“Assembled Picture Library of New York City” at Esopus Space

January 30, 2010

Esopus Space is pleased to present “The Assembled Picture Library of New York City,” a collaborative exhibition and workspace environment organized by artists Robin Cameron and Jason Polan that will run from February 16 to March 18. A closing reception will be held on March 18th from 6 to 8 pm.

The exhibition will provide free and open access to hundreds of images from the collections of Cameron and Polan. Visitors are invited to come in during gallery hours (Mon/Tue/Thu from 12-5pm) and use these images—which include manuscripts, advertisements, prints, original drawings, and more—as raw material for their own artworks, which will be displayed on the walls of Esopus Space for the length of the exhibition. Visitors are also encouraged to submit their own images to build upon the collection, and will have the opportunity to participate in a dialogue with Cameron and Polan, who will be in attendance throughout the run of the show.

With this project, the artists hope to create a collaborative and creative relationship with the general public—an important component of both Cameron and Polan’s previous work, as well as an essential aspect of the Esopus Foundation’s mission. The artists are also interested in engendering a sense of community around the production of self-published books, zines, and editions. Along those lines, Polan and Cameron will create a book featuring visitors’ artworks, The Assembled Picture Library of New York Book, that will be available at the closing reception on March 18.

Robin Cameron’s work has been exhibited at venues around the world, including Printed Matter, Jen Bekman Gallery, the New Museum’s Resource Center, and Sign Gallery in Tokyo; her art has been featured in The New York Times, Adbusters, Walrus, and Tokion, among many other publications, and was recently acquired by the Museum of Modern Art Library. The New York–based artist, who originally hails from Canada, has published a wide range of artists’ books and zines, including Mind Maps, Making the Curriculum, and her most recent publication, The Story.

Jason Polan, a founding member of The 53rd Street Biological Society and The Taco Bell Drawing Club, has shown his work throughout the United States and Europe. Polan’s illustrations and projects have appeared in Metropolis, The New Yorker, The New York Times, McSweeney’s, and Esopus, for which he drew more than 100 ’ “favorite things about New York City” submitted by the magazine’s subscribers. Polan has created countless artists’ books, including the cult favorite Every Piece of Art in the Museum of Modern Art. The Michigan native currently lives and works in New York City.