February 9 – April 21, 2018

York College Fine Arts Gallery, Academic Core, 94-20 Guy R Brewer Boulevard, Jamaica, Queens.

March 3 – April 21

Central Library of Queens Library, 
89 – 11 Merrick Boulevard, Jamaica, Queens.

In its inaugural year, the Southeast Queens Biennial: A Locus of Moving Points identifies movement as an organizing principle for understanding Southeast Queens as a gateway for travel and a source of cultural production and exchange deeply rooted in its immigrant communities. This concept finds its roots in the writing of bell hooks, a visionary feminist activist and author, who speaks to the transformative potential of shifting one’s focus to consider the margin and center not as disparate parts, but as making up a whole body. Locus, from the Latin for “location” or “place,” is used in geometry to refer to a set of points that meet a given condition. Combined, these concepts suggest an active way of seeing that dismantles the notion of a dominant center by shifting perceptions of what makes up both center and periphery.

The Biennial features the the work of three generations of artists and cultural producers with deep connections to Southeast Queens. On view at York College Fine Arts Gallery: Damali Abrams the Glitter Priestess, Natali S. Bravo-Barbee, Janet Henry, Rejin Leys, Sana Musasama, Shervone Neckles, Odathrowback, Okechukwu Okegrass Ofiaeli, and Elizabeth Velazquez.

On view at Central Library of Queens Library is Notations in Passing, featuring the work of Salimah Ali, Ify Chiejina, Damali Abrams the Glitter Priestess, Renee Harper, Corona Johnson, Rejin Leys and Lisa Wade. Portraying a glimpse at the lived experiences of exhibiting artists and people living and working in Southeast Queens in photography, painting, drawing and collage, the exhibition reveals connections to each other, the environment and the world at large.

The inaugural Southeast Queens Biennial was organized by No Longer Empty’s 2017 NLE Curatorial Lab in partnership with York College Fine Arts Gallery, and is curated by Sarah Fritchey, Corrine Y. Gordon, Rebecca Pristoop, Niama Safia Sandy and Anastasia Tuazon. Notations in Passing is organized in partnership with Queens Library.

ABOUT NLE CURATORIAL LAB 
The NLE Curatorial Lab (NLE Lab) is a professional development program for emerging curators and arts professionals interested in direct experience curating in an expanded field. With a focus on research, project-based learning and collaboration, NLE Lab is designed to deepen an understanding of the development of a curatorial practice that is centered on responding to a specific context in a distinctly urban setting. The program culminates in a collectively curated exhibition with related programming. The program includes a curriculum of critical readings, guest speakers, site/historical research, studio/exhibition visits and incorporates community engagement as a fundamental component in the formation of curatorial themes.

ABOUT THE FINE ARTS GALLERY AT YORK COLLEGE
Located in Jamaica, Queens, the York College Fine Arts Gallery is part of the Department of Performing and Fine Arts at York College, City University of New York (CUNY). Opened in 1989, the gallery presents 3-4 professional exhibitions a year, ranging from solo and thematic group exhibitions and student shows at the end of each semester. With an enrollment of more than 8,000 students, York serves as one of CUNY’s leading liberal arts colleges, granting bachelor’s degrees in over 40 fields and a growing number of professional programs granting master’s degrees. The York College public art collection includes works by luminaries including Elizabeth Catlett, Frank Stella and Martin Puryear. york.cuny.edu

ABOUT THE QUEENS LIBRARY
Incorporated in 1907, Queens Library is an independent, nonprofit public library system and one of three serving the City of New York. It consists of a central library and 62 community libraries that attract more than 11.2 million visitors each year. Queens Library is one of the highest circulating library systems in the nation and among the busiest in the world. The mission of the Queens Library is to transform lives by cultivating personal and intellectual growth, and by building strong communities. The Queens Library Mobile Museum is funded by an Innovation Grant from the Queens Library Foundation. queenslibrary.org

Special thanks: Saiku Branch, Kalia Brooks, Deborah Cullen, Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful, Nicholas Fraser, Jacqueline Herranz-Brooks, Han Ko, Nelson Lu, Jean René, Aric Reviere, Rosemary Reyes, Margaret Rose Vendryes, Bevon M. St. Louis, Michael Taylor and Ed Woodham.