Arbor celebrates the authentic chamber music experience. Imagine an era when friends gathered in intimate settings to hear live performances of the latest classical music, sharing conversation and discovery, perhaps a glass of wine or two!
CONTAMINATE
From 2020 Contaminate is fully dedicated to providing creative consulting to select projects.
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2013 – 2020
ARBOR MUSIC SEIRES | SEASONS 1-7
Arbor expands the traditional chamber music repertoire through annual commissions of new music. Through these commissioned pieces, salons, concerts, and cultural activities, Arbor invites audiences and artists to explore connections between new and old, and between language and music.
2014
TELL ME YOUR SECRETS
AUGUST 14 – SEPTEMBER 7 | Cosmopolitan Hotel of Las Vegas
Contaminate Format by Taxiplasm and Renzo Vitale originally conceived with Gemma Fleming, Dave Irwin, and James Donovan
A combination of performance art and interactive sound installation, Tell Me Your Secrets, a collaborative work of artists Taxiplasm and Renzo Vitale, takes guests on a journey of self-reflection, whereby the verbalization of their secrets brings the performer and space to life. Both artists actively engage with art movement-driven organization Contaminate to launch a new market model for immersive experiences, shifting the concept of fine arts’ collection to an innovative level. Nature speaks and experience translates.
Yet we falsely subscribe to a belief that the admission of these truths will render us weak.
Tell Me Your Secrets is a somatic quest to abandon this notion, to unlock and reveal these deeper truths which hallmark our identity[…]
RIPENING | FUR AND PORCELAIN
24 APRIL | Galapagos Art Space Dumbo BK
Conceived and Choreographed by Vanessa Walters
Conceived and Choreographed by Vanessa Walters
“Fur and Porcelain” is the first Ripening cabaret show, the first bite, in a series of live shows for Walter’s five-year-long project. In the cabaret will presented dance excerpts from the Ripening repertoire – solos, duets, and trios along with related performance material from guest artists whose work relates to the Ripening journey.[…]
RIPENING | YIELD
1 FEBRUARY | FLICfest at Irondale Center BK
Conceived and Choreographed by Vanessa Walters
Conceived and Choreographed by Vanessa Walters
Ripening is a multi-disciplinary creative experience unfolding through dance, performance, film, installation, and interactive video design. It explores our manifold emotional, physical, and psychological relationships with Time. It transverses themes of aging, beauty, vanity, childhood fantasies and nightmares, and the inevitable wonder and cruelty Time wreaks: arriving, becoming, blossoming, maturing, rotting, dying, transforming. The exquisite journey from deliciousness to decay.[…]
2013
THE SEEDS THAT RELEASE
OCTOBER 8 | Creative Rising Long Island City NYC
Contaminate Format byTaxiplasm and Joseph Grazi
Contaminate Format byTaxiplasm and Joseph Grazi
Contaminate with Taxiplasm and Joseph Grazi curate The Seeds that Release, a site-specific interactive performance premiered during Armory 2013, as part of the celebration of See|Me’s summer-long global campaign Creatives Rising. Contaminate introduces for the first time the concept of art format[…]
A PIECE OF BLACK
WINTER | Norwood Private Club Chelsea NYC
Curated by Taxiplasm
Curated by Taxiplasm
Taxiplasm in collaboration with Contaminate and(Art) Amalgamated Gallery presents exclusive screenings at the Norwood Club. A Piece of Black revisits a series of art house films curated by Taxiplasm, films which cannot be coupled with anything else, that bear no category but their own while transgressing through various cultures and disciplines with a pioneering spirit. […]
10.23.13 ZOO | 11.07.13 SANS SOLEIL & LA JETEE | 11.27.13 SHIT YEAR
THE MANIFESTO
JANUARY | Contaminate releases its Manifesto
Here’s to the pioneers, explorers, creators. To the innovators, inventors, and entrepreneurs.
To the ones who know life to be a creative act: they mold it and push it until it fits them.
They dent flat worlds and invent new art forms, aesthetics, technologies, social structures, and cultural movements.
They see art as immersion. They are oddballs who outwit the rules. We bridge the many gaps between brainchild and full-grown execution. we draw maps alongside such pioneers, who wander territories without worry of results, who always search and never settle.
We are always on their side because they antagonize the humdrum.
Contaminate. Reboot the World
To the ones who know life to be a creative act: they mold it and push it until it fits them.
They dent flat worlds and invent new art forms, aesthetics, technologies, social structures, and cultural movements.
They see art as immersion. They are oddballs who outwit the rules. We bridge the many gaps between brainchild and full-grown execution. we draw maps alongside such pioneers, who wander territories without worry of results, who always search and never settle.
We are always on their side because they antagonize the humdrum.
Contaminate. Reboot the World
2012
100 DAYS: SOCIAL UNIT
15 NOVEMBER | Cappellini Showroom SoHo NYC
by Wouter Kalis and Corinne De Korver
by Wouter Kalis and Corinne De Korver
Experiential night celebrating Wouter Kalis and Corinne De Korver, winners of the Social Track. of One Hundred Days. Performance by Felix Hess […]
100 DAYS: HOLLOW
11 OCTOBER | Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò NYU
by Jei Ryung Lee
by Jei Ryung Lee
Experiential night celebrating Jei Lee, winner of the Social Track. of One Hundred Days. Performance by Sarah Sadie Newitt[…]
100 DAYS: NEVER ENDING STORY
13 SEPTEMBER | Kristin Hanson Gallery TriBeCa NYC
by Chia-Shan Lee
by Chia-Shan Lee
Experiential night celebrating Chia-Shan Lee, winner of the Environmental Track. of One Hundred Days. The installation comes alive with performers Alexis Convento, Ede Thurell, Lucy Struever, and Seanna Sharpe wearing Chia-Shan’s creations and staging her fairy-tale under the direction of choreographer Vanessa Walters accompanied by an original music composition by Renzo Vitale and Emiliano Melis will accompany the performance.[…]
MiN
27 JULY | Black Crate Bushwick BK
Written and created by Seanna Sharpe and curated by Contaminate.
Written and created by Seanna Sharpe and curated by Contaminate.
Featuring Akil Vishus Davis, Kenneth Stephen O’Neil, Mariana Plick, Megan Hornaday, Nikki Nasto, Rachel Hsiung, Sarah Sadie Newitt, Savannah Blair, Sean Roschman, Seanna Sharpe. Visual Artists: Yvette Cohen, Melanie Hoff, Chambliss Giobbi, Samuela Malizia, Andriano Mores, Linden Renz, Joseph Grazi […]
100 DAYS: D.ONE
13 JUNE | Kristin Hanson Gallery TriBeCa NYC
Day one of One Hundred Days
Day one of One Hundred Days
Event to announce the three winners of One Hundred Days with an installation of David Irwin and durational performance by Alexis Convento.[…]
OUT OF THE BOX: AN ART SALON
7 JUNE | The Box Lower East Side NYC
Fundraising Art Salon
Fundraising Art Salon
Performances include : Mystical Weapons, featuring Sean Ono Lennon and Greg Saunier (Deerhoof), Hydra, The Click Clack Boom and aerialists Seanna Sharpe, Sarah Sadie Newett and Autumn Kioti
Art Exhibition and Silent Art Auction featuring:
Rieko Fujinami, Chambliss Giobbi, Dan Hillier, Jen Harris, Melissa Murray, Wednesday Wolf, Gemma Fleming, Melodie Provenzano, Joseph Grazi, Ed Colelli, Greg Lipton, Heather Reynolds, Angelo Bellobono, Nicholas Papadakis, Geoffrey Krawczyk, Indira Cesarine, and Richard Sylvarnesi […]
Art Exhibition and Silent Art Auction featuring:
Rieko Fujinami, Chambliss Giobbi, Dan Hillier, Jen Harris, Melissa Murray, Wednesday Wolf, Gemma Fleming, Melodie Provenzano, Joseph Grazi, Ed Colelli, Greg Lipton, Heather Reynolds, Angelo Bellobono, Nicholas Papadakis, Geoffrey Krawczyk, Indira Cesarine, and Richard Sylvarnesi […]
UNDER CONTROL: AN ART SALON
10 MAY | Antebi Loft Flatiron NYC
Multi Disciplinary Salon Experience
Multi Disciplinary Salon Experience
Experiential art evening featuring a combination of visual arts, performance art, and music by Chambliss Giobbi, Joseph Grazi, Carolina Montejo, Melissa Murray, Samuela Malizia, Simone Serlenga, Gemma Fleming, Taxiplasm, David Irwin, Renzo Vitale, James Donovan, NWSPR, and Alexis Convento.[…]
MAKE A WISH
7 MARCH | Dacia Gallery Lower East Side NYC
by Claudia Trombin
by Claudia Trombin
Multi-disciplinary experience with Claudia Trombin’s paintings and sculptures, performance by Alexis Convento and music by Emiliano Melis[…]
GATE535 EXTENDED
FEBRUARY | Gate535 Extended Until Summer 2012
Contaminate and ContestaRockHair join forces as international promoters of new art and curatorial innovators as they launch Gate535, a project that gathers Contaminate’s international network of artists into the trendy, creative atmosphere of ContestaRockhair’s New York salon at 535 Hudson Street for the entire course of 2011 […]
02.29.12 Giovanni Damiola – Ordinary Superheroes
04.11.12 Melissa Murray – Eight Minutes
05.25.12 Simone Serlenga – After 10 Shots
05.30.12 Carolina Montejo – Monochromatic Portraits
2011
ONE HUNDRED DAYS
NOVEMBER | Contaminate launches a new initiative
Art and Sustainability
Art and Sustainability
ONE HUNDRED DAYS is an international competition for emerging artists organized and sponsored by Contaminate. The competition is open to artists working within the realm of Visual and Installation Art, including sculpture, installation, painting, photography, design, and illustration. […] For this first edition of ONE HUNDRED DAYS, artists are asked to create a visual or installation project aimed at raising awareness about Sustainability Issues, demonstrating the creative potential of fine arts with regards to environmental, social, and economic issues and the potential role of art in a much needed societal transformation[…]
TEMPORARY STATES: AN ART SALON
19 NOVEMBER | GEM Private Gallery Chelsea NYC
Multi Disciplinary Salon Experience
Multi Disciplinary Salon Experience
Live Music by Ashen Figure Unplugged
Dance performance by The Vangeline Theater
Art Exhibition by Angelo Bellobono, Luca Coser, Francesco Avesani, Claudia Trombin, and Natalie Tyler
Dance performance by The Vangeline Theater
Art Exhibition by Angelo Bellobono, Luca Coser, Francesco Avesani, Claudia Trombin, and Natalie Tyler
INTO THE VAULT
23-24 MAY | VIP Tableau Vivant Experience
by Sarah Small
by Sarah Small
Tableau Vivant of The Delirium Constructions celebrates humanity by representing a visual and sonic encyclopedia of the human condition. Part homage to the history of art, part joyous communion, part party, part radical experiment, Small’s Tableaux reveal the evolutionary process of creating art and community, contemplating raw and poignant truths about humankind’s timeless yearning to find connection within ourselves and with one another.
The project mounts a unique, process-oriented and participant-driven theatrical experience in diverse communities across the globe, enlisting local talent and non-performers alike to create a self-revealing celebration of image, sound, and unity, via contemporary, multi-disciplinary performance art.[…]
ART FOR HAITI: A BENEFIT AUCTION
5 MAY | Friends Seminary East Village NYC
with Solidarité Haïtienne
with Solidarité Haïtienne
As journalists travel the world hunting for news and stories, they often need to develop a clinical and objective eye to get to the truth of what they see. Yet, occasionally, they encounter situations and tragedies that call for action and participation that goes beyond reporting.
That is what happened to Claudio Gatti, an investigative reporter for Il Sole-24 Ore, the leading business daily in Italy and contributor to the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune, when he traveled to Port-au-Prince, Haiti in the aftermath of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck the Caribbean island on January 12, 2010.[…]
PRIVÉ: AN ART SALON
27 APRIL | Cloud Lounge Luxury Attaché NYC
A private salon experience
A private salon experience
Amuse yourself among an intimate gathering of artists and art lovers; exchange ideas, increase your knowledge of the arts, and spark your creative spirit while sipping delicious wine and food. A manifestation of an exquisitely feminine universe, joined with an artistic perception of women’s life and an their unpredictable way of finding a place in this world, ties together the work and performance of Japanese belly dancer Lale Sayoko, painters Cait O’Connor and Samuela Malizia, and filmmaker Brian Gonzalez. These artists’ works strengthen each other like a sonata and the result is a kind of music that although composed of notes technically and stylistically different, gives birth to a coherent language, rich of resonances and echoes[…]
THE PLEASURE IS ALL MINE
23 FEBRUARY | Salumé SoHo NYC
by Silvia Forese
by Silvia Forese
Contaminate is pleased to present Il piacere e’ tutto mio. The pleasure is all mine, the first New York solo-show by Italian artist Silvia Forese, curated for Salumé, an Italian “salumeria” serving real Italian panini in the heart of Soho. The show opens on February 23rd, 2011 with an opening reception featuring a live installation by the artist and continues until March 25th, 2011[…]
2010
GATE535
FEBRUARY | Contaminate launches a new inititative
Contaminate and ContestaRockHair join forces as international promoters of new art and curatorial innovators as they launch Gate535, a project that gathers Contaminate’s international network of artists into the trendy, creative atmosphere of ContestaRockhair’s New York salon at 535 Hudson Street for the entire course of 2011 […]
02.02.11 Claudia Trombin – Alter Ego
03.16.11 Gemma Fleming – Not a Fairy Tale
05.04.11 Manu Hell – Sacrum et Profanum
06.01.11 BB Production – Dress up your drawing
06.15.11 Charis Kirchheimer People Having Way Too Much Fun
07.27.11 Samuela Malizia – Just a moment
10.19.11 Maxine Nienow – The Viewer’s Choice
BODIES: AN ART SALON
5 NOVEMBER | GEM Private Gallery Chelsea NYC
Art Salon Experience
Art Salon Experience
Amuse yourself among an intimate gathering of artists and art lovers, exchange ideas, increase your knowledge of the arts, and spark your creative spirit. A manifestation of human nature’s multiple and fragmented facets through the representation and the use of the body in the arts will be the core theme of the salon. The evening will include live model drawing by painters Lee Vasu and Francesco Masci, poetry readings by Kate Angus and a group exhibition by Cait O’Connor, Claudia Alvarez, Claudia Trombin, Chris Stain, and Maxine Nienow.[…]
BIPOLAR
15 OCTOBER | R Bar Lower East Side NYC
BiPoleR intertwines two different art forms: performance and video art. A group of pole dancers – Kyra Johannesen, Marlo, Lian Tal, and a video artist, Sumseen – will meet on the poles of the R Bar, creating a dialogue between video projection and pole dancing. Music by New York-based DJ/Producer Eeah Kaiju[…]
TRIUMPH
16 SEPTEMBER | Dacia Gallery Lower East Side NYC
Group Show in collaboration with Dacia Gallery. Artists: Natalie Tyler, Claudia Trombin, Gloria Duque, Lee Vasu, Eva M. Connell, Scott Westhoven, Thomas Legaspi, Claudia Butz and Cait O’Connor.[…]
LEISURE
7 AUGUST | Ernest Rubenstein Gallery Lower East Side NYC
Group show in collaboration with Education Alliance. Artists: Claudia Alvarez, Andrew Coates, Cait O’Connor, Matt Gorrek, Claudia Trombin,Natalie Tyler, Lee Vasu, Evan Kirstein, Bess Sobota, and Gloria Duque.[…]
ALTER EGO
22 JUNE | De Santos West Village NYC
by Claudia Trombin
by Claudia Trombin
“Alter Ego,” an evening of music and art showcasing the exhibition of Italian painter Claudia Trombin. To be held at De Santos, the cozy West Village eatery located at 139 West 10th Street, the show opens on June 22nd and will feature the painter’s most recent artwork, as well as a live performance by music designer Emiliano Melis. The exhibition will close on July 4th.
“Alter Ego” is the ultimate expression of Trombin’s long-time artistic and conceptual research on masks. In Trombin’s work, the mask–a means to play with one’s identity, displaying its hidden aspects–loses its physical dimension and becomes a state of mind. Each body part becomes a vehicle of expression: an arm, a foot, or a hand acts as a lens that deforms or highlights a perspective otherwise lost in the whole[…]
OUTBREAK INITIATIVE
MAY | Contaminate launches a new inititative
As part of the Outbreak, Contaminate is spreading its activities to the different neighborhoods of New York City, supporting local artists and communities, starting with Red Hook. This urban neighborhood, just across the harbor from Governor’s Island and the tip of Manhattan, is rapidly becoming one of the hippest areas of Brooklyn, with artists, musicians, and bohemian types abounding […]
05.05.10 Joshua Ray Stephens – Dark Meat: the Aftermath
07.06.10 Andrew Coates – Information (apparently)
07.23.10 Jade Kuei – Beyond the Brambles
10.07.10 L.J. Lindhurst – Little Shiny Things
12.02.10 John Tebeau – It’s More Fun This Way
12.16.10 Tracey Atkinson – Darchive
KUROI HIKARI
12 MAY | Ward III TriBeCa NYC
by Tetsuo Hasegawa
by Tetsuo Hasegawa
Dance performance by Lale Sayoko
FOOLS RUSH IN
1 APRIL | Bathhouse Studio East Village NYC
Photo and Music event in partnership with Win-Initiative and APA
TRAVELLING SKETCHES: AN ART SALON
20 MARCH | Think Coffee NoHo NYC
Art Salon with the jazz singer Silvia Cecchetti and live drawings performance by Lee Vasu, Francesco Masci, and Jsun Laliberte
WILDLY DIFFERENT THINGS, DUBLIN & NY
25 FEBRUARY | Collaboration with BlueLeaf Gallery Dublin
ELECTRO SKINS
29 JANUARY | Ovest Chelsea NYC
Multi-Disciplinary Night with the videoartist Sara Taigher, the music of DJs Rupture and Matt Shadetek, and performance by Seanna Sharpe
2009
SELF PORTRAITS
18 NOVEMBER | The Dressing Room Lower East Side NYC
by Gemma Fleming
ROADS
12 NOVEMBER | Spazio81 Milan
by Pietro Lucerni
JAZZ NIGHT
30 SEPTEMBER | Garage West Village NYC
by with Luca Hara Garacci
aWAY
6 AUGUST | Cornichon Williamsburg BK
by Hanna Jane Mandelbaum
2B
26 JUNE | Giano East Village NYC
by Maxine Nienow and Nikka Dimroci
PRIVATE FRAMES
13 MAY | B.East Lower East Side NYC
by Claudia Butz
CUTTING LAYERS
24 MARCH | Megu Lounge NYC
by Julien Gardair
INTO THE OPEN at THE NEW SCHOOL
4 MARCH | Collaboration with Parsons The New School for Design
NEO-BYZANTINE ICONS
4 FEBRUARY | Apotheke, Chinatown\’s famous speak easy
by Lee Vasu
2008
2008
MATTER AND MEMORY
10 DECEMBER | Collaboration with Ennagon Gallery
by Matilde Soligno
NICOLE STAGER at MEGU LOUNGE NYC
19 NOVEMBER | First event of Contaminate
THE INCEPTION
OCTOBER | The virus hits New York City and the contamination officially starts
Art, music, images, performance, and dreams. Contaminate New York City with us. Put into play all the different art forms that you know as well as your enthusiasm. We create events, situations, and moments where we can exchange our feelings, ideals, and ideas, where we can be involved and captured by all the art types that surround us. In our events we combine visuals, sounds, scents, sensations, and flavors that generate simultaneous interactions and unexpected yet pleasant surprises. Let’s give this word a positive meaning together.
2008