RAE • “TRUNK WORK”  • 2015 • New York City

"An art studio mishap, a cracked building foundation and one last chance to claim what was rightfully his- RAE’s latest exhibition, “TRUNK WORK”, unravels a unique Brooklyn tale .”

[New York City, March 27 - April 19, 2015] - On August 4, 2014, a Brooklyn apartment building was evacuated after cracks were discovered in the facade caused by a construction company working next door. This unfortunate incident provided an opportunity for RAE to return to the building he once had his art studio in and reclaim a trunk from the building’s basement that hand been withheld from him by his landlord.

Four years earlier, on the evening of October 28, 2010, RAE was forcibly removed from his studio by two men, his then-landlord and the landlord's nephew. They offered no explanation of the supposed complaints from neighboring tenants that triggered this Incident, in particular one that had been lodged earlier that evening following a small explosion in RAE's studio. This explosion was the result of an artistic experiment involving a microwave and was one of many complaints that related to his artistic practices in the building.

RAE was refused his security deposit and barred from accessing the building. which prevented him from retrieving the trunk that had been housing artwork, important sketches and other personal items. Despite numerous attempts to recover the trunk, it remained there until the evacuation of the building.

This exhibition presents work from the trunk alongside recent work that was developed from preliminary sketches and materials left in the trunk. The chain of events that led to this retrieval is chronicled through local news coverage, video testimonials and artifacts relating to the incidents.

The work from the trunk represents the struggles faced by the artist in both his personal and societal relationships at the time. However, it also marks a triumphant moment of rediscovery, an opportunity to revisit a past self and to intertwine it with the present.