Herradura Barrel Art Competition Winner!

I am thrilled to announce that I was selected as the NYC winner of the Herradura Barrel Art Collection competition! I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my beautiful gear-whispering wife, Natasha Speth, and my hardworking studio assistant, Ashely Chen. I am honestly speechless about the win, so I'll just refer to the official press release:

Tequila Herradura along with partner Thrillist, celebrated the “Barrel Art Collection” competition, at Villain in Brooklyn on November 20. Phoenix Lindsey-Hall won $10,000 as first place prize, while Julien Gardair and Kate Fauvell won second and third place, receiving $3,000 and $1,000 respectively. The event, which was attended by artists, media and influencers, benefitted Creative Capital, a renowned arts organization, dedicated to supporting innovative and adventurous artists nationwide. To further demonstrate Herradura’s commitment to art, the brand will donate $70,000 to Creative Capital, an organization that supports innovative and adventurous artists nationwide through funding, counsel and career development services.

From the original Casa Herradura hacienda to today’s modern and vibrant Mexico, Herradura represents old world flavors honored in contemporary sensibilities.  Similarly, “Still Moving” uses traditional hand cranked mechanics and woodworking techniques with a twist of modern making strategies. Phoenix’s traditional iconography and moving gears are rendered by laser and plasma cutters. 

"Winning this competition is definitely a game changer. It’s absolutely amazing, said Phoenix. “I am excited to have been recognized by a brand such as Herradura that is 145 years old and still manages to keep it fresh in supporting local artists.”  

And... Check out these great photos taken by Thrillist!

Announcing Crimes Against Nature

Crimes Against Nature

Solo Exhibition by Phoenix Lindsey-Hall

Exhibition Dates: October 24 - November 23, 2014

Duke University, Louise Jones Brown Gallery, 125 Science Drive, Durham, NC 27708

 Opening Reception: October 24, 2014, 4:30-6:30pm, Artist Talk to follow from 5:15-6:30pm at the Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity

The Brown Gallery of Duke University is proud to announce, “Crimes Against Nature,” by Brooklyn-based artist and North Carolina native Phoenix Lindsey-Hall. In this solo show, Lindsey-Hall uses ceramic to transform everyday objects that were used as weapons in specific gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) hate crimes. Working primarily in bisque white clay, Lindsey-Hall twists and contorts these known forms, such as wrenches, cans and rocks. As these objects are transformed, they become a stand in for the body during such violent acts. Hammers become limbs; Bats become bodies. The disturbance of everyday objects calls into question the culture in which they exist.

This exhibition is a part of Queering Duke History, a month-long commemoration of LGBT history at Duke and the larger community. This event is co-sponsored by the LGBTQ Commemorative Committee, the DUU Visual Arts Committee, and the Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity.

The cornerstone of this show is her large-scale ceramic installation, which is derived from a hate crime that happened just blocks from her home in Brooklyn, NY. This piece, titled "Flame Tempered," is a post-minimalist row of bone-like ceramic baseball bats placed simply on the gallery floor. Evoking bodies, this work toggles between traditional American symbol of masculinity, and violent weapon.

Similarly, "Hammer and Nail" is a large wall-hung installation in which several hammers are hung on nails. Each ceramic hammer is bent and mangled in impossible ways. The repetition and physical transformation of a familiar household object eludes the passage of time and an imbued history. While some hammers evoke a feel of violent uneasiness, others are playful and nearly silly.

Exploring themes of violence based on difference, “Crimes Against Nature” reminds the viewer of the fragility of life not just for sexual minorities, but for us all. 

From the Studio of...

Thank you for everyone who made it out to the Gallery Aferro 6th Annual Open Studios!  For those who missed it, here are a few snapshots of what I am working currently working on. 

I am continuing my work around LBGT hate crimes, sexuality and violence. Building off my piece Bone Bat and Slab, I am pushing the form of the baseball bat, using suspension  light and shadow. Additionally, I am sculpturally treating media imagery of victims and perpetrators. 

Open Studios and Artist Talk, June 2 at 2:00pm

I am excited to invite my colleagues, friends and supporters to:

Spring Studio Residents Artist Talks and Open Studios

Gallery Aferro, New Media Room

73 Market Street, Newark, NJ, 07102 

​June 2, 2013, 2:00PM

At this event, I will be speaking about my work and practice along with my cohort of Gallery Aferro residents, which include Dara Alter, Patricia Dahlman, Anne Q. McKeown, and Vikki Michalios. Talks will commence at 2:00PM, to be followed by open studios.

As many of you know, my current work includes ceramic sculptural explorations of violence, trauma and hate crimes based on regulating difference. Dara Alter is using Google Street View to travel remotely, as a precursor to her paintings. Patricia Dahlman is making sculpture and two-dimensional works by cutting out forms in canvas, then stuffing and sewing the forms together. Anne Q. McKeown contrasts rational, conceptual processes with intuitive inquiry, researching, investigating, and shaping materials using chance, accident, and random samplings, as well as imagery from the canon of art history. Vikki Michalios is working with art and hydroponics technology to construct a viable off-grid ecologically sustainable garden in her studio.

Learn more these wonderful artists and their projects by visiting www.aferro.org and the studio blog www.aferrostudios.blogspot.com.

If you are traveling from NYC by train, on the weekends it is often easier and quicker to travel via NJ Transit from Penn Station than the PATH Train.