Join us to celebrate the finnisage of Laturbo Avedon’s 'New Sculpt' from 6-9PM on November 4 at Onassis ONX Studio.

LaTurbo Avedon’s first exhibition 'New Sculpt' debuted in 2013 at TRANSFER Gallery in New York. The show explored decentralized identity as a core aspect of virtual being, and the artist priced their artwork in Bitcoin to start a conversation about value and speculation in contemporary art. This prescient hybrid virtual/physical installation spanned the physical gallery space and the virtual world in Second Life. Ten years later the works have been restored in collaboration with Onassis ONX Studio and students and researchers from NYU Tandon School of Engineering's Integrated Design and Media (IDM) program, using technological advances to better align with Avedon’s artistic goals.

The central work, a virtual sculpture called Rainbow Six (2013), was initially installed in the physical gallery using flat projections, while in Second Life, the sculpture appeared as a shimmering weightless object. Today, with assistance from ONX Studio and IDM, the work has a new life using cutting edge virtual production techniques. The end result of this collaboration is an uncanny holographic experience that brings viewers much closer to Avedon’s original vision.

“Since 2012, LaTurbo Avedon has emerged as a thought-leader about virtuality. Through their virtual embodiment—symbolic of a widespread cultural shift to digital representation—the artist continues to reveal new or overlooked truths about our shared online worlds,” says Wade Wallerstein, Director of TRANSFER and Associate Curator at Gray Area “With 'New Sculpt', Avedon brings a new sensibility about digital materials to the market for the first time, prophesying how emerging technologies would come to define social narratives around reality.”

At 7PM the artist will give a virtual gallery talk in the physical space to discuss their work and how their visions of the future came to pass.

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LaTurbo Avedon is an avatar and artist, creating work that emphasizes the practice of non-physical identity and authorship. Avedon has spent the past decade developing a body of work that illuminates the ever-growing intensity between users and the virtual, pursuing creative environments that deepen the meaning of immaterial experiences. They curate and design Panther Modern, a file-based exhibition space that encourages artists to create site-specific installations for the Internet.

LaTurbo’s process of character creation continues through gaming, performance and exhibitions. Their work has appeared internationally, including MAK – Museum of Applied Arts (Vienna), The Manchester International Festival UK, Transmediale (Berlin), Haus der elektronischen Künste (Basel), HMVK (Dortmund), Barbican Center (London), TRANSFER Gallery (New York), Galeries Lafayette (Paris), and The Whitney Museum (New York City).

TRANSFER is an experimental gallery that explores simulation and expanded practice. Founded by Kelani Nichole in 2013, TRANSFER’s mission is to support artists examining the social, cultural and political implications of emerging technology in their work.

Onassis ONX Studio is an accelerator for a global community of member artists who create immersive XR and AI works. This hybrid experimentation, production and exhibition space is located in the Olympic Tower in Midtown Manhattan and was founded in 2020 in partnership between the Onassis Foundation and NEW INC. The studio now exists as a project of Onassis Culture while also working in partnership with major cultural organizations in New York.

Integrated Design & Media (IDM) Program fosters creative practice, design research and multidisciplinary experimentation with emerging media technologies. As a research-active program within NYU Tandon School of Engineering, IDM faculty collaborate in research that integrates digital media and society. Our faculty include leading artists, designers, developers and performers who passionately engage in professional work and research at the intersection of engineering and creative practice.

'New Sculpt' Reception