Artist Bio: Rashaad Newsome (b. 1979, New Orleans, LA)

Rashaad Newsome works in performance, photography, collage, video, sculpture and sound, developing mixed-media works that examine the intersection of pop and subculture forms. For Art Breaks, Newsome presents a new work in his ongoing SWAG the Mix Tape project, inspired by his interest in the language of Heraldry and the history of the mix tape from the early days of hip hop. Newsome received a B.A. in Art History at Tulane University before studying Film at Film Video Arts NYC as well as music production and programming at Harvestworks NYC. He has exhibited nationally and internationally at such institutions and Galleries as The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; MoMA PS1, New York, NY; The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY; Brooklyn Museum, New York, New York; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; The Kitchen, New York; and Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow, Russia. Upcoming projects include: FIVE 2012 (Hong Kong), Hong Kong International Art Fair, 5.18.12; SWAG THE MIX TAPE Vol. 2, 7.4.2012; Shade Compositions (SFMOMA), SFMOMA, 11.4.2012 and FIVE 2012 (The Drawing Center), The Drawing Center NY.

Rashaad Newsome lives and works in New York, NY.

Website:
http://rashaadnewsome.com/

Articles And Links:
New York Times: Rashaad Newsome Blending Hip Hop And Heraldry
The Creators Project: Rashaad Newsome
ArtnetTV: Rashaad Newsome
Arcade44: Five // Rashaad Newsome
AMMO Mag: Artist Profile
TMagazine: The Nifty 50
Performance Festival Diary

Artist Bio: Mads Lynnerup (b. 1976, Copenhagen, Denmark)
Mads Lynnerup uses a variety of media to create humorous and poignant works based on observations of his immediate environment. In his video for MTV, Astrobright (Fake and Temporary), Lynnerup focuses on the antithetical landscapes of contemporary art and fitness, finding that these seemingly disparate worlds are, in reality, both obsessive and fanatic in their own way. As an artist who recently started a personal exercise regime of his own, Lynnerup is fascinated with how pieces of generic gym equipment look and operate as objects in fitness centers. This seemingly mundane observation is a launching point for the artist’s ongoing attempt to break open the static nature of art objects displayed in galleries and museums. For his Art Breaks piece, Lynnerup worked with his own personal trainer, Tim Adams, to create a series of short fitness routines outside of the gym environment. Lynnerup recently earned an MFA from Columbia University in New York and has shown his work nationally and internationally at such venues as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; The Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; MoMA PS1, NY; and Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland.

Mads Lynnerup lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

Website:
http://www.madslynnerup.com/

Articles And Links:
Austin 360: Playful New Exhibit Wants You To Touch
SF Weekly: Artist Mads Lynnerup’s New Routine
Kopenhagen: Interview
New York Times: Smooth And Safe At Pier 94
Baer Ridgway Exhibition: You Are The Artist, You Figure It Out
Art Lies: Mads Lynnerup
ARTFORUM

Video Links:
Madslynnerup.com
Plastic Gymnastic
If You See Anything Interesting…

Gallery Links:
Lora Reynolds Gallery
Eli Ridgway Gallery

Artist Bio: Jani Ruscica (b. 1978, Savonlinna, Finland)
Jani Ruscica is an artist who works in a variety of media, including film, video, and photography. His work explores the intersection between cinema, video art, theatre and performance. Ruscica works collaboratively, and his interests lie in how one defines his/her location and placement in the world, and how this definition changes continuously according to personal, cultural, representational or even scientific factors. For Art Breaks, Ruscica has collaborated with fellow Finnish artist Sini Pelkki on Screen Test (for a living sculpture), a video close up of a performer quietly confronting the viewer in a fleeting moment rooted in mundane experience. Ruscica was educated at Chelsea College of Art and Design in London and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki. His recent exhibitions include ‘Found in Translation – Chapter L’ Casino Luxembourg 2011, 6th Liverpool Biennial, 2010, 5th Momentum Biennial, Moss, Norway 2009, ‘Life Forms’Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm, 2009, ‘Tracking Traces…’Kiasma, Helsinki as well as screenings in institutions such as Centre Pompidou, Paris, TATE Modern, London and MoMA, New York.

Jani Ruscica lives and works in Helsinki, Finland. 


Website:
http://www.janiruscica.com

Collaborator: Sini Pelkki (b. 1978, Helsinki, Finland)
Sini Pelkki is an artist working with photography and video. Pelkki is interested in the subjectivity of seeing, and the images within images. In her works different landscapes, figures and objects turn into layered narratives that lead to various paths and ambiguous readings. Her recent solo exhibitions include ”Embarkation” at Kunsthalle Helsinki (2011), ”Echo for Two” at the Photographic Gallery Hippolyte, Helsinki (2011), ”Passage” at the Finnish Institute in Stockholm (2010) and ”Tense Territories” at the Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki (2009). Pelkki graduated from Chelsea College of Art & Design (London, UK) and from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts (Helsinki, Finland).

Sini Pelkki lives and works in Helsinki Finland.

Website:
http://www.sinipelkki.net