Gallery r is proud to partner with Rochester Contemporary Art Center and Visual Studies Workshop on the New Rochester Biennial — dedicated to expanding the dialogue surrounding contemporary art and supporting collaboration between Rochester’s mid- sized art venues. The Biennial will continue to bring artists and arts organizations together and instigate new curatorial models. For 2017, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Visual Studies Workshop and Gallery r have each curated exhibitions that investigate collaboration, influence and partnership.

“We are excited to work with ROCO and VSW to start a new conversation with our shared artists and audiences,” says John Aasp, Director of Gallery r. “RIT’s downtown art space serves as our direct connection to the Rochester art community, so we are especially pleased to collaborate with other mid-sized art spaces and engage all of our audiences together.”

Bethany Krull is a 2007 graduate of the Ceramics program at RIT, and her work consistently addresses the complicated and contradictory relationship between humans and animals. She has exhibited her work nationally and is part of collections at the Burchfield Penny Art Center in Buffalo, NY and the Meadows Museum in Shreveport, LA. Krull currently resides in Buffalo and teaches ceramics and art foundations classes. “Returning to Rochester to show at RIT’s downtown art space is a great opportunity for me,” says Krull. “After graduating from the MFA program in Ceramics ten years ago, I’m looking forward to exhibiting in Rochester at an RIT space again. The show will be a survey of works I’ve made over that time, along with select works by my partner Jesse Walp, whom I’ve collaborated with on several exhibitions.”

Jesse Walp is a 2008 graduate of the Sculpture program at RIT. Primarily using wood, Walp creates organic sculptures that seem to have a life of their own, often referencing vines, buds, sprouts, and fruits. Walp’s pieces have familiar appearance, the craftsmanship shows no signs of the artist’s hand, making the work seem otherworldly.

The exhibition will open on First Friday, October 6, from 6-9 PM, and stays on view through October 28, 2017. A gallery talk with the artists will take place on Saturday, October 7, along with talks by artists exhibiting at ROCO and VSW.