Hanging art by Shradha Kochhar, hand spun from Kala Cotton, a miracle crop native to India that sustains completely on seasonal rainfall.
I was strolling through the West Village on a sunny Sunday when I happened to go by Donna Karan’s Urban Zen Center on Greenwich Street. There was a sign outside the exhibit space next to the store that said “Exhibit closes today.” Of course that made me want to go in!
The exhibit was called Emerging Fibers, and showcased the Parsons School of DesignMFA Textiles 2021 Graduate Exhibit. One of the artists, Shradha Kochhar, gave me a tour of the exhibit and described the methods and meaning of the textile artworks. I was incredibly impressed with the complex, intricate, beautiful work. Many of the pieces expressed the inextricability of the personal, familial, and political.
Uyen Tran’s “Mother Shield”
This dress is made from a sustainable material called TômTex. It’s a biobased material made from mushroom or seashell waste and coffee grounds. Designer Uyen Tran aims to establish a complete system of viable, biodegradable materials with zero waste and zero pollution. I would definitely wear this dress!
Hongci Hu created this underwater world from a collection of biomimetic E-textile artworks. She says these soft-robotic-individuals are chatter of conscious thoughts, raising awareness of how beautiful nature is and what we can learn from it. Certainly her crocheted creatures delight and inspire the desire to protect our underwater landscapes. See Hongci Hu’s playlist for more about her work.
I was delighted by the creative outpouring of these fresh, hopeful souls who came to New York to develop their capacities to offer their gifts and vision to the world. Kudos to all of the graduates.
This month, I have been honored again to have my artwork accepted in an open exhibition at the Salmagundi Club. Last year, the photograph “Summer Piano in Washington Square Park” was part of a Village-themed exhibition co-sponsored by Village Preservation. I took the photo on my second trip to New York, in 2015, while I was having a mad crush on the city. The moment when I took the photo was also the birth of my Another New York Love Affair video art project on YouTube. The series is up to 53 videos now!
Karen Rempel, Tailor, 10″ x 10″ Framed
I took the photo currently on exhibit, “Tailor,” in May 2020, the day after the first major protests in New York in response to George Floyd’s murder. I was photographing the aftermath of the protests—burned police vehicles, graffiti, and broken windows—when I came across this whimsical display in the window of a Wash and Fold on University Place. My heart was pierced watching small business owners patch up their shattered storefronts. This miniature sculpture arrangement expressed a simpler, fairy-tale time, when mice came out at night to help the cobbler finish his work.
As I mentioned in my last post, I took a gallery walk on Madison Avenue in October. The Castelli Gallery had three Joseph Cornell paintings on display. A man working at the gallery showed me the backs of the artworks. Cornell had put art and found objects on the back of each frame. I was delighted at this secret treasure, which eludes all but the most curious viewers. This inspired me to do the same for my modest photo.
I haven’t done collage before, but I began collecting bits and pieces. The date for bringing my photo to the Salmagundi Club fell in the middle of my staycation weekend at the National Arts Club, so I brought the pieces with me, as well as all the supplies I thought I might need. The morning of November 7 dawned bright, and my room overlooked many windows of other creative New Yorkers who live across from Gramercy Park. I imagined each building was packed with artists and sculptors, and I was steeped in creative inspiration. After making coffee and checking on the New York Times election map (no decision yet), I brought out the makings and spread everything on the kitchen table.
The first piece was a beautiful watercolor painting of a pink and yellow-toned forest, from a chocolate wrapper my friend Lew gave me on my birthday. I had some “outtake” prints of my photo, from testing different types of paper, so I cut out a few bits from the photo—the sewing machine, the tape measures, and the woman doll’s head (with my own distorted reflection dimly seen). I had a postcard from my friend Sally’s recent birthday dinner at the Gramercy Tavern, and a wonderful zebra in a gold party hat cut from the birthday card my cousin Julie sent me from Germany.
I often think of the New York artists from the ’60s (Warhol, Rauchenberg, Stella, Lichtenstein, et al) when I slip on the shoes of artist, wondering how they felt as they prepared their art for exhibit, attending to the details of framing, wiring, and packing. I imagine my methodology is more feminine. I wrapped my 14 pieces for Shadow Play in pillow cases. Now here I was using birthday cards with a decidely pink tinge in my Cornell-inspired collage.
As I placed the pieces, trying different compositions, I needed a few more bits to fill it out. I turned to the copy of The Week laying on the table, and cut out the delightful squirrel dining at a mini picnic table. Suddenly I heard cheering, car horns honking, and bells ringing. I checked the NYT graphic on my phone, and Biden had surpassed 270 electoral college votes! Mad joy and euphoria spilled out around me, through me, and in texts with my cousin Julie in Germany and my sister Kim in Canada. New York was alive with celebration, and so were cities around the country. Half the world exhaled a profound sigh of relief. (The rub is in the other half, but let’s not dwell on that today.)
The cover of The Week had a signpost, with one pointing towards the current fake president, and the other pointing towards Biden. I cut out the sun shining through the clouds from the cover, and this was the last piece of the puzzle. I made a few final embellishments in silver ink, and one more mystery addition on the upper left corner of the frame. Ta da!
I love these moments of slipping into two dimensions and living an artist’s life. Then it’s back to the third dimension, lunch at Kubeh celebrating with friends, New York City alive again, for one brief day. Which is more real?
If you’re in New York, come to the Salmagundi Club and see the exhibit, November 10 to November 20.
Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Avenue at 12th Street. Open Tuesday-Friday 1-6 PM, Weekends 1-5 PM.
Some people think the cultural life in New York is over, because of the bans on live performances and movies. This is far from true. Galleries are open, from Whitney to the Met, and on a sunny, crisp October Saturday I had the extreme pleasure of going on the Madison Avenue Gallery Walk with my friend and neighbor Carol.
Our final stop was the Leila Heller Gallery. The works on display by the multi-talented Mia Fonssagrives were fun (robots!) and pleasant, especially a luminous translucent blue sculpture. But the treasure of the day was completely unexpected. I commented on a striking sculpture of elongated, twisted metal that was on the counter—part of their permanent collection—and the gallery manager, Alena Marajh, asked if I’d like to see another work by the sculptor. She led me into the back garden, where I was stricken by a majestic, alien being that seems to have descended from outer space.
Who would have suspected this beautiful alien visitor was living in a garden behind this tucked away gallery on East 76th Street? I am haunted by this beckoning into an unseen, magical world.
Sometimes it takes a martini. This espresso martini is the sublime ending to a pandemic-shattering brunch at Osteria 57, 57 West 10th Street.
July was one of the strangest months I’ve seen in NYC. The pandemic is “under control” but everyone is wearing masks. A necessary but bizarre and disturbing daily reality. The protests continue on. It’s been over two months since the first protest in New York, on May 30. Protestors are much more organized now. There has been a lot of legislative change and massive increase in public awareness of systemic racism, so the protestors have succeeded in their initial aims, but clearly the desire for real change has not been met yet.
Homeless man rests on church steps on West 10th Street.
Homelessness is a growing problem. An estimated 20% of New Yorkers are unemployed, and it’s uncertain whether the pandemic rent protection will continue much longer. Indeed, parts of the protection plan have ended. I am very concerned about what will happen as more New Yorkers lose their homes.
Homeless man sleeps on brownstone stoop. He is mentally ill and uses the stoop as his toilet. He blocks the passage of tenants into the building, and they literally have to step over him to enter or leave.
On the bright side, outdoor dining has taken over some New York streets, bringing a sense of unreality as people eat, drink, and be merry in the sunshine. Once seated at the table, the masks come off, and it seems like life is back to normal. I met with the brunch gang for the first time since March. Most of my friends have been in strict quarantine since the pandemic began. The company and decadently indulgent food and wine at Osteria 57 made us feel glad to be alive. The feast was capped with complementary canoli and the above-pictured espresso martinis. Almost worth waiting 4 months for.
Joyful hours with friends as we have our first meal together since March.
And in the most unusual July 4th celebration, the city shot off fireworks from the top of the Empire State Building. It was quite a symbol of our times to see the Empire exploding. A clever idea, of course, to allow a modest celebration that all New Yorkers could view, from all over the city, without crowding the streets as is the custom for July 4th firework viewing.
Moon over the rooftops of Manhattan on July 4th.
I feel a heavy dread in my heart, and it has been difficult to write anything for this blog, as I usually have something positive to share. As REM said so stirringly, it’s the end of the world as we know it, but I don’t feel fine.
Sun sets into New Jersey as I have a solo picnic by the Hudson River on July 4th. I reveled in the gooey, crispy tacos de pescado and a tart lime margarita from La Contenta Oeste on 6th Avenue. A moment of serenity as a man plays acoustic guitar on a nearby bench.
On top of the global and city-wide events, our building is mourning the loss of our beloved doorman Moss Kuqi, who died in June of a heart attack. He was a welcoming beacon of joy to many who live here, and I always felt uplifted by his warm greeting when I returned home. I miss him dearly. Blessings on your spirit, dear Moss.
We’ve all been missing the sounds of New York bustle. The streets of the city are eerily silent these days, as non-essential activities falter and we cross the road to avoid six feet of contact. If you need your fix of New York noise, from Coney Island to Times Square, check out this YouTube playlist of one-minute soundbites: Another New York Love Affair: Audio Meditations.
The bottom photo is a video still of “New York Love Affair #11 – Times Square Busker.” The top photo is the same shot of the street scene today, with the US Armed Forces Recruiting Station in the background.
The emptiness in Times Square is enough to make a person cry. Though many of my New York friends are starting to adjust to the empty streets and enjoy the spaciousness.
With “The Pause” ending soon as New York began Phase One of re-opening, we’d better take the opportunity to visit all the spots that are usually hopping busy, while we still have a chance! Personally, I can’t wait for the new improved al fresco dining experience that will be taking over the streets of New York.
Note: Three months later, CVS still has empty shelves where the toilet paper used to be. A new shipment comes in once a week and is immediately snapped up.
Artist Karen Rempel at Shadow Play exhibit opening reception at Revelation Gallery. Photo by Dusty Berke.
What is the difference between the substance and its shape? Is it an absence of light, a reflection of light? The shadow seems to reveal new potentials for the object. New possibilities, alternate realities. A hint of magic, hidden within the ordinary.
The Heart Sutra in Buddhism includes the statement “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.” A shadow is empty, yet it has form. Perhaps a single shadow or pixel is a doorway into experiencing deep universal truths. What happens when you blow up a pixel? What is inside it?
The tiny images invite the viewer to step close and immerse in the feeling-world of the different possible manifestations of the form.
The creation of this series was a playful act, form arising spontaneously from emptiness, yet never really existing. The shifting colour tones and emphases on different elements of the image evoke different moods, from somber to playful to compelling. From light and shadow waves to eye, electrons, neural circuits, to pixels and bytes to dots of ink on paper, the final result is a tiny form, reflecting the inconsequential temporariness and changing insubstantiality of a shadow on a living-room wall.
about the artwork
Shadow Play is a series of 14 miniatures exploring the connections between shadow, familiar forms, color, and emotion. The series was first exhibited at the Havana Art Gallery in Vancouver, BC. The second phase of the art project took stillness into motion, adding a multiplicity of personal responses to the art, and resulted in a video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xC4AK5GMYw). The third phase of the project brings synesthesia to the experience, adding taste pairings and the music dimension of original compositions in response to the art. The fourth phase of the project is you!
Alexandra Kargin, George Sanders, Karen Rempel, Shawn Curran, Jeffrey Reid, and Tinka Harvard at the opening reception of Shadow Play at Revelation Gallery. Photo by Dusty Berke.
synesthesia
Synesthesia is an interplay of the five senses. Music can evoke color, or a color might conjure flavor. Some synesthetes experience an intermingling of the five senses with letters of the alphabet, numbers, words, days of the week, and time itself. In this exhibit, the chosen flavors are mostly sweet, evoking the love essence in the heart center.
sally’s whipped cream
Whipped cream was popular in the 16th century in England and Europe, and was first prepared by whipping cream with willow or rush branches. It is often sweetened with sugar. Whipped cream (crème fouettée) was first mentioned in the 1820 edition of Viard’s Cuisinier Impérial. Sally’s whipped cream is a secret recipe developed in the mid-1900’s and invokes the flavor of New York cheesecake.
about the artist
Karen Rempel began taking pictures in her teens and first published her photography in 2000. When she sees the magic, weirdness, and beauty in simple moments, she is inspired to share the wonder with others. She captures images and expresses her vision through digital photography and art, video blogs, and photojournalism. She is also an award-winning writer, and has written and published in many genres. She has a monthly column, “Karen’s Quirky Style,” in WestView News, the Voice of the West Village. View her work here and watch her “Another New York Love Affair – Audio Meditations” art project on YouTube.
review
Canine Cali reviewed the exhibit for WestView News. She gave the show 3 very enthusiastic puppy paws. Woof!
see the art, hear the music
Visit the exhibit at Revelation Gallery until March 28. Gallery hours: Mon-Wed, 10 AM-3 PM, Thursdays 1 PM-3 PM. 224 Waverly Place (at 7th Avenue and West 11th Street).
Hear the AEON Ensemble perform at the gallery on Thursday, March 12, 7 PM. The AEON Ensemble commences its monthly synesthetic concert series with works by Hildegard von Bingen, Meredith Monk, David Lang, and music inspired by the Shadow Play artwork. The artist Karen Rempel will be reading a poem about Shadow Play during the performance. Get tickets.
get social
Please share your photos on Instagram:
@stjvny
@karensquirkystyle
#revelationgallery
@hannahreimannmusic
@aeonensemble
When you visit, the artist would love to meet you there and get a photo of you with your favorite piece. Text Karen at 347-362-5677.
As I mentioned in my January post, my art exhibit is opening at the Revelation Gallery, at St. John’s in the Village, on March 3. Fr. Graeme Napier had the brilliant idea of bringing a synesthesia component to the opening reception by inviting musicians to perform 1-minute compositions for each of the 14 works of art. I love this idea! I often see color when I listen to jazz music, and I think it will be wonderful to enhance the experience of the artwork by adding the element of music.
Magical Musicians
Quite magically, musicians appeared and volunteered to perform for free, anchored by my dear friend and beautiful singer-pianist-composer, Hannah Reimann. What had seemed like an unimaginable leap into a new realm of artistic expression happened almost effortlessly, thanks to Hannah’s generous offering of her time and connections. I lined up musicians for each piece, and then made arrangements to rent a projector so I could display a large form of the miniature artwork on the wall behind the piano for people to see while the musicians played.
How Does It Taste?
This got me thinking about the other senses—taste, smell, and touch. I wasn’t sure I’d have enough time to make arrangements for everything by March 3, but it seemed like everything was coming together beautifully, including printing a new piece to include in the exhibit, “Bruce’s Handbag”! (See the January post.)
So I looked at the list of artwork I had prepared for the musicians, and began sensing into the flavors of each piece. I came up with some ideas of what the images evoked, and then began phoning around the neighborhood to source the food and drink. Of course I had to cover the basics as well—wine and cheese, water! After assigning those to the appropriate pieces, there was room to really play. This is the result:
longing
Hannah piano
Banana pudding
night
Steve piano
Licorice allsorts
paris
Steve
Cheese!
mindfuck
Aeon harp & percussion
Red wine
psyche
Aeon 3 voices
Electric Kool-Aid
1820
Hannah
Whipped cream
moonscape
Hannah
Silver star candies
clarity
Steve
Water
rain
Steve
Rootbeer
bliss
Aeon 3 voices + strings
Jelly bellies
nostalgia
Hannah & Steve duet
Blueberry port
oddity
Steve
Colored marshmallows
fade
Hannah
White wine
l’ouevre
Hannah
Crème brûlée mini cupcakes
I hope you’ll be able to make it to the opening to hear, taste, and see for yourself.
P.S. There will be surprising opportunities for the senses of touch and smell, as well!
The music consists of 14 one-minute original compositions inspired by the Shadow Play artwork series. The music performance will begin at 8 PM.
About the Artwork
Shadow Play is a series of 14 miniatures exploring the connections between shadow, familiar forms, color, and emotion. The series was first exhibited at the Havana Art Gallery in Vancouver, BC. The second phase of the art project took stillness into motion, adding a multiplicity of personal responses to the art, and resulted in this video. The third phase of the project brings the music dimension of 14 original compositions in response to the art. The fourth phase of the project is you!
Consent to Be Photographed
The event will be photographed and filmed. By attending you grant permission for your photograph to be used in the fourth iteration of the art project.
Further Contemplation
What is the difference between substance and its shape? Is it an absence of light, a reflection of light? The shadow seems to reveal new potentials for the object. New possibilities, alternate realities. A hint of magic, hidden within the ordinary.
The Heart Sutra in Buddhism includes the statement “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.” A shadow is empty, yet it has form. Perhaps a single shadow is a doorway into understanding deep universal truths.
Yet the creation of this series was a playful act, form arising spontaneously from emptiness, yet never really existing. From light and shadow waves to eye, electrons, neural circuits, to pixels and bytes to dots of ink on paper, the final result is a tiny form, reflecting the inconsequential temporariness and changing insubstantiality of a shadow on a living-room wall.
Exhibition Dates
The artwork will be on display in the Revelation Gallery from March 3 to 28. Gallery hours are:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 10 AM to 3 PM
About the Performers
An exciting lineup of talented musicians will be performing original compositions and improvisations in response to each piece of art. Each performance will be one minute long.
Three time Emmy-nominated Steve Sandberg, piano virtuoso and composer
The electrifying Aeon Ensemble, an NYC-based collective specializing in contemporary concert music; the Aeon Ensemble will also be performing a synaesthetic concert in response to the artwork on March 12 at 7 PM
