hpgrp gallery New York in association with Little Cakes presents

Forever Home – a group photography show featuring photos of animals to benefit New York City Animal Care and Control’s “Big Fix” low or no cost spay/neuter program for low income families. Hanna Fushihara Aron, Director of Little Cakes Little Gallery, is guest curator.

New York City is home to many happily pampered pets; dogs that run and play at dog runs, cats that dine on organic homemade meals, animals that are cherished as part of the family. Unfortunately, at the same time, the city overflows with unwanted pets. New York City Animal Care and Control (NYCAC&C), the non-profit organization contracted by the city’s Health Department, takes in over 40,000 of these animals every year throughout the five boroughs. It has the tough task of having to admit every single animal surrendered to them, unable to pick and choose. It is the last hope for many stray and abandoned animals. Our hope for Forever Home is not only to raise money for AC&C’s programs but to also help promote adoption as an alternative to purchasing a pet, shedding light on a subject many wish to ignore, and to inspire viewers to get involved and volunteer, if not at AC&C, with any organization that deals with issues they feel passionately about. During the run of the show, there will be one day volunteer opportunities at Little Cakes Little Gallery to make cage comforters and kitty toys for those who want to get their feet wet. Please check the Little Cakes website for times and dates.

A companion Forever Home group drawing exhibition, also benefiting AC&C, will be held at Little Cakes Little Gallery in the East Village from July 13th to August 19th, 2007.

For more information about the companion drawing show and for times and dates for one day volunteering events please visit http://littlecakes.org

Participating artists:

Ports Bishop is a photographer raised in Peterborough, NH. He now lives and works in New York City and is on the faculty at the International Center of Photography. He recently had a solo show at PH Gallery in Chelsea and has published a monograph titled “Future Friends” through HP France, NY. He is planning on showing photographs taken at Yellowstone National Park of how people watch animals.

Mark Borthwick, although internationally known as a sought after fashion photographer, is an artist who melds his many talents; photography, music, poetry, film, drawing, and cooking to create beautiful installations and happenings that evoke both light and love. He has worked with musicians such as Cat Power and Sonic Youth, designers Vanessa Bruno, Martin Margiela, and his own wife Maria Cornejo, magazines like i-D, Purple, and Italian Vogue just to name a few. Mark will be showing an installation made up of photos, works on paper, and flowers in celebration of a donkey he fell in love with.

Knox is an acclaimed and award winning photographer known for his emotional and gritty take on street and urban life. His photos can be seen in books and magazines around the world. His Urban Tails book (2006) and ongoing project is a photo journalistic take of alley cats at the intersection of nature and industry. It documents the photographer's relationship with these street warriors and his subsequent rescue operation to trap, neuter, and return them to their original environment. Urban Tails is a powerful testament to such operations as well as the hearts, spirit and courage of these alley cats which gives viewers a glimpse into a hidden world of lives that while not ideal, can be filled with beauty and love.

Kurt Mangum currently resides in the city of New York. Born and raised in the landscape of the Midwest he taught himself how to see the beauty in day to day life that most others over look.

Marlene Marino is a photographer and videographer who lives in New York. Marino's photographs and video have been exhibited at American Fine Arts and Silverstein Photography in New York, Colette in Paris, and Super Deluxe in Tokyo. Her work was recently featured in the summer 2007 issue of Purple magazine and she will show at the Andreas Murkudis Gallery in Berlin this fall. For this show she will focus on the expressions and movements of the animals at the Bronx Zoo.

Traer Scott is the author of Merrell Publishing’s bestselling book Shelter Dogs (2006). She is a fine art photographer with a background in portraiture and fashion. A long-time animal welfare volunteer, she lives in Providence, Rhode Island, with her husband and two beautiful rescued dogs. Scott will be previewing selections from her new book Street Dogs due out this fall. The book will combine over 90 of her signature close-up portraits of dogs with dynamic and unforgettable environmental photographs of dogs in action, living on the streets, caring for one another, seeking food or being fed, wandering, and even playing.

Derek Watson narrates a fantastic reality through a lens of beauty and perfection. His submission, 'Black Bison', explores the serene existence of animals in their environment.

Andrea Longacre-White is a conceptual artist whose most recent work employs photography as its base. In addition, she is the founder of Forsythian Press which publishes uneditioned artist books. She currently lives and works in New York City. ‘Over-Edition’ is based on the staggering number of animals needing shelter within the five boroughs alone. This selection of 40 multiples makes reference to overwrought reproduction of and concurrent cultural negligence in the realm of domestic animal care. Shown will only be 1/1000th of the full series of 40,000 photographs corresponding to the NYC Animal Care and Control's yearly animal intake.

Shuhei Yamatani was born in Japan but now lives in New York City. He holds a B.F.A from Pratt Institute. His accomplishments extend from having had solo exhibitions at Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum, Gallery Ginza Icchome in Tokyo, to Desbrosses Gallery in New York. He has also collaborated with ceramic artists at the Yokohama Iwasaki Museum. Currently he is developing a documentary featuring Japanese strippers in NYC. He will be showing a photograph of a beautiful but captive goldfish.

Guest Curator Hanna Fushihara Aron is the Director of Little Cakes Little Gallery in New York and the Creative Director of HaNNa in Tokyo. Her love of animals led her to assist the former Behaviorist at AC&C for a year. She has recently been doing TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) for feral cats in downtown Manhattan. She has a soft spot for Pit Bulls and is currently obsessed with watching pigeons.