Flood Gallery Fine Art Center (“Flood Gallery”) proudly presents Insurgents, curated by its recently hired Assistant Director, Reneé M. Cagnina. This exhibition subversively addresses the internal battles that plague the psyches of its participating artists and exemplifies a unique ability to diplomatically address politics through vibrant illustrations. Insurgents will run April 5th through May 11th, 2008 and the opening reception is slated for Saturday, April 5th at 7:00pm on the second floor of the Phil Mechanic Building in the River Arts District (109 Roberts Street, Asheville). A live musical performance by local favorite Sal Willows Band at 9:00 pm and complimentary hors d’oeuvres and wine, generously provided by Earth Fare and Barefoot Winery, will be served. This event is free and open to the public. For additional information, please call (828) 254-2166 or visit www.floodgallery.org

“Flood Gallery is dedicated to providing a pluralistic environment for all of Asheville’s residents and visitors,” says founding Director Jolene Mechanic, “and it is exhibitions like these that provide a platform for dialogue and encourages the community to be proactive.”

This exhibition strives to be a subtle and peaceful way to express artistic views often found to be unsuitable for public discourse. Whether through video, photograph, or sculpture, participating artists exercise their right to freedom of speech in the visual form. Insurgents allows artists to take back a wheel once driven by fear, and encourages an open discourse by giving form to political ideas, positions and agendas, while seeking to highlight the difference between the original meaning of the “Insurgent” and its newfound connotation.

Participating artists include Mike Estabrook from Brooklyn, NY; Guerra de la Paz from Miami, FL; Nelson Gutierrez from Washington, D.C.; Heinz Kossler from Asheville, NC; Susan Lee-Chun from Miami, FL; and One-Three Collective from Miami, FL.

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about the artist: Guerra de la Paz is the composite name that represents the creative team efforts of Cuban-born artists, Alain Guerra and Neraldo de la Paz. What began as an idea for two individual artists to share a working studio in Miami's Little Haiti, has become an ongoing collaboration that has evolved into constant experimentation. The recipient of the 2008 SCOPE Foundation Grant for artist project “Under the Banyan Tree,” they are are represented in the Saatchi Collection (London), 21C Museum Foundation (Louisville, KY), Frost Art Museum (Miami, FL), Miami Art Museum (Miami, FL), and The Cintas Fellows Collection.

about the gallery: Since its inception in 2006, Flood Gallery Fine Art Center has been dedicated to advancing the careers of emerging and mid career artists, as well as educating the public and furthering the understanding of contemporary art and its importance within the community and beyond. Flood Gallery’s mission is to provide a stimulating environment for artists so that they will successively enlighten, challenge, inspire, and elevate awareness for the necessity of art in contemporary culture. Flood Gallery Fine Art Center, a non-profit 501(C)3 organization, seeks to be a vital cultural resource for Asheville through providing funding and space for innovative local, national, and international artists as well as curators who stretch boundaries in all media.