Something’s Missing: Visions and Voices of Loss Gallery Show

Something’s Missing: Visions and Voices of Loss 

Mar 24 2011 - 7:00pm - May 17 2011 - 7:00pm

New York University’s Bronfman Center Gallery is delighted to present Something’s Missing: Visions and Voices of Loss. Featuring a diverse selection of work by over 30 artists crossing cultures, sensibilities and generations, Something’s Missing: Visions and Voices of Loss explores the theme of loss from multiple perspectives.

Celebrated interdisciplinary artist Grimanesa Amorós responds to the scenes she witnessed on September 11, 2001 with a hauntingly beautiful drawing infused with familiar shapes falling down amidst clouds of dust. With infectious colors and fanciful images, renowned folk artist Malcah Zeldis pays homage to the lost lives of Amadou Diallo, Anne Frank, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Daniel Pearl. In stunningly crafted sculptures, multimedia artist Anique Taylor honors a range of women, beginning with Eve, whose lives were marked by loss.

Jewish American artist Fay Grajower addresses the transformative power of loss with a unique visual vocabulary fusing figurative elements within an impressionistic aura. Haitian native Francks Décéus paints hauntingly beautiful images, characterized by delicate hues and graceful rhythms, on the theme of migration and its inherent losses. In his deftly conceived portraits reminiscent of his outdoor mural work, Chilean native Nelson Rivas captures the loss of identity experienced by those crossing borders. The loss of aspirations is the theme of Jack DeMartino’s masterful paintings inspired by an inner city high school student’s daily routine.

Jerusalem-based photographer Leora Cheshin documents in photography and in writing four generations of tragic losses, along with remarkable triumphs, among members of her family. In a country marked by wars and uncertainty, Tel Aviv street artist Dede Confidential creates stencils and stickers encouraging his onlookers to “keep moving.”
Among others who share their visions and voices are: A1one, Athena Azevedo, Daya Bonnie Astor, Baser, Shayne Bovell, David Stanford Burr, Cyd Charisse Fulton, Cayla Lewis, Miguel Angel Lobaina, Joseph Makoviecki, Jason Mamarella, Mefisto, Guleraana Mir, Alice Mizrachi, Native, James P. Quinn, Moriah Ressler, Anuar Rosaldo, Lucas Ruggieri, Matthew Wheeler and David Zeldis.

Presented, too, for the first time in the United States are paintings created by Israeli children who had lost their homes in Gush Katif in the summer of 2005. Created during art therapy sessions sponsored by MAHUT, The Center for Preparation for Community Emergencies, the paintings reflect a range of feelings from despair to hope.
Also featured is artwork created in a therapeutic setting by teenage girls who had been victims of abuse in India. Under the guidance of Swanchetan, an organization that provides emotional support to survivors of violence, abuse and trauma, these girls moved from loss of dignity to recovery.

Curated by Lois Stavsky, Something’s Missing: Visions and Voices of Loss opens March 24 and continues through May 17. A reception will be held Thursday March 24 between 7-9pm. The Bronfman Center Gallery of the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life at NYU is located at 7 East 10th Street between 5th Avenue and University Place in New York City. Gallery hours are: Mon-Thu 8am-10pm, Fri 8am-4pm and Sun 9am-9pm. For further information contact Erica Frankel, Sr. Associate for Arts and Culture, at 212.998.4122 or Lois Stavsky at 917.562.8468.

*Top image courtesy of Dede Confidential in Tel Aviv (photographed by Lois Stavsky).