Public Walks: Saturday, April 11, 18, and 25. All walks begin at 4pm at Cuchifritos Gallery in Essex Street Market
The identity of the Lower East Side is tied to its consistently changing physical, cultural, and social landscape. Shifting Impressions embraces this essence by incorporating change and evolution into the design of the exhibition, as well as presenting three new public walks performed by City Souvenirs. Each walk will focus on various sites of the neighborhood through three different conceptual lens that highlight its heterogeneous identity. The first walk will explore the neighborhood’s embedded immigrant history, the second walk will engage with its historically artistic identity, and the last walk will examine the unidentified spaces of future change.
City Souvenirs will embark on each walk from Cuchifritos Gallery, where participants can join them. Together the group will share anecdotes about their past experiences in the neighborhood and make impressions of the sites with porcelain clay, contributing to the collective experience of each individual walk. Participants can choose to stay for the entire length of the walk, which is approximately one hour, or just a portion, while new participants can join from the street at any point during the walk.
P R E V I O U S W A L K S
City Souvenirs, Walk 1
On Saturday, April 11, City Souvenirs will venture into the LES with an eye toward the neighborhood’s diverse cultural heritage and immigrant history. Join the artists as they explore the streets and sites including Eldridge Street Synagogue, Seward Park, and others.
City Souvenirs, Walk 2
On April 18, City Souvenirs will examine the artistic identity of the LES by looking at sites integral to artists in the late 70s, 80, and 90s. The artists will visit places critical to the neighborhood’s artistic community, such as ABC No Rio and the Clemente Soto Veléz Cultural and Educational Center, and consider the impact of space on the work and life of artists at the time and its influence on the trajectory of contemporary art.
City Souvenirs, Walk 3
Finally on April 25, City Souvenirs will take participants on an experimental and contemplative walk that will focus on the changing landscape of the LES over time. By identifying sites of past and future change, the artists hope to engage in a dialogue about the different ways people experience unused and overlooked spaces, and the different ways they are reimagined into possibilities for new connections and relationships.
Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Shifting Impressions and City Souvenirs, an ongoing collaborative project by artists Liene Bosquê and Nicole Seisler.
All walks will begin at Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space. No sign up necessary.
This exhibition is made possible in part with public funds from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Additional support provided by Artists Alliance, Inc. Special thanks to Alexandra Henry and Philip Muller for their help in documenting the City Souvenirs LES Walks and to artist Etta Sandry (Studio Manager of the Textile Art Center) for her assistance with the first LES Walk.