SSUE Project Room is delighted to honor renowned artist and ISSUE Board member Robert Longo and ISSUE’s beloved late founder Suzanne Fiol at our 2019 Gala taking place on Wednesday, October 16th. The Gala is an opportunity to recognize exceptional leadership in the experimental arts community while benefiting a diverse and innovative community of artists. This year’s event celebrates two artists who envisioned ISSUE from its earliest years, bringing a unique perspective to New York’s avant-garde performance landscape.
“As visual artists we’ve had the unusual benefit of having our work financially appreciated by the public, yet so many of our peers in music, sound, dance and performance whose risk-taking work informs our work as visual artists go under recognized or under supported. ISSUE Project Room is a prime resource for the artists of our community. It provides them with the support they need to continue to grow their work. I’m proud to be part of a community of visual and multidisciplinary artists working to ensure that spaces like ISSUE continue to thrive.” -- Robert Longo
Gala Committee:
William Basinski
Steve Buscemi
R. Luke DuBois
Sarah Fiol
Jon Kessler
Jeanne Lutfy*
Rashid Johnson
Bill T. Jones & Bjorn Amelan
Shirin Neshat
Matana Roberts
Henry Rollins
Cindy Sherman
Leah Singer & Lee Ranaldo
John Turturro
Tom van den Bout*
Steve Wax*
*ISSUE Board Chair Emeritus
Robert Longo is an internationally renowned artist who is famous for his large-scale works in various mediums: drawing, sculpture, film, performance, and music. Longo was an instrumental force within a group of artists who were turning away from Minimalism and Conceptualism and towards image-making, inspired by newspapers, advertisements, film, and television. Throughout the 1980s, he became known as a leading protagonist of the “Pictures Generation,” working across mediums to make provocative critiques of the anaesthetizing and seductive effects of capitalism, mediatized wars, and the cult of history in the US. He also participated actively in the New York Downtown No Wave Music during this time, playing with Glenn Branca and Rhys Chatham. He has exhibited at museums throughout Europe, Asia and the United States since the late 1970s. He has been included in documenta, the Venice Biennale, and the Whitney Biennial. His work is part of major museum collections including MoMA, the Whitney, LACMA, the Pompidou, and others. Longo lives and works in New York. He is represented by Metro Pictures, New York and Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac; London, Paris, Salzburg. Longo is a member of ISSUE’s Board of Directors and was a long-time friend and supporter of ISSUE’s founder, Suzanne Fiol. Robert Longo’s exhibition Fugitive Images opens November 14th at Metro Pictures.
Suzanne Fiol was an extraordinary spirit, a force of nature, and a prominent figure in the visual and performing arts worlds. A native of New York City, Suzanne studied at Antioch College and completed a BFA at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago before returning home to acquire her MFA from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. As a photographer, Suzanne exhibited nationally and internationally. Her work appeared in many publications in the U.S. and abroad. Her photos can be found in many private collections including The Art Institute of Chicago, The Brooklyn Museum, The Queens Museum and The Milwaukee Art Museum. In 1985, Suzanne became Director of Sales at Light Gallery, NYC before launching the Donald Wren Gallery, NYC where she was named Director in 1987. She moved on to become the Sales Director at the Marcuse Pfeifer Gallery and the Brent Sikkema Gallery. During 2001, with Jan-Willem Dikkers and Marynka Wawzyniak, Suzanne launched Issue Management, a photo agency that represented well-known art photographers such as Jack Pierson, Mitch Epstein, Richard Kern, Renee Cox and Marilyn Minter. In February 2003, Suzanne Fiol founded ISSUE Project Room in response to a dearth of art centers fostering innovative creative practice. Across presentation in an array of homes in the East Village, Gowanus, and Downtown Brooklyn, ISSUE evolved into “Brooklyn’s leading avant-garde venue” (The Wall Street Journal). On October 5th, 2009, Suzanne lost her courageous battle with cancer. She is loved deeply and missed by all.
Additional program details to be announced.
For more information contact: Corinne Daniel, Development Director (718) 330-0313 x5 or corinne@issueprojectroom.org
