FACTION Art Projects have announced their second Harlem Perspectives, an annual exhibition celebrating the local talent of Harlem and uptown New York.

Harlem Perspectives II is co-curated by Leanne Stella of Art In FLUX, and showcases an eclectic mix of local artists who live and work above Manhattan’s 110th Street.

This year’s edition of Harlem Perspectives will present works by a selection of artists who deconstruct history through their process of art making.  With their hands, a brush, or through a lens, the artists investigate, manipulate and work materials and objects that are charged with a personal and/or political narrative.  While teasing, tearing and appropriating materials, the artists examine the cultural values and historical significance placed on the objects or subjects in their work.  The resulting works define a new narrative revealing how the artists may find reconciliation or antipathy through the process and prompting the viewer to question preconceived notions and beliefs. 

Artists include Coby Kennedy, David C. Terry, Elan Cadiz, Kennedy Yanko, Patrick Alston, Ruhee Mankojia and Tammy Nguyen.

In his multi-media series, In The Service of a Villian, Coby Kennedy paints, welds, sews, films, photographs and animates his subjects in a quest to antagonize and perhaps overthrow a patriarchal society.  

David C. Terry manipulates ubiquitous objects like a terry cloth headband, a pair of basketball shorts, a dollar bill and with a bit of irony reveals society’s suppressed or unsaid viewpoints.  

In An American Family Album, Elan Cadiz cleverly re-claims fabrics in a series of family “portraits” depicted by a chair. Through conversation with relatives and elders, and the reuse of familial items such as a dress, a tablecloth, curtains, scarves, and blankets she re-constructs an unusual visual history of her family.  

Kennedy Yanko is fascinated by the human tendency to see objects only as they appear.  Through her large-scale metal and “skin” formations she creates a new context, changing our interaction and relationship with the objects. 

Patrick Alston’s abstract paintings are a reflection, perhaps even a memoir of growing up in the Bronx. Patrick combines traditional techniques with graffiti gestures on hand sewn canvases deftly creating an historical patchwork with a bit of personal history hidden within each painting.  

Tammy Nguyen’s paintings portraying fictional histories wrestle with relevant timely topics including immigration, cross cultural trade and colonialism.  The resulting visual fantasies are informed by her academic and political fervor combined with a fresh yet skilled technique and color sense.

Ruhee Maknojia is a New-York based interdisciplinary artist. Her experience of growing up in America in a home that is culturally Indo-Iranian is the lenses through which she sees the world. Her work is heavily influenced by the aesthetics and philosophies of the Persian garden and what it means to open the gates between an internal space of serenity and an external world of chaos.

Curator Leanne Stella says: “Harlem is often called a state of mind that extends beyond its physical boundaries, of which the people, the streets, the cultural influences are in a continual state of flux while remaining a true community. The artists in this exhibition are reflective of this dynamic place called Harlem. Each of the artists presents a unique perspective that challenges and redefines history and biased views or values.  As a group these artists echo the diversity of Harlem that thrives and coexists despite the current divisive political rhetoric.”