Remaining Light
- frida@artyardbklyn.org
- 2 days ago
- 13 min read
AYB Movers & Shakers exhibition opening and benefit party
TOMORROW Saturday Nov. 22, 6-9pm
180 Franklin Avenue, Brooklyn
General Admission $20 through Galabid, or $25 at the door.
It has been an all hands on deck lead up to our event. A push to sell tickets, gathering supplies, making signage, organizing donations, and confirming all the moving parts!
Of course, the party is also the opening of our exhibition. Along with a stellar team of AYB Artists Evelyn Beliveau, Jules Lorenzo, and Ajani Russel, we installed the exhibition and painted Remaining Light a site-specific mural that imagines the tree outside the building casting its shadow onto the gallery wall, alongside faint impressions of artwork once displayed there. The piece reflects on what lingers after we leave a space, extending our ongoing exploration of migration and the traces people and objects leave behind.
The exhibition also includes artwork created in Advanced Studio in person sessions (after the September 18 fire) and three paintings of healing flowers by AYB Teaching Artists Aisha Tandiwe Bell, Richard Estrin and Rachael Wren which survived the fire.
The photos look good, but there is nothing like seeing art in person! And we hope to see you (seeing the art) to celebrate AYB Movers & Shakers tomorrow night!
Ahhh, but wait, there is more! Just because we were busy with party planning, it does not preclude full week of splendid art making!
In Advanced Studio on Zoom Teaching Artist Reg Lewis addressed this year’s theme of migration with AFROFUTURISM: “MENTAL MIGRATION DESTINATIONS” & The Artwork of Lauren Halsey.
Reg explains and summarizes: “Essentially, students were asked to produce artworks which (re)presents the daily destination they retreat to when they wish to restore, recover, or return to the place (or places) they call home – whether, aesthetically, emotionally, spiritually, culturally, ideologically, or otherwise. This task would match Halsey’s multimedia installation and collage dense work which presents her idealized vision of her South Central Los Angeles roots as filtered through a lens of “funk” and Afrofuturism.
Meridith’s beautiful watercolor of a miniature homestead created by a child with Legos and found collage materials, on display at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum. The warm green plant surroundings bring the location to life as we peek inside the even warmer brown house structure. Meridith was inspired by the notion of historical honoring, experience in the present, and hope for the future resonant in the ideas of Afrofuturism. The striking result feels like a home of lush comfort and elevated respite.
The structural beauty of Karla's artwork honors her grandfather's own professional output as an architect. Her love of mechanical drawing is revealed through the shelf-like framework of her mixed-media collage which includes pieces of pencil central to such work along with ruler strips and the balanced composition of blueprint scraps—a wonder representation of her "happy place."
Karla adds: “Thank you Reggie for a great lesson and my introduction to the work of Lauren Halsey! The work was such an almost overwhelming combination of 2-D and 3-D and symbolic imagery that I was inspired to take elements from personal past and construct an assemblage which seemed to come from both dimensions. Artifacts from my grandfather's architecture studio: pencils, measurement and drawing accessories, blueprint elements and illustrated classroom plans - mounted on an old ledger cover, cardboard and sectioned neon plant insulation paper.
Everyone created such interesting responses and the collage aspects from the lesson came out in the works! So many personal elements included and such a portrait of what each of us find sacred, spiritual and inspiring.”
The viewer is instantly confronted by the striking colors used by Richie to render a self-portrait he titled, Among Our Shadows that features his digitally rendered yellow and gold profile upon blue background that features a green dragon soaring off in the distance. It suggests that his place of retreat would be populated with those mythical, majestical creatures of fire and flight—even if symbolically.
Rashidah’s piece presents like a meditation on the music she loves which literally comforts and embraces her. The collage’s sharp density and composition creates a striking duality as the works displays a blanketed peace while the structure of the figure reads as a cyborg/transformer as a couple of students observed during our compliment portion of the session. Overall, the piece clearly and beautifully conveys home.
Nayarit’s piece is also a meditation on music which includes a celebration of space, technology and the beauty exhibited through as the artist self-described a Caribbean meets Harlem Renaissance influenced composition. The result feels like the ritual of dance with a motif of glowing eyes— the radiance of the figures in celebration as they create a place of home through movement, and music and voice filled with dark and spiritual hues.
Marilyn’s densely populated assortment of vintage toys, found objects, knickknacks, tiny black and white photos and other mementos collected over the years, combine to make an intimate, personal installation. Animals, insects, and the trees featured create a whimsical menagerie that includes a dragon and dinosaur. Marilyn’s wonderfully rendered place of retreat inspires great curiosity and delight.
Adji’s piece presents impressions of her childhood in Senegal which explores the tension between tradition, memory, and her maturation within the context of those influences. The dense and striking presentation reveals both images of things intentionally discarded as well as those things she has embraced. The result is a visual narrative that shows the complexities that constitute her ever evolving identity.
In Travis’ piece, the presentation of a cocoon hanging from branch morphs into many visual interpretations as the eye finds the anatomically sound shape of a heart along with other intentional elements such as the spool of thread, cowrie shell, and water bubbles and other fashion inspired design. Geometric figures also begin to emerge in what otherwise initially feels like a completely organic structure. As intimated by some of the students, one continuously finds surprising images as one focuses upon the composition.
Cammi’s cinematic use of light establishes a shrine-like installation that creates a sacred mood filled with love and reverence. The warm shadows help to produce this effect; the decorative cocoanut bra adds to the overall impact of the installation that may also serve as a composite symbolizing the feminine divine.
The contrast rich portrait of Leah’s outdoor scene represents her literal weekend getaway into the woods as a means to decompress and reconnect with nature. The stunning red band attracts one’s attention like a warm invitation overtop of the shaded orb that anticipates downhill movement through the trees whose shadows seem to cast memories such as the creeking and clay sculpting that informed the artist’s childhood.
Sigrid reveals her place of refuge upon the pages of her opened spiral bound sketchbook which features a perfectly positioned portrait of an open sketchbook that highlights the tangled cords coming from an iPod intentionally overlapping the edge between book and floor. The carpet, as featured within the frame of the photograph, is a major part of the total piece serving as a border that increases the soothing, medicinal tones of the portrait. Another stunning submission.
I (Reg) created an installation that includes many random influences that tend to shape my Afrofuturistic inclinations. From the crabs which represent my astrological sign of cancer, to the pigeon, the ducks trailing behind the yellow cab, to the interstellar music of John Coltrane, etcetera and beyond—they are all features that one would find in the location I have identified and defined as “THE CRAWL SPACE.” Also featured in the piece, is the text-based logo for the Studio Museum in Harlem, reopened to the public on November 15th after a seven-year absence due to drastic, dramatic renovations. Ultimately, I take great comfort in the symbols presented in the artwork as well as the museum itself which has been a central home for African American artist for almost 60 years. (More on that later in the recap).
Overall, all of the artists revealed those secret, sacred locations to which they migrate to whenever they need or simply wish to reconnect to all that is valuable to them. When this migration cannot take root or form in the physical world, we all should remember to make those trips mentally—to those locations we should never compromise.”
Tuesday in Advanced Studio in person at 180 Franklin Avenue, Brooklyn NY. AYB Artist Jules Lorenzo presented Memorializing Homesickness in which we will take a deep dive into to the works of Do Ho Suh and recreate spaces/furniture from memory.
Jules writes: "For this week’s in person lesson, our class took a deep dive into the works of Do Ho Suh. We focused mainly on his Korean House Project (1999) as well as various other installments inspired by it including Staircase (2003), Nest/s (2024), Home Within Home (2013), and rubbing/loving (2016). For classwork, students were instructed to recall a room or piece of furniture from memory and recreate it through collage or 3D paper sculpture.
Suh is a Korean born artist that migrated to the US to continue his schooling and artistic pursuits. In doing so, it forced him to face his feelings of homesickness and cultural displacement head on. The whole idea behind his Korean house project came from when Suh was spending time in NYC and struggling to sleep due to the fire station across from him. He thought back to when was the last time he actually slept well and realized it was back in Korea. “The experience was about transporting space from one place to the other. Suh says, ‘I don’t really get homesick, but I’ve noticed that I have this longing for this particular space, and I want to recreate that space or bring that space wherever I go. So, the choice of the material, which was fabric, was for many reasons. I had to make something that’s light and transportable, something that you can fold and put in a suitcase and bring with you all the time.’” (Art21). And he did just that. Suh brought the Korean House project in two suitcases to L.A., where he showed that piece for the first time. His work constantly challenges the notion of site-specificity, believing that the idea of home is something that you can “infinitely repeat.”
SUH: At some point in your life, you have to leave your home. And whenever you go back, it’s just not the same home anymore. I think home is something that you carry along with your life. That’s what I mean by [saying] it’s something that you can repeat over and over again. I just dealt with that issue visually. In a physically [minimal] way, it’s this light fabric thing that can recreate this ambiance of a space. I didn’t want to sit down and cry for home. I wanted to more actively deal with these issues of longing. I decided not to be sad about it. I just want to go with it. I just want to carry that with me, you know, all the time. (Art21)
Leni, Dami, and Rashida all put together stunning collage work to represent their memories. Rashida depicted an upward facing angle of the rafters found in her grandmother’s home, which included the verse, “The Lord is my shepherd,” etched into the wood.
Dami’s work was of a fireplace with the words “We knew it was something we’d never find” attached at the bottom of the piece. With an excellent use of dark reds and browns, it really helps to give the effect of a smokey brick fireplace.
Leni’s was a re-creation of a joint kitchen/bathroom with a soothing color palette of primary colors that reminds one of early childhood. She included a 3D element of a red kitchen table that jumps right off the page.
Maria’s work also contained a mix of collage and 3D elements. Her wood floor paneling was compared to Dami’s brick inlay of their fireplace. Her piece was a call back to the memory of a small child asleep on white plastic chairs at a family party. This piece was one of the favorites of the night as it elicited memories and stories from many people who have either been that kid or had those chairs in their childhood homes.
These chair designs are notable for people of multiple backgrounds, including Hispanic and Caribbean folk. It was comforting being reminded that my grandmother had those same kinds of chairs too.
Leah’s piece was of a playset including a slide and FUNCTIONAL swings! While she initially had some artist’s block due to the prompt constraints of not being able to re-create a memory through sketch, she came out “swinging” with a sleek and beautiful 3D paper sculpture.
Ed's collage and Delanny's triptych both referenced Suh's use of color.
Ed Rath and Delanny Gomez l, ll, lll, Memorializing Homesickness
Richie and Dylan, and Cammi built sculptural works.
Richard Lee Chong, Dylan Gomez, and Briana (Cammi) Camacho, Memorializing Homesickness
My piece (Jules) was of my living room couch, coffee table, and a little red flower vase that had an adventurous tendency to leap off the table. With a throw blanket constructed from an old plastic net bag and throw pillows lovingly stuffed with bits of paper towel, it helped to generate a very cozy and warm essence for the piece.
Alex on the other hand created a kitchen complete with a meal in the frying pan!
“There’s an emotional connection to a place, an accumulation of memories. I’ve always thought about architecture as clothing, or clothing as architecture. Clothing is the smallest, most intimate inhabitable space that you can actually carry. Architecture is an expansion of that.”- Do Ho Suh (Julian Rose, ArtForum).
AYB Advanced Studio Artists at work, and celebrating Ed and Ritchie's birthdays!
While certain homes and spaces can become very interchangeable things in our lives, the memories we create there are carried with us almost like a second skin. Suh says that’s how your house gets inside of you. How many homes are there within you? "
Other Art News
We are thrilled that the Studio Museum in Harlem has reopened!! It is gorgeous and the work on view will knock your socks off!
Reg Lewis writes: “The Studio Museum of Harlem Returns, and I was there! After a seven-year absence, the pivotal institution reopened on November 15 in a new, stunning seven-floor building designed by Adjaye Associates (in collaboration with Cooper Robertson).
The drastically and dramatically structured building impresses with its striking brutalist exterior, which grounds the building firmly in the neighborhood’s architectural history.
Inside, spacious galleries and other designated spaces resonate with a modern jazz soundtrack played by live DJ’s. (I fully expect their killer dance parties to also return). Attendees anticipated the dynamic interiors by dressing in fashions to complement the permanent collection that was on full display throughout the building. The atmosphere felt more like a reunion, speaking of which, favorite icons of the museum were back on display — David Hammons’s red-black-green flag that punctuates the façade of the building and Glenn Ligon’s neon “Give Us a Poem,” better known as ME/WE which illuminates the stark entrance/lobby wall.
The museum, in certain choice locations, feels like home with angular stoops that echo Harlem brownstones, and a rooftop terrace that hovers like an ancestral portal (with a pyramid structure) and furthermore, offering views of 125th street—Harlem’s equator—which includes the more than legendary Apollo Theater (currently under renovation). Ultimately, this reopening felt like a homecoming, indeed, not just for me but for all of Harlem, for the broader Black arts community, and for the generations of artists who have called this place their spiritual and creative base. Please visit and be stunned As Soon As Possible.”
Adji Ngathe Kebe, who also attended the opening, adds: “I am so excited that The Studio Museum in Harlem re-opened its doors. The opening night was invigorating and the pieces are incredible!”
Adji shares some of her absolute favorite artworks on view: including pieces by Beauford Delany, Jennifer Packer, Kerry James Marshall, Jacob Lawrence, Wangechi Mutu, and Howardena Pindell. (Shown in that order)
Installation photos by Adji Ngathe Kebe
AYB Artist Karla Prickett writes with an art review from Kansas: “I could not pass up the opportunity to take an 80-mile drive to the Wichita Art Museum to see Abstract Expressionists: The Women. I went twice!!! The exhibition features works from the Levett Collection—nearly 50 works by 30 women artists who played vital roles in shaping Abstract Expressionism in the New York and San Francisco art scenes of the mid-20th century.
Of course, names like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning ring loud and clear when I think about my early exposure to this genre—the first major American art movement to gain international status. But… what about the remarkable women of the same period? Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, Alma Thomas—artists whose contributions were ambitious, vital, and undeniably significant.
Walking through the galleries was pure delight and awe… a strange feeling of discovery. Rooms filled with color, spontaneity, and emotion—an entire chapter of history that could so easily have been overlooked. So many striking works! Such surprising scale! I found myself imagining the determination of these women, whose passion and focus fueled their desire to share their vision with the world—to be recognized simply as artists, not “women artists.” I thought about their perseverance in a time when being accepted by a major gallery or included in a museum exhibition was nearly impossible. And if they did break through, they might receive the back-handed compliment: “So good you’d never know it was done by a woman!”
From the 1950s through the 1970s, these artists pushed for a long-overdue shift in attention and respect. This exhibition offered me the rare chance to get up close to the actual surfaces and emotions of works I had, for the most part, only ever seen in photographs—if I’d seen them at all. Much of this work was being created just before and as I began my own art education journey (1968–1972), making the experience both exhilarating and deeply nostalgic. Most of all, it was an encounter full of inspiration.
I’ve been reading: American Women Modernists: The Legacy of Robert Henri 1910–1945 by Marian Wardle; The Woman Who Painted the Seasons by Penny Fields-Schneider; and Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel.”
A perfect accompaniment to what sounds like a stellar exhibition!
AYB Artist Abriel (bob) Gardner invites us all to her upcoming performance We Have Spent So Much Time at Arts on Site, 12 St Marks Place on Sat. 11/29 6pm and Sun. 11/30 2:30pm.
AYB Teaching Artist Aisha Tandiwe Bell invites us to see her work in Material Matters: Traditions Transformed at Wilmer Jennings Gallery, 219 East 2ndd Street at Avenue B, NYC through December 30th.
Plus an invitation from AYB Artist Evelyn Beliveau to sign up for their art newsletter.
♥️🪩❤️🔥
Comments