Re-Accession For Sale By Owner
FLAG Art Foundation
New York, New York
June 23 – September 1, 2009

Curated by Philae Knight and Amanda Steck

Re-Accession: For Sale by Owner was a timely exhibition organized during the economic downturn of 2008–2009. Curators Philae Knight and Amanda Steck set out to highlight artists whose gallery representation had been disrupted—or who were working independently altogether—in response to the shifting landscape of the art market. We were proud to be included in this powerful moment of solidarity, resilience, and creative redefinition.

Our piece for the show was the Grenade Calendar, a sculptural work composed of twelve handmade grenades—each representing a month of the year. The grenades were constructed from thread-wrapped forms with origami-like paper skins that bore hand-drawn monthly calendars. Each was pinned to its soft fabric core, inspired by a moment of improvisation that became integral to the design.

The Grenade Calendar had roots in a commission from Beth Rudin DeWoody, who had asked us to create a beaded grenade for her collection. At the same time, we were hand-drafting our own studio calendars on graph paper—a ritual of planning that we practiced for years. That convergence gave birth to the idea of merging violence and time, fragility and order, into a sculptural object that reflected the intensity and uncertainty of the moment.

Group Exhibitions

We originally designed the paper grenades to be interactive, with internal strings that cinched the structure closed like a real pin-pulled grenade. But the delicacy of the paper and the complexity of the form led us to pivot, and William suggested we embrace the visible pins. The result was raw and beautiful—tactile, symbolic, and undeniably reflective of the era.