September 7 - October 14, 2006 | Opening reception, Thursday, September 7, 6-9pm

Flowerama, 2006, monotype, ink, acrylic on paper, 19 x 41.5 in.

On Thursday, September 7, M.Y. ART RPOSPECTS celebrates the opening of the second solo exhibition by Carolyn Swiszcz. The exhibition, together with a Project Room show by Mickey Kerr, will be on view at the gallery (547 West 27th Street, New York City) through October 14.

For this exhibition entitled "Shelf Life," the Minnesota-based painter/printmaker once again demonstrates her provocative take on strip mall stores and store window displays. The humble appeal of these barely surviving Midwest suburban stores inspires the artist to conduct detailed investigations into their materials and the designs of their displays. Swiszcz explained it like this in one of her recent magazine interview:

"When I see these window displays my heart swells and I think, 'Oh! They're trying! Somebody tried their best with their time and resources.' They actually made those decisions and ordered those signs and they had dreams about their business."

While being faithful to her observation, Swiszcz also applies hyper-real colors and patterns to the buildings and their surroundings, combining varied techniques of painting, drawing and printmaking. Swiszcz's dollhouse-like painted buildings cynically but affectionately crystallize the dreams and ambitions of middle class Americans for a better life. If the products these stores sell have a shelf life, shouldn't the business itself? Swiszcz seems to know the answer. "Ultimately I'd like things to stay the way they are, and since those places seemed doomed, I can at least preserve them in my work."

Born and raised in New Bedford, MA, Carolyn Swiszcz attended the Minneapolis College of Art and Design where she earned a BFA in 1994. Since 2000, her work has been the subject of numerous gallery and museum shows in Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Miami, Boston, Fargo and her base, the Twin Cities. Her work has also been exhibited at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Drawing Center in New York. A 2002 recipient of the Bush Fellowship, Swiszcz lives in St. Paul, MN. Her work is represented in the Microsoft Art Collection and at the Minnesota Historical Society, and was featured in Art In America, Boston Globe, New American Paintings, NY Arts and other publications. In 2003, Swiszcz presented her solo show Daydreaming is Free at M.Y. ART PROSPECTS.

September 7 - October 14, 2006 | Opening reception, Thursday, September 7, 6-9pm

Untitled 8, C-Print

Commemorating the fifth anniversary of September 11th, M.Y. ART PROSPECTS will present "Aftermath: Sept. 14," a solo exhibition by New York-based photographer Mickey Kerr. For the first time, Kerr is exhibiting images he took of the World Trade Center site three days after the attack while volunteering in the rescue effort.

On September 14, 2001, public access to the site was beginning to be restricted due to the looting and disorder in Lower Manhattan. "It was Friday, and the dust was starting to settle as workers were trudging home for the first time since 9/11," says Kerr. On this day, Kerr decided to capture the moment permanently onto film. Working in the bucket brigade, Kerr was able to get extremely close to the smoke and embers. Standing atop the rubble, Kerr used the brilliant lights of the rescue operation to shoot late into the night and early morning.

Unlike news media or journalistic photographs, Kerr's small delicate photographs appear slightly aloof and ghostly, conveying a surreal and serene quality. Five years later, his images quietly reveal the unspeakable reality of the WTC site and become timeless windows into our own sense of loss and confusion.

In addition to individual prints, a self-published book of the series will be available in limited edition. Portions of the sales will go to the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation which will build, own and operate the Memorial and Museum at Ground Zero.

Born in Kansas City, MO in 1975, Mickey Kerr earned his BS in Journalism and Political Science from the University of Oregon and later studied Cinema History in Melbourne, Australia. Before heading back to the US, he backpacked through Southeast Asia, China and Tibet, taking pictures in his travels. In 2000, he moved to New York City and studied photography at the School of Visual Arts and Pratt Institute. In 2003, he graduated from the International Center of Photography. As a freelance photographer, Kerr's work has been published and exhibited throughout the NYC area.