Since its establishment in 1666, the Four Corners intersection, once dubbed the busiest intersection in the United States, has pumped innovation throughout Newark, New Jersey.
On Friday, April 12th, the Dance Theatre of Harlem hosted their most anticipated event of the year, The Vision Gala.
A provocative blend of humor and history that challenges and delights in equal measure.
This year’s gala theme, “Doll Test”, is inspired from the 1947 photos taken by Gordon Parks from the trailblazing experiment in the United States.
The dance company hosted their annual spirit gala at a new venue and stage: Jazz at Lincoln Center in NYC.
Jennifer Elster has always been a deeply reactionary artist. Whether it is rebutting (or accepting) seismic shifts in the culture or simply responding to a question posed or a happening taking place, her multi-modal replies are always candid and fizzling with raw, determined energy.
Elster has always consumed with world as anyone else does- receiving and interpreting on an on-going basis. But rather than letting things happen to her passively, she posits and responds urgently and instinctually. Stepping into the Take Heed show, now on view at The Development Gallery in Tribeca, one feels as if they’re stepping outside for the first time after an apocalyptic event.
Crystalizing the flurry of cultural norms that have been introduced in the past two years, Take Heed is the first honest retrospective of work that was created or heavily reconsidered under the shadow of an on-going global pandemic and an affronting war.
Taking shape amid the soaring columns and roiled tin roof and wood of the Tribeca space, the show feels like a shell of what once was and a space being repopulated once more. The dust has settled but hasn’t yet been swept away. A mount of KN95 masks, a signature element of the deepest valley of the COVID-19 pandemic, are positioned on a pedestal, taking on the performance of a future relic. In fact, preservation seems particularly important to Elster in this show, with many works being encased in plexiglas or wood.
A series of large-scale self-portraits, originally executed in 2016, featured Elster in military fatigues and gas masks. The works, faraway and innocuous at the time of their execution, are revisited within the collective gasp and gaze of an egregious war taking place in Ukraine. Have no doubt, conflict rages globally. But distance can breed unfounded comfort.
Elster’s instinctual quips, done in chiseled marker, are not flailing in conspiracy, but are bright-red warning lights. “Warhead” (2022) is one of the most delicate and thought-provoking pieces the artist has completed in recent memory, adding to an ongoing series of “head” works that address, in the most abstract way, the awe-inspiring dynamism of the human condition.
When Is It Enough?, 2015, 2020, Acrylic on paper with hands and no body, 44.5h x 44w x 44d inches
Unlike previous shows, Elster is no longer angry. She’s done defending herself. Now she is a communicator. Her prophesies have come true and she’s been prepared for a long while. Now she invites the broader world to involve themselves. Of course, there is humor. There is realism. Elster remains as buoyant as ever, motivated by- believe it or not- absolute optimism.
Bowie as the character of Ramona in a photograph taken by John Scarisbrick for Bowie’s 1995 1. Outside album. Styled by Jennifer Elster
Viewers will relish in the opportunity to revisit one of Elster’s most remarkable achievements: the styling of the late David Bowie. In a new installation, the image, which is celebrated for its deeply collaborative and improvised instant, enters into a new territory of multi-dimensional bliss by way of cut web around the enlarged image. “Bowie and I went very deep. I wanted to pay tribute and incorporate but not overwhelm the show.”Elster’s work are available to purchase for the first time at ChannelELSTER.com/art-gallery and on Artsy. Most of the show has sold, but there are collectible Limited Editions Gaeclee canvases and Digital C-Prints that will be available upon proposal.
Take Heed will be on exhibition through January 5, 2023 at The Development Gallery in Tribeca, NYC.
Shop the J. Elster collection here.
The eminent Alvin Ailey Dance Theater company hosts a prodigious opening night gala to kick off a four-week holiday season celebration.
Casita Maria’s Fiesta! was held for the first time since the pandemic in New York City’s Plaza Hotel on October 11. The event honored Latino groundbreakers such as Puerto Rican Postwar and Contemporary artist Tony Bechara, chairman of the NBCUniversal New Group, Cesar Conde; and immigration rights leader Gaby Pacheco.
“Since 1934, Casita Maria has served as a beacon of hope and safe haven for thousands of families to celebrate the unique, powerful, and rich culture of the Bronx and New York City communities of color,” Pacheco asserted while doting on the organization that taught her ballet in the early 2000s. Since, Pacheco has been advocating on behalf of immigrants and gained national recognition for her work to pass the DREAM Act; which works to grant immigrant students legal status and eventually, U.S. citizenship.
As the son of immigrants, Cesar Conde took to the stage with gratitude for both Casita Maria and his parents. “They always taught us, the one thing in life that no one could ever take away from you is your education,” Conde recalled. “The work that Casita Maria is doing in educating and empowering our youth and opening up all those opportunities in life for them, that is the work that is priceless,” he marveled. Tony Bechara expressed the same sentiment noting, “I want to thank Casita Maria because many, many years ago, waves of compatriots of mine from Puerto Rico were arriving here in New York looking for a better life. New York being the beacon of hope. There was no one to help them. Casita Maria filled that void. They were the first to do it.”
Located in the South Bronx, Casita Maria has taken on the responsibility of exposing Latino youth to the opportunities many of their parents and grandparents sought via immigration. Fostering a community of innovative young professionals for decades, Casita Maria celebrates their consistent wins with Fiesta! The fundraiser enables the organization to continue serving over 1,000 students every year while being an anchor within the community.
To learn more about Casita Maria and for ways to get involved, visit https://www.casitamaria.org
New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts is only getting bigger and better. On April 8, Tisch held a gala at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn to raise money for the school’s future which includes an expansion that will be opening in Brooklyn in the fall, as well as two additional curricular degrees that will bring advanced field work to classrooms.
A Tale of Love and Darkness features Hebrew language and took eight years to write and develop. Read our review of the film below.
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