Downtown Brooklyn

Christina Massey, blown glass and sculptural objects in the foreground, Charlotte Becket behind in the magical Fauna of Mirrors at LIU, curated by Etty Yaniv. 

Fauna of Mirrors is located in a strange and beautiful glass-enclosed gallery, previewed here: Art in Brooklyn link

Curator Yanive writes of Tamara Kostianovsky that her "naturalistic birds made of discarded clothing, transform the “repulsive” into the “tolerable,” the “disgusting” into the “appealing”- processes of birth, growth, and decay found in nature reintegrate back into the viewer’s field of vision. Drawing upon art historical Still Lives and images of butchered meat she encountered while growing up in Argentina, Kostianovsky’s brutally beautiful creatures open a window into the world of abjection and degradation, of the body that exists behind the scenes of our manicured lives."

And, that (closely paraphrasing) Samuelle Green draws upon, in large-scale sprawling environments found and upcycled materials, design principles in nature such as repetitious decentralization of barnacle formations or rhythmic gradations of the sea floor. Abandoned objects, urban waste, and institutional refuse metamorphose into natural patterns which heave in her installation with renewed life." It's odd to suddenly see numbers and text in these materials.

Kathleen Vance's suspended river beckons the eye. Yaniv likens it to "aspects of nature that are overlooked, while considering the need to protect our under-appreciated natural resources," that Vance "brings nature back into the viewer’s hurried daily pace, inviting them for a moment of respite and reflection." In the background is Charlotte Becket's kinetic sculpture that breathes, swells and mutters with the use of mechanical props.

Beautiful leaves by Jessica Lagunas--bound, embroidered, preserved and transformed.

And leaf necklaces.

Lina Puerta worked at Kohler on small cast iron sculptures shown in the case.

In the nearby Salenas Gallery, Etty Yaniv shows a scroll of imaginary travel from New York to Las Vegas  on a rounded gallery wall. It is always exciting to find an artist who loves scrolls! Artist's Website

As in her sculptural and installation work, Yaniv works with densely layered imagery and texture that surprise us with moments of familiarity.

Exit right

A scroll faces opposite. 

Then to 440 Atlantic, where Renee Riccardo curated  Surface 8 at Brooklyn Dermatology. Here is a  mixed media work by Jill Slaymaker, whose installation of works on paper is downstairs. Slaymaker has traveled to Japan to study kimono fabrication. She joins influences in cheerful paintings that introduce mysterious characters. Artist Website.

A recent Slaymaker.

Upstairs: works on paper by Rebeca Raney, whose passion for paper making is infectious. 

Raney. Photo does not do justice. Visit her site: Artist Site

Too crowded to photograph works by Yuan Fang and Rhia Hurt, but in front near the entrance are  lovely, Klee-inspired watercolors by Erika Somogyi:  Artist Site.

Renee Riccardo writes, "Surface 8 opens at ARENA at Brooklyn Dermatology – 440 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn.

Surface 8: Yuan Fang, Rhia Hurt, Rebeca Raney, Jill Slaymaker and Erika Somogyi is the eighth in a series of exhibitions curated by Renée Riccardo at a contemporary art gallery that she has developed within a dermatology space called ARENA at Brooklyn Dermatology. There will be a reception for the public Friday, March 15th from 6 – 8 p.m. and the exhibition is on now view to the public for the next four months and a half months. Riccardo is continuing the mission of presenting new work by emerging artists that she had developed in her previous gallery, ARENA. " It is a beautiful mission.