Stephanie Beck: Bough in Wave Hill

hot air

If you haven’t visited the little paradise up in the Bronx called Wave Hill recently, now is the time to go there, not only to experience the beautiful gardens but to see exhibitions that are not to be missed, one of them being Stephanie Beck’s Bough. Beck, who has always been a risk-taking sculptor, either building cities out of paper or manipulating wood into gravity-defying constructions, speaks with me about her latest body of work constructed from materials found at Wave Hill and bringing to light crucial environmental issues beautifully and elegantly. This is the last week to see the show, which runs through December 1st, 2024.

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In and Out of Lineage: Tracing Artistic Heritage Through SUNY New Paltz Faculty 

Eva Zanardi, the guest curator of the group show—In and Out of Lineage: Tracing Artistic Heritage Through SUNY New Paltz Faculty—observes that many times in her life, art has raised her awareness and consequently even made her reconsider her point of view on important issues. Zanardi says that the prerogative that should belong to most art is to be thought-provoking; as the educator and activist Cezar A. Cruz says, “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” Eva Zanardi shared some of her curatorial process and gave us here a brief guide through the show.

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Erica Stoller: Find and Form

in dialogue

Outcropping, Erica Stoller’s recent solo show at A.I.R. Gallery, which ran through November 10th, utilized cardboard cuttings, formerly boxes, and packaging, as its exclusive material. When walking through the gallery, one noticed the show has three sections– a corner piece that covers two walls, floor to ceiling, a grid of individual cardboard compositions hung on the wall and a third “sandwiches” station that allowed viewers to pick up layered cardboard batches. Proceeds from the sale of the “sandwiches” go to Feeding America. An interesting survey of installation art—a site-specific installation, painting-like works on a wall, and an interactive piece. Stoller often works with space in curious ways. In Item # 25-033, her 2022 solo show at A.I.R. Gallery, she created a single wall-to-wall installation using Manilla rope and elastic bands. The rope cut through the gallery space, creating framed planes between ceiling pipes, wall hooks, and the floor.

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Devon Gordon: OBSESSED at Zepster

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Installation shot: Paul-Sebastian Japaz, Inés Maestre, Lanyi Gao. Photo courtesy of Tyler Ward.

OBSESSED, the group exhibition Shelby Nelson Ward curated at Zepster in Bushwick, Brooklyn, is inspired by Mariah Carey’s hit song Obsessed and the developmental impact of social media on the millennial generation. This exhibition explores how contemporary culture influences our understanding of self-worth and authenticity. Devon Gordon, the gallery founder gives us an insight into the venue and the current show, which runs through November 17th, 2024.

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Donna Conklin King: Fifty-Eight Feet Down the Ocean

Hot Air
“Bubbly Barnacles” after launch photo, courtesy of UMAFL

Sculptor Donna Conklin King draws on the philosophy of Kintsugi, the centuries-old Japanese art that highlights an object’s imperfections by emphasizing its cracks with gold leaf. She works primarily with concrete, experimenting by casting forms from unconventional materials such as tin ceiling tiles, food containers, and fabric. Her sculptures often incorporate delicate elements like doilies and 24-karat gold leaf, exploring the relationship between nature, architecture, and the inevitable decay of civilization. In her recent focus on public sculptures, Conklin King’s pieces are “openly cracked and repaired,” evolving and enduring over time. They reflect themes of resilience, history, and archaeology.

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Bill Scott: Two Decades at Hollis Taggart

Installation view at Hollis Taggart Gallery

Bill Scott’s solo show Two Decades at Hollis Taggart Gallery’ celebrates this painter’s long career of collaboration with this renowned New York City gallery. Bill, a fairly reserved individual, often clad in neutral colors at gallery openings, produces profoundly beautiful works bursting with color. I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Bill, a friend and mentor for more than 15 years, dating back to my days as an undergraduate at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia.

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Bascha Mon’s Life and Journey of Dreaming at Tappeto Volante

In Dialogue
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A Celebratory Retrospective of an Artist’s Life and Journey of Dreaming, Perseverance, Activism, & Unconscious Expression.”

The retrospective of Bascha Mon’s paintings at Tappeto Volante offers a focused look at an artist whose career has been shaped by both creative achievements and personal struggles. Mon first gained recognition in the 1970s and 80s, with numerous exhibitions and critical acclaim. However, her trajectory was interrupted by health challenges that led to a long period of seclusion. During this time, she continued to work from her basement studio in New Jersey, expanding her creative vocabulary across various mediums while remaining largely out of the public eye. In recent years, Mon turned to digital platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Paola Gallio, the exhibition curator and gallery co-founder, describes this phase as “dissolving the physical isolation that had once defined her situation.” These platforms allowed Mon to reconnect with the art community and sustain an active, visible presence. Gallio emphasizes that “Mon’s modest basement studio became a metaphor for boundless creative space,” where the constraints of physical isolation were replaced by the limitless possibilities of virtual engagement. For deeper insights into the retrospective, Gallio’s interview with Art Spiel offers further reflections on Mon’s artistic journey and the significance of this exhibition.

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Dorothy Robinson: Paint Through Space and Time

End of Story, 2022, oil on panel, 48×60 inches, photo courtesy of Bill Massey

Dorothy Robinson’s family moved often during her childhood, starting in rural Iowa, where they farmed for generations and eventually settled in California. After high school, she bounced between colleges before landing at UC Berkeley. Studying art never crossed her mind, but she was drawn to geography, “probably because of its strong visual component—map making, field trips, slide shows,” Robinson says. During an internship, she learned darkroom skills and later worked in commercial photo labs, shaping her sense of color while making color prints. An invitation from an artist friend to join a drawing group was transformative, and started Robinson on the path to a life of making art.

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Divisions: To Be Human Is To Act Humanely

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Image at Griffiss International Sculpture Park , Rome, NY

Linda Cunningham – Divisions

… hunger and fear can vanquish all human resistance, and all

freedom … Freedom consists in knowing freedom is in danger.

But to know … is to have time to avoid & prevent the moment of

inhumanity … the infinitesimal difference between the human

being and the non-human being …

————–Emmanuel Levinas, Totality and Infinity

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Reshaping space through photography: Anna Berenice Garner & Janila Castañeda

IN CONVERSATION
Anna Berenice Garner, installation view of exhibition titled, Topografías y otras ficciones, image courtesy of Lateral gallery

For a few months now, Anna and I have been discussing her practice in preparation for her most recent solo show in Mexico City titled Topografías y otras ficciones. As we have been navigating concepts around the notions of landscape and the role of the image in the construction of truth, our exchanges included topics such as the body and its relationship with space, methods of reshaping space through photography, as well as the potential of merging sculpture and photography to rethink the environments that construct the unquestionable truths under which we guide our existence. This interview compiles key points from our face-to-face and written exchanges while capturing insights into the artist’s current approach to her work.

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