Art Hag

Neurodiverse Artists "Show Up and Show Out" in Fisher Center Group Exhibit

"Show Up and Show Out," a group exhibition presented by AHRC NYC and the W83 Ministry Center

W83 Gallery was buzzing with excitement Friday evening where artists were eager to show off their work during the opening of Show Up and Show Out, a group exhibition featuring artwork by 17 neurodiverse artists.

Presented by AHRC New York City, the exhibit showcases paintings, drawings, and fiber art created by participants of the organization’s day services at Fisher Center in East Harlem that serves adults with intellectual disabilities.

Several of the exhibiting artists were on hand Friday evening to greet visitors and share their creations. On view is a vivid array of artwork featuring elaborate weaving, abstract patterns, vibrant flowers, lettering, portraits, cartoon characters, and more.

“This is one of our largest shows that we’ve had, with this many artists, and I feel like this wall is just a small piece of the actual work that goes on in the program. It’s really fulfilling,” Fisher Center’s Community Support Supervisor, CieraMarie Mitchell, said during an address to the crowd.

L-R: Naomi Lawrence, Lucille Payne, Anita Payne, Jon Bunge, and Adriana Caicedo at the opening of "Show Up and Show Out" at W83 Gallery

Anita Payne has been attending the Fisher Center for almost 30 years, drawing and making jewelry, according to her mother, Lucille Payne. “She can sit for hours and hours and work on her jewelry. That’s her passion. She loves color,” Lucille noted. Two years ago, Anita discovered a new passion—weaving. Anita’s Quilt is a 39” x 50” rainbow patchwork composed of colorful squares stitched together and adorned with red and blue raindrop-shaped ornaments dangling like jewels. “She just started [fiber art] and she fell in love with it,” said Lucille.

“You don’t know [an artist's potential] until you give someone the materials and you give them the space, and the patience. The patience to let people explore,” said Naomi Lawrence, an art consultant at Fisher Center who launched the weaving program during the pandemic.

"Anita's Quilt" by Anita Payne

L-R: Lucille Payne, Anita Payne, and Yvonne Cannon

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L-R: "Nest #1" and "Nest #2" by Angel Oliveras

Like the birds referenced in the title of his works, Angel Oliveras searches for and collects scraps of fabric and other materials and incorporates the pieces into his Nest series of circle weavings. His dynamic and whimsical spirals of yarn are the cat's meow!

“The people we support are artists,” said Naomi, who teaches weaving to about 30 artists at Fisher Center. “I’m very lucky to work with them.”

AHRC has been providing services and support to neurodiverse New Yorkers of all ages across NYC for more than 70 years. Along with educational and employment programs, the organization offers various activities, such as art, providing creative outlets for artists with developmental disabilities.

“I’m very proud of the artists. It’s so fun to see what they create. It’s so fun to see how they grow,” said Jon Bunge, who teaches drawing and painting to more than 30 artists at Fisher Center. “It’s an exciting job. I’m very blessed to be able to work with these artists.” Jon has worked at Fisher Center for seven years and has helped curate more than a dozen past exhibits.

"History People" by Nichole Perez

While some of his artists create from imagination, others prefer to use reference images, ranging from familiar masterpieces to photos of famous figures. Using colored pencils and markers, Nichole Perez draws images of pop stars as well as unmistakable depictions of Barack Obama, Albert Einstein, Michael Jackson, and Abraham Lincoln in her piece History People.

Jon’s enthusiasm and joy are apparent as he discusses the art program and the exhibit. “By making these works, the artists that we support get a real sense of meaning, of purpose, and of accomplishment,” he said. “It’s really wonderful to see that and that’s epitomized tonight when we can see their work up on the wall.”

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L-R: "Pat" and "Woman with a Pink Face on a Red Background" by Devona Gamble

Devona Gamble, who creates portraits with dazzling pops of color, happily showed her artwork to visitors, proudly pointing out the flaming haired “Pat” as her personal favorite.

“It’s seeing people create. It is seeing the self-esteem people get from it,” Jon continued. “They feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment. And seeing [their work] in a public space, they’re proud, their families are proud…. I hope visitors [to the exhibit] take away the fact that everyone has the potential to create something.”

Naomi recalled a fiber artist’s reaction to seeing her work displayed for the first time at a previous exhibit. “She did a double-take and she stepped away and said, ‘I need a moment.’ She was so overwhelmed with emotion and pride. I want all the artists to feel that tonight.”

It isn’t just the final work and the exhibitions that make the Fisher Center’s art program so meaningful. It’s also the community and connections the artists find in working together. “That is the family that is Fisher Center,” Naomi noted. “We go through highs and lows and losses, and we all rally together.”

Anita’s mom, Lucille, agreed. “It’s bringing them together. It’s amazing,” she said. Anita’s artwork is “an expression of her,” she continued. “She’s bringing it out and she’s putting it in weaving, she’s putting it on paper. She’s expressing her love and you can feel it, and that makes me so happy.”

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L-R: Works by Timotheus Davis and Miguel Reveron

 

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L-R: Works by Jeffrey Holloway and Oswald James

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L-R: Works by Wayne Anderson and Carol Fields

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L-R: Fiber works by Guadalupe Quinto (top) and Kim Worthmann (bottom): Tahira Curtis

Show Up and Show Out
W83 Gallery, 150 West 83rd Street, NYC
Exhibition on view through January 29, 2024
More info here. 

Studio Visit: Rowan Renee | Green-Wood Cemetery

Rowan Renee's work in progress at Green-Wood Cemetery

Green-Wood Cemetery’s current artist-in-residence, Rowan Renee, hosted an open studio this weekend at the cemetery's Fort Hamilton Gatehouse, offering visitors a preview of their site-specific installation which will be exhibited in Green-Wood’s Historic Chapel in May 2023.

The Brooklyn-based artist started their residency at Green-Wood in February 2022. Rowan finds the cemetery’s history and landscape inspiring. “I’ve been going on a lot of long walks and visually taking in the landscape,” they said. Combing through Green-Wood’s extensive archives, Rowan has been able to “gain understanding on what I’m seeing, or maybe interpreting on my own.”

Rowan is currently “focusing on the public lots at Green-Wood,” explaining, “there’s [nearly] 600,000 people buried here and a third of them are in the public lots.” Typically located around the perimeter of Green-Wood, these lots are the “historically affordable sections” of the 478-acre cemetery, according to green-wood.com.

“Sometimes the memorials [in the public lots], because they’re built without foundations, can fall over or sink in the earth, so there may be a memorial there that is actually hidden from view,” Rowan explained. “I’m really interested in the unmarked graves in the public lots. I’ve been going into the archives and finding out who’s there and I’m working with the idea of how to memorialize individuals here who don’t have a visible memorial in the landscape.”

Rowan Renee's work in progress at Green-Wood Cemetery

 

Rowan Renee's work in progress at Green-Wood Cemetery

 

Rowan Renee's work in progress at Green-Wood Cemetery

 

Rowan Renee's work in progress at Green-Wood Cemetery

 

Rowan Renee's work in progress at Green-Wood Cemetery

 

Rowan Renee's work in progress at Green-Wood Cemetery

 

Rowan's loom at their studio at Green-Wood's Fort Hamilton Gatehouse

 

A public lot at Green-Wood Cemetery

 

Green-Wood Cemetery artist-in-residence Rowan Renee in their studio at the Fort Hamilton Gatehouse

Rowan’s upcoming installation will include sculpture composed in marble, glass, metal, and stone as well as textile work. Some of the materials they are using were sourced from Green-Wood. The exhibit will address class disparities in the cemetery—“Pushing against the narrative of Green-Wood as a space primarily for the wealthy, since there are so many people buried here who aren’t wealthy,” Rowan explained. “Bringing attention to ordinary people whose memories are not as visible in the landscape.” Rowan also hopes to illustrate the beauty and serenity of these spaces that tend not to get as much foot traffic as the paths that house elaborate mausoleums and memorials. “They’re not on the most picturesque paths through the cemetery, but they are still beautiful.”

Originally from Florida, Rowan received their BFA from Parsons the New School for Design and their MFA in Studio Art from the University of Michigan. Rowan’s past work is deeply personal, addressing “intergenerational trauma, gender-based violence and the impact of the criminal legal system through image, text and installation,” according to the artist’s website. For their project at Green-Wood, Rowan is “interested in looking outward and telling bigger stories that are more community driven” they said. “I have mined my own personal stories for quite some time, but I feel I’m at a moment where I want to shift away from that a little.”

For their upcoming exhibit, Rowan will share just a few stories of the cemetery’s “permanent residents,” as Green-Wood calls them. “This is a story about other people who are like my neighbors and who played a pivotal role in this city that I live in and love.”

Be sure to check back at green-wood.com in the spring for info on what will surely be an insightful and fascinating installation. For more information on the artist, visit rowanrenee.com.

Heidi Lau: Gardens as Cosmic Terrains | Green-Wood Cemetery

Heidi Lau, "Gardens as Cosmic Terrains" at Green-Wood Cemetery's catacombs

Sunday, July 10, was the last day to catch Heidi Lau’s Gardens as Cosmic Terrains at Green-Wood Cemetery’s catacombs. In 2021, Lau was selected out of 964 submissions to be Green-Wood’s first ever artist-in-residence in the cemetery’s 184 year history. She created her site-specific ceramic works at the cemetery’s beautiful, landmarked Fort Hamilton Gatehouse and was granted access to the cemetery’s grounds and archives.

Gardens as Cosmic Terrains was inspired by Lau's long walks through Green-Wood’s 478-acres and a Taoist concept of "the convergence of wandering, play, and introspection, which together invite a reawakening of self-knowledge,” she said in a press release for the exhibit. The artist also found inspiration in the “cosmological settings of traditional Chinese gardens, where the arrangement of plantings, pathways, and vistas act as a metaphor for time, space, and our place in the cosmos.”

Her striking ceramic sculptures populate the cavernous catacombs – which are typically closed to the public. Many dangle on disproportionate chains from the circular skylights like mystical spelunkers dropping down from the heavens. Rich in texture and details, some pieces resemble urns and “ritualistic funerary objects” while others feature body parts, faces, hands, and vertebrae.

Lau’s fantastical installation is right at home in Green-Wood’s catacombs, inspiring contemplation on mortality/immortality, spirituality, and universality. Green-Wood Cemetery is a peaceful space for reflection that inspires many visitors. Hopefully Green-Wood will continue its residency program and invite more artists to find inspiration.

Heidi Lau is originally from Macau, China and currently lives and works in New York City. She received her BFA from New York University in 2008, where she focused on printmaking and drawing. She is a self-taught ceramist. See more of her work on Instagram @heidiwtlau and visit green-wood.com to learn more. 

 

25th Annual Gowanus Open Studios

Saturday kicked off the 25th annual Gowanus Open Studios (GOS). Organized by Arts Gowanus, the event features more than 400 artists opening the doors of their workspaces to visitors throughout the weekend. According to artist Ellen Chuse, a participant for 21 years, GOS began in the late '90s with only a handful of artists from three buildings on the northern end of the Gowanus Canal – 295 Douglass Street, 280 Nevins Street, and 543 Union Street. The event has grown exponentially over the years with more than 100 participating venues – including shops, bars, cafes, and galleries.  

With only one free day to explore the massive event, I decided to visit large, centralized clusters of artist studios at Ti Art Studios at 183 Lorraine Street in Red Hook and 540 President Street (home to the Arts Gowanus office & Brooklyn Art Cluster Studios) in Gowanus. My socialbility still not fully recovered following the pandemic isolation, I gravitated to familiar faces but did get to chat with a few artists I'd not met before. Due to COVID, Arts Gowanus had to reinvent Open Studios last year, and hundreds of artworks were displayed in storefronts along a stretch of Atlantic Avenue. Click here, here, here, and here to see my coverage on last year's event.

See my photos from Saturday below then get yourself to Gowanus today to meet some talented local artists. More info and map at artgowanus.org.

Ti Art Studios, 183 Lorraine Street, Red Hook

Textile artist Traci Johnson outside her studio at Ti Art Studios

A recent FIT grad, textile artist Traci Johnson transformed her studio into a vivid, plushy dreamscape.

Traci Johnson in her studio.

Demarcus McGaughey (right) and friends in his studio

Recent work by Demarcus McGaughey

K Haskell's drawings and collage work document beauty within decay. The illuminated installion on their wall depicts a cancer cell.

Recent work by K Haskell

Sculptor Ward Yoshimoto creates intricate assemblages with found objects. Several of his works feature materials discovered at Dead Horse Bay.

Marlene Weisman poses with her Optimystics collages. Weisman also designed all the graphics for Gowanus Open Studios.

Natale Adgnot stands with a fascinating new installation in her studio. Check out her Chromaticism exhibit from November 2020 here.

Karen Gibbons in her studio. Read about her retrospective show, and former long-time Gowanus workspace, here. 

Feminine Rising, a recent work by Karen Gibbons.

Artwork by Ellen Chuse

Ellen Chuse at her studio in Red Hook.

540 President Street, Gowanus

Jo-ann Acey was one of several artists at 540 President whose studios flooded during Hurricane Ida. A Go Fund Me was set up to help her recoup and recover extensive losses. See my interview with Acey from November 2020 here.

Miguel Ayuso in his studio. Ayuso founded La Bodega Gallery, a popular creative/community hub in South Slope before it closed in 2020.

Midrene Lamy working on a self-portrait.

Lamy's self-portrait is a response to the COVID pandemic.

Mark the Artisan set up his art truck in the parking lot of 540 President.

Usually parked on Bedford Ave. in Williamsburg, Mark the Artisan will be in Gowanus throughout the GOS weekend. Read about his August 2021 exhibit at Established Gallery here.

Mark the Artisan at work

Mario Joyce | Unearthing Black Joy on Governors Island

ArtCrawl Harlem Executive Director Ulysses Williams and artist Mario Joyce

ArtCrawl Harlem returns to Governors Island this summer with a second artists residency program where Michael Obele, Mario Joyce, and Melissa Sutherland Moss will take turns working from a historic house at Nolan Park. Earlier this month, I visited with the season’s second artist in residence, Mario Joyce, as he was settling into his new temporary studio space.

Joyce, who will be working on Governors Island from July 24 through September 3, is so inspired by his new surroundings that he had already created a dozen works just two weeks into his residency. “It’s been so amazing,” he says of his time on the Island. “I have water behind me and then I have a big lawn and a lot of elements that remind me of the place I grew up, but I’m in this urban space.” His recent works, filled with figures enjoying the great outdoors, radiate with vitality and confidence.

Mario Joyce's work at ArtCrawl Harlem's Governors Island residency

Painting and collage works created by Mario Joyce during ArtCrawl Harlem's Governors Island residency

Painting and collage works created by Mario Joyce during ArtCrawl Harlem's Governors Island residency

On the first day of his residency, Joyce was inspired by a Black family relaxing on the lawn in front of the ArtCrawl Harlem house. “I started sketching them and that’s how the body of work started being developed. It’s been fun to watch [my work] transition as I discover new things about the space.” For the first time, he’s introduced soft pinks into his palette. “I think as I explore Black joy, it [represents] a sweetness, an innocence, and a youth that I’m bringing to the work,” he says. “I really love pink, juicy lips—like when I was a kid eating a popsicle—that summertime youth and unadulterated joy,” he adds.

Growing Up in the Heartland 

Born in Columbus, Ohio to a young single mother Joyce moved with his mother, grandmother, and siblings to a farm in rural Ohio when he was five. “It was literally in the middle of nowhere,” he recalls. “It was really hard. We were the only Black family, and as a queer Black boy in that type of space, I was really alone. I was bullied mercilessly every single day. Art, and being in the fields and crops, became part of my escape…so I associate crops, soil, and nature to peacefulness and breaking things down, unpacking things, unpacking trauma specifically.”

Early on, Joyce’s grandmother provided him with creative outlets, coloring books, watercolors, and art supplies. “She bought me all the materials that I needed. She really fueled that,” he remembers fondly. Joyce started using art to express himself. “It became my language. It was the way I communicated, drawing and creating a narrative within,” he continues. “I would talk it out. As I was drawing the figures I was creating this dialogue between the characters. I would talk to the characters. It was like playing with dolls, but I would draw it. I’ve always kept that within my work.”

Joyce continues that inner dialogue today when he works on his lush, impassioned paintings that illustrate the Black experience. “When I am putting paint on the canvas, I’m really moving it around like a language. I’m verbalizing whatever I’m working through. I’m telling the story with the brush stroke…. I love slapping on the oil paint and dragging it through and mixing the colors on the canvas instead of on a palette. That’s how it comes across so excitable, [because] I’m actively speaking. It’s an internal dialogue that comes through my hand. I really give myself that freedom to tell the story,” he explains.

His evocative paintings are punctuated with vivid patterns and images seamlessly collaged into the scenes. Joyce incorporates “vintage collage materials specifically between 1965 and 1999” from books or old copies of Reader’s Digest and National Geographic, onto his canvases. “I do that for two reasons. I love the ink quality, it’s very matte, it’s very ‘60s,” he notes, adding that the specific timeframe references his grandfathers’ generation. “It’s kind of like when they were my age and coming of age and going through the same things.”

Works by Mario Joyce at ArtCrawl Harlem's residency program on Governors Island 

A work by Mario Joyce at ArtCrawl Harlem's residency program on Governors Island 

A work by Mario Joyce at ArtCrawl Harlem's residency program on Governors Island

Exploring His Roots

Joyce has been investigating his family tree since childhood, and genealogy plays an integral role in his artwork. “I research my family history and I have since I was ten years old. It was a part of breaking down traumatic experience, like who am I? Why do I look this way? The history of my own skin and DNA.”

As a child, his grandmother regularly brought him to the library where he would pore over the genealogical records. “I would look for the names of our family and I would interview aunts and uncles in other states,” he said. “I learned a lot before I was even 12 years old. I have all those records still.” 

Complementing the information he gathered from the library and relatives, Joyce also drew family photographs, copying pictures he borrowed from his great-grandmother. “After Alex Haley created the movie Roots, [my great-grandmother] created a little study and filled it with photos of our ancestors,” he says. “I would borrow them from her—I had to promise to give them back—and I would draw them. I would practice drawing my ancestors, the shapes of their faces and their noses. That comes into my practice today because as you can see…every Black male figure, is me. I’m the model…. I manipulate the physical characteristics to make alter egos of myself and they represent specific ancestors within my lineage.”

Placing his male ancestors into a contemporary context in his paintings, Joyce examines the parallels between their lives and his own. He tries to uncover “What has changed within my life?” and “What has changed within the Black experience in America?” The answers are often disappointing. “Sadly, I don’t know if it’s enough. I don’t think it’s that much, so it’s my mission to closely examine what being Black in America looks like today, right now, by looking in our past and in our DNA, which is not in history books. It’s all in our ancestry, in our grandparents’ heads, and it needs to be documented.”

Other themes that recur in Joyce’s work include vast, jewel-toned skies. “I love the sky because I grew up in the Midwest,” he says, where “you could see for miles…. It was all big sky. They were so beautiful and ever evolving. I can just keep going and keep painting them forever. It was freedom.”

Trees also figure prominently on his canvases “because I grew up with trees,” he explains. [They were] such a part of my background and I love them. I’m very comfortable with them, but also, it’s that rooted aspect. I always do my figures barefoot because I want them connected to the earth, like a free energy flow from the soles of their feet to the ancient soil.”

It was a poignant work by Joyce featuring a figure amid a forest of trees that first caught the eye of ArtCrawl Executive Director Ulysses Williams. Entitled Strange Fruit, the artist created the painting in response to the 2016 election. “When Trump got into office I was just so shocked,” Joyce recalls. “It shifted my work to something that was a little passive and straight into activism. I started with a very familiar image of a Black man being lynched and below him was a crowd that was joyously celebrating it at a picnic.”

After ruminating on the image, Joyce decided to change the narrative. “I eliminated the crowd. I took that… very seen image of a Black man hanging in the trees and I wanted to reclaim that. What I wanted to do with that was make it ours again and make that represent something different.”

Joyce recalled a hateful incident from childhood that helped influence this work. “I’ll never forget on a bus ride, I was very, very little and new to the space and it was such a rural school, you rode on the bus with high school kids,” he reflected. “There was a high school kid that sat in front of me. The windows were fogged up…and he drew a lynched man on the window and peered back at me and laughed. I knew right then…that was a way to intimidate us as Black kids…. So that image has always been, since I was five, it has always been ingrained in my mind as fear and ‘you’re less than,’ so I had to take that back.”

He revised Strange Fruit (above) not to show the figure as a victim but to honor him as a martyr. “I painted the same image but I had him ascending out of the trees and rising above,” Joyce notes. The painting illustrates “this is what we come from, something greater,” Joyce says of the moving work. “We are not reduced to being lynched in the woods. We’re something special.”

Putting Down Roots in NYC

Joyce made the big move to New York City with his husband eight years ago. “We just wanted to feel comfortable,” he says of their relocation. “I wanted to hold his hand in public. I wanted to kiss him in public…. Just to feel comfortable in your own skin is something that I don’t take for granted because I didn’t always have it.”

Sexuality and religion are themes Joyce also addresses in his deeply personal artwork. Growing up in rural Ohio, Joyce’s grandmother raised him as a Jehovah’s Witness. “My personality—growing up queer and Black—[the church] just didn’t really make sense for me,” he says. “It was further suppressing me…. It was just like you’re not supposed to be you, so be better and try to be someone else. I tried and I tried but it just didn’t work out.” Joyce decided to leave the church at 15. “It just wasn’t for me and I knew it. Some things just didn’t make sense…. I didn’t fit in to what they needed me to be.”

Today, Joyce is a certified genealogist through Boston University’s Genealogy Studies Program and is currently delving into his father’s lineage since his dad and mother recently “rekindled their relationship from when they were teenagers.” Joyce explains that they “never really fell out of love and finally made it work.” Older and wiser, they married three years ago, allowing Joyce to build a relationship with his father. “It just keeps evolving, the story keeps going,” he says of his family history.

Joyce’s paternal side of the family hail from the Deep South in Alabama, “what’s called the Black Belt,” according to the artist, where he says investigating his roots is challenging. “When I do genealogical research in the South, it is really hard...I don’t think they destroyed records—they just didn’t care about Black people,” he says, so record keeping was lax.

When studying his mother’s roots in North Carolina and Virginia, he discovered that some of her ancestors were slaves but “most of them were free people of color,” Joyce says. “I can only trace those roots back to 1660 because they weren’t really slaves, they were indentured servants, so they got their freedom after a lifetime of labor and then they bought land. These are things that I don’t think people know. They don’t know that there are African Americans who have been free since the 1660s,” he notes.

Each day, as Joyce travels via ferry to Governors Island, he is reminded of the country’s history of slavery. The pier in lower Manhattan where he catches the ferry “sold Black bodies” centuries ago, he adds. “And I think about the fact that I’m on a ferry with this amazing opportunity as an artist. This isn’t something that my ancestors would have been able to do. They would have been on the auction block.”

Works by Mario Joyce at ArtCrawl Harlem's residency program on Governors Island 

A detail of a work created by Mario Joyce on Governors Island 

Mario Joyce's studio space on Governors Island 

Art and Activism

Boundaries & Connections: Art and Activism is the theme of this year’s ArtCrawl Harlem residency. “I think just by being Black and alive in America is its own activism. Just mentally surviving.” Joyce says when asked how he plans to interpret the theme. “I’m exploring the soil and how deep and rich that is [as well as] the genealogy of the soil that Black Americans worked through the generations and how I grew up.”

ArtCrawl Harlem Executive Director Ulysses Williams is pleasantly surprised with the direction that the artists in residence are taking. “In my head I’m thinking they’re going to be doing stories about people in the street and things like that,” he said. “What’s so interesting is that [Joyce] along with Michael Obele [this year’s first artist in residence]—they decided to honor people with the images that they’re creating, remember people…leave a legacy along with the story. Whatever I was thinking, they totally wiped the slate and just made it so personal.”

“As our generation, we’re sick of it,” Joyce added. “We’re sick of seeing these classic images of protests…we keep seeing them and we’re not getting what we need fast enough. We’re just people. We’re just Americans. This isn’t that hard and yet it’s such a challenge.”

“But I have to smile. I have to feel joy. That is a huge part of being Black,” he continues. “I don’t sit around [with my family] and talk about how sad I am about being Black in America. We laugh. We eat. It’s very real. It’s a real existence. We’re just people like everybody else in this country, and I want to show that, but I also want you to know this is what happened…and if it makes you uncomfortable, maybe think about that.”

Hyper-realist portraitist Michael Obele preceded Joyce at ArtCrawl Harlem’s Governors Island residency this summer. Following Joyce’s residency at Nolan Park, multidisciplinary artist Melissa Sutherland Moss will work from the house September 3 through October 17. Works by all three artists will be exhibited at the house during the last two weeks of October.

Selected by a five-person jury, the three artists represent the diversity of the Black experience in America. “They all represent a certain portion of the diaspora,” Williams says, noting that Joyce hails from Ohio, Obele from Lagos, Nigeria, and Sutherland Moss has roots in Costa Rica. 

“We got along immediately,” Joyce notes of the tight-knit group. “We are all so supportive. It was like a brother- and sisterhood immediately.”

Two hyper-realist portraits by Michael Obele (left) and collages by Melissa Sutherland Moss (right)

ArtCrawl Harlem's 2021 Artists in Residence: Mario Joyce, Melissa Sutherland Moss, and Michael Obele. Photo courtesy of ArtCrawl Harlem

ArtCrawl Harlem's Executive Director Ulysses Williams and artist Mario Joyce

Be sure to visit the ArtCrawl Harlem 2021 Artist Residency house at 4B Nolan Park before Governors Island closes for the season on October 31. Learn more about ArtCrawl Harlem’s 2021 Artist Residency Program and the three artists at artcrawlharlem.org.

Read about ArtCrawl Harlem's inaugural 2020 Artist Residency at Governors Island here.

PSWT Artists Open Studios: Redux | Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (BWAC)

Carol Adams' sculptures (front and back left); Joyce Riley's Dawson's Creek, Meet You There, We Are All One (back wall, left to right)

The second weekend of the Park Slope Windsor Terrace Artists Open Studios: Redux at the BWAC gallery was bustling on Saturday with art lovers of all ages. The exhibition, featuring a variety of works by Arts PSWT members, serves as an alternative to the group’s annual Open Studios event, offering more room for artists and visitors to adhere to pandemic protocols.

“With COVID we were thinking of just canceling and not doing it at all,” explained Sandra Giunta, a member of Arts PSWT who helped organize the group show. “I’m a member here at BWAC so I knew the space and…I thought that this would be a great way for us to continue our Open Studios this year, in an 8,000-square-foot gallery where we could social distance.”

She proposed the idea of hosting the exhibit at BWAC in early October. The 32 participating artists joined forces to make it a reality, exhibiting an array of  painting, prints, ceramics, collage, drawings, photography, and sculpture. Each artist is given wall space or a table to showcase a selection of their work.

Sandra Giunta stands beside a display of her Corals sculptures at BWAC

Sandra Giunta, Cause and Effect 1, Cause and Effect 2

Alise Loebelsohn, Talking to Angels, Sail and Sea (top), Dots and Stars (bottom)

Works by Dara Oshin

Works by Cynthia Ruse

Paper collage portraits by Judith Eloise Hooper

Works by Robin Roi

Whereas the open studios tend to be “a much more intimate kind of event,” Giunta is happy with the expansive exhibit because it gives the artists an opportunity to see each other’s output. “When we have Open Studios at many different places, the artists don’t get to see each other’s work, so it’s something you really miss. This is giving everybody the opportunity to see all the artists' work.”

Janie Samuels, President of Arts PSWT agrees, adding that “manning our own studios” during the usual Open Studios event prevents members from visiting their colleagues at their workspaces. “What’s fabulous about this show is that…it’s the first opportunity we’ve actually had to be able to spend as much time here as a group and talk about the work as a group,” she said.

Born in upstate New York, Samuels grew up in Manhattan and received her BA from Bennington College in Vermont and her MFA from the School of Visual Arts. A member of Arts PSWT for more than ten years, Samuels works from her home opposite Green-Wood Cemetery. Her evocative drawings and paintings address immigration issues and the refugee crisis. “I’ve always been affected by how horrific, heartless, and unnecessary so much global strife is, so I try to attack those political issues on an intimate level and bring it back to something that’s humane,” she explains. “I also deal with more intimate issues, but the paintings are all about relationships.”

Janie Samuels stands with her works (left to right) Is It Safe Yet?, Lazy Summer Days, Lean On Me, and two landscapes

Janie Samuels, (clockwise from top left) In Dialogue, Helping Hands, In Hopes of a Better Life

Jonathan Blum's (with Sean Qualls) A Magical Moment (top left); Brooklyn Rabbi Blessing Flowers (bottom left); Pope Playing Bass (center);
(with Sean Qualls) The Rehearsal (top right); Pink Llama with Blue Watermelon (bottom right)

Works by Bob Hagan

Fotini Vurgaropulou, Film Reels

Works by Bernardo Justin Campoy

Phil DeSantis (left to right) Lily Pads, Crucifiction, Nathan's, Windows Reflection

Works by Heidi Yockey

Mary Cuddihee Skrill, Blue and red building (top left); Black Lives Matter wall (bottom left);
Yellow house (center); Orange building (top right); Grey buildings (bottom right)

Watercolors by Lynn Cole

Sculptures by Steve Ettlinger

A member of Arts PSWT for five years, Giunta is a resident of Windsor Terrace and works from TI Art Studios in Red Hook. Formerly a Doctor of Education in Instructional Technology and Distance Education, Giunta is a self-taught artist working in clay sculpture. She began sculpting figurative works—detailed busts and human figures—before finding inspiration in the “wonderful coral reef” along the coast of Belize. Her playful, colorful coral sculptures on display at BWAC transport visitors momentarily to a tropical beachfront, however her works carry a more pressing message. “With global warming, the reefs are being destroyed and I just want to keep everything kind of above the surface and alert people,” she said. “We have to do something about this or we’re going to lose these incredible structures.”

With dozens of artists enthusiastically showcasing their work to the steady stream of visitors throughout the weekend, the exhibition at BWAC proved to be just as popular as the annual open studios. “I didn’t know how we would do with COVID and what kind of turn-out we’d have, but I think everybody’s anxious to get out again and do things,” Giunta noted. The Arts PSWT team may make the group show a regular event on their calendar. 

“We may try to set something up where we do this once a year and we do the Open Studios once a year,” added Samuels. “This has been a wonderful event [despite] COVID. It’s given us an opportunity to show our work and what we’ve done, and it’s also given the community an opportunity to see work in a safe place.”

Park Slope Windsor Terrace Artists Open Studios: Redux has been extended through next weekend, November 21 and 22. 

Like last year, OSSAM Gallery in Park Slope serves as a central hub for the event, displaying one piece by each participating artist. See my post on the OSSAM exhibit here.

PSWT Artists Open Studios: Redux
Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, 481 Van Brunt Street (ground floor), Red Hook, Brooklyn
Saturday & Sunday (Nov. 21 & 22), noon to 6pm

Gowanus Night Heron | Saturday, November 14 -- Event Canceled

UPDATE: Due to newly announced COVID restrictions limiting the size of gatherings, Gowanus Night Heron has been canceled. The team hope to hold the pop-up art event once health officials say it is safe to do so. 

For alternate plans this weekend, check out the closing reception for Natale Adgnot's Chromaticism at Established Gallery on Saturday (more here) or the Park Slope Windsor Terrace Artists Open Studios: Redux exhibtions (more here). 

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Mark your calendars! Gowanus Night Heron, a free pop-up art event, will swoop down alongside the banks of the Gowanus Canal on Saturday. The one-night-only event will feature work by 17 Brooklyn-based artists exhibited outdoors at the Rabbit Movers parking lot.

The brainchild of artist Bonnie Ralston, Gowanus Night Heron will “bring people together safely for a night of art, community, and connection,” she says. “I had passed by the Rabbit Movers lot often on my way to and from Third Avenue Clay, and was always curious about what went on there,” Ralston explains. Searching on the internet she discovered it is “this very cool moving company that supports the arts community by employing artists as movers and offering artists an affordable and unique exhibition service.” Rabbit Movers rents trucks to artists for temporary mobile exhibitions through its Art Attacks program. Ralston “fell in love with the idea...and then COVID hit.”

She finally went to visit Rabbit Movers in late September to learn more and the owners agreed to let her host her own Art Attack event right on their lot overlooking the Gowanus Canal. “The canal and its environs are a major influence on my art,” said Ralston. She often incorporates objects found on Gowanus streets into her artwork.

After securing the site, Ralston reached out to studio mate and fellow BWAC member Kasia Zurek-Doule and photographer Miska Draskoczy for help organizing the event. “I thought it was a great idea and loved the old school Gowanus DIY down-and-dirty aspect of it," Draskoczy said. “Especially in a year where we didn’t have Gowanus Open Studios and much fewer art events in the neighborhood because of COVID, it seemed like a great thing to do for the local arts community, especially being outdoors as well.”

“I love the community oriented can-do spirit of the local Gowanus arts scene,” Draskoczy continued. “Anything that gets people outside exploring funky spaces and seeing art is a great goal to me. It feels rewarding to try and help keep the offbeat spirit of arts and culture in Gowanus alive.”

While Ralston initially planned for a small event featuring six to ten artists, the response has been overwhelming, with 17 artists currently lined up. “We all just reached out to artists who we knew and thought would be comfortable with the space, the timing, and the installation,” Ralston said, noting that the site is “pretty raw.” Artwork will be displayed in wooden moving pods or trucks, she said, “the antithesis of the white cube of a traditional gallery space.”

Gowanus Night Heron will feature a selection of photography, collage, drawing, and spoken word, as well as light, video, and sound installations. Beloved Gowanus watering hole Lavender Lake will be on hand selling food and drink. “These last eight months have been hell, and having something positive to put all of that anxious energy towards has been really wonderful,” Ralston notes.

Regarding the event’s namesake, she says many Gowanus residents have never seen a night heron or even know that they exist since these native birds tend to be active at dusk. Ralston often spots black-crowned night herons fishing along the canal in the evening. “The ephemeral nature of the event aligns well with that of a heron sighting. Both are reminders that even in these uncertain times, life and art continue to flourish around us. We just need to keep our eyes and hearts open.”

Draskoczy—author of Gowanus Wild, a photo book exploring the natural side of the neighborhood—had surprisingly never seen a night heron himself until just a few weeks ago. He had just started working on the event when he had his first sighting during a movie night hosted by the Gowanus Dredgers on the canal. “Right in the middle of the climactic scene of Creature From the Black Lagoon, a beautiful night heron flew in under the screen and started yanking fish out of the canal,” he recalls. “I took it as a good omen and it doesn’t get any more Gowanus than that!”

Gowanus Night Heron
Rabbit Movers (lot), 426 President Street (at Bond), Gowanus, Brooklyn
Saturday, Nov. 14, 6pm to 9pm (rain or shine)
Masks and social-distancing are required.
Follow @gowanusnightheron for more info.

Park Slope Windsor Terrace Artists Open Studios: Redux | OSSAM Gallery

Park Slope Windsor Terrace Artists Open Studios: Redux, OSSAM Gallery

Although the annual Park Slope Windsor Terrace Artists Open Studios event cannot proceed as usual this year, the group has found an alternate way to showcase work by dozens of local artists while adhering to COVID-related health restrictions. Instead of attendees visiting individual artist studios, PSWT Artists Open Studios: Redux assembles more than 30 artists for a group exhibition taking place at two spacious venues where there is plenty of room to social distance while meeting the artists and checking out their work. Don't forget to wear a mask!

The collective of artists based in Park Slope and Windsor Terrace has hosted open studios annually since 2013. Spanning two weekends, Open Studios: Redux kicked off last Friday. Once again Ossam Gallery serves as a preview gallery, exhibiting one piece by each participating artist. Works on view include painting, prints, drawings, ceramics, sculpture, photography, and collage.

Over at the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition's (BWAC) gallery in Red Hook, the artists showcase an array of work, each with a designated table or wall space to exhibit. The artists will be on hand over the weekend to meet and greet visitors and sell their work.

Visit ArtsPSWT.com for more info and click here to see my post covering last year's PSWT Open Studios Weekend. Below are photos taken last Sunday at OSSAM Gallery. 

PSWT Artists Open Studios: Redux
OSSAM Gallery, 300 7th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn
Friday through Sunday (Nov. 13-15), noon to 6pm

Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, 481 Van Brunt Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn
Saturday & Sunday (Nov. 14-15), noon to 6pm

Dan McDonald, 6 Over 6, mixed media

L-R: Bob Hagan, Life Goes On (25a), mixed media; Mary Cuddihee Skrill, Pink Building, acrylic on canvas

Robin Roi, Elemental, mixed media, acrylic paint, collage, dressmaking paper

L-R: Stephanie Amend, Doe Deer, oil; Dara Oshin, Fecundity, archival pigment print, glass beads, metal leaf, board; Alice Garik, Nest, gelatin silver print

L-R: Cynthia Ruse, Still, oil and mixed media on wood panel; Alise Loebelsohn, From Green to Orange, oil paint on panel

L-R: Janie Samuels, Silence Speaks, pastel on paper; Lynn Goodman, Brooklyn Parrot Flight, porcelain, glazes, gold

L-R: Stacy Bergener, Behind the Veil, mixed media on canvas; Heidi Yockey, Untitled, oil on panel

L-R: Phil Desantis, Rusty Chains, photograph; Susan Greenstein, Wave Hill, watercolor

Howard Skrill, Junipero Serra Decapitate, ink, gesso, graphite, colored pencil, pastel on watercolor paper

L-R: Raya Dukhan, Ardent, mixed media on canvas; Phyllis Gaughran, Just Before Dawn, acrylic on natsume

Luis Coig, Untitled, wood shelf and tchotchkes

L-R: Justin Campoy, in collaboration with John Lennox, Fielder's Choice (First buds must like the cold), multicolored ink and letterpress with Baskerville Type on paper; 
Lynn Cole, View From Inside, watercolor, rubber stamp

Joyce Riley, Green-Wood Cemetery, Pink Paths, oil and acrylic on wood

Kathleen Jean-Jacques, Lou, mixed media

L-R: Caryn Kreitzer, The Peace March, terracotta; Karen Jarmon, Hanukkah Menorah, ceramic and brass; Paola Corso, Blue Moon Shadows, photograph

Jonathan Blum, Sheep Thinking About Aged Gouda, monoprint

Steve Ettlinger, Sleeping Shmoo, cedar with Danish oil

Fotini Vurgaropulou, Chambers, cast glass and copper

L-R: Sandra Giunta, Coral Reminder 47, clay; Carol Adams, Irini, ceramic with terra sigilatta, underglaze, washes, glaze, metal, beads

Park Slope Windsor Terrace Artists Open Studios Redux, OSSAM Gallery

Celebrating the Harlem Renaissance Centennial on Governors Island

Art Crawl Harlem's artist-in-residence Demarcus McGaughey at his Governors Island studio.

For the past four weeks artist Demarcus McGaughey has been working from one of the historic houses on Governors Island’s Colonial Row. One of two artists selected for the inaugural Art Crawl Harlem artist-in-residency program, McGaughey is creating a new series of exuberant mixed media portraits that celebrate the centennial of the Harlem Renaissance.

During this “golden age in African American culture,” Harlem became an epicenter of Black art, literature, music, dance, fashion, and more. McGaughey and Ricky Day, his fellow artist-in-residence, are creating works that focus on the theme Boundaries and Connections: The Other Side of Us, reflecting on the past 100 years of the NYC neighborhood—“from the 1918 pandemic and ‘The Great Migration’ which preceded the Harlem Renaissance when Black people moved to the north seeking opportunity and changing the economic and cultural fabric of America to the Black Lives Movement and COVID-19 pandemic,” according to Art Crawl Harlem.

“This year is celebrating the centennial of Harlem, a hundred years is the other side of us and how do we track and trace that history as it relates to today and where we’re at,” said Ulysses Williams, Executive Director of Art Crawl Harlem. “You have to consider the past as it relates to who we are now.”

Williams says that McGaughey embodies that theme, “being a man from Texas with a dream in New York. He came here with that dream and he’s making it his reality.”

“In the 1920s African Americans moved, they migrated from different states to Harlem and Harlem became this place of refuge, freedom, talent, and culture, a place to be expressive,” McGaughey noted. “For me those individuals created the life that they wanted.”

A metallic canvas with the handwritten message, “Create Your Life,” welcomes visitors as they step through the front door of the artist’s temporary studio. McGaughey, who also works as a life coach, uses this mantra regularly. “I always tell my clients ‘you can create your life,’ and I always say we all have something special and it’s our responsibility to use our gifts to empower the world,” he said during a preview of his works-in-progress on Tuesday. “It’s meant to be like a mirror, a reflection piece,” he said of the work composed of plaster, mirror-effect paint, and resin. “A mirror to look at and be able to see yourself but then think about the life that you want to create.”

Create Your Life by Demarcus McGaughey. Photo: Nathan Haselby

The Artist

Originally from Dallas, Texas, McGaughey received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Prairie View A&M University. He moved to NYC 15 years ago and worked in graphic design until his friend, Saundra Heath, co-founder of the Heath Gallery in Harlem, challenged him to take up painting five years ago. He accepted the challenge and has not looked back, creating vibrant pop art pieces and portraits of celebrities and friends.

The series he is currently completing on Governors Island combines pop art and portraiture while merging old Harlem with new Harlem. He started by selecting six models—five transplants to Harlem and one native—interviewing them, photographing them, then painting them on a collage of vintage images of bustling Harlem streets. “I wanted to know their experience…their relationship with Harlem, why they gravitated to Harlem, and what is it that they love about Harlem,” he said.

“The factor everyone was really excited about, really spoke about, was the connections…connections to other people and the culture of Harlem,” he noted. Each of his subjects relayed stories of a neighborhood that exudes a sense of community. “They can walk out their door and they can see someone they know.”

Harlem's New Generation

In his portrait of Steve, an actor and educator who “migrated from Atlanta,” McGaughey painted a confident young man wearing a t-shirt declaring, “I am powerful, passionate, creative.” McGaughey requested that each of his subjects wear clothing that “represents Harlem to them, [is] something they would like to be remembered in,” or something that shows them at their best.

The facade of the legendary Apollo Theater can be seen behind Steve, a reflection of the aspiring actor’s dream. Like many newcomers to the city, Steve did not know where he was going to live when he first arrived, so McGaughey also included a “rooms to let” sign in the background. Steve now resides in the Harlem apartment where his grandmother once lived.

Demarcus McGaughey's portrait of Steve (WIP). Photo: Nathan Haselby

Demarcus McGaughey's portrait of Jamar (WIP)

A cool, mysterious figure takes a swig from a plastic cup in McGaughey’s portrait of Jamar. When the Brooklyn-based McGaughey moved to NYC 15 years ago, he spent his first year in Harlem where he constantly encountered Jamar out and about. “To me he’s that guy you see at every Harlem event. He’s like an ambassador of Harlem…everyone knows Jamar.” An entrepreneur and host of the Happy Harlem Hour tour, Jamar is “a person who knows how to make things happen,” according to the artist. “For me he’s a symbol of hope. He symbolizes ‘if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere.’”

“Amber has been a dancer, actress, singer her entire life,” McGaughey said of the Dallas native who relocated to Harlem to study dance at Juilliard. “I’ve known Amber since she was a baby. I went to church with her.” Dressed in a flowing regal purple dress with white flowers in her hair, Amber strikes a seductive pose on McGaughey’s canvas. “When I thought of Amber I thought of the Cotton Club,” the artist said. An image of the famous venue’s marquee and a poster of Duke Ellington and his orchestra appear in the backdrop of Amber’s portrait. “She just embodies the Harlem Renaissance to me,” McGaughey said of the performer, “creating your life. Coming here to use your gifts and your talents.”

Standing proudly with long blond braids cascading over her left shoulder, Hollis stares intensely at the viewer. The only portrait-sitter born and raised in Harlem, Hollis is a playwright and the daughter of Heath Gallery owners Thomas and Saundra Heath—the same Saundra whom McGaughey credits for his art career. In the portrait, Hollis wears a chambray shirt adorned with streaks of red, pink, and white painted by her father. “She wanted to be remembered in her dad’s art,” McGaughey noted. “I feel like I’m painting two portraits in one, because it’s her dad’s art and her dad’s creation, his daughter.”

Hollis also wears a pair of oversized gold hoop earrings. “As a child her mom would not let her wear those door-knocker earrings,” he added, “so to see her as this grown, powerful, Black woman, she now gets to wear the earrings…. To me she’s just a beautiful Amazon goddess, very confident, very strong.”

McGaughey has two more portraits to paint, one of Ashley, a celebrity makeup artist, and another of Reginald, an assistant pastor of The Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. Once all six of the 36 x 48 inch portraits are complete and displayed side-by-side, a heartbeat running through the center of each background—an ECG-like line within the collaged images—will connect the Harlemites.

Demarcus McGaughey's portrait of Amber (WIP). Photo: Nathan Haselby

Demarcus McGaughey's portrait of Hollis (WIP). Photo: Nathan Haselby

Art Crawl Harlem

An educational arts non-profit, Art Crawl Harlem was founded in 2008 by gallery-owner Averlyn Archer and event organizer Jacqueline Orange. The pair produced a guided trolley tour of Harlem introducing neighbors and visitors to Harlem artists, galleries, and cultural institutions, according to Williams, who joined the organization in January 2019.

Originally from Jersey City, Williams fell under the spell of Harlem himself years ago. He recalls sitting in the backseat of his uncle’s car as a child. “My Uncle Abraham drove down 125th Street… Something just pulled me to Harlem, so to live here so many years later it was a dream come true. It’s where I’ve always wanted to be.”

After being accepted for the Governors Island residency program, Williams had just a few weeks this summer to organize and find artists for Art Crawl Harlem’s inaugural event on the island. Before McGaughey arrived, photographer Ricky Day worked in the space and Lisa DuBois, a curator at Harlem's X Gallery, exhibited a public installation on the back porch of the house in September.

Demarcus McGaughey's studio on Governors Island. Photo: Nathan Haselby

Demarcus McGaughey's inspiration board

Art Crawl Harlem's Executive Director Ulysses Williams and artist-in-residence Demarcus McGaughey on Governors Island. McGaughey's painting of Spiderman and Stan Lee is displayed on the mantel. Photo: Nathan Haselby

“This has been a wonderful opportunity,” McGaughey said of his experience on Governors Island. “There are so many different beautiful pockets and so much history here. McGaughey first visited the island last year. Wandering around, wondering what to do on the bucolic former military base, he discovered the historic houses surrounding Nolan Park, many filled with artists and exhibits. “Wow, they have artists here!” he recalled. Recently back from his first-ever residency in Barcelona, McGaughey was trying to figure out what he wanted to do next. “I remember standing in front of one of the homes saying, ‘I will be an artist-in-residence on Governors Island one day.’ And I walked away. Then a year later, I’m actually here.”

“It was that intention as well as his work,” Williams said of his decision to select McGaughey for the residency program. “I love the fact that he’s an African American Pop Artist and his Black muses are really superheroes to me. He allows them to come alive. There’s a back story, there’s a movement. I think this residency gave him an opportunity to work on a series of comprehensive works that the audience can harken back to.”

Williams notes that McGaughey’s artwork is reminiscent of Harlem Renaissance portrait photographer James VanDerZee. “It’s inspirational as well,” he adds. “He’s picked dynamic figures, diverse figures…an entrepreneur, a dancer, someone in faith,” members of a new generation of talented Black Americans who, like their predecessors a hundred years ago, moved to the iconic neighborhood to realize their dreams and create their lives.

Visit Demarcus McGaughey on Governors Island until October 31 or tune in to a virtual studio tour with him on Saturday, October 31 at noon. Go to artcrawlharlem.com to learn more.

The final works by both artists-in-residence, Demarcus McGaughey and Ricky Day, will be exhibited at the Kente Royal Gallery in May 2021.

And the celebration of the Harlem Renaissance Centennial will continue in December when Art Crawl Harlem presents Fire and Soul: Harlem 100, featuring visual art, poetry, and spoken word performances. Click here to learn more or to submit a proposal.

440 Gallery Group Exhibition At NU Hotel

440 Gallery artists Jo-Ann Acey, Ellen Chuse, and Karen Gibbons at the group exhibition at NU Hotel

As part of the Arts Gowanus on Atlantic Ave event that opened last weekend, ten artists from 440 Gallery are exhibiting their work at NU Hotel. Painting, collage, print, and mixed media works will be on view on the ground level of the hotel, brightening up the public spaces, through December 19.

Due to the pandemic, Arts Gowanus organized a 1.5-mile socially-distanced art walk along Atlantic Avenue in place of the organization's annual open studios event. With only two weeks to coordinate the show, each of the artists from the Park Slope collective contributed three pieces, creating an eclectic yet harmonious selection of work. “At 440 we’ve noticed that we have a kind of magical synergy that if we just call for people to bring work, we find a way to hang it that they complement each other,” said Karen Gibbons, a longtime 440 Gallery member who oversaw the project.

Originally from Pennsylvania, Gibbons studied painting at Pratt. She has worked with paint and sculpture and currently creates two-dimensional mixed media collages, including her trio of Goddess works on view—Lakshmi, Care, and Blue Madonna—surreal, multilayered depictions of the Virgin Mary composed using acrylic, graphite and bits of prints and photos.

(L-R) Robin Roi, For All The Rooms I’ve Ever Loved; Richard Barnet, If This; Ellen Chuse, In The Beginning; Karen Gibbons, Lakshmi; Jo-Ann Acey, City Beat #2; Gail Flanery, New Distance; Janet Pedersen, Zoom Muse

(Clockwise from top left) Robin Roi, Niblo’s Garden; Ellen Chuse, Heavenly Bodies; Robin Roi, Double Vision

(L-R) Jo-Ann Acey, City Beat #1; Richard Barnet, Boat Angels; Karen Gibbons, Care; Richard Barnet, Ten Sculpture Sketches; Ellen Chuse, Jewell II

Joining Gibbons in welcoming visitors to the exhibit at NU Hotel on Saturday was fellow 440 member Ellen Chuse. Raised in Philadelphia, Chuse studied at the Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts) and received her MFA from Queens College CUNY. Formerly a sculptor, Chuse now creates vibrant acrylic abstracts of seemingly morphing shapes, such as Heavenly Bodies, Jewel II, and In The Beginning. “I’m really interested in ambiguity of scale and I like people to bring their own frame of reference to things,” she explained. “It has a meaning for me, but I like the meaning to maybe resonate on a lot of different levels and not be too specific."

Gibbons and Chuse shared a studio space for twenty years at 280 Nevins Street in Gowanus. Gibbons had been at the loft building for 30 years. After the recent sale of the building, the two relocated to TI Art Studios in Red Hook earlier this year. The two were excited that the TI facility was added to the Gowanus Open Studios map and were looking forward to participating from their new workspaces this year. “I miss that interaction with people, but this is the next best thing and it’s also amazing to be able to make anything happen in this time of the pandemic,” said Chuse.

“I feel really lucky that we have this nice space,” Gibbons said. “Hopefully next year we’ll be back to that.” Gibbons notably has “the distinction of being one of the few people that’s been in every single one” of the 24 annual Gowanus Open Studios!

“People don’t realize that it goes back,” said Chuse, who has participated in the event since 2000 and volunteered on the organizing committee from 2001 to 2005. “When I came on there were like 35 artists,” she recalled. “It was 295 Douglass, 543 Union, 280 Nevins, and maybe a scattering of other people. It was all located in that sort of north end of Gowanus and it grew and grew and grew.” More than 400 local artists participated in last year’s Gowanus Open Studios.

“As far as the Gowanus artist community growing so much, it is a really great feeling to know there’s energy and support around and that you’re not the only one toiling away trying to make this happen,” said Gibbons. “And the fact that Johnny [Thornton] could put this together in a few weeks is really incredible. It speaks to the energy and the commitment of the artists involved.”

“It’s a hard time to feel community…. I mean online connection is online connection, but really seeing people, and that’s what I think is extraordinary,” Chuse said of this year’s socially-distanced substitute event. “To come here, it’s like I’m actually engaged in the concrete real world, and that is so important for me at the moment…. We both got [to TI Art Studios] then everything shut down. We know we’re part of a community of 120 artists, but we haven’t seen any of them, so this is an opportunity to open up and re-engage.”

(L-R) Janet Pedersen, Wind Dance; Janet Pedersen, Romeo and Juliet (two on top); Fred Bendheim, Spring; Amy Weil, Waiting For Spring; Karen Gibbons, Blue Madonna; Fred Bendheim, Space

Susan Greenstein, Mexican Garden (top); Amy Weil, Eye Candy (bottom)

Janet Pedersen, Wind Dance; Janet Pedersen, Romeo and Juliet (two on top); Fred Bendheim, Spring (bottom); Amy Weil, Waiting For Spring (right)

440 Gallery Group Exhibition is on view at NU Hotel, 85 Smith Street, Brooklyn, through December 19. Learn more about the Arts Gowanus on Atlantic Ave Art Walk at artgowanus.org.

Also, visit 440 Gallery at 440 6th Avenue in Park Slope where Gail Flanery: Harmonies is currently on view and That’s How The Light Gets In, featuring work by Susan Greenstein, Joy Makon, Caitlin Miller, and David Stock, is in the gallery’s Project Space. Visit 440gallery.com to learn more.

See my post from February on 440 Gallery's 15th Anniversary Members Show here.

Tamara Staples | New Video Portraits Explore Light And Memory

Photographer Tamara Staples debuted a new four-channel video work during the Arts Gowanus on Atlantic Ave opening over the weekend. A stack of four televisions display her intimate “moving portraits,” examining the power of lighting and questioning our sense of memory.

“Time and memory are at the heart of this work,” according to the artist. “The video captures the ever-changing content of our faces and demands the viewer to mistrust any static images ever experienced. In a sense, it proves the uncertainty of all our judgements.”

“I’ve always been fascinated by how lighting can really create a personality and change how quickly we see…or just make generalizations about [people], from making them look more feminine or more masculine, younger or older…the lighting is everything,” Staples said on Saturday.

The project—three years in the making—began with Staples designing a special crank-operated light which a friend in the film industry built for her. Staples filmed her models for about two minutes each, hand-cranking the light to make it circle around each subjects’ head. As the light revolves, it increases the brightness or casts shadows on each models’ face, seeming to instantly transform their expressions, dispositions, and features. The mesmerizing effects may make some viewers wonder at times if they are still looking at the same person! See an excerpt at the artist's website. 

“As I started to crank, it’s as if everything disappears the moment the light moves away from [a face],” Staples said. Seeing these rapid transitions led her to think about identity and “how we are often wrong when we think we can identify someone.” She began to question our ability to remember someone’s appearance based on “little snippets” or quick glimpses. Our brains are “geared to short-term thinking and we’re not really able to recognize people the way we think we are,” she argues.

Staples shot more than 20 models of diverse ages and backgrounds. She experimented with various expressions, tried adding movement, and tried shooting some in black and white. Approximately a dozen models are featured in the final work which runs on a 22-minute loop on four unsynchronized television screens.

Staples worked with an editor over the summer to cut the hours of footage, capturing the “best frames, the best lighting, or the expression for that moment.” She also manipulated the speed of the videos during the editing stage. “Some are slowed down…because some people are maybe moving a little quickly and it’s disconcerting. I wanted it all to be much slower so that you’re really getting the nooks and crannies of their faces.”

Staples studied photography at the University of Florida and lived in Chicago before moving to Brooklyn in 1999. Based in South Slope, she has participated in five Gowanus Open Studios. “I love having that stream of people…. As an artist it’s great to have that rotating crop of enthusiastic art lovers because we can talk about the work,” she said. “As an artist you kind of know what you’re doing, but you’re not quite sure, you have to talk it out.” She thinks this year’s alternate event—the socially-distanced art walk—is “brilliant,” noting “people are really coming down, they’re dying to see artwork. We’re all missing that, so I am thrilled.”

Tamara Staples' video installation on view at Out Of The Closet, 475 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Tamara Staples’ video portraits are on view at Out Of The Closet, 475 Atlantic Avenue, until November 1, 2020 as part of the Arts Gowanus on Atlantic Ave Art Walk. Learn more about the event at artsgowanus.org. Go to tamarastaplesfineartphotography.com for more about the artist.
[Note: Due to the sun, the best time to see Staples’ installation is after 4pm.]

Eye Smile You Smile | Public Art Spreads Joy on Atlantic Ave

Artist Miguel Ayuso with his wife Beth and their daughters Max and Lola.

Dozens of smiling faces greet passersby from a construction barricade on the northwest corner of Atlantic Avenue and Hoyt Street where artist Miguel Ayuso has installed his public art piece, Eye Smile You Smile. Inspired by the face coverings worn to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Ayuso has exhibited a series of side-by-side portraits of participating New Yorkers—one with a face covering and one without—to reveal their hidden smiles.

“Now that we are in quarantine, we are wearing these masks [for] the purpose of caring for ourselves but also for each other,” explained Ayuso on Saturday during the opening of Arts Gowanus on Atlantic Ave. “All in a sudden [the masks] became something more aesthetic, like an art statement or a fashion statement… What we’re missing are the smiles which, when we care for somebody, are something we wish to see. My idea with this installation is to show that those smiles are still there.”

Ayuso first requested two photos from volunteers—with mask and without—in late April. Participants were asked to smile in both images. He debuted Eye Smile You Smile in May in the window of his gallery La Bodega. Johnny Thornton, the Executive Director of Arts Gowanus, invited Ayuso to recreate the installation for the Arts Gowanus on Atlantic Ave event. “I think it was a good idea because when I did it at La Bodega, it was the very beginning of the pandemic, and even though it was accessible to the public, not a lot of people were going out, so this is a better opportunity to show it again, now that we are a little bit more relaxed,” Ayuso said. The artist also enjoyed revisiting the project because this time around he was able to work on a larger scale, creating 11 x 17 inch portraits instead of the 4 x 7 inch images he previously displayed. 

Thornton was formerly the Gallery Director at La Bodega, a beloved art gallery and community space in South Slope. Due to the pandemic, Ayuso was forced to permanently shutter the space in June after three years. Even without a physical location, Ayuso is carrying on La Bodega’s mission of offering “cultural artistic activities” to the community. He hosted several of the venue’s popular figure drawing sessions at Prospect Park over the summer and is trying to continue those “in a safe way” as the days get shorter and colder. While Ayuso hopes to open another brick-and-mortar location in the future, he says right now he’s “regrouping to see what the next step is going to be.”

    La Catrina Enmascarada on view at Betty Bakery, 448 Atlantic Avenue

Detail of Miguel Ayuso's Eye Smile You Smile on view at Atlantic Avenue & Hoyt Street

Head over to Betty Bakery at 448 Atlantic Avenue to see a another work by Ayuso, a vibrant reinterpretation of José Guadalupe Posada’s iconic Dia de los Muertos image La Calavera Catrina. According to Ayuso, Posada’s illustration of a well-dressed skeleton represents a wealthy woman. “The idea is to show that we are all going to the same place after this life, no matter how much money we have here or how our life was here. We all go to the same end,” he said.

Ayuso’s La Catrina Enmascarada wears a face mask to echo Posada’s original message of unity. “It doesn’t matter who you are, everybody has to wear the masks. We’re all going through the same thing,” Ayuso said. “This is temporary and at some point, we are going to stop wearing these masks and the smiles are going to start coming back slowly.”

Miguel Ayuso’s Eye Smile You Smile is located at the northwest corner of Atlantic Avenue & Hoyt Street and La Catrina Enmascarada at Betty Bakery, 448 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn. Both works are part of the Arts Gowanus on Atlantic Ave Art Walk, on view through November 1, 2020. Learn more about the event at artsgowanus.org. Follow Miguel Ayuso at @themexiyorker.

 

Upcycling | A Group Exhibit that Transforms Trash into Treasure

Upcycling is on view at 357 Atlantic Avenue through November 1

As part of the massive Arts Gowanus on Atlantic Ave event that opened this past weekend, six Brooklyn-based artists are exhibiting works created with discarded materials. Upcycling, on display in the window of the bright blue vacant storefront at 357 Atlantic Avenue, wonderfully demonstrates art composed with items that otherwise would have wound up in a landfill.

“Upcycling is all about taking things that have been discarded or unwanted and transferring them or translating them into something with more purpose and more value,” explained Park Slope-based artist Tracy Penn on Saturday afternoon. Penn, who curated the Upcycling exhibit, uses discarded produce bags to create “misaligned” grid-like impressions in her textural encaustic paintings.

Unable to host its popular Open Studios event this year due to the pandemic, Arts Gowanus joined the Atlantic Avenue Business Improvement District to present a socially-distanced, self-guided art walk, exhibiting work by Brooklyn-based artists in the windows of 65 participating storefronts along 1.5 miles of Atlantic Avenue, spanning 4th Avenue to Hicks Street. When the organization announced an open call for submissions for the event, Penn quickly sent her idea of “featuring artists who work with upcycled materials.” 

“Most of my work uses upcycled material and it’s something that I’ve really embraced in terms of the idea of transformation, of taking something that’s been discarded and transforming it into something new,” Penn said. “I’ve always cared about the environment…this is environmentally friendly, but more because of the value added by using these materials and creating something more.”

Six Artists Featured in Upcycling

Along with Penn’s recent encaustic piece, Stronger By the Minute, other works showcased in Upcycling include an aggressive rooster puppet by Manju Shandler created with a cast plastic rooster head, spray foam, mesh, toothpicks, tulle, ostrich feathers, and glass beads, and Mark Anthony McLeod’s pair of dapper figures whose grinning faces are illuminated by the flashes of old-school Instamatic cameras.

Dara Oshin's Nesting, The Gatherer, and Belief, all 2018; Manju Shandler's Cock n Guf 1, 2016

Ward Yoshimoto, You Talk Out Your Ass With a Forked Tongue, 2016; Mark Anthony McLeod's LEVELS and SELF CARE IS, both 2020

Marlene Weisman, Saved Souls No. 18 Gamila Gavini, Seamstress, 2018

A trio from Dara Oshin’s Nest series combines her abstract egg images with both natural and man-made found objects including seeds, two-dollar bills, chains, and dryer lint tucked into small drawers. Four works from Marlene Weisman’s Saved Souls series juxtapose antique tintype images with ephemera and found objects such as newspaper clippings, dice, buttons, and jewelry. And three pieces commenting on the 2016 election from a series by Ward Yoshimoto feature found objects, many unearthed at Dead Horse Bay, including pig figurines, fencing material, doll heads, and trophies.

More About the Curator

A graduate of Boston University, Penn has “always circled the drain” of creativity, working in photography and interior design and toiling in marketing and advertising for years in “art related industries.” She took the leap to fully focus on her own artwork three years ago.

A regular participant of Gowanus Open Studios, Penn misses the camaraderie normally sparked by the event but found this weekend’s substitute art walk inspiring. “It’s usually a very social time for us…we see other people’s work and we have events where we get together in preparation, and I missed that, the community of other artists. We connect online but it’s not the same as being together, so it’s been so nice just being here today and people walking by and seeing old friends,” she said.

Tracy Penn at 357 Atlantic Avenue standing next to her work Stronger By the Minute, 2020

She also enjoyed watching kids “connect to” and recognize some of the materials in the artworks, like the trophies and the cameras, and talking to them about upcycling. “This mom was saying to her kid, ‘We’ve got so many old trophies lying around at home.’ The idea that you can repurpose something and create something better. We don’t always have to buy new,” Penn noted. “We can take what’s there already and create things that are beautiful, interesting, and thought provoking.”

All of the work featured in Arts Gowanus on Atlantic Ave will be on display through November 1. Stop by and support local artists and small businesses during these challenging times. Go to artsgowanus.org for a map and a list of participating artists.

With the sunny skies on Saturday afternoon casting a glare (or shadows) on the storefront windows, my photos sadly don’t do the artwork justice. Check out the Arts Gowanus page on Artsy for better images of the works.

Upcycling
357 Atlantic Avenue (between Bond & Hoyt)
On view as part of the Arts Gowanus Art Walk on Atlantic Ave through Nov, 1,2020

 

Bosco Sodi Presents Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit in Red Hook

Nearly 30 large-scale clay spheres and a trio of cubes take the place of cars at an auto body lot in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Artist Bosco Sodi’s sculpture exhibition Perfect Bodies opened last Saturday, inviting visitors to see his work outdoors on a perfect autumn day.

Presented by Pioneer Works and curated by Dakin Hart, Senior Curator of the Isamu Noguchi Foundation, Perfect Bodies is being shown concurrently with Sodi’s exhibit Vers l’Espagne on view by appointment only at Chelsea’s Kasmin Gallery through November 12.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions “it was very sad that [Vers l’Espagne would] be seen by very few people,” Sodi said last weekend in Red Hook. “I was talking to Dakin…and we said we should do an open show that people are able to go and walk around and spend as much time as possible and feel the elements…. It can be good medicine to walk around.”

Perfect Bodies examines “silence, contemplation, and the passing of time—the small things in life and our relationship with the earth,” Sodi states in the press release. “In this particular time more than ever, I believe in the healing power of art.” Sodi and Hart decided to produce the public art installation this past spring as Sodi prepared for his Kasmin exhibit.

In 2014 Sodi founded Foundación Casa Wabi, a non-profit arts center in Oaxaca, Mexico that promotes collaboration between its artists-in-residence and local communities. The stunning property, surrounded by breathtaking views of the ocean, sky, and mountains, was designed by renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando and was named for the concept of wabi-sabi, “a vision of the world focused on the acceptance of the ephemeral and the imperfect,” according to casawabi.org. Sodi’s work is influenced by Japanese aesthetics and Abstract Expressionism as well as by nature.

Though Sodi is a native of Mexico and created these sculptures in his sprawling open-air studio in Oaxaca, the artist is primarily based in Red Hook. After living in Barcelona for ten years, Sodi and his family came to New York a decade ago, planning to stay for just one year, he explained. “Then I found a studio here in Red Hook. I was bicycling every day around here and I fell in love with it,” he said of his decision to settle in Brooklyn. The neighborhood proved to be the perfect location when Sodi and Hart decided to exhibit his sculptures—composed of “raw and natural materials”—against an open industrial setting in a creative gesture to “reconquer” the land.

Known for his vividly hued, textured paintings, Sodi recently shifted his focus to sculpture and “the traditions of his Mexican heritage,” according to his bio on kasmingallery.com. Sodi sources the clay he works with from a town near Casa Wabi and “uses this elemental material, one of ancestral significance, to create minimalist sculptures.”

“I think that clay is something that has been with humans since the very beginning. It’s something that all countries have in common,” Sodi said. “It’s a material that involves the four elements and I think is a nice way to reconnect with earth, to reconnect with nature in these troubling times.”

The artist described his arduous and lengthy process of creating the forms, first meticulously shaping them by hand, leaving them to dry under plastic for about two to three months and regularly inspecting them to ensure they do not crack. He then uncovers the pieces and continues to dry them in the shade for another two to three months before placing them outside under the sun for another couple of months. If cracking should occur during this stage, the artist will leave the flaws so long as they do not “undermine the whole structure.” He then fires the pieces in an open kiln with native wood when various cracks will appear on their surfaces, providing wabi-sabi-style imperfections and organic textures. You can watch a video of Sodi's process on his Instagram account here.

Artist Bosco Sodi at the opening of Perfect Bodies in Red Hook, Brooklyn, Oct. 10, 2020.

Exhibited on a large lot with plenty of room for social distancing, the sculptures resemble a galaxy of planets or asteroids, prehistoric boulders, or a scattering of oversized seeds or eggs. But Sodi describes the works as simply geometric forms. “I like the concept of doing something by hand that’s imperfect, but trying to imitate a very human form,” he said. “At the end, they become alive when somebody…makes their own interpretation. It’s always right. For me, any interpretation is right.”

Learn more about the artist at boscosodi.com and find more info on Foundación Casa Wabi at casawabi.org.

Bosco Sodi: Perfect Bodies
Perfect Bodies Auto Collision, 184-186 Conover Street (at Wolcott), Red Hook, Brooklyn
On view through December 20, 2020, Saturdays & Sundays, noon to 7pm
More info at pioneerworks.org.

Vigil | Audio Installation At Green-Wood Cemetery

You have one more week to catch artist Leigh Davis' audio installation Vigil at the newly restored Historic Chapel at Green-Wood Cemetery. Inspired by Davis’ participation in the Threshold Choir, a nationwide group that carries on the “ancient tradition of bedside singing to the dying,” the work examines the “power of loss and memory through song.”

The immersive piece features angelic vocals softly emanating from speakers as visitors gaze upon the Chapel’s radiant stained glass windows, providing the opportunity to “acknowledge the passing of time and the complexity of grief while sitting together,” the artist states on her website. 

The piece was designed to be experienced in venues rich with “history of loss and rebirth.” Davis debuted Vigil in September 2016 at the Clermont Estate, a historic home overlooking the Hudson River. The installation was first presented at the Green-Wood Historic Chapel in October 2017 as part of Open Source Gallery’s Reimagining Tradition, an exhibit of site-specific projects that connected “socially engaged art and ritual practice.”

Green-Wood welcomed Vigil back to its newly refurbished Chapel in September 2020 as a response to the overwhelming “individual and collective loss” currently sweeping the country due to the pandemic. “[S]itting with others in grief, or imagining those who’ve departed before, can bring to light both the personal and universal aspects of mutual loss and invite a chance for these emotions to be processed in a therapeutic way,” the artist notes. The majestic, hallowed setting, “a place of solace and comfort for those grieving for over a century,” according to Green-Wood, allows visitors to meditate, reflect, and “contemplate the complexity of mourning” in an environment that exudes serenity and calm.

About the Historic Chapel

Green-Wood's Gothic-style Historic Chapel was built in 1911 by Warren and Wetmore, the firm behind the design of Grand Central Terminal. The non-denominational venue features a minimal limestone interior with a soaring domed ceiling that accentuates the dazzling stained glass.

Founded in 1838, Green-Wood Cemetery was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006. The Historic Chapel was granted individual landmark status in 2016, according to Brownstoner. The Chapel closed in July 2018 for renovations and reopened last month.

About the Artist

Based between Brooklyn and Washington, DC, Davis is an interdisciplinary artist who explores “culture, community, and memory,” according to her website. Her recent works focus on end-of-life experiences and how they “help us understand both the emotional intricacy of grief and the ways in which we construct our beliefs about human consciousness and a possible afterlife.”

For her installations, Davis regularly employs spaces that possess “their own spirituality or sense of community” to complement and highlight her narratives and form connections between the audience members with each other as well as with the subjects and the spaces.

Visiting Green-Wood

Before heading to Green-Wood Cemetery, visitors can download the lyrics to the three vocal arrangements featured in Vigil here. Davis' installation is a welcome haven during these challenging times, where visitors can immerse themselves in the healing energy of music.

Vigil will be presented through October 19, 2020, from 10am to 4pm daily. Masks are required and visitors must keep a distance of at least six feet while in the Historic Chapel. Learn more at www.green-wood.com.

100,000 Flowers: Artwork Supports Healthcare Workers And Honors Victims of COVID-19

In early April, Park Slope artist Jenny Belin launched 100,000 Flowers, a series of floral drawings and paintings to support local healthcare workers and commemorate those who have lost their lives to COVID-19.

Photo courtesy of Jenny Belin

"I had just finished watching the 2002 documentary Matisse meets Picasso, on YouTube, and was inspired by how both artists were incredibly prolific while working in solitude," Belin explained in an email. The 100,000 Flowers project began with three small works she painted in one sitting and blossomed from there.

Belin has now completed more than 50 paintings, typically 8”x10” or 9”x12”, featuring a variety of blooms in wistful shades of pink, grey, and black, occasionally accented with pops of mint green or violet. "Greys and muted colors seem to fit the mood of these works," she said. "I was particularly moved by the grey landscapes that Picasso made, and of course Guernica with its grey tones and eerie atmosphere. Since the beginning of New York’s lockdown, there has been a fog that seems to hover over our city and neighborhoods. Even sunny days feel dark. I hear ambulance sirens throughout the day and night."

Affordably priced at $75, half of the proceeds from each flower painting will be donated to New York-Presbyterian | Brooklyn Methodist Hospital in Park Slope which is just a few blocks away from Belin’s home studio. She has already donated more than $400 to the facility.

Photo courtesy of Jenny Belin

Belin paints fresh bouquets purchased from local bodegas, or references Victorian botanical illustrations or photos of wildflowers. The vessels in Belin's paintings are inspired by her collection of Sheila Ross vases. A friend suggested titling the project 100,000 Flowers to reflect "the high number of people who have died and will have died from the pandemic," Belin said. While she may never reach 100,000 flowers, she will continue to paint the moving floral works daily until at least autumn.

"I’ve been really focused on keeping to an organized schedule—which helps keep my momentum going," she noted. To stay positive, along with working on the series, Belin says she has been creating installations of new work, considering new approaches to her artwork, and redecorating her studio.

Along with flowers, Belin also paints delightful pet portraits and graceful tributes to feminist icons. She looks forward to the day when the lockdown is lifted and it is safe to share her work with the public again. "There is so much uncertainty about when and where it can be exhibited," she notes. For now, you can follow Belin on Instagram or visit her online shop to see the 100,000 Flowers series. Click here to read about my pre-lockdown visit to Belin's studio back in February.

Support New York: Online Exhibit Helps Artists & Healthcare Workers

Support artists and help supply personal protection equipment (PPE) to healthcare workers by purchasing artwork from Support New York, an online exhibition launching on Wednesday, April 29.

Support New York flyer (Designed by: Matt Barteluce)

Organized by artist and printmaker Kirsten Flaherty, the fundraiser will feature nearly 150 works by artists from all across the country. "During this uncertain time, and while our government assistance has been lacking, the artist community has come together to assist those New Yorkers in need," Flaherty said in an email. "Featuring over 100 artworks including [pieces by] Natalie Frank, James Rosenquist, April Gornik, and others, all proceeds will be split between the contributing artist and N95 For NYC, an organization which purchases and delivers personal protective equipment to healthcare professionals and hospital staff battling COVID-19."

The artwork includes paintings, prints, drawings, and more, with prices starting at $25 and going up to $7,500 for a Rosenquist lithograph. Flaherty, who is contributing at least one of her signature mezzotints, notes that most of the available works are priced below $500.

James Rosenquist, "Stars and Stripes ST.II", 2004, Lithograph (44" x 30"). Printed and published by Derriere L'Etoile Studios, NY. (Image courtesy of Derriere L'Etoile Studios, NY)

"The response from artists has been fantastic," she said. "It's really an indication of the kindness of the artist community—both in New York and across the states." She received more than 200 submissions for the exhibit, including work from England and Iran.

Flaherty first learned about N95 For NYC in Artforum where she read that the group’s two founders, Hansi Liao and Echo He, are Pace Gallery staffers. Flaherty, who works at Pace Prints, contacted He to offer her assistance. "It was an easy decision to reach out…and begin planning for this online exhibition," she said.

Fifty percent of the proceeds from each sale will go to the artist and 45% will be donated to N95 For NYC. The remaining 5% will go toward operational expenses.

Support New York is not Flaherty's first fundraiser. The artist has been organizing fundraising exhibitions since 2016 to aid non-profit organizations including the ACLU, City Harvest, the International Refugee Assistance Project, Sean Casey Animal Rescue, and VOCAL-NY.

Visit the Support NY section of Flaherty's website to view the available artwork. The exhibition will be online from Wednesday, April 29 (7pm) through Sunday, May 10 (10pm).

Judd | Museum of Modern Art

Judd, the first U.S. retrospective of the minimalist master’s work in more than 30 years, officially opened last week at MoMA. The exhibition includes four galleries showcasing work spanning three decades of Donald Judd’s career, including some early paintings and sculptures and several examples of his signature "boxes" and "stacks."

Untitled 1991, enameled aluminum (foreground) and Untitled 1986 (back)

Born in Excelsior Springs, Missouri in 1928, Judd started off as an abstract painter and art critic in NYC, writing approximately 600 reviews from 1959-1965, according to MoMA. He began incorporating three-dimensional elements into his work, such as a baking pan embedded into a large black wooden panel, in the early 60s.

Untitled c. 1960, oil on canvas

Untitled 1962, cadmium red light oil on acrylic and sand on composition board with yellow Plexiglas

Untitled 1961, oil on composition board mounted on wood, with inset tinned steel baking pan

Untitled 1963, cadmium red light oil and black oil on wood with galvanized iron and aluminum

Untitled 1963, re-fabricated in 1975, cadmium red light oil on wood and purple lacquer on aluminum (front); Untitled 1963, cadmium red light oil on wood with violet Plexiglas (back, floor); Untitled 1963, cadmium red light oil on wood (back, wall)

With the help of his carpenter father, Judd soon transitioned to making wall reliefs and boxes, showing these works for the first time in 1963. Judd did not like to refer to his work as "minimal" or "sculpture," according to MoMA, "believing that his innovations set his work apart from historical precedent."

In the mid 60s, Judd began outsourcing his artwork to fabricators, Bernstein Brothers Sheet Metal Specialties, headquartered near his East 19th Street loft, according to the exhibit. He gave the metal shop detailed drawings and specifications to create pieces using material typically found in sinks and venting ducts. The company helped produce his "stacks" and his first is on view at MoMA. The work features seven identical galvanized iron boxes mounted vertically on the wall in a perfect column "separated by intervals that equal the height of the boxes."

In the late 60s, Judd began creating "progressions," wall works consisting of a bar connecting L-shaped pieces spaced in proportions inspired by the Fibonacci sequence. Floor versions of these "progressions" feature a series of large-scale steel frames "whose overall footprint" form "a perfect square."

Untitled 1964 (front); Untitled 1965, galvanized steel (right); To Susan Buckwalter 1965, blue lacquer on aluminum and galvanized iron (back wall), this piece was named for a collector in Kansas and is one of only two works that the artist titled.

Untitled 1970, purple lacquer on aluminum and cadmium red light enamel on cold-rolled steel and Untitled 1967, green lacquer on galvanized iron

Untitled 1968, stainless steel and amber Plexiglas (left); Untitled 1967, green lacquer on galvanized iron (back, right)

Untitled 1966, turquoise paint on aluminum; Untitled 1968, stainless steel and yellow Plexiglas (back)

Untitled 1968, stainless steel and yellow Plexiglas

In the 70s Judd began making "multi-unit" works that "responded to the specific parameters" of the spaces where they were displayed. He started to spend more time in Marfa, Texas where he acquired acres of land and property large enough to accommodate his artwork. The quiet, remote West Texas town has since been transformed into an art mecca, with Judd’s stamp apparent all around. With financial backing from the Dia Art Foundation, he established the Chinati Foundation there to permanently display his large-scale artwork as well as the work of his artist friends, including Dan Flavin, John Chamberlain, and many others. It is an absolute must-see for fans of Judd!

Untitled 1976-77, twenty-one stainless steel units (foreground); Untitled 1973, brass and blue Plexiglas (center); Untitled 1977, stainless steel with red Plexiglas (right); Untitled 1973, six plywood units (back)

Untitled 1973, brass and blue Plexiglas

Untitled 1973, brass and blue Plexiglas (foreground); Untitled 1969, four clear anodized aluminum units with blue Plexiglas (center); Untitled 1969, copper (back, left); Untitled 1976, galvanized iron (back, right)

Untitled 1970, clear and purple anodized aluminum (left) and Untitled 1969, copper (back, right)

Untitled 1969, four clear anodized aluminum units with blue Plexiglas; Untitled 1970, clear and purple anodized aluminum (back); Untitled 1969, copper (right)

In the 80s Judd began working with the Swiss manufacturer Lehni AG to create the multi-colored Lego-like aluminum works composed of "outward-facing open boxes." The centerpiece in the last gallery of the exhibit is a fun and enormous (59” x 295 ¼” x 65”) eight-color floor sculpture. Judd made six of these massive sculptures from 1984 to 1991, according to MoMA. He meticulously assembled the aluminum pieces "to achieve overall balance [in the colors] while avoiding patterns or the appearance of a system at play."

Untitled 1986, six aluminum units acrylic sheets

Judd installation view

Untitled 1986, Douglas fir plywood and orange Plexiglas

Untitled 1991, enameled aluminum

Judd died of cancer at the age of 65 in 1994. MoMA’s retrospective offers wonderful highlights from his extensive oeuvre. Seemingly simple and spare, Judd’s studies of form, space, color, and material are stunning and timeless, still influencing art and design to this day.

Other venues across the city will also host Judd exhibits to coincide with the MoMA retrospective, including the Judd Foundation (March 1 - July 11) at the artist's former Soho home, as well as Gagosian (March 12 - April 11) and David Zwirner (April 18 - June 26) galleries.

Judd
MoMA, 11 West 53rd Street, 6th Floor, NYC
Exhibition on view March 1 through July 11

 

Demarcus McGaughey, Danie Herard, Bria Whitney | Threes Brewing, Gowanus

Enjoy great local art while you enjoy a pint at Threes Brewing! On Monday, the Gowanus watering hole hosted the opening of Arts Gowanus at Threes: Showcase featuring work by a trio of local artists: Demarcus McGaughey, Bria Whitney, and Danie Herard. 

Demarcus McGaughey, El Tiguere Con Su Trompeta 

Displayed above a booth in the back of the venue, Gowanus-based artist Demarcus McGaughey's El Tiguere Con Su Trompeta captivates passing bar patrons. The title of the arresting 30" x 40" acrylic painting translates to "The Thug with his Trumpet," McGaughey explained at the opening reception. "This piece is one of my best friends. He moved to New York from the Dominican Republic. To me the piece is about taking a risk. He moved here, he didn’t speak the language. He didn’t know the culture, didn’t have a job. All he had was his trumpet and his good looks," he added.

The mysterious figure—eyes shielded beneath his hat, biceps bulging—casually plays his trumpet before a bright white background that blends into his shirt. "I wanted to do a negative white space with his tank top," McGaughey noted. "I just wanted to showcase this man. You can’t see his face, but he’s a very handsome, macho man, and all he has is his wit, his charm, and his trumpet to thrive in NYC."

(L-R) Demarcus McGaughey, Gowanus artist Marlene Weisman, and Danie Herard pose in front of McGaughey's El Tiguere Con Su Trompeta at Threes Brewing

Originally from Dallas, Texas, McGaughey is a graduate of Prairie View A&M University where he studied advertising art. He relocated to NYC in 2006 where he worked in graphic design before taking the leap into fine art about four years ago. His early works include playful pop art pieces featuring various celebrities, including an image of Naomi Campbell on a Campbell's Soup can (an ode to Andy Warhol), and human figures topped with panda bear heads. McGaughey, who has a solo show scheduled in May at Spaceworks in Gowanus, says the portrait series he is currently working on is more narrative, focusing on the experiences of his subjects.

Bria Whitney stands beside her Untitled Diptych (Series 1) #3. She created the acrylic and resin on wood piece while she was in a residency program in Japan. Unexpected rainfall gave the artwork its unique texture. "The ability of the rain to really transcend this work makes me very happy," the artist said. 

Painter and printmaker Bria Whitney's abstract diptychs are also currently on view at Threes Brewing. The New York City native attended Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn where she began her formal training in art before earning her BFA from the Fashion Institute of Technology. 

Whitney uses printmaking techniques to create mirroring effects in her paintings, "similar to the Rorschach prints," she said. "One of the fun things about my pieces is...they’re created as pairs but you can separate them or [keep] them together," she explained of her complexly layered works. "One of my favorite parts about the pieces is allowing the viewer to interpret the shapes," she added. "They don’t represent anything, but I love when a viewer can see something."

(L-R) Danie Herard's Tribal Deco 3, Bria Whitney's Untitled Diptych Series 1 (Warm Series), Bria Whitney's Untitled Diptych Series 2 (Cool Series), and Danie Herard's Tribal Deco 4

Influenced by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Sol LeWitt's "use of lines and color," and Wassily Kandinsky, "especially his early theories of Point and Line to Plane," Whitney says she is also inspired by color theory and separates her series into warm and cool palettes.

Whitney completed a residency program at Spaceworks in Gowanus and another in Kaga, Japan last year. She will soon complete a six-month residency at The Carrie Able Gallery in Williamsburg where she will have a solo show in April. "For my solo show, I’m incorporating neon into the work. I’m really excited about that," she noted. Whitney is currently learning neon bending at Urban Glass. "In school I was never great at sculpture, I always fell short in that department, but with neon, because it is linear technically, it gives me that ability to have this drawing effect," she said. "I really want to become immersed in it."

(L-R) Bria Whitney's Diptych 1, Danie Herard's Tribal Deco 1 (top) and Tribal Deco 2 (bottom), Bria Whitney's Diptych 2

Gowanus-based artist Danie Herard met Whitney while both artists were in residency at Spaceworks last year. Herard invited Whitney to be part of the Arts Gowanus exhibit at Threes Brewing. "Her work is strong and she’s just really cool," Herard said of her friend. 

Herard creates mystical abstract works that explore spirituality, healing, positivity, and the universe. Her Blue Code series features the outline of a profile filled with intricate patterns representing genetic codes. "The concept is [that] we’re more than who we really are," she explained. "I feel in more of a higher consciousness, that we’re all encoded with many different talents, with so much information, and as we live our lives...[they are] pulled out of us. We have a full potential to be who we are and sometimes we don't always realize that. When we come to certain information, we develop more. We can be so much greater." She added that creating the pieces was meditative for her, allowing her to examine how she can "develop more as an artist." 

Danie Herard poses with two pieces from her Blue Code series

Interspersed with Whitney's diptychs, Herard's Tribal Deco series reflects her love of Art Deco design in elegant graphics that would be just as fitting on textiles and home designs as they are on canvas. "I’m really playing [with] how my art can also be practical and functional," she said of the pattern on Tribal Deco 1. "It will be a perfect silk scarf."

Born in Brooklyn, Herard studied lighting design at SUNY Purchase and worked in theater productions before taking an office job in health insurance. She transitioned into fine arts full time approximately five years ago. Along with creating her own metaphysical works, she teaches art and owns and operates Sensibility Designs. Herard has been at Spaceworks for approximately three years and has a solo show scheduled there in March. "It’s called In the Vortex," she said of the upcoming show. "I know it’s a little trippy. It’s about being in a particular dimension that helps you really see what’s possible—outside of negative thoughts—and that’s a great place to create from, the unknown. I’m going to take people to the vortex, my vortex."

(L-R) Demarcus McGaughey, Danie Herard, and Bria Whitney at Threes Brewing where their artwork is on view 

Arts Gowanus at Threes: Showcase
Threes Brewing, 333 Douglass Street, Gowanus, Brooklyn
The three artists' work will be on view at the space for three months.

 

Studio Visit: Jenny Belin

A portrait of Lizzo rests on an easel in artist Jenny Belin’s Park Slope studio. The charismatic performer's energy is channeled through electric blue eyeshadow and vivid pink feathers around her shoulders. "I was really happy with this one," Belin said of the newly completed work. "She’s got so much personality."

Jenny Belin stands beside her recent portrait of Lizzo

Stunning, stylish portraits of feminist icons, glamorous film stars, and a menagerie of animals, line the walls of Belin’s sunny studio overlooking 9th Street. "I’ve always painted animals because I’ve always loved animals," the artist explained Monday morning. Originally from Los Angeles, Belin was greatly influenced by her mother, Daisy. "My mom was an artist…. She always painted cats," Belin fondly recalled.

Her mother grew up in New York City and attended Music & Art High School (now LaGuardia) and Pratt Institute where she studied painting. A career in advertising brought her to California. Her mother’s history, as well as books and movies such as Desperately Seeking Susan and After Hours, convinced Belin that NYC was where she wanted to be. "I always dreamed of coming here. This is where I thought all the artists and writers lived," she said.

Jenny Belin's studio

Jenny Belin's studio

After receiving her BFA from Skidmore—and studying painting in Paris for a year—Belin moved to NYC in the 90s where she worked in the art department of Mirabella magazine. While there, Belin became interested in illustration, and had a few pieces featured in the women’s magazine as well as in The New Yorker and other publications. "It was fun but I never felt like it was something I wanted to do," she recalled. "I wanted to make my own work."

Belin’s oeuvre hints at eclectic influences that include Edgar Degas, Édouard Manet, and John Singer Sargent; musical icons David Bowie and Debbie Harry; fashion designers Emilio Pucci and Pierre Cardin; and also Mexican culture. "I’m always inspired by the art that we see and the flowers," Belin said of the country that she and her partner, Jon, visit annually. "We love the people, the food, the architecture, and the weather."

The top left painting, "Mademoiselle 1962," is a portrait of Belin's mother. The top center piece, "The Revolution is Feline," features Belin's late cat Edye.

L-R: A portrait of Belin's mother and one of her mother's pieces

In the early 2000s, Belin began painting pet portraits, charming likenesses of dogs, cats, and other critters. When commissioned for a pet portrait, Belin requests from the client multiple photos as well as personality traits and stories about the animal. The results showcase not only the pet’s physical attributes but its character as well. From an attentive Dachshund, an alert squirrel, a pink-snouted piglet, and a one-eyed Scottish Fold, Belin captures them all with loving detail. The artist’s own felines feature in her work, including the late Edye defiantly donning a pink pussyhat, and her recently adopted tuxedo cat Marco.

Belin’s alluring Boudoir series is inspired by her love of fashion, starlets, and classic cinema including Busby Berkeley and French New Wave films. Along with images of vintage lace and satin undergarments, Belin pays homage to iconic actresses such as Catherine Deneuve, Elizabeth Taylor, Anna Karina, and Anna May Wong. Unabashedly feminine, both in subject matter and style, these works are fun, commanding, and far from dainty. 

A selection of Belin's Feminist portraits available at Diana Kane, 229-B 5th Avenue in Park Slope. (L-R) Patti Smith, Toni Morrison, Joan Didion, Agnès Varda, Frida Kahlo, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Madonna, Harriet Tubman, Michelle Obama, and Cher

Belin embraced feminism early on, having attended a progressive high school in Los Angeles where she took Women’s Studies courses that invited prominent guests like Shirley Chisholm and Bella Abzug to speak. Unsettled by the 2016 election, Belin launched her popular Feminists series, featuring portraits of inspiring women from various walks of life: artists (Frida Kahlo, Patti Smith, Agnès Varda); writers (Joan Didion, Toni Morrison, Virginia Woolf); political figures (Michelle Obama, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Greta Thunberg); and performers (Cher, Madonna, Bea Arthur, Dolly Parton). Her empowering tributes to great women are available to purchase at the Diana Kane boutique in Park Slope.

Belin kicked off the Feminist series with a portrait of Ruth Bader Ginsburg that quickly sold and was reproduced in button form by Kane. After seeing Belin’s portrait of the Supreme Court Justice on social media, Bryant Johnson, Ginsburg’s personal trainer, reached out to the artist. Belin sent Johnson some RGB buttons which he shared with his client. Belin happily pointed out a handwritten thank you note from Ginsburg that is framed and displayed in her studio.

Belin's exhibit at PowerHouse on 8th, 1111 8th Avenue, Park Slope: (L-R) Embassy Cat, Archie, Mother and Child Reunion 

Belin's exhibit at PowerHouse on 8th, 1111 8th Avenue, Park Slope: (L-R) Kit Koala, Girlcat Feministe, Queenie. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of Kit Koala ($300) will be donated to the Australian Koala Foundation.

Belin's exhibit at PowerHouse on 8th, 1111 8th Avenue, Park Slope: (L-R) Virginia Woolf, Frida, Toni II

Belin's exhibit at PowerHouse on 8th, 1111 8th Avenue, Park Slope. Portraits of Grace Greenwood and Eve Babitz are on the right.

Belin is currently producing a series of silk scarves featuring flower drawings culled from the many sketchbooks lining her shelves. Along with regularly showcasing her Feminist portraits at the Diana Kane shop, a selection of 12” x 12” acrylic works is currently on view at PowerHouse on 8th. The exhibit combines pieces from Belin’s Feminist series with animal paintings—an ideal mix of compelling women and cuddly creatures. "I think they’re all about personality," Belin says of her work, "and capturing something specific whether it’s the animal or the woman."

Learn more about Belin and see more of her work at jennybelin.com and at Instagram.