Tributaries and outlets
- frida@artyardbklyn.org
- Nov 7
- 9 min read
Updated: Nov 10
This week at ART YARD BKLYN, Advanced Studio was exciting with both Assata and Evelyn returning for the next installments of their ongoing sessions -- we continued our deep dive into Caribbean Artistry and painted with acrylics. Meanwhile, Dennis has been planning the next round of autumn ART YARD Art Matters School Partnerships.
We also have exhibition recommendations, studio & performance updates, an invitation to an upcoming artist talk, and links for AYB Movers & Shakers tickets.
On Monday in Advanced Studio on Zoom AYB Artist Assata Benoit presented the second of two Advanced Studio sessions investigating the migration of Caribbean Americans to New York City and the ways this movement has shaped the city’s culture. This week, Assata led participants in a deeper exploration of Dominican Republic-born, New York City-based artist Firelei Báez’s stunning mixed media artwork.
Assata reflects upon the session: “Folklore is one of the biggest elements of Caribbean culture. I was inspired by Firelei Báez’s exhibition, “The fact that it amazes me does not mean I relinquish it” where she uses “Palimpsests” or twice-used documents as backgrounds for her extremely detailed and vibrant paintings. I believe I was so drawn to Baez’s work because I couldn’t tell exactly what I was looking at; most of the images walk the line between human and mystical so well that it’s almost disturbing.
This was the premise of my lesson. While the stories we tell and costumes we design are beautiful in nature, their origins have a darker history rooted in slavery and indentured servitude that we must respect and acknowledge.
Assata continues: "I love how deeply I’m able to dive into my own culture through the theme of migration - I never usually use it as a centerpiece, but it’s opened me up to more unorthodox methods of creativity. The stories we tell today are not ours, nothing we do now is new to the world. Storytelling is essential in culture preservation & connection between generations. I’m grateful to be able to share a tiny bit of my own with the class and have everyone enjoy it so thoroughly- also that the other West Indians in the class felt represented!!”
With AYB Artist Evelyn Beliveau, AYB Advanced Studio at 180 Franklin we completed our well observed self-portraits using a limited three-color palette of Golden Acrylic paints—alizarin crimson, cadmium yellow, and ultramarine. The culmination of the three-part lesson cycle The Dynamic Self was a success! After working on color-mixing in the first session and portrait drawing in the second session, we combined these skills to create painted self-portraits on canvas board.
Evelyn summarizes: “I (Evelyn) invited participants to reconsider the sets of reflection questions introduced previously, orienting the project not just to the technical challenge of observational painting, but also to a personal consideration of one's appearance, ever-changing nature, and give-and-take with the world.
With a quick crash course in acrylic paint basics for those who were new to the medium, we jumped into work time. We used a limited palette of three primary colors (alizarin crimson, cadmium yellow, and ultramarine blue), intentionally omitting white paint. I recommended starting by mixing a dark, a midtone, and a highlight from combinations of these three paints, and many participants took this approach, looking into mirrors to identify where the darkest shadows and brightest highlights appeared on their faces in the lamplight.
Without white paint, we are freed from trying to match colors exactly to what is observed. I encouraged the artists to match the values (light/dark) as closely as possible and be playful with hues. Some used a watercolor-esque approach to achieve highlights, letting the white of the canvas show through thin washes of paint; among those who worked this way were Alex, Arielle, Leah, Leni, Neah, Flo, and Ed.
Others (including my sample piece for the class) used thicker paint and made use of the high-intensity, light-value yellow for highlights, including Richie, Abriel (Bob), Kevin, Jazz, Juliet, Cheyenne, and Adji. We also discussed the use of energetic brushwork to activate the canvas, especially in large areas such as the background—emulating the fluidity and confidence of our signatures in the application of paint.
Richard Lee Chong (in Progress) , Abriel (bob) Gardner, Kevin Anderson (in progress),Limited Color Self-Portrait, 2025, Acrylic on canvas
Juliet Adams, Cheyenne Rivera, Adji Ngathe Kebe, Limited Color Self-Portrait, 2025, Acrylic on canvas
I was thrilled with the achievements of the group in such a short amount of time. Jazz, Abriel (Bob), and Juliet's paintings sing off the wall with strong, painterly brushwork, and Adji, Leah, and Ed’s pieces glow with subtle blending.
Meridith compared Abriel (Bob)'s thick, expressive paint application to German Expressionist artist Oskar Kokoschka.
Abriel (bob) Gardner, Limited Color Self-Portrait, 2025, Acrylic on canvas, & Oskar Kokoschka, Self-portrait, 1917
We all marveled that this was the first-ever self portrait by Cheyenne and Jazz respectively, and noted that the palpable volume and mass of the head in Cheyenne’s piece may be influenced by her experience as a makeup artist.
Alex received several compliments for the fine modeling of strong overhead light in his painting, and Leni for color choices and skilled observation of the unusual lit-from-below effect.
We compared the combination of delicate washes and strong drawing to be seen in Arielle, Flo, and Neah’s paintings, and the dynamic head-tilt in Ed, Richie, and Kevin’s paintings.
During this session, we had a mix of participants who had attended session 1 (palettes), session 2 (under-drawings), both, and neither—and Meridith pointed out that those who arrived at the session without an under-drawing (Adji, Flo, Leah, Abriel (Bob), and Juliet) stepped up to the challenge with aplomb!
Throughout critique, we discussed the experience of creating a self-portrait. Meridith brought us full-circle with a reference to tributaries and outlets, from the self-as-river metaphor that I pulled from an author talk by Robert Macfarlane—this lesson cycle serves as a tributary for all participants, who can take the experience forward into future projects.
We were all excited to hear that Alex has adapted parts of this lesson for his high school AP Art students!
Alex Lopez, Worksheet inspired by Evelyn's session, and Artwork by Alex's AP 2D Art students at Hillcrest High School, Jamaica, Queens.
Several participants also expressed that after looking at the group of paintings during critique, they'd like to try other ways of using the acrylic paints or limited palette, such as challenging themselves to use thicker paint and bolder colors. There are no right or wrong approaches to this project, but I love the idea of artists cross-pollinating and inspiring one another to experiment with different techniques. The final paintings comprise a strong group with varied styles and shared hues, and I can’t wait to see them installed at our exhibition later this month.”
AYB Managing Director Dennis Buonagura has been busy with planning meetings with school principals this week, as we gear up for late autumn ART YARD Art Matters School Partnerships.
Dennis reports in with particular news of interest: “I met this week with Principal Ossa at PS 124 in Park Slope (known as the "little school with a big heart") at the referral and recommendation of Bree Whitlock, a constant and enthusiastic advocate and supporter of AYB.
We discussed AYB's programs, schedules, costs, and we agreed that AYB would be a good fit for the school. But it comes down to the NYC DOE budget approval process. So - we shall see.
I had a terrific tour of the school, met several teachers, and learned about the school's existing art curriculum. I greatly look forward to a favorable reply from Principal Ossa. Fingers crossed.”
Other Art News
AYB Artist Mia Lew, and Richard Lee Chong both share studio updates, and Abriel (bob) Gardner tells us about her performance piece currently a work in progress.
Mia has finished her recent large scale drawing, also pictured with her friend posing for scale.
Mia Lew, Untitled, 2025, colored pencil on paper, 50x60". In situ with friend for scale.
Mia wrote this week asking for book recommendations for a drawing assignment: to respond to a book about an artist borrowed from the RISD Library. Based on the work she has made in the course so far, I suggested two wonderful drawing-centered books on two exceptional artists mostly known for their sculptures: Louise Bourgeois: An Unfolding Portrait and Ruth Asawa Through Line.
Book page detail of Ruth Asawa drawing and Mia Lew, drawings inspired by that piece l & ll
Richie has been sketching Athena:
Abriel writes: “In collaboration with co-choreographer and creator Marieelana Martingano, I have been working on a new dance theater piece entitled We Have Spent So Much Time. This past week, we presented a 15-minute excerpt of the piece at Greenlung Studio. The full evening-length work will premiere November 29–30 at Arts on Site on St. Marks Place, Manhattan.
We have developed a dance theater piece exploring the contradictions of ‘womanhood.’ Using American pop culture aesthetics (specifically Instagram) as a lens, we confront the ways in which these ideals have corrupted, enhanced, empowered, perverted, molded, and perfected the ‘ideal’ image and actions of the femme body and persona. In this work, we use theatrics, technicality, text, set design, and, most importantly, dance to guide our investigation.
We embrace spectacle in order to better understand—can the mundane exist in earnest under these standards, or is it always a performance?
We Have Spent So Much Time, performance stills
We are aware that our appearance holds significant power, and we question how certain ideals are performed, maintained, and rewarded. We acknowledge the time and resources it takes to achieve these ideals and oppose them through self-awareness, nonsense, and irony. We watch it all collapse in on itself and contort into something absurd. Is the unattainable the name of the game, or is there an end in sight?
WE HAVE SPENT SO MUCH TIME.”
Exhibitions & Opportunities
Two gorgeous exhibitions currently on view in Tribeca to add to your list:
Near Enemies, Susan Hamburger’s solo exhibition at Asya Geisberg Gallery (4.5 Cortlandt Alley, Manhattan) through December 20, 2025.
Sculpture and painting by Susan Hamburger. Photos by Meridith McNeal
The promotional materials expound: “The show pairs medieval-style banners hung on the wall, inspired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s armory collection, and invented helmets made of papier mâché and paper clay. The artist works within the history of Western European decorative arts with its hyper-feminine association, to re-imagine the chivalrous, performative function of these highly embellished artifacts of military glory. Her delicate sculptures, ever more baroque yet equally preposterous, are in turn utterly useless to protect or even intimidate. The overall exhibition can be read as both an admiring re-engagement with seemingly antiquated decorative traditions, and an excoriation: the ludicrousness of glamorizing the savagery of war and empire building.”
Laughing Castles, an exhibition of ceramic sculptures by Julia Kunin, on view at Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery (87 Franklin Street, Manhattan) through December 6, 2025.
Ceramics by Julia Kunin. Photos by Meridith McNeal
Julia Kunin’s hand-built ceramic sculptures embody a smooth sensuality, drawing on symbols of lesbian visibility alongside tropes from Modernist, Pop, and Op Art. Glittering metallic glazes amplify her carved and slab-built architectural forms, propelling them into the realm of glam with a wink toward kitsch. In these coded, psychedelic compositions, Kunin asserts a feminist and queer presence within art historical lineages reaching back to Marsden Hartley and Victor Vasarely. (From the gallery press release.)
AYB teaching Artist Rachael Wren invites us to join her and the other artists for a gallery talk this Saturday, November 8th at 4 pm at The Shirley Project Space, 609 Washington Ave, Brooklyn. I keep missing the open hours, but even through the windows the show looks great!
Spectral Evidence installed through windows. Photos by Meridith McNeal
Curated by Rachael, Spectral Evidence explores the gradient as a language of transition, an investigation of light, and a reflection of how perception slips between the known and the indeterminate.
Rachael adds: “I love the way all the pieces in the show are in conversation with each other, and I'm looking forward to this discussion about our work and processes.”
Have you bought your tickets yet? Movers & Shakers—ART YARD BKLYN’s exhibition opening and benefit party—Saturday, November 22, from 6–9pm at 180 Franklin Avenue, Brooklyn.
Get your event tickets here on Galabid.
Raffle winners will be selected during the party—don’t miss your chance to win! Check out the newest additions by AYB Teaching Artists to the raffle: a gorgeous watercolor by Richard Estrin, and five tiny sculptural houses by Iviva Olenick.
Get your raffle tickets here.
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