Saturday, June 20, 2009




Feedback
Working Space 09

Wonjung Choi, Christopher Clary, Denise DeSpirito, Mike Estabrook,
Jen Mazza, Min Oh, Harumi Ori, Oraib Toukan

Curated by Thomas J. Lax

Opening Reception: June 27, 4-6 pm
Exhibition Dates: June 20 - August 1, 2009
Open Hours: Monday to Saturday: 12:00 to 5:30 pm

Feedback: Working Space 09 is AAI's annual exhibition featuring works selected by guest curator Thomas J. Lax from artists participating on the Lower East Side-Rotating Studio Program, in Fall 08 and Spring 09. AAI sponsors the Lower East Side Rotating Studio artist residency Program with artists chosen by a panel of outside artists, curators, and arts professionals in order to reaffirm our commitment to this vibrant and historically significant multicultural neighborhood. The artists selected are presented here in Working Space 09.


CUCHIFRITOS: an art gallery/project space at Essex Street Market, and a Program of the Artists Alliance Inc. Its focus is on contemporary art as it relates to community, social issues, and public space.
ESSEX ST.MARKET
Essex Street near Delancy NYC

Wednesday, June 17, 2009


Eastern District Presents:
"Plenty of Room on the Couch"
Curated by Jesse Lee Denning

Opening reception - Friday June 26th. 7 - 10pm
Special Guest DJ Todd Weinstock a.k.a. Toddlerone (Cubic Zirconia)
Sponsored by Asahi Beer

Featured artists:
-JK6- -Trevor Bittinger- -Colin Stinson- -Spaze Craft 1- -Denise DeSpirito- -John Breiner- -Dan Taylor- -Jesse Jones- -Kyoko Heshiimu- -Becca Roach- -Kelly Vetter- -Steve Smith- -New Colony- -Downer- -Chad Koeplinger- -AKO- -Michelle Tarantelli- -Gillian Goldstein- -Patrick Conlon- -Chip7- -Todd Noble- -Mister Mark- -Eyeball- -Chris O'Donnell- -Andreis Costa- -Zoe Sonenberg- -Carlyle Micklus- -Josh Taylor- -Jay Flanell- -Joshua Abram Howard- -Jeremiah Maddock- -Amandalynn- -Sweety- -Nikki Balls- -Subtexture- -Dosa Kim- -Amy Finkbeiner- -Aunia Kahn- -RROBOTS- -Dennis McNett- -Michael Alan- -Damion Silver- -JesseHectic- -JoKa- -Kristen Ferrell- -Douajee Vang- -Matt Vancura- -Grime- -Evan Cairo- -Parskid- -Justin Lipuma- -Regino Gonzales- -Lyndsey Lesh- -Tim Diet- -Dick Chicken- -Laura Meyers--Fernando Lions- -Sacha Jenkins- -James O'Brian- -John Reardon- -Myles Karr- -Dan Trocchio- -Andre Malcolm- -Leif Parsons- -Duane Bruton- -Bishop203- -Diego Mannino- -Civ-

jesse@eastern-district.com
Hours: 2-8pm Thursday-Sunday


EASTERN DISTRICT
43 BOGART STREET - L TRAIN TO MORGAN AVENUE.

www.Eastern-District.com

Wednesday, April 8, 2009




Things have been a bit slow over in studio world, I'd attribute it to the fact that the rest of my life seems like it's in some crazy warp speed zone, but new exciting things always seem to come with spring, right....

Monday, March 9, 2009


A view of the benefit exhibition at Fountain this weekend for a nautical art project, Swimming Cities of Serenissima, pioneered by the artist Swoon. She talks abut it in my friend's new issue of Sadie Magazine amongst other cool articles and interviews.

Monday, March 2, 2009


I'm participating in the Fountain Art Fair with Glowlab to benefit Swoon's Swimming Cities of Serenissima at Pier 66 26th St Hudson River Park March 5-8, 2009. And, come visit my new studio on N.10th and Berry in Brooklyn sometime soon!

Monday, February 23, 2009


I'm still alive! I just haven't updated this in super long, been researching and looking for inspiration, posting over on my my tumbler blog.

Sunday, December 21, 2008



Tuesday, November 18, 2008


A shot from AAI Open Studios, the work is still up if you want to come by...

Tuesday, November 11, 2008


a few more photos on my flickr.

Monday, November 3, 2008



OPEN STUDIOS!
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2008
107 SUFFOLK STREET
My residency at AAI is almost over so please come check it out while you can. I'm on the fourth floor but there will be plenty to see in the whole building.
More info is on their website.
DIRECTIONS: f, j, m, z, train to Delancey/Essex St. Walk two blocks east to Suffolk Street. Building is located between Rivington and Delancey with entrance on Suffolk.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Monday, October 27, 2008


from a new series of drawings that I like this definition for:
vor·tex (vôrtks)
n. pl. vor·tex·es or vor·ti·ces (-t-sz)
A place or situation regarded as drawing into its center all that surrounds it: a state of affairs likened to a whirlpool for violent activity, irresistible force, etc., a rapid rotatory movement of cosmic matter about a center

Friday, October 24, 2008


this is so deeply ingrained in my mind from sesame street as a kid, that i just recently realized how much some of my newer drawings remind me of it. I will put them up soon, but in the meantime - philip glass for sesame street, on repeat....

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Tuesday, October 21, 2008






puzzling, or not so puzzling, pieces

Monday, October 20, 2008


I updated my resume on the Irving Sandler Artist File Online.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008


I painted an Obama figure for a Obama For America campaign auction on October 17th 7-11pm at The Showroom NYC at Toy Tokyo 117 Second Ave 2nd Floor at 7th Street. Mine is called the "Captain Planet Obama, He's our hero bringing pollution down to zero," but he does look a little bit like a raver, or maybe i should have covered him entirely with flowers like Koon's Puppy....

Wednesday, October 1, 2008



the studio! my time there is almost up, i wish it could last longer....
I was in this group show that had an opening this past weekend. There are some pictures on the website.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008



Cherry Bomb – Sadie's launch party and exhibition
Opening: August 12, 2008 7:00-9:00 pm

The Exhibition will be on view from August 13th – August 31st
Sadie Magazine and Metro Color Collision are proud to present our inaugural group exhibition featuring art from Sadie contributors. The artists are: Dan Abbott, Denise DeSpirito, Timothy Herzog, Melissa Levin, Jonathan Ratcliff, Molly Schulman, Lizzy Sise, Jasen Slutzkin, Jennifer Sullivan, Vadis Turner, Emily Walkiewicz, Lizz Wasserman, and Justine Zwiebel.
D&H Gallery is located at: 155 Spring St. on the 4 th floor, between Wooster & West Broadway

Monday, July 28, 2008


I moved into a studio on Suffolk and Rivington in the LES. It is through the Artist Alliance Inc. LES Rotating Studio Program It's in an amazing old school, if you're in the neighborhood, come by....

Wednesday, July 2, 2008




Irregular Patterns
curated by Shinsuke Aso

TOBEY FINE ARTS
580 Broadway Suite 902
New York, NY 10012
Tel. 212 431 7878

July 11 – August 16, 2008
Opening reception: Friday, July 11th, 6-8pm
Gallery hours: Tue – Sat, 11am -6pm

TOBEY FINE ARTS is pleased to present Irregular Patterns, a group exhibition of works by Denise DeSpirito, Stosh Tokarski, Joseph Woolridge and Scosha Woolridge.

Thursday, June 5, 2008


Bushwick Open Studios!
Since I have been using a studio in my apartment to take part in the open studios I will have a couple of pieces in a group show at Nutroasters Gallery 120 Ingraham Street between Knickerbocker and Porter (closer to the corner of Porter) near the L Morgan stop.
There is a picture of a squirrel out front.
The space is open Sat. and Sun. 12-7pm.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008


This weekend The Canal Chapter inaugurates its new location, The Stanton Chapter with a transitional show, A Cloudburst of Material Possessions: A Metaphor for the Myriad Considerations.I'm happy to show some work along with the many other great artists, about 25 I think, and I'm not actually too sure what I even have up in it..... It's an interesting show and you can read the whole press release on The Canal Chapter website. The opening is Sunday June 8th 4-10pm at 176 STANTON STREET and will be up until June 23rd.

I also have a drawing in the new issue of Sadie Magazine. It's the second issue with great reading from interviews to book reviews. In case you didn't know "Sadie Magazine has all the cool kinds of people and things we wish we had known about earlier ourselves . . . Rather than training women to consume, Sadie aims to empower girls with stories of risk-taking ladies" amazing.

Friday, May 16, 2008


Some new drawings happening and also an old one in the art show to accompany the LES FEST a free event of theater, music, dance, video, etc. the weekend of May 23rd. The opening of the show is Tuesday May 20th 6-8pm and will be up until June 20th.

Monday, March 24, 2008


Some "pocket art" to go with two medium sized pieces at nAscent Art's, Art on the Block Auction and Benefit for Chefs for Humanity. Preview Wednesday March 26th, champagne reception with tickets, Thursday March 27th at L Gallery Studio 104 Reade Street in Tribeca, NYC from 5:30-9pm.

Sunday, February 10, 2008


Please read my interview in February's Chief Magazine. A bunch of great artists and bands are included but you can skip right to my interview here. It's few pages long with photos by my friend Olivia Malone and interviewed by my other friend Stephanie Porto, forming our own little triad...

Saturday, November 17, 2007



Blue Moon East and West Coast

Friday, October 12, 2007


Selected for a juried show with Galería Galou at the ARWI International Art Fair in San Juan, Puerto Rico from
October 19 – 21, 2007

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

The show at Invisible NYC comes down Saturday. The next few posts will be some of my work from it.

Looking into the gallery....

It is a 40"x40" piece of plexiglass that hangs from the ceiling, on the back wall you can see some of Diana's photographs.

Casual Nexus 40"x60" gouache on BFK Rives Paper

Details.....

Monday, July 9, 2007

If you missed the opening of Constructed Consciousness / Spiritualized Matter here is a peak at what is hanging in the gallery window and some info from the press release. The exhibit will run from July 6th – August 4th, Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 8:00 PM.


Invisible NYC is proud to host, Constructed Consciousness / Spiritualized Matter, a two person exhibit featuring the drawings of Denise DeSpirito and the photographs of Diana McClure.

Mixed-media artist, Denise DeSpirito (www.denisedespirito.blogspot.com) was born on Long Island and grew up in the suburbs of New York City. She currently lives and works in Brooklyn. Since graduating from the School of Visual Arts she has shown her work throughout the U.S. in over thirty galleries including Stay Gold Gallery in Brooklyn and New Image Art in West Hollywood, California. This past fall Denise received the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant for her stay as an artist-in-residence at the Santa Fe Art Institute.

Photographer and writer, Diana McClure (www.dianamcclure.com), originally from Boston, currently lives and works in Brooklyn. After graduating from Columbia University and The New School for Social Research where she received a Diamond Fellowship and her Masters degree, Diana has exhibited her work in numerous prestigious galleries through the U.S. Her photographs have been shown at the Philadelphia African American Museum, published in the Los Angeles Times, and were included in the juried Judy Chicago’s Envisioning the Future project. Diana’s writing has been published in such magazines as Art Asia Pacific, STUDIO: The Studio Museum in Harlem, and many others.

Denise’s drawings are created through multiple layers of architectural lines and whimsical color; eventually become a delicate bombardment with eerie, generally recognizable images which jump out at the viewer, a sensory experience closely connected with living in New York. Denise states, “traveling through the city in a single day, one moves through a thousand environments…watching pitbulls turn into Chihuahuas…and box trucks covered in art school graffiti morph into extravagant Hummers”. These drawings capture the seemingly disjointed pieces of urban life that seem to natural flow into one another while also examining the cityscapes from which they are inspired. Denise’s Zen-like approach to drawing free her to let the images guide her hand, and ultimately produce works that evoke a fresh landscape. Influenced by the excessives of New York City life and the drawing process itself, Denise’s current work uses minimal line to reference the myriad, excessive images she encounters daily living in New York and through the media.

Diana’s inspiration for this show emerges from the transformation of energy into material form. The photographs document a month spent in Honolulu where she was struck by the constructed urban architecture and neighborhoods of an island usually envisioned as lush and tropical. Each photo is a striking statement, using shape and color to emphasize the meeting of the urban and natural conditions. The result is a two-dimensional photo which offers a juicy burst of what seems to be a window into a three-dimensional world. Metaphysics and intuitive action drive Diana’s process and approach to artistic production. The conceptual basis underlying her work rests in the notion of spiritual/human agency. She states, “[What] I sought to explore in this work, was how mental/spiritual/emotional energy manifests into structural form”.

The similar structural, visual, and spiritual quality of both the artists themselves and their work is monumental. The energy created through each woman’s specific urban, artistic vocabulary is heightened by the other’s presence ultimately creating a completely new structural push and pull.

The exhibit will run from July 6th – August 4th, Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 8:00 PM.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007


Invisible NYC is proud to host, Constructed Consciousness / Spiritualized Matter, a two person exhibit featuring the drawings of Denise DeSpirito and the photographs of Diana McClure.
The exhibit will run from July 6th – August 4th, Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 8:00 PM. The opening reception will be on Friday July 6th, from 7:00-9:00 PM.
Invisible NYC
148 Orchard Street
New York, NY 10012
Left Image: "Casual Nexus (detail)" gouache on paper 2007 Denise DeSpirito
Right Image: "City Scape, Honolulu" C-print 2007 Diana McClure

Friday, June 22, 2007


New work for the show at Invisible NYC with Diana McClure that opens July 6th. I will put the flyer up soon....

Wednesday, May 30, 2007



This year some friends and I are participating in the Bushwick Open Studios. This Saturday and Sunday (june 2nd and 3rd) From 12 p.m. till 7 p.m. I will be showing some work in a shared space with friends
(I will definatly be hanging out there Saturday but may not on Sunday. You can still stop by and see some of my work) a friend will be playin some music and selling some cheap prints and t-shirts and there probably be a little something to drink too...


Art,video, music and stuff by

John Breiner
Denise Despirto
Taras Hrabowsky
Jessica Smith
and more..


The neighborhood is packed with goings on..Look for maps hanging near the train for more open studio locations or you can find out more
about them at:
Arts in Bushwick
Bushwick Open Studios

Monday, April 16, 2007



1 drawing 2 ways

Monday, April 9, 2007