2MF with Joshua Smith

The inaugural episode from 2MF (2 Many Feelings) hosts Maria Stabio and Sonya Derman features Joshua Smith, an artist based in Brooklyn and co-founder of Essex Flowers. Along the way, the three discuss morality in the contemporary art world, Lee Lozano, NADA, Shepard Fairey, and appreciation for Tracy Emin.

2MF is organized by Sonya Derman and Maria Stabio. 2MF is determined to promote pro-emotive and anti-academic conversation among artists living dis/contentedly in the un/ranked spaces of the New York's art world. 2MF is a hybridized kind of group: part non-sequitur discussion series, and part group therapy. 2MF is a project in two parts: 1) nomadic in-person meetings, centering on the felt experience coinciding with “content” chosen by a guest artist, and 2) a radio show featuring meandering conversations with 2MF’s guest artists.

Joshua Smith is a regularly exhibiting artist whose work has been the subject of solo exhibitions in recent years at Essex Flowers (NY), SOUTHFIRST (NY), Shoot the Lobster (NY), West Street (NY), Art Production Fund (NY) and John Connelly Presents (NY). His work has also been included in exhibitions at Add Donna (Chicago), Shanaynay (Paris), Albert Baronian (Brussels), Cleopatra’s (NY), White Flag Projects (St. Louis), Eleven Rivington (NY), Nicole Klagsbrun (NY), The Journal Gallery (NY), Clifton Benevento (NY), MoMA PS1 (NY), White Columns (NY), Artists Space (NY), and more. He is a cofounder of Essex Flowers a collectively run art gallery in downtown New York. He lives and works in Brooklyn with his wife and cat.

Maria Stabio (b. 1985 San Francisco) is a first generation Filipino-American artist and curator. Her current work addresses feelings of loneliness and isolation through the use of comedic text combined with the painted image. She graduated with a BFA in Painting from Boston University and an MFA in Visual Arts from Columbia University. In 2012, she was a recipient of the Artist in Residence Fellowship at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, serving as artist in residence and adjunct faculty for one academic year in Doha, Qatar. She is a co-founder of Trackside Studios and Torrance Shipman Gallery in Brooklyn, New York. She currently lives and works in New York. For more information, visit mariastabio.com.

Sonya Derman is a visual artist and writer born in New York City. She received her MA from the Royal College of Art (London) and her BA from Carleton College (Northfield, MN). She has performed, curated, or exhibited at Outlet (Brooklyn), Essex Flowers (New York), Park Life Gallery (San Francisco), SIGNAL (Brooklyn), Torrance Shipman (Brooklyn), and Centrum (Berlin), among others. She was an artist in residence at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in 2013 and received a Julian Trevelyan artist grant from the Royal College of Art in 2012.

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