Presented as part of our yearlong exploration of the theme MIGRATION at Proteus Gowanus, and in conjunction with Portland State University’s Art and Social Practice MFA Lecture Series, join us for a migratory conversation with Duke Riley, an artist whose work addresses the prospect of residual but forgotten unclaimed frontiers.

Duke Riley’s wide-ranging practice examines the crossings of hidden borderlands, the liminal zone where land meets sea, and the struggle of marginalized peoples in the grand scheme of urban space. He has recreated a Revolutionary War submarine, staged a Roman sea battle in a reflecting pool in Queens, and tracked down the descendants of a self-appointed king of an island in the middle of the Delaware River. Duke is also a practicing tattoo artist at East River Tattoo.

Duke Riley has had solo shows at the Magnan Metz Gallery; Cleveland MOCA; the Philadelphia Historical Society; the Queens Museum of Art. He is a recipient of a Pollack-Krasner Foundation grant and an Art Matters grant. In 2009, he created the first St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Havana, Cuba during the Havana Bienial. Riley’s work has been commissioned by the MTA Subway Station and Art for Transit.