Curb Appeal: Winter Sculpture Exhibit

West Harlem Art Fund, Nolan Park

Nolan Park - Nolan Park - Building 10B

Extend­ed through April

Out­door sculp­tur­al instal­la­tion fea­tur­ing work by Den­nis Red­moon Dar­k­eem, Zaq Lands­berg, Dario Mohr, Miguel Otero Fuentes, Kevin Quiles Bonil­la, Luke Schu­mach­er, Dianne Smith, Cody Umans, and Jaleeca R. Yan­cy. See below for a list of works on dis­play along with artist statements. 

Ances­tral Annu­al II by Dario Mohr and Cody Umans
​“Sanc­tu­ar­ies are rev­er­en­tial in nature, and often com­prise both art and object. I con­struct these expe­ri­ences ref­er­enc­ing the visu­al lan­guage of my for­mer Angli­can faith, as well as my bur­geon­ing under­stand­ing of the spir­i­tu­al prac­tices of my ances­tral her­itage from West Africa, and philoso­phies from around the world. Late­ly, this has includ­ed the jour­ney of recla­ma­tion of lost ances­try due to colo­nial­ism and slavery.”

Cir­cling Per­spec­tives by Dianne Smith
​“This instal­la­tion con­sist of an out­door cir­cu­lar wire sculp­ture sit­u­at­ed low to the ground. This project, titled Cir­cling Per­spec­tives, aims to explore the sym­bol­ism and artis­tic sig­nif­i­cance of cir­cles and wires in sculp­ture while engag­ing with the unique envi­ron­ment of Gov­er­nors Island.”

For cen­turies, and still… (antic­i­pat­ed com­ple­tion) by Kevin Quiles Bonil­la and Zaq Lands­berg
​“Think­ing of both colo­nial Puer­to Rican land­scapes, and the ubiq­ui­tous New York City con­struc­tion sites as thresh­olds, lim­bos and incom­plete envi­ron­ments, For cen­turies, and still… (antic­i­pat­ed com­ple­tion) recre­ates a guard tow­er (or gari­ta, in Span­ish) from the icon­ic colo­nial fortress­es of Old San Juan, built out of New York City con­struc­tion fenc­ing mate­r­i­al. Echo­ing the hasti­ly paint­ed green ply­wood walls, paint sprayed ​“Post No Bills’’ sten­cils, and every­day inter­ven­tions such as buffed out graf­fi­ti and com­mer­cial posters, these ele­ments rep­re­sent a New York City visu­al lan­guage, which cre­ates a visu­al­ly spe­cif­ic link to Puer­to Rico, its colo­nial lega­cy to the US, and the his­to­ry of migra­tion between both locations.”

Nature’s Flow and Direc­tion by Atu Ram
​“Self-stand­ing struc­ture with cir­cu­lar disc on top that will fea­ture a large com­pass show­ing the four direc­tions of the earth. From the cen­ter of the com­pass, 12 arch­es will project out­ward. The 12 curved arched poles rep­re­sent the months of the year. The cen­ter com­pass will be 4 ft high, the poles will project out 12 ft and the entire struc­ture will stand 6ft high. The over­all struc­ture will be 6ft high and 12 ft wide in cir­cum­fer­ence around the cen­ter struc­ture. The piece will sym­bol­ize the nat­ur­al curve and flow of the sea­sons through space and time that we all expe­ri­ence. Nature’s cos­mic clock will be por­trayed through a curved lens, con­nect­ing the ebb and flow of the universe.”

Spout by Luke Schu­mach­er
​“Spout is the the artist inter­pre­ta­tion of a water­spout tor­na­do and the flow­ing ener­gy of water being lift­ed and dropped back into the ocean. When the artist first moved to NYC in 2007, Brook­lyn saw the largest tor­na­do in its his­to­ry. Besides that amaz­ing and pow­er­ful force of nature that year, there were also many water­spouts which are tor­na­does that form over a body of water.”

“Thug Amer­i­ca” A Per­for­mance of For­give­ness by Den­nis Red­Moon Dark­en
“ ​‘Thug Amer­i­ca’ A Per­for­mance of For­give­ness is a col­lec­tion of 12 to 20 pho­tographs cap­tured across var­i­ous set­tings, includ­ing Gov­er­nors Island and sev­er­al oth­er res­i­den­cies I’ve had the priv­i­lege to be part of over the past two years. This series delves deep into the rich tapes­try of these loca­tions, weav­ing togeth­er ele­ments of his­to­ry, sto­ry­telling, and mythol­o­gy in the con­text of forgiveness. 

Through the lens of my cam­era, I invite view­ers to embark on a visu­al jour­ney that unearths the mul­ti­fac­eted aspects of for­give­ness. These pho­tographs not only chron­i­cle the his­tor­i­cal sig­nif­i­cance of these places but also draw con­nec­tions to the pro­found sto­ries and mytholo­gies asso­ci­at­ed with the con­cept of for­give­ness. One of the sig­nif­i­cant aspects of this col­lec­tion is its explo­ration of indige­nous and black his­to­ries intri­cate­ly inter­wo­ven with the land­scapes, events, and peo­ple of the island and beyond. The exhib­it is designed to immerse vis­i­tors in an inter­ac­tive expe­ri­ence, both inside and out­side. As you nav­i­gate through the exhib­it, you’ll find these pow­er­ful images dis­played on lawn signs that offer not just cap­ti­vat­ing visu­als but also nar­ra­tives, his­to­ries, and lin­guis­tic con­nec­tions that breathe life into the con­cept of forgiveness. 

Win­ter Per­for­mance of For­give­ness is not just a col­lec­tion of pho­tographs; it’s a thought-pro­vok­ing, emo­tion­al­ly charged explo­ration of the sto­ries, his­to­ry, and con­nec­tions that for­give­ness brings to the fore­front. It is a tes­ta­ment to the pow­er of art in evok­ing reflec­tion, under­stand­ing, and per­haps, even for­give­ness itself.”

Wrapped in Indi­go by Jaleeca R. Yan­cy (indoor instal­la­tion)
This is the artist’s largest indi­go instal­la­tion. The inte­ri­or of NP 10 (Nolan Park, Build­ing 10B) will be wrapped in indi­go fab­ric. The inspi­ra­tion for this project is the artist Chris­to who would wrap var­i­ous build­ings and sites around the world. Cul­tur­al­ly, indi­go is linked to both West Africans and African Amer­i­cans that were brought to the Unit­ed States. Indi­go became an impor­tant crop in Amer­i­ca. Dyed fab­ric would be shipped to North­ern states in Amer­i­ca and then shipped to the cloth­ing fac­to­ries in England.

XOXO by Miguel Otero Fuentes
XOXO is an open heart made of two crossed cir­cles. The con­cept was con­ceived dur­ing the 2020 lock­down and it is a sym­bol of con­nec­tion, uni­ty and love. A sculp­ture / per­for­mance instal­la­tion installed in an out­door area acces­si­ble to the gen­er­al pub­lic. The sculp­ture may be pro­grammed in col­lab­o­ra­tion with oth­er orga­ni­za­tions or artists as a stage for activ­i­ties engag­ing local com­mu­ni­ties. Its demount­able design facil­i­tates stor­age, trans­porta­tion and instal­la­tion of the sculp­ture almost any­where in the world.

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