New photo exhibit in LIC focuses on urban life
BY TAMMY SCILEPPI
What’s this world coming
to? Anyone watching the news
and reading those depressing
headlines can’t help but feel
a twinge of hopelessness
and despair.
Sometimes, city landscapes
reveal disturbing areas of
urban decay, symbolizing that
almost-universal sentiment.
Telling stories of the past,
cities are the hope and promise
of our future. But tragically,
many once-beautiful places in
America and elsewhere have
succumbed to the ills of our
modern-day society: economic
distress, homelessness,
displacement, rampant drug
use, gentrification, negligent
landlords and even greed. A
tale of two cities more aptly
describes the plight of some
New York City neighborhoods,
where rising rents and shiny
new buildings co-exist (not
always peacefully) with
growing urban decay and a
lack of affordable housing.
“As in life itself, we
acknowledge the good with
the bad, the reality with
the fantasy. This balance
worked out well in creating
a collection of images that
reflect the turbulent and
inspiring lives most people
lead in our cities, at this
moment,” said co-curator
Orestes Gonzalez, who was
involved in choosing diverse
works for “Urban Dance: A
(juried) Photo Exhibition,”
now on view at Plaxall Gallery
(5-25 46th Ave. in LIC) through
July 21.
Thanks to a collaboration
between the gallery and Long
Island City Artists (LiC-A),
who both made this eyeopening
show possible, you
can experience a must-see
collection of powerful images
– taken by 39 talented artists –
that capture the contemporary
urban experience of cities
worldwide: in the U.S. and
NYC (especially Queens),
as well as in France, China,
Israel, Senegal, Turkey, Cuba
and Argentina.
Art lovers will also find
a little levity in the mostly
somber mix, with more classic,
humorous images of city life:
street fairs, shop windows,
people interacting with each
other, or day-dreaming,
A photo by Corinne Spector Photos courtesy of the artists
posing for portraits, having a
taco at the market, etc.
Co-curator John A.
Bennette reflected on the
exhibit’s meaning. “Jagged
edge, on point, twisting,
turning, leaping, gliding.
Sleek, recumbent, noisy,
silent: I think of cities as
living organisms with
movement, songs and
rhythm, all set against
robust geometries and everevolving
transformations,”
he explained. “I can visualize
not only the noisy cacophony
of people and engines, but also
the quiet, dark moments of
reflection as the lights soften
and memories fade.”
“Urban Dance” features 10
Queens-based photographers
and local pics depict Jackson
Heights, Astoria, Woodside
and Long Island City street
scenes. Gotham-based photos,
like Paul Kessel’s piece,
“Saturday,” capture a moment
in the orthodox community of
Williamsburg, while Corinne
Spector’s “Tomorrow Will
Be Different,” reveals a quiet
yet disorienting scene in
Casablanca, Morocco. And
Arien Chang’s image of a
flooded playground in Havana,
Cuba, is a metaphor for a
strained and broken system,
according to Gonzalez.
Local creative Hazel
Hankin’s “Banana” shares a
lighthearted street scene in
Jackson Heights, while David
Obermeyer’s “Gary Indiana”
takes you into the ruined
interiors of a building.
If you take a gander at
Johanna Warwick’s “Under
the I-10,” you’ll discover
how the government cut
through a black residential
neighborhood in Baton
Rouge, Louisiana, in the
name of progress. And New
Yorkers will most likely
appreciate the meaning
behind Isabelle Scheider’s
“Future Present,” which
signals how myriad problems
caused by gentrification can
transform once thriving hubs
like Manhattan.
Read more at QNS.com
Tues. & Wed. $1895
1 1/4 lb. Lobster, Clams, and Mussels
Served with Corn on the Cob
and Baked Potato
with Purchase of 2 Cocktails,
2 Wines or 2 Beers
34 TIMESLEDGER, JULY 5-11, 2019 QNS.COM
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