We’re excited to share that we’ve just begun working with Ifeta Mešić and SirahHaris, aka Cousins by Choice, two talented young artists who we met last summer at the Fanzineist Vienna Art Book & Zine Fair. The Cousins are spending the next three months in NYC and working on a graphic memoir about their experiences there. We’ll act as their mentors as they create their book. We’re thrilled to be working with them and can’t wait to see what they’ll create.

Here’s a bit more about them and their project, from the Cousins themselves:

The international duo “Cousins by Choice” are in NEW YORK CITY! These Bosnian creatives first met in Rotterdam during their Illustration studies at the Willem De Kooning Academie and have since then founded their collective “Cousins by Choice.” Just like cousins, their work is related and similar but not the same. Their family of art is an energetic culmination of fun and moving images, poems and zines! However just like family, it can be chaotic and wild, but at the end of the day you return to them for comfort. Now that you know the cousins, you might ask yourself “what are they doing in New York City?” They are here to work on an exciting publication all about the city and the surrounding area! In this scrapbook-esque publication, they will feature out-of-the-box articles, inspiring artist interviews and personal accounts of their time in NEW YORK CITY that take the form of comics, sketches, and more!

We have shared a selection of zines and books from our collection that focus on gender, queer sexuality, feminism, and LGBTQIA+ identity for the upcoming exhibition beLONGING. The show features the work of artists Carmel Dor, THECOLORG, Abbey Muza, and Meg Wolensky and has been organized by InLiquid, an arts organization that has supported visual artists in Philadelphia since 1999. Included in the show is a reading room installation where visitors can sit and read the zines on loan. We are proud and happy to share these priceless publications in this way.

As InLiquid writes, beLONGING is part of (re)FOCUS, “a collaboration among over 25 of Philadelphia’s visual arts institutions to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of FOCUS, a milestone exhibition of American women artists, held in Philadelphia in 1974. In revisiting FOCUS, (re)FOCUS includes a new generation of diverse artists working around themes of gender, sexuality, and intersectional identity.

“Moore College of Art and Design Galleries is the lead institution with participation from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, African American Museum of Philadelphia, Woodmere Art Museum, University of the Arts Galleries, Tyler School of Art, University of Pennsylvania, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia Mural Arts and others.”

January 5, 2024 – February 24, 2024
Wednesdays - Saturdays, 12-6 PM

InLiquid Gallery
1400 North American Street, Gallery 108
Philadelphia, PA 19122

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