Tayesha Busay

"girlgroup all over the southphilly!"

The avant provocoteur TAYISHA BUSAY is a girl group that kicks it up
a notch and throws it in yo' face! Electro-synth-pop with a weird
twist of lemon and lime, fly-girl dance moves, and an attitude like
whitney houston and bart simpson!
TAYISHA BUSAY is a fresh serving of Brooklyn's own Tessa Greenberg
with Hope Bowers and Ariel Sims on the side.

Here's a video for their song about sneakers.

Bobo's on 9th

Bobo's on 9th located at 1134 s. 9th street is an affiliate of the Biennial. For the last year, this start up gallery has hosted solo shows by Jesse Greenberg, Colt Hausman, Matt Berrian, Lindsay Beebe and Barkev; as well as a joint show by Lizzie Fitch and Brian McKelligot. They have also hosted a plethora of performances in their space, often opening as Bobo the band. Composed of Nick Payne, Phil Cote and Drew Gillespie, they refer to themselves as an "art company" and are interested in the perversion of corporate concepts, idea networks and cultural mimes. Presently the boys are looking forward to a group show they are orchestrating at Foxy Productions this coming July in Manhattan.

Sweatheart

Dress up band, Sweatheart is a local legend. Creative children of Space 1026 they are comprised mainly of Thom Lessner, Rose Luardo and Amanda Blank . Their Flickr account is out of control. They will be there May 31st, playing their songs in the sun.

Here's a video from their Sweatheart Sweats workout video series.

Annie Pearlman

Annie is a New Yorker. She works mainly in Video and Painting. She is half of Private Time, a multimedia band and entertainment experience. She will be contributing with the paint brush for the Biennial. This is one of her videos, and a link to her youtube page.

Paint Co.

Paint Co. is an art manufacturing company, the vision of Philly Based artist Phil Cote. Phil is one third of Bobo's, both the band and the Italian Market Gallery. Phil will contribute with sculpture and music, playing guitar with the Live Karaoke Band.

Megabinx

Megabinx is the fantastic plastic world of Jesse Greenberg. Foreign future outer realm relics, his sculptures make me want to rhyme. He is one of those rare artists who believe in touch, his smaller hand sized objects are even called "touchables". His work has been called "a plastic interaction of sight, sound, touch, and mind". Highly interactive and lots of fun. Megabinx will be there May 31st. These photos are from his first solo show, which passed last September at Bobo's on 9th.

K-Fai Steele

New Philly transplant, K-Fai Steele, just finished a month long artistic residency at The Philadelphia Institute for Advanced Studies. Her artwork revolves around a complex cat-human world that manifests through sculpture, painting and performance. She will contribute to the Biennial with sculpture. The photographs seen here are courtesy of Ramsey Aarnoat and the
Philadelphia Institute for Advanced Studies..
Click here for a link to her blog.

Max Eisenberg

Max runs "The Bank" a Baltimore warehouse venue that hosts shows nearly every weekend from a wide range of international performers. He is half of duo "Rubbed Raw", he has published a book of illustrations with Rain Ridge Press and toured the country with French Performance Artist Costes. For this event he will collaborate with Erin Womack and Natalie Jennison, artists from his home town, to create a toxic bog out of latex, gelatin, and mixed materials. The bottom photograph is from his most recent installation "Western Snake Piss" as featured at the Brooklyn Fireproof Gallery as part of the "Mixed Emotions" group show.
click here for a link to his website Oceans of Missouri.

Rob Francisco

Rob is a Philadelphia based artist of the profane and unexposed. He plays noise music as Max Noi Mach, is half of duo "Rubbed Raw" and moonlights as sensitive poet and failed comedian, Billy Newman. The day of the event you can expect to find him as a dj named Rob, playing the best 70's soul and 50's feel good you've ever heard. Click here for a link to his blog, American Rager. .

Mikkilandia Productions

Mikkilandia Productions is currently comprised of Mikki Olson and Raul DeNieves. They are New York based installation and performance artists. An entity of their own they live their art, and can be found in costume and character most any day of the week.
The above photograph is an installation view from their most recent show at the Giti Nourbakhsch gallery in Berlin, Germany. Below is a video of an art protest I participated with at the Armory Show in Manhattan. The painting is entitled "Suzy Eggroll" and was part of the Giti Nourbakhsch booth at the Armory Show.

Lindsay Kovnat

Lindsay Kovnat is a philly based multimediia artist. She works in video animation, as well as 2d and 3d sculpture. She was recently awarded first place at the Philadelphia Film Festival in experimental animation for her plastic little video shown here.

Lindsay Beebe

Lindsay Beebe is a sculptor, painter, musician and performer. Her solo project, "Rapid Ice" is a stingingly heartfelt one woman tantrum. She will be contributing with sculpture to the May 31st event. These photographs are from "Big Room Now", a group show with Ryan Trecartin, and the Black Bird is from her solo show "Dem Birds Gone Die" at
Bobo's on 9th

Bonnie Showcase

Bonnie Showcase, of The World Cafe Live's Lefty Lucy Cabaret, will host the May 31st festivities. Bonnie Showcase is one of Liz Rywelski's many "Identity Performances". Liz Rywelski is a Philadelphia based Conceptual and Performance artist. click here for a link to her space 1026 portfolio.

this is Bonnie's reaction video to the viral video "two girls, one cup"

The Barat Foundation

The Southphilly Biennial is happening under the umbrella of my family's art foundation, The Barat Foundation who's mission is to "transform lives through an interactive educational experience based on cultural exchange, artistic expression, humanistic values, and a commitment to each individual's creative potential." They run their operations out of Newarc, an arts and resource center in Newark, New Jersey; and host a summer educational artist residency program in the South of France, Provence, where contemporary French Artists live in community with American Highschool students from all socio-economic backgrounds for a summer of workshops and excursions.


These photographs are from the grand opening of the Newarc Center, where two of our former French Artists-in-Residents Pierre Laurent Cassiere and Maroussia Rebecq, creative director of Andrea Crews "fashion, art, activism" were invited to Newark, New Jersey to orchestrate workshops with Newark Highschool Students in their respective fields. Pierre Lo ran an interactive sound workshop while Maroussia orchestrated a fashion reconstruction workshop and catwalk. In keeping with the spirit of the clothing and the students the catwalk took place in the form of musical to the live music of WFMU's OCDJ.

Press Release

“To promote art in the public sphere through community collaboration.”

For immediate release: The South-Philly Biennial
Saturday May 31st, noon – 6pm (rain date June 1st)
Outdoors, Italian market (9th and Christian)
Contact: Athena@baratfoundation.org
Athena.b.biz@gmail.com


Southphilly summer beings May 31st , in the bustling Italian Market on a parking lot next to The Dibruno Brother’s sandwich shop. The local population will witness as a network of emerging artists from Philadelphia, New York and Baltimore transform this normally unnoticed lot into a blooming multi media forest including sculpture, painting, drawing, video, and performance.

Anyone who passes through the space can become a rockstar with “The Live Karaoke Band Experience”, while everyone can expect face painting, fortune telling, and magic. Organizer Athena Barat says “the goal of this project is to have artists interact with a brand new audience, one that doesn’t expect art in the middle of the street.” She continues, “I think its important to keep the public on their toes to the fact that transformation can happen anywhere, while its important to keep artists on top of their game and able to communicate their vision with those of us unexposed to the art world. This is an experiment in communication, and I hope everyone involved walks away from the event better able to do so.”

The day will dazzle with performances by Sweatheart, a brass ensemble of students led by David Fishkin, Jimmy Cousins and his live band, the Magnet City Kids, girl group Tayaesha Busay, local legend Darren Finizio, dj sets by Robert Fransisco and the untamed antics of the World Café’s Showcase Family, Bonnie Showcase, as she hosts this summer’s extravaganza.

The South Philly Biennial is a project of the Barat Foundation and vision of local artist and organizer, Athena Barat. The Barat Foundation is a registered 501c3 not for-profit art and education foundation whose mission is to “transform lives through an interactive educational experience based on cultural exchange, artistic expression, humanistic values, and a commitment to each individual's creative potential”. A myriad of artists will be represented and present with their diverse world in this free and open public event.
The South Philly Biennial is working in partnership with local organizations and members of the community, artists and supporters alike, to kick off a truly extraordinary summer.
For further information on the event and a list of participating sponsers and artists please visit http://southphillybiennial.blogspot.com/ or email Athena@baratfoundation.org or athena.b.biz@gmail.com.