LMCC PRESENTS AMY ​​KHOSHBIN & JENNIFER KHOSHBIN’S IMMERSIVE SUN SEEKERS AT THE ARTS CENTER AT GOVERNORS ISLAND, OPENING MAY 28

SITE-SPECIFIC EXHIBITION INCORPORATES INTERACTIVITY AND PERFORMANCE, PROMOTES HEALING THROUGH DISCONNECTING FROM TECHNOLOGY AND RECONNECTING WITH THE NATURAL WORLD

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

      

Sun Seekers Jumpsuits + Emblem, Courtesy of the Artists, 2022

May 17, 2022—Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) is proud to present Amy Khoshbin & Jennifer Khoshbin’s site-specific, immersive exhibition, Sun Seekers, at The Arts Center at Governors Island, opening May 28 and running through October 30. All exhibitions and events at The Arts Center at Governors Island are free and open to the public and all are welcome—visitor information may be found below and HERE.

Created by sisters Amy Khoshbin and Jennifer Khoshbin, Sun Seekers is a body of immersive installation, sculptural and performance work meant to promote healing through disconnecting with technology and reconnecting with the natural world. Central to it is a sci-fi narrative about an alternate world that maintains a direct correlation to our current experience of constant indoor on-screen life—the Wreck-tangle World. The Sun Seekers pursue embodied experiences and outdoor spaces filled with light to escape the Wreck-tangle, to collectively create a sense of empathy with the environment and to get back in touch with their bodies as a critical act of self-care. Gathering temporary communities together in physical space, the Sun Seekers encourage engagement with somatic analog sculptures that awaken senses left untapped in the Wreck-tangle.

In the words of the Sun Seekers themselves, “We have come to Governors Island to cultivate and share our Sunport—a field for contemplation, sensory attunement and action. The Sunport is a place to leave the Wreck-tangle behind. We invite you to join us, let your feet become green, your knees become flowers, your limbs snakes and your eyes portals.”

Over the course of the exhibition, there will be a series of participatory performances led by the Sun Seekers to induct audiences into their world through object-making and durational, technology-free somatic experiences, both inside the installation and outside in the sun. The first takes place on June 18 as part of the River To River Festival—details HERE. Also, on opening day (May 28) at 3 p.m. there will be a short welcome initiation into the Sun Seekers world.

Sun Seekers Scream, photo credit: Gregory Gentert

“We are excited to welcome visitors of all ages to this timely and unique exhibition, which offers an interactive multi-sensory experience that raises important questions about how we live today,” says Jess Van Nostrand, LMCC’s Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs.

Sun Seekers is one of three exhibitions and installations at The Arts Center at Governors Island, opening May 28 and running through October 30. Visit LMCC.net for details. Additional 2022 public programming will be announced soon, including signature Open Studios events and the return of LMCC’s popular Take Care series, which offers audiences of all ages opportunities to find artfulness in the everyday by exploring creative practices and community projects that emphasize care for ourselves, our communities and our planet.

All programming and events at The Arts Center are free and open to the public, and all are welcome. Appropriate COVID-19 public health protocols will be in place.

This season’s Arts Center exhibitions center around ideas of healing, offering audiences a range of perspectives related to how we manage our experiences—both individual and collective—and how we might find paths of recovery.

Conceived by LMCC as a creative gathering space for artists and the public, The Arts Center at Governors Island is located within the Governors Island Historic District, just minutes away from Manhattan by ferry. It features 40,000 square feet of space dedicated to public performances, exhibitions and artist residencies, as well as multiple visual and performing arts studios and a cafe. Artists are in residence year-round, with public programming taking place from May through the end of October.

VISITOR INFORMATION

Amy Khoshbin & Jennifer Khoshbin
Sun Seekers
May 28–October 30, 2022
Upper Gallery at The Arts Center at Governors Island

Hours in May, June, September & October: Friday–Sunday, 12–6 p.m.
Summer Hours in July & August: Fridays & Saturdays, 12–7 p.m., Sundays 12–6 p.m.

Open on Memorial Day (May 30), July 4, Labor Day (Sept 5)

The Arts Center at Governors Island
110 Andes Rd, New York, NY 10004, Building 110
Google Maps: The Arts Center at Governors Island

Visitor Information / Plan Your Visit

The Arts Center at Governors Island is accessible by ferries operating to and from Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. It is a 2-minute walk from the Soissons Landing pier (ferries from Manhattan). For the Governors Island ferry schedule, please visit https://govisland.com/visit-the-island/ferry

COVID-19 Protocols:

At this time, we continue to require face coverings for visitors age 4 and older, regardless of vaccination status. To request an accommodation based on a medical condition or disability, please email Rosemary DeMarco at rdemarco@lmcc.net prior to your visit. LMCC will continue to closely monitor guidelines from Governor Hochul and the CDC as they are released. According to the CDC’s Community Level Guidelines, New York is currently at Community Level Medium.

ABOUT AMY KHOSHBIN & JENNIFER KHOSHBIN

Amy Khoshbin is an Iranian-American Brooklyn-based artist. She pushes the formal and conceptual boundaries of artmaking to foster radical social change through performance, social practice, video, collage, rap, writing and installation. She has shown at venues such as The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Guggenheim Museum, Times Square Arts, Artpace, The High Line, Socrates Sculpture Park, and festivals such as South by Southwest and River to River. She has received residencies at The Watermill Center, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Anderson Ranch and Banff Centre for the Arts, among others. She has received a NYFA Grant, Fellowship in Civic Engagement at Pratt Institute, Franklin Furnace Fund and Rema Hort Mann Grant.Khoshbin received an MA in New Media Art from New York University and a BA in Film at University of Texas at Austin. She has collaborated with Laurie Anderson, Karen Finley and poet Anne Carson, among others.

Jennifer Khoshbin is a San Antonio artist and curator. Her work often aims to present a detail of the story of human diversity and community. The strength of the work comes from great attention to pictorial detail, seen in her drawings, murals and installations. The guiding inspiration in all Jennifer’s artwork is twofold: the public self and the private self. Her public works are created with a respect to the specific history of the site and its communities of settlers and wayfarers, past and present, human, plant or animal. Her private works are intended to explore personal identities through storytelling. Whether creating intricate personal drawings or large-scale public art pieces, there exists a simple phrase, idea or story worth telling. Jennifer has exhibited works in galleries and museums throughout the United States: Times Square Arts, Artpace, Southwest School of Art and Craft, TX; Blue Star Contemporary, TX; Artpace, TX; The Watermill Center, NY; Rose and Radish Gallery, SF; Bellevue Arts Museum, WA; 360SEE, Chicago; and Tinlark Gallery in LA, among others. Her work has been published and written about widely and has appeared in Newsweek, Readymade, House Beautiful, Glamour and in numerous art and craft books.

ABOUT THE ARTS CENTER AT GOVERNORS ISLAND

Conceived by LMCC as an incubator for creative exploration and a gathering space to engage in dialogue, The Arts Center at Governors Island is the first permanent home for artists and audiences on Governors Island. Year-round Artist Residency programs that provide artists with studio and presenting space to develop their work are featured alongside a broad range of exhibitions and public events that bring artists and audiences together in an exchange of ideas and creative practices.

Concurrent to Governors Island’s ambitious plans for addressing climate change and environmental issues in the long-term, LMCC is proud to join in the effort of demonstrating the stake that artists must have in these timely issues. Applicants to The Arts Center’s residency programs may choose to address the thematic anchors of equity and sustainability explicitly or elaborate on the relevance of their own practice and/or projects to them. On the heels of a successful 2021 public season at The Arts Center, LMCC will focus on the principal theme of healing in 2022.

Building 110 at Governors Island was originally built in the 1870s as an ordnance warehouse and later used as military office space. In partnership with the Trust for Governors Island, LMCC re-envisioned the space for 21st-century artists and audiences. The interior renovation, designed by PEI Cobb Freed & Partners and Adamson Associates Architects and engineered by BuroHappold Engineering, features 40,000 square feet of artist studios, galleries, performance and rehearsal spaces and a cafe, and successfully reveals the stunning structure of the historic building while keeping its spaces flexible for a variety of uses.

Awards:

Winner, Cultural Projects, Global Design Awards—The Architecture Community
American Architecture Award—Chicago Athenaeum, 2020
Award of Merit, Cultural/Worship—Engineering News Record New York, 2020

SUPPORTERS

The 2022 season of programming at The Arts Center at Governors Island is made possible, in part, by the Charina Endowment Fund, Howard Gilman Foundation and Con Edison.

LMCC’s Arts Center Residency program is supported, in part, by Cowles Charitable Trust, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Jacques and Natasha Gelman Trust, The Willem de Kooning Foundation, May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, Inc., The Norman & Bettina Roberts Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Milton & Sally Avery Arts Foundation, Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), Teiger Foundation, Tiger Baron Foundation and YoungArts.

The Arts Center Residency is also supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

LMCC is also grateful to our many capital supporters. For a list of capital supporters, please visit lmcc.net.

LMCC additionally acknowledges our partnership with the Trust for Governors Island.

ABOUT GOVERNORS ISLAND

Governors Island is a 172-acre island in the heart of New York Harbor nestled between Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn waterfront. Eight minutes from the energy and excitement of the City, the Island is a popular seasonal destination open to the public May 1–October 31. An award-winning new park is complemented by dozens of unique historic buildings, educational and cultural facilities, a rich arts and culture program and a 22-acre National Monument managed by the National Park Service. Looking forward, the Island is envisioned to be accessible year-round, with extraordinary open space, arts and culture, and education and research opportunities focused on climate solutions.

Details regarding Governors Island’s public season will be announced shortly. For more information, visit govisland.org.

ABOUT LOWER MANHATTAN CULTURAL COUNCIL (LMCC)

Founded as Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, LMCC serves, connects and makes space for artists and community.

LMCC Serves Artists through:

• Residencies that enable artists to experiment and develop their work and ideas, with professional development, financial training and networking opportunities
• Grant funding to artists that support local/neighborhood projects
• Presentation opportunities that allow artists to share their work and creative process with the public

LMCC Serves Community through:

• Free public programs in Lower Manhattan that activate neighborhoods and bring people together through performances and rich artistic experiences
• Access to artists and the artmaking process to build connections and dialogue between artists and audiences
• Grant funding for neighborhood arts and community-based organizations

Since 1973, LMCC has been the quiet champion for independent artists in New York City and the cultural life force of Lower Manhattan.

www.lmcc.net