48 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • AUGUST 19, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
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Outdoor art exhibit returns to Queens Botanical Garden
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
For the second year at Queens
Botanical Garden, AnkhLave
Arts Alliance Inc., a nonprofit
that works to provide inclusive
representation of people of
diverse ethnicities within the
contemporary art conversation,
has selected fi ve local artists to
create site specifi c art installations
within the grounds of the
garden.
Th e 3rd Annual AnkhLave
Garden Project 2021 is currently
on display in QBG until Tuesday,
Sept. 21, featuring the works
of fi ve Queens-based Black,
Indigenous and People of Color
(BIPOC) artists who represent
and refl ect the garden’s diverse
audience.
Th is project is made possible
by the Queens Council on the
Arts with public funds from the
New York City Department of
Cultural Aff airs in partnership
with the New York City Council.
Additional support was provided
by Can’d Aid.
Dario Mohr, CEO and director
of AnkhLave Arts Alliance Inc.,
who has lived in Flushing and
spent a lot of time at the garden,
said it was his initial inclination
to bring their second show —
and now their third project —
to QBG.
“Similar to last year, we wanted
to present the artist’s work to
the public mainly at the garden,”
Mohr said. “It’s an exciting thing
to bring artists to this space. A
lot of people may not spend a lot
of time engaging with art, but it’s
a great opportunity for them to
be exposed to it, in a way that’s
comfortable for them.”
Last year, AnkhLave Arts
Alliance Inc. installed five
art installations for their second
exhibition at the garden.
According to Mohr, while there
was troubleshooting and uncertainty
due to COVID, he was
thankful that QBG had reopened
its doors to the public last summer
and people were able to see
the artwork and engage with it.
“Th is show is three-and-a-half
months — it’s a month longer
than last year’s show and a lot of
people would be able to see the
work,” Mohr said. Th e work has
received a lot of buzz on social
media and we are glad to be presenting
our fi ve artists who have
worked really hard this year.”
Th e AnkhLave Garden Project
2021 artists include the following:
Christy Bencosme:
“Llegó La Luz”
Location: Forest Explorers
Triangle
Bencosme is a Dominican-
American artist from Jamaica,
Queens. She received her BFA in
fi ne arts at Th e School of Visual
Arts in 2017 and is currently
an MFA candidate at Queens
College with a concentration in
social practice art.
“Llegó La Luz” is a refl ection of
being a child of immigrants and
coming from generational poverty.
Translating to “the light has
arrived,” the title echoes a phrase
exclaimed in the Dominican
Republic once electricity returns
from the commonly experienced
power outages. Honoring working
class immigrants, including
the artist’s parents, this sculpture
can be activated by viewers
through touch, sound and sight.
Th rough this activation, children
of immigrants are reminded that
their plight of resilience embodies
the light manifested by their
ancestors and the essentiality of
immigrant families in Queens
and beyond.
Dennis Redmoon
Darkeem: “Keepers
of the Four Winds”
and the “Land
Acknowledgement Flag”
Location: Meadow, Green
Trailers
Darkeem is inspired to create
artwork based on the familiar
objects that he views through
his daily travels. His artwork has
evolved into critiquing social
and political issues aff ecting U.S.
and indigenous Native American
culture. Much of his art has
focused on issues like institutionalized
racism and classism,
jarring stereotypes and displacement
of people of color.
“Keepers of the Four Winds:”
Th ese four sculptures are painted
in the medicine wheel colors,
white, red, black and yellow,
to honor the elements of nature
and the colors of mankind.
Th e symbolisms in these sculptures
are connected to symbols
found in indigenous mounds in
Native communities along the
East Coast and Central America.
Th ese symbols tell stories of
what was present at that time.
“Land Acknowledgement
Flag:” “Cultural decolonization
refers to a process where a colonized
people reclaim their traditional
culture, redefi ne themselves
as a people and reassert
their distinct identity.’’ Th ese
fl ags were created to acknowledge
the traditional territories of
Indigenous tribes of Brooklyn,
Queens and Long Island. Th e
goal of the land acknowledgment
fl ag is to make sure these tribes
are not forgotten, land treaties
are honored and to inspire
Indigenous people to govern
their own history and narratives.
Displaying this work at Queen
Botanical Garden allows visitors
to engage and explore new
understanding of survival, ownership,
home and identity, along
with creating awareness around
social issues aff ecting Indigenous
and other communities of color.
(Note: Only one fl ag of three is
currently installed. Additional
fl ags will be hung the second week
of July.)
Graciela Cassel:
“Kaleidoscope”
Location: Forest Explorers
Triangle
Cassel was born in Argentina
and currently lives in New York.
She earned an MA in studio art
from New York University and
received an MFA from School of
Visual Arts.
A surprising, multiplied reality
will awaken dreams of new possibilities
in viewers when they
look through “Kaleidoscope.”
Th e viewer will discover different
dimensions amongst the
trees, in the sky and in their
own image within the Queens
Botanical Garden landscape.
Moses Ros: “Fruits
of the Spirit”
Location: Oak Allée
Ros is a Dominican-American
sculptor, painter and printmaker.
Highly infl uenced by his direct
contact with Caribbean culture
and New York City street culture,
his creative sources are usually
gathered from urban pop
culture, graphic abstract symbolism
and my living memories.
“Fruits of the Spirit” is an
installation consisting of three
art banners along the Garden’s
Oak Allée. Inspired by love, joy
and peace, they create a graceful
and festive atmosphere.
Renluka Maharaj:
“Mast/ Heads”
Location: Crabapple Grove
Maharaj works within photography,
installation, research and
travel. Her work, which is oft en
autobiographical, investigates
themes of history, memory, religion
and gender and how they
inform identity. Maharaj was
born in Trinidad and Tobago
and works between Colorado,
New York City and Trinidad.
She attended the University of
Colorado, Boulder, where she
earned her BFA in 2015 and
her MFA at Th e Art Institute of
Chicago in 2017.
Photo courtesy of AnkhLave Arts Alliance Inc.
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