Q&A: SYNCHRONOUS
By inrshots
IN AN AGE WHERE INDEPENDENT ARTISTS CAN FLOURISH - SYNCHRONOUS is doing their part to bring creatives up a level together. Artists Jordan Allen and Manuel Piedra Jr. came together to create the New York based creative collective SYNCHRONOUS to both inspire and bring people together. The duo recently held their first immersive art show and already have their next event in the works. Read below to learn more about SYNCHRONOUS’ roots, missions and bold ambitions.
LUNA: For those that aren’t familiar, would you mind introducing SYNCHRONOUS?
ALLEN & PIEDRA: SYNCHRONOUS is a New York based creative collective designed to present carefully curated immersive art experiences to its viewers. More importantly, its goal is to inspire people to step outside of their comfort zones. The collective is meant to serve as an incubator for the next wave of icons. It’s a platform that we’ve created to give independent artists, like ourselves, opportunities to share their voices.
LUNA: Who are the main individuals involved in this project?
ALLEN & PIEDRA: SYNCHRONOUS was co-founded by Jordan Allen, an interdisciplinary artist who connects through the mediums of painting, sculpture and film. Originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Jordan made it a point to pursue his dream of becoming a professional artist in New York City. Allen is a visual artist whose works can be defined by their colorfully expressive figures, stories, and subject matter. The work attempts to combine world views with an admiration for art history, and existential questions that swirl about the mind. Through mixed media, Allen dares himself and his audience to look beyond the ordinary in hopes of revealing the divine.
Co-founder Manuel Piedra Jr. is a New York based creative who best expresses himself through painting, dance and videography. Emboldened by early encounters with cartoons, hip-hop, and his latin roots, Piedra’s work ventures to mediate tales of self realization through a pop-culture lens. Hailing from Spring Valley, New York, he was always fascinated by the city and has dreamt of living there since he was a kid. As time went on and his passions developed, it became clear that it was exactly where he needed to be. Manuel is a visual artist whose works can be recognized by their use of pop imagery, abstract use of color, and subject matter that impels the audience to look inward.
LUNA: How did y’all get to creating SYNCHRONOUS?
ALLEN & PIEDRA: We were both involved in an apartment exhibition happening on campus (a show in which we both did not attend). Later on, we connected via Instagram and worked to meet each other as soon as possible. Our first meeting, we met in Manny’s apartment and painted for as long as we could, while talking about our lives and our different influences that drive us to do what we do. We spoke about how a lot of our inspiration pulled from the 80’s New York scene and how there was a sense of community among those artists. Fast forward two years later, SYNCHRONOUS is born. It feels like something we’ve been slowly working on and building since we’ve met each other.
Photo By David McCalla
LUNA: Where do you see it moving forward?
ALLEN & PIEDRA: We are currently in phase 1, but truthfully SYNCHRONOUS is designed to be the Roc-A-Fella of the fine art world. It’s meant to be disruptive and incorporate the traditions of hip-hop.
By Jordan Allen
LUNA: What does SYNCHRONOUS bring to the creative community?
ALLEN & PIEDRA: It’s meant to be an umbrella to house creative individuals and serve as a tool of expression. Whether that’s contributing artwork, performing, meeting like minded individuals or simply being in the building during a show you literally become part of this community. Like ants or bees collectively working together we are building the capacity to achieve our ultimate goal of finding freedom through expression.
By Manuel Piedra Jr.
LUNA: What was the first SYNCHRONOUS show about?
PIEDRA: The first show entitled “SYNCHRONOUS: An Immersive Narrative of Collaboration” was held at Studio 525, formerly known as the Andrea Rosen Art Gallery in Chelsea.
ALLEN: The experience was meant to serve as a multi-sensorial, panoramic view of SYNCHRONOUS. Through human sculpture, food, film, paintings and live music we showcased the pillars of our collective.
PIEDRA: The evening was capped off with a beautifully intimate musical performance by Cosmo’s Demos. The entire affair was a huge collaboration between the venue, performing artists and guests whose participation informs our narrative. We’d like to think of it as the first supper.
LUNA: Tell us what would you like the next show to explore?
ALLEN & PIEDRA: Our next show will open on March 5th, 2020, at LUSH Art Agency in SoHo. It’s meant to impress the two little kids whose faces lit up watching MJ dunk on the Monstars. The kid who copied Michael Jackson’s moves directly off the screen. The purpose of this show is to step into the people that our younger selves always wanted to be; more importantly, be the present figures that our inner child would be proud to look up to. The kid hand painting sweatshirts in his grandmother’s living room. The purpose of this show is to step into the people that our younger selves always wanted to be. This show is meant to reconnect with our inner child and to find the ferocity, fearlessness and freedom that we honor them with and for the audience to re-discover the same. Expect for it to be much like the last time, and nothing like the last time if that makes sense.
LUNA: What do you want 2020 to bring both SYNCHRONOUS and as individuals?
ALLEN & PIEDRA: We’re looking forward to the progression of SYNCHRONOUS and we’re also excited about the independent projects that are in development.
LUNA: Give readers a little insight about your motivations for pursuing art.
ALLEN: Honestly, I couldn’t see a 9-5 in my future. My entire life I’ve wanted to be a high level performer and I understood that a traditional life would not bring me happiness. A few periods consisted of my studying to become a magician, a rapper, a boxer, basketball player (I was too short and the coach was hating), a professional gamer, hypnotist and even an actor; eventually falling in love with visual art. It was the most fulfilling thing I’d ever come across. I remember being 18 taking a drawing class and coming home being so frustrated that everyone was in class was better than me. They made it look so easy. One day I realized that they were more skilled than me because they worked harder than me, and of all these things, that became my road map.
PIEDRA: I knew from a very young age that working a regular job and leading a regular life was not something that interested me. Being told what to do and living in confinement disguised as “the norm” surely wasn’t it either. I come from a family of business people, and while that inspired me greatly, I managed to take that inspiration and apply it to my own creative interests. During my freshman year of high school I had my own custom sneaker business, where I would acquire clientele from all over the county. After years of doing that, I eventually became tired of only being enclosed to a small panel of a sneaker; I realized that I had always been searching for this type of freedom in my life that often took shape in more mediums than one (painting, dancing, acting, skateboarding). What once was a big foreign space to me, began feeling like the conformity I was constantly withdrawing from. When I graduated high school, I then made the switch from painting sneakers to painting large scale canvas and never looked back.
