Creating Beyond Convention with Alex Yudzon
SECTION I
Mondays from 6:00-9:00pm ET on Zoom
August 4, 11, 18, and 25, 2025
Fee: $400
Space limited to 8 SOLD OUT!
SECTION II
Tuesdays from 6:00-9:00pm ET on Zoom
August 5, 12, 19, and 26, 2025
Fee: $400
Space limited to 8—ONE SPOT LEFT!
Our creativity is central to who we are. It is not only an expression of our individuality, it is also the way we vitalize our essence and grow our connection to the world. Since life is not static, our creativity must likewise stay in a dynamic state of emergence.
At times, however, we might find ourselves working in rigid, programmatic ways. Using a clear and relatable approach, Creating Beyond Convention, is designed to give each participant a practical set of tools to either enliven the path they are already on or to launch off in an exciting new direction.
Participants will be introduced to a variety of contemporary artists, photographers, writers, filmmakers and musicians in order to examine the ideas, methods and strategies they use to advance their work in unconventional directions. The goal of this workshop is to develop out-of-the-box creative approaches that act as powerful accelerators in both art and life.
Each week will focus on a specific approach and will include a slide presentation, a guided assignment, a group discussion and review of participants’ work.
1. Breaking the Rules (an introduction to the Trickster): John Baldessari, Beat Takeshi, Georges Perec: Identifying and breaking conventions as a form of play.
2. Chance Encounters: Philip-Lorca diCorcia, John Cage, Sophie Calle: Using elements of chance, spontaneity and improvisation in creating work.
3. Variations on a Theme: Claude Monet, Ed Ruscha, Sol Lewitt: Examining the way working in groups and sequences can generate ideas that are greater than the sum of their parts.
4. Side Project as Personal Sandbox: David Lynch, Gabriel Orozco: Developing the practice of a side project as a creative tool that is both an end in itself and a powerful method for artistic growth.
Alex Yudzon is a New York-based visual artist whose work blurs the line between photography, painting, sculpture and performance. Creating autonomous photographs from site specific installations and studio based still lifes, Yudzon’s work draws attention to the way we construct personal space within the context of the modern world. Yudzon’s work has been exhibited widely both nationally and internationally, including Miami Museum of Contemporary Art, China International Photography Biennial and the Arles Photo Festival. Yudzon was an artist in residence at the Headlands Center for the Arts in the fall of 2017. In 2018, he had a solo show with Slag Gallery in Brooklyn and a two-person show at Rick Wester Fine Art in New York. In 2019, Yudzon was awarded a NYFA grant for photography, and his work was included in Contemporary Performance, a museum wide exhibition at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts. Alex Yudzon’s first monograph, A Room for the Night, was published by Radius Books in 2023 and received the prestigious American Institute for Graphic Arts award for book and cover design.
https://www.radiusbooks.org/all-books/p/alex-yudzon-a-room-for-the-night