Author Archives: Christina

Michelle Weinberg: Shuffling Liminal Episodes

Michelle Weinberg, A Personal Situation, graphite and colored pencil on paper, 20 3/4” x 16″

April 6 – June 17, 2022

Michelle Weinberg and Leslie Kerby

Project: ARTspace
99 Madison Avenue, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10016
212.271.0664

Monday – Friday 11 am – 5 pm

Weinberg and Kerby say that the exchange of ideas and the discovery of commonalities has charged their practices and led to this exhibition. For instance, they have collaborated on an installation in which smaller framed works are mounted within larger backdrop drawings that de-construct aspects of their works. Loosely drawn pattern, geometric elements, fragments of plant life and texts form the backdrop for their individual works. “Is an image a centerpiece, a fixed icon? Or is it a rest stop on the way to the next place, beyond the border of the frame?” they ask.

Kerby and Weinberg say that they both enjoy the fluidity, swapping figure and ground, “shuffling images like cards in a deck, like tunes in a playlist.” Here, Kerby who usually tends to explore in her work social networks and systems, turns inward, to look at the interior spaces of her community. She says the paintings are an outreach to her friends during lockdown, when she asked them to contribute by sending photographs of relaxing places in their homes from which she painted detailed, personal observations of their surroundings. Outside, Kerby says she observed how traces of community re-arranged and interrupted by social distancing, “aware that this too is transient and will slip away.”

Leslie Kerby, Gowanus I, 2022, watercolor, acrylic & graphite on vellum, 10 x 10 inches

Weinberg compares her experience drawing to flypaper—a sticky surface, catching all manner of schemes, objects, the world on her table. Drawing for her engages a literary feel, filled with flitting thoughts, including scribbled titles on the margins, text and image coalesce into one space. Architectural schemes invite the viewer to project their own experience into—re-arrange the objects on a table, open a door. The “hand” of the artist is visible through the graphite smudges on the white of the paper. Likewise, the process of drawing as a physical act —the paper is acted upon, animated, scarred, absorbed with thumbprints and dust. In her drawings, unserious volumes, wayward playthings obey a useless formalism, and in these conditions, she finds freedom.
Michelle Weinberg is a painter who works in varied mediums in her studio and in the creation of art for interiors, architecture and public spaces. She is the recipient of awards, fellowships and residencies from Pollock-Krasner Foundation, SouthArts, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Joseph Robert Foundation, South Florida Cultural Consortium, National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, MacDowell Colony, Millay Colony, Studios at MASS MoCA,100West Corsicana in TX, Fine Arts WorkCenter in Provincetown, homesession and Fundacion Valparaiso in Spain and Altos de Chavon in Dominican Republic. Exhibitions include Delaware Valley Arts Alliance, Artport Kingston, Marymount Manhattan College, Charles Moffett Gallery, ARENA in NYC, Frost Art Museum, Florida Atlantic University, Dot FiftyOne Gallery and Emerson Dorsch in Miami. She has created commissioned works for ArtBridge in NYC, Miami International Airport, The Wolfsonian Museum-FIU, Facebook offices, Miami-Dade County Art in Public Places, City of Tampa and more. michelleweinberg.com @mwpinkblue

Leslie Kerby is an interdisciplinary artist working with painting, drawing, sculpture and video to create thematically interlinked bodies of work focusing on issues related to how we lead our lives personally, as individuals. Kerby has been awarded fellowships and residencies at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, American Academy in Rome, Virginia Center for Creative Arts (Virginia and France) and School of Visual Arts. Permanent collections includ Columbia University, Arkansas State University, Copelouzos Art Museum, Athens Greece. Kerby has received commissions from Norte Maar, BRIC Arts | Media and Visual Arts Center of New Jersey. Recent exhibitions includeJason McCoy Gallery, Community Folk Art Center Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY; Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Garvey | Simon, Pierogi, Frosch and Co., Kleinert James Art Center, Woodstock; Norte Maar, Museum Blue, St. Louis, MO; Zurcher Gallery, Van Der Plas Gallery, The Painting Center. lesliekerby.com @lesliekerby

Diana Jensen: World Traveler / Shelter At Home – Paintings

World Traveler / Shelter at Home Painting Project at the Susquehanna Art Museum in Harrisburg, PA from April 15th to June 19th.

“Artist Diana Jensen took inspiration from an anonymous assortment of vernacular photos for the paintings found in World Traveler / Shelter at Home. After contracting COVID-19 in the spring of 2020, a friend gave the artist a boxes of vintage travel slides found at an Asbury Park thrift store. Jensen used this feverish time of social isolation to immerse herself into the travels of a stranger.”
Director of Exhibitions, Lauren Nye

Currently based in NYC, Diana Jensen creates paintings and installations that reference found vernacular photographs from the 1960s to the present day. Her art-making documents both the emotional connection and cultural impact of photo collecting.
Jensen’s recent solo exhibition, A Decade in Dumbo: 4 Installations, was featured at ChaShaMa, 1 Brooklyn Bridge Park. Her work has been exhibited nationally at venues including The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Safe-T-Gallery in Brooklyn, White Columns in NYC, Bucheon Gallery in San Francisco, Artemisia Gallery in Chicago, The Newark Museum, and The Islip Art Museum.

More about the show Susquehanna Art Museum

Dieu-Nalio Chèry: Artist- at- Risk at Westbeth

Photo: Katherine Marks NY Times
Home Page Photo : Katherine Marks NY Times

By D.W. Gibson
April 11, 2022
New York Times

Dieu-Nalio Chéry never thought he would leave Haiti, much less that his journey would take him to a high-rise apartment building a block from the Hudson River.

He grew up in the countryside and moved to the big city, Port-au-Prince, where he taught himself photography and became a photojournalist. He joined The Associated Press in 2010 and documented the aftermath of the earthquake that destroyed so much of his country that year. Over the next decade, he would win several international awards, covering more tumult across the country — evictions, hurricanes, another major earthquake and mounting political unrest. “I saw the rise of violence,” Mr. Chéry said. “There’s no respect for human life.”

While kidnappings of journalists mounted, friends warned him about the increasing dangers of his work, but Mr. Chéry remained stubborn about not leaving: “I kept saying, ‘I can face all these things. It’s normal for me as a journalist.’”

..But there was still the matter of finding a place to live. Mr. Chéry contacted every organization he thought might be willing to help. That’s when the New York City Artist Safe Haven Residency Program stepped in. Founded in 2017, the program is a coalition of several arts and free expression advocacy organizations that work to house, integrate and nurture visual artists, musicians, writers and other artists who are at risk because of their work.

..The coalition includes Westbeth Artist Housing, which has so far set aside four apartments for individuals like Mr. Chéry. “The housing,” Ms. Tucker said, “that’s the linchpin for this program.”

..Everyone I meet in Westbeth tells me, you’re so lucky,” he said. “There are so many people waiting for this building. And it’s true — I am lucky. This is a fantastic, wonderful place.”
His says his neighbors have welcomed him warmly. “We even found a grandma for my kids,” he said. “She loves them.”

..Halina Warren has not only become a grandmother figure to Sara-Jah and Ruthnise, but when winter came, she found coats for the family — and she takes them on Costco runs in her car. “She does every little thing for us,” Mr. Chéry said. “I could never have imagined finding someone who really does care about us like this.”

Read entire NY Times article HERE

More information about Westbeth’s Artists-at-Risk Residency Program HERE

Halina Warren is a long-time volunteer with the Westbeth Beautification Committee.

Penny Jones & Company Puppets: Three Little Pigs

Sunday April 24, 2022 at 1PM

Westbeth Community Room
155 Bank Street (enter through courtyard)
b/w Washington and West Sts.
New York, NY

BUY TICKETS HERE

Limited Capacity. Buy tickets online. Masks must be worn by all. Adults must be vaccinated.

Classic Tales and Fables. Lots of fun for the very young. The Three Bears, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, and more. This is a simple and intimate introduction to the theatre for children. With lots of participation, fun, and games, and Mother Goose Rhymes. A hit for generations. With Jack, the Pied Piper and that silly little dog Toby. After the show, everyone makes a puppet to take home.
“Charming.” -New York Times
“Very simple, and perfect as an introduction to theatre.” -New York Magazine
“Warm, funny, direct and charming.” -Gannet Newspapers
“A relief from all that commercialism” – A parent after the show

Tickets are $10 for all ages
Show Time: 1 PM
All Ages – Great for 2 to 8
Stroller Parking
Shows Run about 45 Minutes workshop follows
Information: (212) 924-0525

MORE INFO: http://www.pennypuppets.org

BUS AND SUBWAY: M14A, M11, M20, (2 blocks)
A, C, E, L, 1, 2, 3 (5 or 6 blocks)

Big Apple Walkers Walk-a-thon at Westbeth

GREENWICH HOUSE IS STEPPING UP AT WESTBETH
TOUR THE HISTORIC WEST VILLAGE TOGETHER AS WE WALK OUR WAY TO BETTER HEALTH.

Please come and join us at Westbeth Older Adult Center as we participate in the Big Apple Walk-A-Thon.

Tuesdays at 11:30am
Westbeth Older Adult Center
155 Bank Street (enter through courtyard)
between West and Washington Sts.

Info: Donna Coles dcoles@greenwichhouse.org

Advance Registration: Laura Laura@greenwichhouse.org

WALK-A- THON ENDS IN NOVEMBER WITH MOST STEPS WINNER FOR EACH BOROUGH.

Beth Soll: Earthly Dances in Troubled Times

L-R – Beth Soll, photo credit: Lazslo Toth; Beth Soll and Abby Dias in the film, “Two Red Solos, A Formal Response.” Cinematographer: Ethan Mass; Brianna Lux, photo credit: Jacob Lux.

Saturday May 7, 2022 at 8pm
Sunday May 8, 2022 at 8pm

BETH SOLL & COMPANY
The Westbeth Community Room at Westbeth Center for the Arts
55 Bethune Street (corner of Bethune St. and Washington St.), NYC 10014

TICKETS: sollearthlydances.brownpapertickets.com
Phone: 212-927-0476
Tickets are also available at the box office on the day of performance.

Website: Beth Soll and Company

Choreographer/Dancer Beth Soll, Artistic Director of Beth Soll & Company, will present Earthly Dances in Troubled Times, a concert of four new works and a film at Westbeth Center for the Arts, 55 Bethune Street, NYC. The program will take place on Saturday May 7 and Sunday May 8 at 8pm.
Tickets: sollearthlydances.brownpapertickets.com Tickets are also available at the box office on the day of performance.

Phone: 212-927-0476

*FULL PROGRAM BELOW.

Celebrating the 50-year age difference between herself and her dancers, the two evenings will feature the premiere of Red Duet, a live spin-off of Ms. Soll’s film, Two Red Solos, A Formal Response, which will also be shown. Both works were created in response to the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dancers appear in the film in two separate solos, one for company member Abby Dias and another for dancer/choreographer Beth Soll, in separate frames or socially distanced in one frame. Filming took place in 2020 outside, amidst the greenery of Hudson River Park. The vibrant red of the costumes contrast with the lush green of the park. In Red Duet, the live version of the film, Ms. Soll shares the stage with Ms. Dias, using geometric clarity and a thoughtful balance of athleticism and subtle, gesture-based movement.

The other works to be shown echo aspects of the film, including its movement vocabulary, the tension between separation and connection, and the co-existence of formal restraint and emotional expressivity.

According to dance critic Deborah Jowitt, who viewed the film in preview: “What makes this duet especially interesting—even moving—are the subtle distinctions between the two performers. Hard to believe though it is, Soll is about fifty years older than Dias. If they raise both hands to frame their faces, or lean down to touch the ground, they seem like twins, but they approach certain larger moves in individual ways…. Two red solos. The performers’ responses to the title may be formal, and the two of them never touch. But their simultaneous solos seethe with the implications of togetherness and isolation that at present shape our daily lives.” – Arts Journal, Read more.

Seating is limited; health and safety protocols, currently in transition, will be in effect. Protocols as per NYC guidelines to be determined.

* FULL PROGRAM (subject to change):

Spell II (premiere), Solo for Beth Soll. This dance grew out of two earlier solos, one from 1979 and another from 2016. It suggests a sense of immersion in a private, almost visionary place of sensuous introspection, expressed in both kinetic dancing and idiosyncratic gestural movement accompanied by the evocative music of Boston’s celebrated jazz musician Stan Strickland and the equally accomplished Josh Rosen.

Red Duet (premiere) a live version of the film, “Two Red Solos, A Formal Response.” The choreography departs from the restrictions of the separate frames in the film and allows for more intimacy between the dancers than in the film, as well as a sense of vigorous, athletic freedom. Music: prepared tape of nature sounds by the film’s cinematographer Ethan Mass.

Wellspring (premiere), Solo for Abby Dias. The choreography of this piece makes references to the other dances in the program and focuses on Abby’s youthful, hopeful energy, her natural dramatic sense, and her technical skill. The dance is accompanied by the highly original, evocative music by experimental jazz artist, Jeff Platz.

Folk Dance: A Restless Fugue. Duet for Abby Dias and Brianna Lux. This dance makes reference to the traditional folk dance of Eastern Europe and to the embroidered patterns on folk costumes. The dancers move from upstage to downstage with one movement pattern and then move back upstage with another pattern, sometimes deviating from their straight paths. Parts of the dance are performed in unison, but much of it is performed as a fugue or canon, in which one person starts, and the other dancer later joins in with different movement. As the dance develops, the dancers deviate from the rigid lines of the embroidery and dance together or in opposition, which both enriches and undermines the conventions of folk dance and evokes a sense of the aesthetic power, passionate emotions, and suggestions of conflict that are often implicit in traditional dances. Music for the dance is by Param Vir, a British composer originally from India and performed live by noted New York pianist Kathryn Woodard.

Film: Two Red Solos, A Formal Response – the dancers appear in separate frames or socially distanced in one frame. The film was shot outside amidst the greenery of Hudson River Park. For the film Soll worked to reveal and celebrate the 50-year age difference between her and Abby Dias and to locate it within a geometric clarity and thoughtful balance of athleticism and subtle, gesture-based movement. The vibrant red of the costume’s contrasts with the lush green of the park. Cinematographer: Ethan Mass. Editing: Ethan Mass and Beth Soll.

ABOUT BETH SOLL

Beth Soll is the Artistic Director of Dance Projects, Inc./Beth Soll & Company. Beth Soll began her dance training in the U.S. with the Romanian dancer Iris Barbura and continued abroad in Germany and Switzerland. She has performed with many dance companies and has frequently collaborated with artists in all disciplines. She received a bachelor’s degree in modern dance from the U. of Wisconsin and later a Ph.D from Boston University. With her company, which was formed in 1977, she has performed in many U.S. locations and abroad in Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Romania, and Russia. She has been honored with many grants and awards from the NEA and from state, civic, and private sources. Since the 1960s, she has been teaching people in varied contexts and in universities, including MIT, where she directed the Dance Program for 20 years, the Harvard Summer Dance Center, Boston University, UC Santa Barbara, Hofstra University, Manhattanville College, and the University of Wisconsin. Her book, Will Modern Dance Survive? Lessons to be Learned from the Pioneers and Unsung Visionaries of Modern Dance was published in 2002.
Bethsollandcompany.org

Now in her late seventies and still dancing, Soll’s very individual style has earned enthusiastic praise throughout the years:

“Gentle, unusual, luminous…iconic purity…thoughtful, beguiling dance.”
Deborah Jowitt, The Village Voice

“This is dance at its most magical, mystical, mysterious.”
Cerina Survant, Chicago Reader

“A distinguished, absorbing, and deeply satisfying concert.”
David Vaughan, Dance Magazine

“…volatile, thrilling, both kinesthetically and spiritually, and altogether magnificent.”
Christine Temin, The Boston Globe