhibiting more than 400 artists !!

so the list goes on and on, the city is just jumping with talent. at artlovers we like to term these art-related workers – the worker bees !! and from their ever-swelling ranks . . the most motivated, ambitious, and show-man spirited develop into . . indie curators !!
and, of course: small venue gallerists.
and the writers, artlovers included . . that cover ’em.
yeah, I’m a . . worker bee.
where’s the . . decal/sticker.
tattoo ?

anyways, these ‘worker bees’, often in the past overlooked, and edged out by the big boys, mostly due top lack of funds, and a lack of insight in the mainstream media, are now making their presence FELT, mainly due to the sheer numbers, their crisp creative edge, and, of the course the power of the ground-up social media !!
. . . they often put out the first buzz, as they swarm around all over the scene, formerly known as ‘the underground’ , buzzing about, infiltrating the media, and putting out the word. indie curators flit from low-rent, even no-rent pop-ups, non-profits, and alternative spaces . . anything, any venue will do . . all looking to put out that fresh taste of newly minted art honey, and put on YOUR PLATE.

determined, vivacious, inventive, entrepreneurial by nature, they encapsulate the ‘go-local’, artisan-based small business ethos of Brooklyn and, the against all odds downtown pop-up shows of street artists like SEAN VEGGEZZI, and PPP/PETER PAN POSSE. from sabotaging billboards, the skyline off the Williamsburg Bridge does come to mind (RAMBO) . . to ‘don’t blink’ storefront pop-ups, to small venues on 3rd floors just open on Saturdays !! – they can survive and thrive in good part because of the internet, which allows for a viable presence on the web: enabling sales, archives, and of course power distributing events and putting pot info, and it’s locavore gone global, all the way.

there’s a lot of opportunity for the creative and skilled here, and there is this huge wave, an influx of talent, that is just as determined and ingenious when comes to staying alive here in NY as the great past ghosts of Soho were, JACKSON POLLOCK comes to mind. and so, despite high rents, and all, those Soho days are long over . . the young worker bees with big dreams . . just keep on pouring into NYC. no matter about L.A. and parts remote – NYC is where kids from all over the USA, still want to come to make their art dreams happen, to burst out, break out, get out from behind that day job . . and make a name for themselves – as curators, or artists – or in fact, very often, a combo of both.
rebel, rebel, indie.

YULIA TOPCHIY . . writes that:

“When I worked for Phillips Auction House, I met so many talented artists who held day jobs working as administrators, or art handlers that I wanted to create a supportive environment where the works could be shown in traditional settings, and ideas and feedback can be exchanged. I started CoWorker Projects to engage my former coworkers in conversation with each other and showcase their works to the public for the first time. For some of them it was a networking experience, for others it was a step in the career path. I enjoy working with all my artists by providing them an opportunity to show their work in an un-traditional setting where they can get the feedback and expand their network.

I love what I do. but I now concentrate on curating shows at nonprofits where I can also give exposure to their programs. During the day I work for ARTSY . . in a Gallery Relations Team where I support Galleries and their programs. I feel very fortunate to be a part of a team which changes how people look and collect art.”

CoWorker Projects . . led by Yulia, specializes in art curation, events production, and performances.


last year, MARCH 2014 . . YULIA’S booth at SPRING/BREAK featured a pretty far-out installation by BRUNO POGACNIK WUKODRAKULA, shown here in the mouth of the cave !!

so Yulia’s curating really does swing far & fab: all the way from NICHOLAS STEINDORF’s new wave ‘classicism’ – which is often presented in digital projection format, to the dreamy narrative surreal and musical !! not to forget ‘group interactive’ of ‘THE DREAMS THAT I GAVE HER’ . . to the blow-out shamanism of this mystical, psychedelic bio-drama masquerade ‘power’ cave.


talk about . . alter-egos !!
in fact, BRUNO’s electric installation was titled . . ‘POWERCAVE’.


now, would you classify that as . . organic, or inorganic ?
locavore, or ‘invasive’ species.
human evolution heading, or alien visitation ?
the way man/robots . . will be ‘encased’, ca. 3015 ?

how bout . . what bio-people machines will evolve to, to enable them to navigate the toxic mess earth will become after . .
one nuclear power plant accident by tsumani, natural disaster, & poor planning . . . too many.
one atomic test, too many. RIP BIKINI ATOLL.
one nuke attack, in the wrong hands. panic room gonna work, I don’t think so.


BRUNO POGACNIK WUKODRAKULA !!
son of a quartz crystal – jungle.
gotta love that his last name rhymes with . . DRACULA.

I’ve always been the most proud, that as a lowly ‘worker bee’ myself . . buzzing around the art scene as a photo journalist/commentator, and many a-times a back-scene production assistant, my co-workers at artnet, when it was manned by that awesome twosome, WALTER ROBINSON and CHARLIE FINCH . . used to call me: CRACKULA !!
rhymes with DRACULA !!, and you just might know – why !!

BUZZ, BUZZ, BUZZ ON . . ALL YA INDIE CURATOR – WORKER BEES !!

REBEL, REBEL, INDIE – !!
YOU RULE.
NYC – 2015.

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH