Benjamin Bertocci has been living and working in N.Y.C. since 2005. He was raised in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, attended Bard College at Simon’s Rock, UMASS Amherst, and Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville.

He now works out of his studio in Long Island City Queens, and lives with his small family in nearby Astoria.

Matthew Leifheit is an American photographer, magazine editor, and professor based in Brooklyn, New York. A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design and the Yale School of Art, Leifheit is Editor-in-Chief of MATTE Magazine, the journal of emerging photography he has published since 2010. Leifheit’s photographs have appeared in publications such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, Aperture, TIME, and Artforum, and have been exhibited internationally. His work has been supported by residencies at the Corporation of Yaddo and The Watermill Center, receiving grants from the New York State Cultural Council and the Fund for Lesbian and Gay Studies at Yale, where he was awarded the Richard Benson Prize in 2017. He is currently full-time faculty at Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston.

Mark van Yetter (b. 1978) lives and works in the Poconos, PA. Van Yetter co-founded exhibition space Marquise Dance Hall (2007-2015), which started as a book and record store in New York, before transitioning to an itinerant gallery in Istanbul.

Current and previous solo exhibitions include Plunderbund Charity, Ebensperger, Berlin, GE (2022); Damn View, Ebensperger Rhomberg, Berlin, GE (2019); False Friends… and Six Bottles, Kunsthalle St. Gallen, St. Gallen, CH (2019); Drawings 2005 – 2018: 20 Propositions at Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg, AT (2018); You can observe a lot by just watching, Bridget Donahue, New York, US (2018); We are what we walk between, Micky Schubert, Berlin, DE (2016); The Terrifying Abyss of Skepticism, Bridget Donahue, New York, US (2016); The mere knowledge of a fact is pale, Kunsthall Stavanger, Stavanger, NO (2016); Relentless Compassion, VI, VII, Oslo, NO (2015). Selected group exhibitions include Catechism, Bridget Donahue, New York, US (2022); Freedom & Independence, Ebensperger, Berlin, GE (2020); Any Day Now, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, GE, (2020); To confess, one must tell lies, Clages Gallery, Cologne, GE (2019); Nightfall, Mendes Wood DM, Brussels, BE (2018); All’estero & Dr. K.’s Badereise nach Riva: Version B, Croy Nielsen, Vienna, AT (2018); All’estero & Dr. K. Takes the Waters at Riva: Version A, A Plus A Gallery, Venice, IT (2018); Hütti, Ludlow 38, New York, US (2017); At the bar, MD Bar, Cologne, DE (2017); Monday is a Day Between Sunday and Tuesday, Tanya Leighton, Berlin, DE (2017); Group Show, Micky Schubert, Berlin, DE (2015); Eray Börtecene, Sonja Weissmann, Mark van Yetter, Institut für Bienenzucht, Düsseldorf, DE (2014). Van Yetter was the recipient of the Fürstenberg Zeitgenössisch Residency in 2016.

Gretchen Scherer  (b. 1979, Indianapolis, IN) received a MFA from Hunter College, NY and a BFA from The University of Illinois at Chicago, IL. Scherer has been awarded residencies at Skowhegan School of Sculpture and Painting, ME and Vermont Studio Center, VT. Recent exhibitions include Richard Heller Gallery, LA; Patricia Low Gallery, Gstaad,Switzerland; Gowen Contemporary, Geneva, Switzerland; Taymour Grahne, London; and Monya Rowe Gallery, NY. Scherer’s work was highlighted in Harper’s Bazaar Latin Art Issue in “Artists to Follow in 2022”, and in New York Magazine by Jerry Saltz in “The Best Art Shows of 2021”.

Scherer’s work was recently profiled in the Spring 2024 issue of Juxtapoz magazine (“Gretchen Scherer: If Rooms Could Talk”). Her work is also included in “New Surrealism: The Uncanny in Contemporary Painting” by Robert Zeller, published by Monacelli Press (2024), an imprint of Phaidon. The artist lives and works in West Creek, NJ and Brooklyn, NY.

In addition to following a straightforward continuum from tradition, her paintings relate to an inherent visualness of her native land of Ceará and the Brazilian Northeast as a whole. She is particularly close to folk art since her interests encompass the synthetic form of clay objects, laces, and other textile works such as crochet and embroidery,  as well as the geometric and colorful architectural features of traditional houses. Surrounding villages, household objects, and anonymous faces are elements of the landscape in which the artist is immersed, appearing as if clothed by a light mist that covers everything – alternately concealing or revealing them.

Her recent solo exhibitions include As primeiras coisas [The earliest things], Mendes Wood DM, New York (2024); Cristalino Segredo, Mendes Wood DM, Brussels (2023); Noites de cetim, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo (2022); Lembrança de algum lugar, Sobrado Dr. José Lourenço, Fortaleza (2022); O Soar das Horas, Nieuwe Gentweg 21, Bruges (2023) and Arrebol, Mendes Wood DM, New York (2021).

Additionally her work has been including in group exhibitions such as Amadeo Luciano Lorenzato en conversation avec Lucas Arruda, Sanam Khatibi, Patricia Leite, Paula Siebra, Marcos Siqueira, Erika Verzutti et Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro, Mendes Wood DM, Paris (2024); 74º Salão de Abril, Centro Cultural Casa do Barão de Camocim, Fortaleza (2023); Arte Laguna Prize Exhibition, Arsenale di Venezia, Venice (2023); Close, Grimm Gallery, London (2023); A Gauzy Flame, Herald St, London (2023); Pequenas pinturas II, auroras, São Paulo (2022); My reflection of you, The Perimeter, London (2022); Corpo Ancestral – 21ª UNIFOR Plástica, Universidade de Fortaleza, Fortaleza (2022); Male Nudes: a salon from 1800 to 2021, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo (2022).

Additionally, here’s a link to a Studio Visit.

Born in Los Angeles, Lily Ramírez’s painting practice has always hinged on her fascination with the with paint. She began working in acrylics at a young age, experimenting alongside her father who supported her burgeoning practice. The pair moved across the US, living briefly in Montana and Wyoming before re-settling in LA. “Everything I’ve done is based on what he taught me. I had a beautiful, natural childhood,” she says.

Ramirez attended Otis College of Art and Design to study painting as an undergraduate, where she studied under artists Meg Cranston, Scott Grieger, and Soo Kim.

James Little (b. 1952, Memphis, TN) holds a BFA from the Memphis Academy of Art and an MFA from Syracuse University. He is a 2009 recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Award for Painting.

In addition to being featured prominently in the 2022 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, his work has been exhibited extensively in solo and group exhibitions around the world, including at MoMA P.S.1, New York; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville; Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond; and the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C. In 2022, Little participated in a historic collaboration for Duke Ellington’s conceptual Sacred Concerts series at the Lincoln Center, New York, with the New York Choral Society at the New School for Social Research and the Schomburg Center in New York. Recent solo exhibitions include: Petzel, New York (2024); Kavi Gupta, Chicago (2022); Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis (2022); Louis Stern Fine Arts, West Hollywood (2020); and June Kelly Gallery, New York (2018).

His paintings are represented in the collections of numerous public and private collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond; The Studio Museum, Harlem, New York; The Menil Collection, Houston; Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis; Maatschappij Arti Et Amicitiae, Amsterdam; Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis; Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse; New Jersey State Museum, Trenton; Tennessee State Museum, Nashville; and the Newark Museum, Newark.

A citizen of the world, Jerri Allyn (she/he/shimmher) is a community-based artist, educator, and activist who promotes civic engagement. Her work provides a forum for diverse voices that look at issues comprehensively. While challenging traditional gender roles and highlighting the experiences of underrepresented communities, his art explores complex themes including power dynamics and the intersections of body autonomy, race, and social class. Jerri’s diverse artistic practice encompasses various media: audio, video and sculptural tableaus, electronic billboards, 3-D books, and printmaking multiples, often culminating in site-oriented, interactive installations and performance art events.

Allyn has exhibited internationally and received numerous prestigious awards. These include a Rockefeller Foundation Residency in Italy, an International Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Residency in Mexico, and grants from the Joan Mitchell Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Lightening Fund, and The National Tanes Fund.

Fr more information and research: Website link to Sx Cele popup, Safiya page. Safiya’s Myth Busters. Ongoing Programs: Sx Celebrated: Comprehensive Sex Ed, Body Positive Movement, Sx Worker Rights – Human Rights Watch.

Jim Osman was born in New York City. He received a BA & MFA from Queens College. He has had solo exhibitions at McKenzie Fine Art, Robischon Gallery, Lesley Heller Workspace, Long Island University and Dartmouth College. His work has been included in group shows at the Brooklyn Museum, Equity Gallery and University of Texas at San Antonio.

He has received grants from the Brooklyn Arts Council, Parsons School of Design and a NYFA Artist Fellowship in Craft/Sculpture. He became a member of the National Academy in 2019.

Mr. Osman taught courses in three-dimensional design and sculpture at Parsons School of Design for 22 years. He lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

Bumin Kim is originally from South Korea and received her MFA in Drawing and Painting in 2015 from the University of North Texas, Denton, Texas. In 2017 she was awarded at the 30th annual international competition and exhibition, Materials: Hard+Soft.

Her work has been shown by various institutions, including: Art Miami and Pulse Art Fair in Miami, FL; Dallas Art Fair in Dallas, TX; Art Aspen in Aspen, CO; San Francisco Art Fair in San Francisco, CA, Art Market Hamptons Fine Art Fair in Water Mill, NY; and Texas Contemporary Art Fair in Houston, TX. Furthermore, Kim’s work has been featured in publications, such as: New American Paintings, Fresh Paint Magazine, and Glasstire, and can be found in public and private collections throughout the United States, South Korea, Japan, and Europe. Bumin Kim completed an artist residency at Facebook’s headquarters in Austin, Texas in 2020, and her work was selected to be displayed at the Schneider Museum of Art in Ashland, Oregon in 2022.