Ponce-Laustsen

5 Traverse 5traverse.com

MEDIA CONTACT: Maya Allison

5 Traverse St., Providence, RI 02906

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

5 Traverse Gallery launches its 2009 Exhibitions Schedule

with New Work from Jon Laustsen and Magaly Ponce

PROVIDENCE, RI - February 2, 2009 - The 5 Traverse Gallery unveils its 2009 exhibition schedule this week, beginning with two solo shows featuring innovative Providence artists who explore miniaturized and magnified landscapes, respectively -- Jon Laustsen and Magaly Ponce.

"These artists capture both the precariousness and elation of art-making today," says Maya Allison, the galleryʼs director. "They are a great example of the 5 Traverse project, exploring the nature of art and its thresholds."

5 Traverse Gallery invites the public to the opening reception for both exhibitions on Friday, February 13th, from 6-8pm.

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JON LAUSTSEN: HOW TO HOLD ON

(Innerspace Gallery, Feb. 14-March 14, opening reception Feb. 13, 6-8pm)

Jon Laustsenʼs new landscape will colonize the floor and walls of the gallery, exploring the materials and

metaphors of construction. As he describes it, he is “...inspired by the stuff used, re-used and cast away, I

have recently been building labyrinthine compositions from small-scaled milled-lumber and various other elements regularly present at construction sites.”

Since completing his MFA at RISD, Laustsen has quickly becoming known for his intimate sculptures that use construction site techniques on a minute scale. Providence art viewers will remember his sandbox sculpture in the “New Obstructions” exhibition last summer at the old Mercantile Bank space. Recently his work has been selected for various juried exhibitions, such as “Nothing at the End of the Lane” at the Soap Factory in Minneapolis, and the 2009 New England RISD Alumni Biennial.

MAGALY PONCE: FROM REMAINS

(Outerspace Gallery, Feb. 14-March 14, opening reception Feb. 13, 6-8pm)

Magaly Ponce explores microscopic personal moments through video and photography. Tiny electronic parts, textiles, and moments are magnified onto expansive Japanese rice paper scrolls and delicate video sequences. At this startling scale, mundane images give way to lyrical, metaphorical landscapes.

Magaly Ponce is a Providence-based artist originally from Chile. She is best-known for her multimedia installations and video art, featured recently at The Lisbon Village Festival in Portugal, a video retrospective at The RISD Museum, SoundScape 2007, and a commission for inSite 05 at the San Diego-Tijuana border crossing, among many others. Her work has been funded by the Rockefeller, MacArthur and Lampadia Foundations, and a Fulbright grant.

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The show is curated by gallerists Jesse Smith and Maya Allison.

In related news, Allison recently joined 5 Traverse after a series of curatorial projects with new and unusual media, including "Pixilerations [v.5]," the annual new media festival in Providence. This followed her three-year curatorial term at The RISD Museum, where she curated the exhibitions "Music Video/Silent Film: Innovations in the Moving Image" (curator, 2008), and "Wunderground: Providence, 1995 to the present" (co-curator, 2006). She holds a BA from Reed College, and an MFA from Columbia University.

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