BY TAMMY SCILEPPI
Doesn’t it seem as if life and
outside forces often get in the
way? If you can relate to that
feeling of utter frustration, you
should experience “Life Interrupted,”
an edgy, conversationsparking
and thought-provoking
photo exhibition focused
on lives drastically altered by
circumstance.
Curated by Long Island City
photo artist Orestes Gonzalez,
it’s now on view at LIC-A/The
Plaxall Gallery, 5-25 46th Ave. in
Long Island City through Sunday,
Feb. 16.
Some of the photographers
selected have appeared in Aperture,
Time Magazine, The New
York Times and The Washington
Post, among others. Other
Queens artists include Alain Licari,
Jaime Bautista and Susan
Saunders.
“It has been an ever-existing
condition of my photography
work to listen to stories of
people and their life journeys.
These stories have always filled
me with curiosity and have influenced
my way of photographing
the narratives that I find
important,” Gonzalez said in a
statement.
“One constant that I’ve
found is the ambiguity of fate
in people’s lives. No matter how
well-planned you try to live your
life, life always has other plans
for you. It is these disruptions
that our artists so brilliantly
interpret here. We invite you to
witness how people, for the most
part, maneuver these life interruptions
with strength, humor
and dignity.”
An amazing documentary
photographer based in the Rio
Grande Valley, Texas, Verónica
G Cárdenas was voted one of 30
top photojournalists for 2019 by
Time Magazine. Her project,
“La Ultima,” documents the last
days of a group of trans women
waiting in a makeshift shelter
in Tijuana, seeking asylum at
the San Ysidro Port of Entry in
California.
Susan Rosenberg Jones’
work centers on home and community.
What does it mean to be
home, and to whom do we feel
connected? Sadly, the artist’s
mostly tranquil life was interrupted
when after 32 years of
marriage, her first husband
passed away after a long illness.
Her series, “Second Time
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Around,” chronicles her new
partner’s daily “adventures.”
Queens-based artist Ann
Romero de Córdoba’s series,
“Motherhood,” reveals what
everyday life is like for a new
mom.
“After having my daughter,
I also soon realized how difficult
it was to leave my home to
make artwork. Most of my photographs
previously had been
about going outside myself to
make work, yet here I was confined
to a 900-square-foot apartment
in Queens,” Córdoba said
in a statement.
“Thus, I began to dramatize
the mundane moments of my
life with a baby inside my home.
I also realized that it wasn’t
pregnancy that was hard, as everyone
imagines, but the first 12
months afterward. This current
work aims to construct a narrative
about my inner life and
my new relationship with my
baby in those months. At times
mundane, and in many moments
magical, I found strength
and solace in the new life that I
watched grow before my eyes.”
“Long Island City Artists
is very pleased to have Orestes
Gonzalez back to curate his second
photography exhibition at
The Plaxall Gallery. Orestes is
an accomplished photographer
who is also a pillar of the LIC
community,” said gallery director
Norma Homberg. “Orestes
actively gives his time to enrich
LIC and the greater NYC community.”
The curator’s ongoing series,
titled “Disruption,” came about
from stories he was told during
his annual travels or ones he
has experienced by personally
knowing the subject. His stylized
images all accompany true
narratives of interrupted lives
and their corresponding hardships.
“As a curator, I am developing
opportunities for top quality
photo exhibits in the Queens
area, something that was historically
lacking for a long time,”
Gonzalez noted. “The Plaxall
Gallery has generously allowed
us to bring these types of exhibits
to the Queens art scene. We
hope to continue offering more
exposure to camera-based artists
from Queens and beyond in
the near future.”
Gonzalez’s works are in
several important collections,
including: The Museum of
Modern Art, The Metropolitan
Museum of Art and New York
City’s Mayor’s Office.
Art-lovers can visit the exhibition
on Thursdays from 6
to 10 p.m., as well as Saturdays
and Sundays, from noon to 5
p.m. For more information, visit
www.licartists.org.
Photo exhibition opens at Plaxall
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