2016 Studio Program Artists Selected

The Queens Museum welcomes four new artists to the Studio Program: Chris Bogia, Gloria Maximo, Karolina Sobecka, and Alina Tenser. Artists applied for a subsidized studio at the Museum, available for one year, with possible extension for a second year. In designating permanent real estate to the long-term development of new work on-site, as well as to creating a community of artists, the Queens Museum aims to support artists’ creative processes and professional development. These artists were selected by curator Sarah Demeuse and artist Prem Krishnamurthy in dialogue with Queens Museum Studio Program staff.

Chris Bogia was born in Wilmington, Delaware in 1977. He studied art at both New York University and Yale University, and has lived and worked in Astoria, New York for over 15 years. Bogia is the Director and co-founder of Fire Island Artist Residency (FIAR), the first LGBTQ artist residency in the world, located in Cherry Grove, on Fire Island, NY, as well as an instructor of sculpture at New York University. Recent exhibitions include a solo exhibition in Provincetown MA at Tim’s Used Books, Fiber Optics at Minus Space NYC, Queer Threads: Crafting Identity and Community, at Maryland Institute College of Art, UIA (Unlikely Iterations of the Abstract), curated at the Contemporary Art Museum Houston. Bogia is the recipient of the 2015 Tiffany Foundation Grant. Other awards include the Alice Kimball Traveling Fellowship and the Larry Kramer Initiative research grant for Lesbian and Gay studies.

Gloria Maximo lives and works in New York. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Antioch College in Ohio. Her work has been shown at MOMA P.S.1 Museum of Contemporary Art, Center for Curatorial Studies and Hessel Museum of Art at Bard College, Bridget Donahue Gallery, Haeler Echo, Wallspace Gallery, and Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, among other venues. She was a finalist for the 2014 William H. Johnson Prize for painting. She was a co-founding member of the artist collaborative Yemenwed.

Karolina Sobecka is an artist and designer working at the intersection of art, science and technology. Karolina’s work has been shown internationally, including at the V&A, ZKM, National Art Museum of China, MoMA Film, Beall Center for Art + Technology, Zero1, ISEA, Marfa Dialogues, and Science Gallery. She has received multiple awards including from Creative Capital, Rhizome, NYFA, Princess Grace Foundation, Vida Art and Artificial Life Awards and Japan Media Arts Festival. Karolina is the founder of an art and design studio Flightphase, has years of experience in motion design industry and has taught at Rhode Island School of Design, School of the Art Institute of Chicago and University of Washington.

Alina Tenser is a Ukrainian born multi-disciplinary artist living and working in New York. Tenser’s practice is deeply rooted in sculptural inquiry into dimension and form. Through this lens, she moves fluidly from sculpture to video to performance.  Her work emphasizes the performative nature of objects and the formal potential of the body.  Tenser received her BFA from School of Visual Arts and her MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. Tenser has held solo exhibitions at AIR, New York, NY; Nurture Art, Brooklyn, NY; and Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, NY. Her work has been exhibited at venues including The Kitchen, New York, NY; The Suburban, Chicago, IL; and Laurel Gitlen Gallery, New York, NY; Kate Werble, New York, NY; Gallery Diet, Miami, FL; Most Recently Tenser’s work was shown at Susan Inglett Gallery,New York, NY; and The Queens Museum, Queens, NY. Tenser received the Dedalus  Foundation MFA Fellowship and was a resident of Recess Sessions in 2012.

Image: Studio program artist ruby onyinyechi amanze in her studio, 2015