Curated by Edwin Ramoran and Jerry Gant.

“…but I was cool” is presented in collaboration with Planet Hip Hop 3 produced by the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Co-curated by artist Jerry Gant and Edwin Ramoran, director of the Longwood Arts Project, the contemporary arts center of the Bronx Council on the Arts, the exhibition is a parallel visual arts presentation which features the work of three African American artists—Dread Scott, Robert A. Pruitt, and Jerry Gant—and casts a more critical and analytical eye on Hip Hop culture. Artists Scott, Pruitt, and Gant will respond to historian Orlando Patterson’s assertion, in a May 2006 Op Ed piece in The New York Times, that the “cool factor” accounts, at least in part, for “the sorry state of young black men” in America today.

Late Night Open Mic
Friday, November 10, 11:00pm – 1:00am
Hosts: Egypt, Elijah Brown and Natasha Dyer
Artists: Hapu, Lab Addicts, Overbite, and others

Panel Discussion with the Artists
Sunday, November 12, 12:00 – 2:00pm
Moderator: Danny Simmons, Corridor Gallery

Both public programs are free to the public.

“…but I was cool” is dedicated to Eathon G. Hall, Jr. (1965 – 2006).”

Curated by Franklin Sirmans and Jennifer Moon.

E7 includes work by a dynamic group of 24 women and 16 men who, with varying experiences and artistic practices, were chosen to engage in Aljira Emerge 7, a professional development program for artists.

For the exhibition, co-organizers Franklin Sirmans, an independent curator and critic, and Jennifer Moon, Associate Curator of Artists Space, were interested in exploring alternative exhibition formats that activate the gallery space at Aljira and create a more engaging context for the artists’ particular artistic practice, which vary in scope from painting to performance. Conducting studio visits with each of the Emerge 7 participants, the organizers were led to the exploration of broad artistic trends evident in the artwork. The exhibition is a culmination of highlights in the “emerging” practices of this diverse group of talented artists.

E7 has been extended to run through October 22, 2006. Aljira will be open on Sunday to accommodate for the Newark Arts Council Open Doors Studio Tour, running from October 19 to 22, 2006.

Artists participating in this exhibition are as follows:

Afruz Amighi, Adam Brent, Chris Burns, Nicolás Dumit Estévez, Cui Fei, Linda Ganjian, Carla Gannis, Leslie Hewitt, Joel Kyack, German Pitre, Xaviera Vincenta Simmons, Yuken Teruya, Kathleen Vance, Haeri Yoo, Bryan Zanisnik, Elia Alba, Chrissy Conant, Chitra Ganesh, Asha Ganpat, Tamara Gubernat, Lisa Hamilton, Jeffrey Hargrave, Curt Ikens, Bettina Johae, Amy Kao, Saeri Kiritani, Steven Lam, LJ Lindhurst, Tara Mateik, Irvin Morazan, Kent Rogowski, Changamire Semakokiro, Shinique Smith, Alejandra Villasmil, Emma Wilcox, Michael Sarff (MTAA), William Ortega, Tim Whidden (MTAA), Bryony Romer, Scott Taylor.

Curated by Tamika Harris, Mosheh Malachi, Kyrie Cavaness, Quamar Dortch, Sean Smith, Tyron Lee.

Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art, presents, reBirth, an exhibition of work from the participating students artists in Aljira’s Culture Creators program. In this 12-week studio art and curatorial training program approximately 60 Newark Public Schools students in grades 11 and 12 work together to produce an exhibition of their own art. The program incorporates national field research about the arts and youth development, conversations with artists and colleagues, and a hands-on approach to artistic, curatorial and exhibition production practices.

A poster/checklist with the participating students’ bios is available from Aljira.

The Culture Creators 2006 team dedicates this exhibition to the legacy of Eathon G. Hall, Jr., founder of this program and a number of visionary projects at Aljira and other arts organizations.

Photo (top right): Nikita Duncan, Hip Hop Animes, 2006

Curated by Dominique Nahas.

Compassionate Monsters/Wrathful Lambs: The Work of Miriam Beerman is the first major exhibition of Beerman’s installation drawings and books. It is presented as the fourth exhibition in an ongoing series of shows, initiated in 2003, entitled Bending the Grid. This series is committed to the work of artists of diverse backgrounds over the age of 60 who have made significant contributions to the field but generally have been underrecognized. Born in 1923, painter Miriam Harriet Beerman has been a leading artistic figure in the Montclair, New Jersey area for more than three decades. Her visionary work has gained her many supporters over the years, while she has simultaneously garnered a reputation for being a passionate and rigorous teacher of painting and printmaking.

Curated by noted critic and writer Dominique Nahas, Compassionate Monsters/Wrathful Lambs: The Work of Miriam Beerman includes never-before-seen drawings by the artist as well as eight of her terra-cotta sculptures, presented publicly for the first time. This exhibition incorporates videos of the artist reading passages by poets Rainer Maria Rilke and Halvard Johnson, which are the undercurrents of her thought and whose words are drawn alongside her imagery in her two major books of drawings 3 Sentences with the Letter S (1997) and Washing the Corpse (1999-2000). Additionally, Beerman has created two unprecedented Gesamtkuntwerks—major installation drawings produced expressly for Aljira entitled Compassionate Monsters and Wrathful Lambs.

Come hear Miriam Beerman talk about her work with curator Dominique Nahas. More information here.

Photo (top right): Miriam Beerman, Bending the Grid: Compassionate Monsters/Wrathful Lambs: The Work of Miriam Beerman (installation detail), 2006

Curated by Eathon G. Hall, Jr.

For this series of exhibitions, Aljira explores the cultural and political landscape of Sudan, Africa’s largest and most culturally diverse country. For Sudan: The Land and the People, internationally acclaimed photographer Michael Freeman spent two years capturing powerful images of traditional and contemporary Sudanese life for his recent publication of the same title. Lifting over 70 photographs from his book, the exhibition presents an expansive view of Sudan’s rich and complex history, from its ancient kingdom to the trials and tribulations of the modern state it is attempting to become. Running concurrently, Children of Darfur: Gen Genocide offers a wrenching multimedia presentation of over 150 drawings by children from Kalma, Darfur’s largest, most notorious, refugee camp. The work depicts mass killings, bombings and symbols of youthful optimism. These visceral accounts in crayon were smuggled out of the country by Dr. Jerry Ehrlich, a Cherry Hill, New Jersey-based pediatrician. And, in Khalid Kodi, a self-titled presentation of works, the Sudanese artist, based in Boston, references traditional imagery and his ongoing relationship with Sudan’s violent and turbulent history.

Sudan: The Land and the People, a revealing publication of photographs published by the University of Washington Press, will accompany the exhibition. It includes contributions from Timothy Carney, the last accredited Ambassador to Sudan, freelance writer Victoria Butler, and a forward by President Jimmy Carter.

Sudan: The Land and the People was organized by Meridian International Center, Washington, D.C. in association with Victoria Butler and has been made possible by generous support from Michael & Marilyn Dore, with additional support from The Honorable Mayor Sharpe James and the Honorable Councilwoman-at-Large Gayle Chaneyfield Jenkins. Special thanks to Blanche Foster, Darfur Rehabilitation Project, Lou Ann Merkle, Darfur Alert Coalition and Dr. Jerry Ehrlich, M.D.

Photo (top right): Patient at Red Cross Hospital at Lopiding. Lokichokia, Northwest Kenya, 2003. Photograph copyright © Michael Freeman