“Green”

Curated by Carol Zakaluk

October 17 - October 25, 2008

Opening Reception:  Friday, October 17, 5 - 9pm

Authors’ Talk:  Wednesday,  October 22, 5 - 8pm

Gallery Hours:  Daily, noon - 6pm

Haven Arts is pleased to announce “Green,” a two-part exhibition.  In Gallery I, we will showcase recent projects of organizations and individuals who strive to make both New York City and the nation a greener and more self-sustaining place.  In Gallery II, we will present the work of dedicated eco-artists, and artists who use recycled materials and pigments made from earth.

Exhibiting in Gallery I, the organizations engaged in greening their communities are: Alliance For Climate Protection (posters and television ads from their national campaign), Friends of Brook Park (Mott Haven Tree Project, community garden work, and more), South Bronx CSA Program (growers and consumers providing mutual support), South Bronx Food Coop (providing affordable, nutritious, organic food), and The Bronx TNR Group (Trap, Neuter, and Return of feral cats as humane solution to too many strays).  Also on display are sustainable design proposals for a new Willis Avenue, Bronx corridor, and an air-filtration system for the Major Deegan Expressway by five students from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.  Architect Juan Carlos Taino contributes green design proposals for the Melrose neighborhood in the Bronx.

Eco-art and earth-friendly art fills Gallery II.  Environmental art as seen in this exhibition interprets nature, informs us about nature’s processes, and stridently calls attention to environmental problems we face.  It re-envisions our relationship to nature, proposing new ways for us to co-exist with our environment.  Some attempts to reclaim or remediate damaged environments, restoring ecosystems in artistic ways.  One piece, created by an artist from South India, reverentially pays homage to the Earth as mother goddess.  Included is work in sculpture, photography, painting, collage, and fiber art by participating artists Bob Braine, Jacob Bluestone, Gian Pietro Carriozza, Janet Culbertson, Nickolas Lascot,  MAriska, Walter Mason, Catherine Blackwell-Pena, Sarah Nicole Phillips, and Ustya Tarnawsky.

Highlights from “Green” in Gallery II include--

Catherine Blackwell-Pena’s participatory sculpture, where the viewer steps atop a 24” cement square to view a photo of a man on a hillside, standing on a similar square.  The piece invites the viewer to heighten their environmental awareness as they assume a new vantage point both physically and mentally in a re-examination of the clash of culture and nature.

Walter Mason contributes elegantly beautiful, transient “land art” (captured with four photographs) for which he meticulously placed 238 dewdrops on Autumn leaves, and balanced over 80 pebbles on sticks, on sand, and on concrete.

Bob Braine offers eight prints, images taken of North Brother Island, just off the Bronx, depicting nature’s reclamation of the abandoned Riverside Hospital, the contagious disease sanitarium and later, psychiatric hospital.  Braine additionally sent up a weather balloon with attached camera to capture the resurgence of nature through the derelict structures, with infrared film.

Nickolas Lascot’s 13’ crocodile sculpture is a beast to be reckoned with, made from recycled newspaper, cardboard, home-made glue, various construction materials, and paint.   

Authors’ Talk

On Wednesday, October 22nd from 5 to 8pm, two nationally acclaimed environmentally-minded authors will speak about their work.  Lori Bongiorno (author of "Green, Greener, Greenest: A Practical Guide to Making Eco-Smart Choices a Part of Your Life") and Eugene Linden (author of eight books, including "The Winds of Change: Climate, Weather, and the Destruction of Civilizations" and "The Future is in Plain Sight: Nine Clues to the Coming Instability").  After speaking, Ms. Bongiorno and Mr. Linden will answer questions from the audience.  Please see flyer (enclosed) for more info.

Images accompanying this press release:

-- Nickolas Lascot’s “...’satiable curiosity “  Recycled newspaper, Cardboard, Home-made Glue, Various Construction Materials, Paint  162” x 48” x 32”    2007

-- Walter Mason’s “Stones, Sticks, Water”  Four photographs of “land art”, total width 5’

-- Catherine Blackwell-Pena’s “Viewer of Views” (Installation view)  Large Format Digital Print 40” x 60”, Concrete Slab 24” x 24”