Name: Second Sundays: December 2022
Start: 2022-12-11
End: 2022-12-11
Location: Pioneer Works

Second Sundays is our signature event series that engages Pioneer Works disciplines through live music, food, artists’ open studios, and programs. This month we’ll host a pop-up shop featuring locally-made ceramics, artist editions, clothing, snacks, and more in partnership with the Red Hook Business Alliance. Plus enjoy food and drink by Rams' Valley, Kimchi Taco Truck, and the Pioneer Works Bar.

Please be considerate of the artists-in-residence and their studios while visiting Pioneer Works. To help us protect the artists’ space and work, please do not touch artwork without consent, and only allow five people in a studio at one time.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

NYC Cultural Affairs

 marks the latest chapter in the artist’s ongoing project titled 

Trans-Pakistan Zindabad (Long Live Trans-Pakistan)

, which brings together augmented reality, ceramic sculptures, and video to explore nostalgia, gentrification, and urbanization in Lahore and South Asia. The media installation is the first solo institutional presentation by the Pioneer Works former technology artist-in-residence.

Majeed turns to her own familial history and archives as the conceptual basis for her project—particularly, her uncle’s failed tourism company ‘Trans-Pakistan,’ which she has digitally reimagined as “Trans-Pakistan Adventure Services.” Another point of inspiration is Bahria Town, the privately-owned real estate developments found throughout Pakistan. Within Lahore’s iteration of Bahria Town, European landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and Trafalgar Square reify Western interests, but remain cloaked in a pervasive, Islamic security apparatus. Throughout her serial project, Majeed reinterprets these built environments as speculative, exploratory spaces for examining prevailing logics around race, gender, sexuality, and capital.

The installation features a distorted replication of  a monumental fountain located at the center of a roundabout in Bahria Town, distinguished by protruding horse figures. Majeed’s rendition is distorted not only by the addition of new sculptural features but also by augmented reality that animates the sculpture with galloping horses and plastic bags emanating as pools of water. Majeed stages a second augmented reality component on a low platform covered in black and white tiles: pixelated and lenticularized Urdu text emerging from an undulating, checkered abyss, creating the illusion of depth and embodying the theme of diasporic double consciousness. These features not only employ symbols that recur throughout the artist’s practices in drawing and video, but also build on the kitsch “digital” culture derived from Lahore’s urbanscape and subaltern.

A monochrome motif surrounds the environment, bearing graphic patterns and Urdu text adapted from historical poems that describe the collapsing of land and sky. This text is intentionally translated to ‘queer’ the gendered nouns and verbs that wrap around the gallery’s walls. Among these patterns are arrows that direct viewers to move about the gallery in a counterclockwise direction, a way of subverting conventional modes of thinking within urban planning. The multimedia environment is further united by a singular musical score in which sounds recorded in Bahria Town are glitched and woven together into ambient noise.

 explores themes of doubling and revels in dichotomies to navigate the personal and the governmental, the kitsch and the corporate, the real and the digital.

Umber Majeed (b. 1989, New York, NY) is a multidisciplinary visual artist and educator. She received her MFA from Parsons the New School for Design in 2016 and graduated from Beaconhouse National University in Lahore, Pakistan in 2013. Her writing, performance, and animation work engage with familial archives to explore Pakistani state, urban, and digital infrastructure through a feminist lens. Majeed has had two solo exhibitions: 

In the Name of Hypersurface of the Present

Trans-Pakistan Zindabad (Facts about the Earth)

, 1708 Gallery, Richmond, Virgina (2021). The artist has also shown in venues across Pakistan, North America, and Europe. Recent group exhibitions include; 

, The Slought Foundation, Philadelphia (2012); 

, The State Hermitage Museum, St.Petersburg, Russia (2015); 

, Queens Museum, New York (2018). She is a recipient of numerous fellowships including the HWP Fellowship, Ashkal Alwan, Beirut, Lebanon (2017); Refiguring Feminist Futures Web Residency, Akademie Schloss Solitude & ZKM, Germany (2018); the Digital Earth Fellowship, Hivos, the Netherlands (2018-19); and the Technology Residency, Pioneer Works, Brooklyn (2020). Her work has been acquired by several private collections, including the Lekha and Anupam Poddar Collection at the Devi Art Foundation in Gurgaon, India.

 is curated by Gabriel Florenz, and supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Made in Trans-Pakistan

Umber Majeed: Made in Trans-Pakistan

, the artist’s first institutional solo presentation, comprises three newly commissioned shadow box sculptures, hung on a visually striking custom fabric wrapped around the gallery’s walls. These works, her largest to date, mark the first time that the artist has incorporated full figures within the sculptural series she has developed over the past five years, which delves into the portrayal of female subjects through the aesthetic devices of shallow relief.

The artist turns to disparate sources to act as visual guides within her practice, such as early 20th-century fashion plates that featured illustrations of women dressed in the era’s latest styles and functioned as precursors to contemporary fashion magazines; the artist is drawn to the ways in which color and line dramatize the evolving trends from that time. Greco-Roman bas-reliefs and Medieval church carvings provide additional sources of inspiration—not only for the ways in which the body is fit within the confines of an architectural space, but also for the emphasis on emotive postures and hand gestures. Kielar’s work is united by a surrealist undertone that points to artist Hans Bellmer, who arranged handmade dolls into uncanny configurations. Though vastly different in conceptual aim and technical form, Kielar shares a similar interest in animating her sculptures with a sense of mystery and internal life.

The consistent thread through these references is the underlying intent to approach the human body as a vessel that can change shape to meet the cultural tides around it. Kielar is interested in continuing a tradition of distorting and manipulating the female form, in a manner that shows its evolving position within art. She bases her figures on archetypes, such as the Muse or the Amazon, that have lingered through the ages and inspired constant reinterpretation. In focusing on these classic roles, she brings the viewer’s attention to the complex dynamics of strength, beauty, vulnerability, sex, and heroism that have always circulated around female identity. She also opens a larger discussion around the constant expansion of expectations placed on women and their bodies, and the effect that these changes have on their perception of themselves.

The artist compresses the formal distinctions of sculpture and painting by melding aspects of each into a unified field of symbols and dimensionality. In each work, a single female subject is constructed through the arrangement of individual shapes that have been carved from foam and wrapped in a fabric bearing a pattern of the artist’s design. Each section of the subject’s body appears to float within a box that is encased in the same fabric, creating an overall effect of a figure that ripples between abstraction and representation.


(b. 1978, New York, NY) earned a BFA from The Cooper Union School of Art, New York and an MFA from Columbia University, New York. Kielar has presented solo exhibitions at venues such as Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York; Locust Projects, Miami; Casey Kaplan, New York; and Daniel Reich Gallery, New York. She has also been included in group exhibitions at the Rubell Family Collection, Miami; the Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art, Ursinus College, Collegeville; the FLAG Art Foundation, New York; White Columns, New York; and the Zabludowicz Collection, London, among others. In Fall 2021, Kielar created work for the exhibition 

, which opened at Ba-tsu Gallery, Tokyo, and traveled to Chateau de la Colle Noire, Montrauroux. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of the Dikeou Collection, Denver; the Christian Dior Art Collection, Paris; the Henry Art Gallery, Seattle; the New Century Art Foundation, Singapore; the Rubell Family Collection, Miami; the Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Saratoga Springs; and the Zabludowicz Collection, London. Kielar lives and works in Brooklyn.

 is curated by Gabriel Florenz with Vivian Chui. Major funding for the exhibition is provided by the Coby Foundation. Additional support is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Shadow Box

Anya Kielar: Shadow Box

Bianca Abdi-Boragi is a French-Berber-American artist who received her MFA from the Yale School of Art and her BFA from ENSAPC (Paris). Her work has been featured in Hyperallergic, Artnet, and Artspiel among others, and her solo shows include the Border Project Space Gallery and CADAF Art Fair. She has exhibited with SPRING/BREAK Art Show, the NYC French Consulate, Chashama Gallery, the Flux Factory, the Immigrant Artist Biennial, Field Project Gallery, NURTUREart Gallery, and internationally. Bianca received the JUNCTURE Fellowship in Art and International Human Rights from Yale Law School and was a resident at NARS, MASS MoCA's studios, the Centquatre, Paris, and more.

Bianca Abdi-Boragi

ann/drew gayle is a Brooklyn based multidisciplinary artist whose work is natal to liminal and unnamed spaces. They hope their work can function as a provocation to peak experiences that can only be found in ambiguity and the blurring of lines, social relations, definitions, and roles. Perhaps temporary utopias can exist in a world in desperate need of light. (they/them)

ann/drew gayle

Alex Mctigue received his MFA in Visual Arts from Columbia University and a BFA in Photography from SVA. His practice often puts pressure on the overlap between photography and language. In 2017 he was a participant of the SOMA summer residency program in Mexico City. His recently published book, Of the night, by the city, was made in conjunction with Penumbra Foundation during the risograph print residency program in the summer of 2021. 

He has previously taught at The Cooper Union, and currently teaches in the photography department at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

Alex Mctigue 

Jonathan Ojekunle is a Brooklyn, NY based artist who specializes in portraits. He was born and raised in Oyo state, Nigeria to a father who was an artist and a mother who is a teacher. Jonathan earned a Bachelor of Arts from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife Nigeria. He recently completed his Masters of Fine Art, with a concentration in sculpture, at CUNY Brooklyn College, Brooklyn NY. Over the years, Jonathan has worked on various commissions for individuals, government and professionals. Moving to America was a transformational experience for him. His new portraits are an effort to understand how he sees himself and in a new environment.

Jonathan Ojekunle

Azzah Sultan is an interdisciplinary artist who received her BFA from Parsons School of Design and her MFA at Washington State University. Born in Abu Dhabi, Azzah is a Malaysian native who grew up in Malaysia, Saudi, Finland, Bahrain, and is currently based in New York. She has exhibited her work at The New School, Parsons Paris Gallery, S.A.D. Gallery, The Bushwick Collective, BUFU Studios, The Ely Center, Sotheby’s Institute, and more. Her work strives to transcend the fallacy that Muslim women are oppressed by the nature of their religious customs while also speaking on the issues of navigating her identity through culture, immigration, and finding home through installation strategies.

Azzah Sultan is an interdisciplinary artist who received her BFA from Parsons School of Design and her MFA at Washington State University. Born in Abu Dhabi, Azzah is a Malaysian native who grew up in Malaysia, Saudi, Finland, Bahrain, and is currently based in New York. She has exhibited her work at The New School, Parsons Paris Gallery, S.A.D. Gallery, The Bushwick Collective, BUFU Studios, The Ely Center, Sotheby’s Institute, and more. Her work strives to transcend the fallacy that Muslim women are oppressed by the nature of their religious customs while also speaking on the issues of navigating her identity through culture, immigration, and finding home through installation strategies.

eh_c029vuaaygps_1322-azzah-sultan

EH_c029VUAAYGPs_1322 - Azzah Sultan

processed-with-vsco-with-a6-preset

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

trotter-sholer-anak-dara-8-azzah-sultan

Trotter & Sholer- Anak Dara-8 - Azzah Sultan

trotter-sholer-anak-dara-3-azzah-sultan

Trotter & Sholer- Anak Dara-3 - Azzah Sultan

melipat &#8211; Azzah Sultan

Azzah Sultan

Nahee Kim (she/they) is an artist, teacher, and web programmer who is performing “nahee.app” on social media. nahee.app is a speculative program that writes itself by interpreting Nahee’s sexual identity, preference, and experiences as computational objects. nahee.app creates sex code and documentation and partner matching algorithms by converting mechanisms of existing programming languages and network protocols into provocative interactions. It expands its code about sexual behavior to human reproduction by programming its own experimental family through the project <Daddy Residency> with new forms of intimacy. Based in New York and Seoul, Nahee is 1/3 of the Korean artist collective <업체eobchae> and a member of NEWINC.

Nahee Kim (she/they) is an artist, teacher, and web programmer who is performing “nahee.app” on social media. nahee.app is a speculative program that writes itself by interpreting Nahee’s sexual identity, preference, and experiences as computational objects. nahee.app creates sex code and documentation and partner matching algorithms by converting mechanisms of existing programming languages and network protocols into provocative interactions. It expands its code about sexual behavior to human reproduction by programming its own experimental family through the project &lt;Daddy Residency&gt; with new forms of intimacy. Based in New York and Seoul, Nahee is 1/3 of the Korean artist collective &lt;업체eobchae&gt; and a member of NEWINC.

torrents_of_sex-nahee-kim

torrents_of_sex - Nahee Kim

handshake_erotica-nahee-kim

handshake_erotica - Nahee Kim

daddy-residency-open-call-nahee-kim

daddy-residency-open-call - Nahee Kim

cybersecurity4uterus-nahee-kim

cybersecurity4uterus - Nahee Kim

nahee_app_run_daddy_app &#8211; Nahee Kim

Nahee Kim

Brian Swift is a menswear designer who was born and raised in NYC, though he considers the internet his current home.

He graduated from Parsons in 2018 with a BFA in menswear design.

Upon graduating, Swift launched Alacritous: a queer nightlife label reinvigorating clothing and accessories for the internet age. Alacritous draws inspiration from emerging technologies, memes, and sci-fi films to yield collections that are eclectic, reflective and remixable. Past collections have synthesized digital techniques with exquisite handcraft. This has resulted in unlikely pairings, such as machine knits with crystal pavé, algorithmic textile prints and CNC-cut vinyl denim appliqués.

Brian Swift

Shop the holiday pop-up shop featuring locally-made ceramics, artist editions, clothing, snacks, and more! The Red Hook Holiday Market is presented in partnership with Red Hook Business Alliance vendors, current Pioneer Works artists-in-residence, and some of our neighborhood favorites.

Vendors: 360 Record Shop, Alex McTigue, ann/drew gayle, Brian Swift, Do Clay, Goodness + Truth Studio, TART Vinegar, Tiaire Monae Apothecary, Red Hook Art Project, Risen Division, Pottery by Eital, and more. Food and drink by Rams' Valley and Pioneer Works Bar.

Red Hook Holiday Market

Music: DJs in the Main Hall (DJ2TONE, 360 Record Shop and more)

After COVID-19 altered the way we make and experience work, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts offered Tech Kits for Performing Artists as a resource available for checkout to enable performing artists to document their works and publish them online. Throughout 2022, the Library and Pioneer Works partnered on a series of free classes and video tutorials taught by Tech Resident alumni LaJuné McMillian, Umber Majeed, Carrie Wang, and Caroline Garcia centered around using the Tech Kits to think about performing arts through the lens of technology. To culminate the partnership, these artists were commissioned to make work using the same tools and skills imparted in their classes and video tutorials.

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Tech Kit Commissions

Professor Mindy Seu and designer Laura Coombs will introduce the Cyberfeminism Index, complicating three decades of radical techno-critical activism and net art. In its pages, hackers, scholars, and artists consider how humans might reconstruct themselves by way of technology.

Mindy Seu's Cyberfeminism Index Reading with Laura Coombs

Join exhibiting artist Anya Kielar in a holiday gift wrapping paper design workshop using custom made stencils. This workshop is best for guests ages 8 and up. Children under 8 years old should be accompanied and monitored by an adult throughout the workshop.


Artisanal Wrapping Paper Design with Anya Kielar

Join Visual Arts Resident Alex Mctigue in a rousing game of poker for artists inspired by a recent essay about poker and the Labyrinth.


Poker for Artists

Get to know our current artists-in-residence in their work through Open Studios.

Open Studios

Like literature? Crave company? Join the editors of Pioneer Works Broadcast—a virtual and annual print magazine that encourages radical thinking across disciplines—for conversation and libations in the Lit Lounge, as we call it. Learn about the periodic table’s arbitrary design, the history of digital feminism, and the secret waterways under your very feet, in Red Hook. For those not in the know, Broadcast publishes narrative-driven journalism, essays, criticism, and original video across the arts, science, music, and technology. It aims to reflect the spirit of Pioneer Works beyond its physical walls in Brooklyn with free, weekly content.

Broadcast Holiday Soirée

Brown dwarfs are a lesser known class of in-between celestial objects, neither planets nor stars, and are predominantly visible in infrared wavelengths, outside the parameters of human sight. Brown dwarfs abound in our universe, but they’re found in what appears to us typically as ‘darkness’. Join us in the Science Studios with a special edition Astronomy on Tap dedicated to brown dwarf astrophysics, featuring the brown dwarf astrophysics group from the American Museum of Natural History.