Studios > Assistants in Residence
Kevin Darmanie, born in Trinidad, is a longtime Newark resident who makes paintings, prints, and comics. He was the co-curator of 2006's Black Rock. During his residency Darmanie has created a series of oversize comic pages that each functions independently but can be read as part of an ongoing narrative. The series features an alter ego, Kedar, in a minutely observed city not dissimilar to Newark, caught between neglect and gentrification.
Darmanie has also continued to work on a series of paintings of varying scale, based on features of his own body. The series is suggestive of the contribution of historical lineage, as well as the idiosyncrasies of personal appearance, to an ongoing identity.
Darmanie's original silkcreened shirts will be available soon online and at the gallery.
Robert Lach's photography, assemblage, and sculptures are created from scavenged materials from New Jersey's postindustrial landscape. The inspiration is in the hunt; spontaneity and surprises fuel the work. According to Lach, his "adventure with the found" began when he discovered an abandoned factory complex in Newark NJ. He photographed the remnants of pin up women immortalized by factory workers and combined these photos with doors from the factory site and nearby junkyards to create photographic sculptures. "My work is about change, being present, and the passage of time. What is an object's history? What is its life cycle? The energy that matter possesses cannot be destroyed - only transformed into a new form. We must create new relationships with what we throw away."
