2014: TONY LABAT

Dates: May 20 - June 28, 2014

Artist: Tony Labat

Curators: Jacquelyn Connolly and Cortney Stell

Location: Emmanuel Gallery | Denver, Colorado

Project: Elevation

The Artist

Tony Labat

Since the early eighties Tony Labat has been an important participant in the California performance and video scene. A pioneer of video installations, his work often identifies the “outsider”, whether the artist or the immigrant. Born in Cuba, he makes frequent commentary on displacement and marginalization. In Day Labor: Mapping the Outside… he sets up a surveillance system from his studio window, observing day workers waiting to be picked up for temporary work. The split-screen video and the workers themselves divide into groups of visual codes: painters, carpenters, gardeners, etc. The artist is mimicking institutional surveillance, while participating in the workers passivity.

The Curators

Jacquelyn Connolly

Jacquelyn Connolly is the Interim Director of Emmanuel Gallery and the owner of Creative Mind Consulting, an art consulting company that specializes in curation, project management and communication. Under this firm she has spent five years curating exhibitions and managing public art projects for Denver International Airport, American Airlines, the City of Denver, Colorado Creative Industries and Western States Arts Federation as well as several private collections.  Previous to starting Creative Mind, she worked for the Colorado Council on the Arts (now Colorado Creative Industries), and the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs (now Arts and Venues Denver).With a strong background in government arts organizations and public art she continues to unite these realms with her passion for installation and public interaction based works.

Cortney Stell

Cortney Stell is an independent curator based in Denver, Colorado. Stell is currently the Executive Director of RedLine International, a private, nonprofit foundation that is dedicated to supporting and growing a network of independent, contemporary arts organizations operating under the RedLine name. Recently Stell held the position of Gallery Director at the Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design (RMCAD) for 6 years. As an independent curator, Stell has curated numerous exhibitions nationally and internationally for museums, galleries, biennials and large-scale art events. Stemming from an interest in arts as communication and experience, Stell has organized exhibitions that focus on artworks experimental in both conceptual and material nature, including solo exhibitions by Shirley Tse, Roger Herman, Mike and Doug Starn, Justin Cooper, and Jimmy Joe Roche.  Stell holds a MA from the European Graduate School in Switzerland where she is also currently a PhD candidate in Media Communications.