CORRESPONDENCE Opens Today at Westbeth Gallery

CORRESPONDENCE presents works by forty visual and performing artists inspired by letters and postcards written to Steve Clorfeine, the creator and curator of the exhibition, over a period of fifty years. The exhibition will be on view at the Westbeth Gallery from today, May 2 through 17, 2015.

Spanning multiple generations and cultural backgrounds, the artists were invited by Mr. Clorfeine to create works that incorporate selections of original correspondence material into their chosen format and reference the time-honored practice of exchanges of written words and pictures. The art of correspondence--sensory, temporal, tactile, aesthetic, imaginative--is interpreted and presented through a variety of mediums including painting, sculpture, collage, video, photography, film, and installation.

Among the works on view are Life Vest by Swiss artist Ursina Vogt, a wearable size 44R vest comprised of love letters written over a period of ten years; Postkart by Andra Samelson that evokes roads traveled and postcards sent; Digitial Cards by Delhi, New York-based artist Bob Rosen that digitally re-forms sixteen material images into a single luminous work; Christoph Zihlmann's House of Cards, an architect's rendering that incorporates both private and public information; Hoop by textile designer Birgitte Bush; and Mislaid Memory by Leslie English, a diorama featuring letters, images, and geometric shapes that tells a four-part story.

Steve Clorfeine is a performer, writer and teacher with roots in the downtown New York City dance and theater scenes. He is a two-time recipient of Cultural Envoy grants from the U.S. government and has received grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, and Poets & Writers. He is a founding arts faculty member of Naropa University and a former faculty member at SUNY New Paltz. His poetry and non-fiction have been published by Station Hill of Barrytown, Codhill Press, and Parabola Magazine. Steve lives in New York City and in Kingston, New York.

The project was conceived and developed, in part, during Mr. Clorfeine's residency fellowship from the Vermont Studio Center in 2014. CORRESPONDENCE represents the culmination of the project.

Featured Artists
Elana Adler, Christine Alicino, Joan Anderson, Theresa Antonellis, Agness Au, Susan Banyas, Barbara Bash, Ursula Brookbank, Brenda Bufalino, Birgitte Bush, Steve Clorfeine, Marilyn Crispell, Jon D'Orazio, Marcello Dolce, Leslie English, Monica Frisell, Aimee Gilmore, Roy Gumpel, Kate Hamilton, Lanny Harrison, Gurmi Lama, Ralph Lee, Cyndi Levine, Elmer Luke, Bob Rosen, Claire Rosenfeld, Marchel Ruygrok, Andra Samelson, Robert Seward, Robert Spellman, Constance Steckel, Louise Steinman, Suzy Sureck, Hiroshi Tachibana, Lauren Turk, Ursina Vogt, Hy Varon, Wilma Vesseur, Lucienne Weinberger, Christoph Zihlmann, Jane Zipp.

Westbeth Gallery is a not-for-profit gallery located on the first floor of Westbeth Artists Housing at 55 Bethune Street at Washington Street in New York City. It exhibits the work of resident artists and presents independently curated exhibitions. Gallery Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 1 to 6 p.m.