HIGHLIGHTS
During the slow and hot month of August, Art still thrives through ChaShaMa in unexpected places around midtown. ChaShaMa – a nonprofit organization that provides studio and exhibition spaces for artists in midtown real estate and other venues throughout the five boroughs – empowers unique and surprising opportunities for installations across the City.
that which dwells at Chashama 1133 Avenue of the Americas – Lobby, @despina_studio
On view through: November 11th, 2024
Featuring: Despina Konstantinides
As one enters a spacious office building lobby, large, textured, brightly colored canvases stand out on clean, polished stone walls. These large, generously spaced landscape paintings in the Lobby gallery bring this transient space to life. The rich surfaces of each canvas are formed with layers of oil paint, creating a cumulative texture that appears to pucker. Even though seemingly abstract, there are hints of realism in the treatment of vegetation and terrain, particularly in Awaiting a Night Call. The landscapes are almost unworldly in their color. Cool and warm colors clash on the surface, often creating a visual vibration effect. Mountain-like ridges in “I want to tell you everything” draw the viewer in with a deep violet iron red, yet push back with cool opaque titanium white ground. These paintings are not to be missed in this fairly unconventional space provided by ChaShaMa.
By appointment only. Please email studio@despinapaintings.com OR programs@chashama.org to schedule your visit. Please provide your full name, date/time of your visit.
Live Your Divinity at Chashama 266 W 37th St., @aviatrixnyc
On view through: January 8, 2025
Featuring: Wearable Art by The Aviatrix
Michelle Palmer, also known as the mastermind behind Aviatrix, brings the uncommon practice of costume jewelry and crown making into fine art in this latest installation within ChaShaMa’s storefront gallery space at 266 W 37th St. This tradition of a working studio reflects upon the history of the fashion district where seamstresses and designers worked tirelessly in well-worn nooks and crannies. The space is covered with dark fabric creating a backdrop for all the headdresses displayed up and down all the way to the ceiling. Some of these pieces hint at imaginative, fantastical creatures as the artist uses fabric, sculptural materials, jewelry, and natural materials such as rooster feathers, shells, pearls, etc. Michelle Palmer, AKA Aviatrix, invites the visitors to transform themselves by trying some of these pieces on. These crowns are meant for a special kind of royalty that lives deep inside our subconscious minds. The artist is very focused on the aura and the persona created by each of her pieces. A visit to this little nook of a gallery/studio is a unique opportunity to experience the transformative power of these wearable sculptures.
Urban Oasis: Nature in Transit at Chashama 53rd St & 5th Ave Underground Subway Newsstand, @natalie_collette_wood
On view through: September 3, 2023
Featuring: Installation by Natalie Collette Wood
Natalie Collette Wood creates an entropic scene in the hot underground of the New York City subway, as succulents take over every surface of the patio setup, growing and morphing the general form as well. The work changes and breathes within an aquarium-like space of an old newspaper storefront. The sheer fabric overlays that line the back walls create depth and atmosphere, a perfect setting for the vegetation that takes place in the foreground. The subway tiles on the walls, perhaps unintentionally, create a striking juxtaposition for the natural phenomenon happening in the front portion of the space. What appears to be a patio set being taken over by various mosses and succulents changes throughout the exhibition run. The installation is literally a living organism. The location enhances the element of surprise as commuters become captivated viewers stumbling upon a juxtaposed ecosystem within a subway station tunnel.
About the writer: Anna Shukeylo is an artist, writer, educator, and curator working and living in the New York Metropolitan area. She has written for Artcritical, Painters on Painting, and ArtSpiel. Her paintings have been exhibited in solo exhibitions at Kean University, NJ, Manchester University, IN, and in group shows at Auxier/Kline, Equity Gallery, Stay Home Gallery, among others. @annashukelo