ART OPENING: Toxic Gardens
Featuring works by Caroline Larsen, Christian Little, Jack Henry, Sarah Weber, Sarah Zapata
at Greenpoint Terminal Gallery
67 West St., Suite 320
Opening reception: Friday, July 21 (7pm-10pm)
July 21st – Aug. 25th
Curated by Brian Willmont & Alison Sirico
Greenpoint Terminal Gallery is pleased to present a group show evocative of the season, including work from five artists – Caroline Larsen, Christian Little, Jack Henry, Sarah Weber and Sarah Zapata. Entitled Toxic Gardens, the exhibition embodies traits of a secret garden—a space that is secluded, paradisiacal, entangled in foliage—abundant in layers and depth. The artists in the show are united by an interest to intermix materials and subjects not traditionally tied.
Caroline Larsen, Jack Henry, and Sarah Zapata are paragons of combining materials by innovative means. Larsen employs an atypical paint application, weaving together icing-thick strips of oil paint that grow into lush representations of plant-life; Henry vertically pours traditional art materials (like paint, cement, and resin) onto found objects (like decayed house plants) to create multi-textured capsules; Zapata weaves alien objects (like plastic feet) into overgrown rainbow fabric. Her work investigates cultural and gender identity while subtly including moments of fetish. The exhibition layers romantic narratives into imaginative dreamscapes. Virgin innocence is combatted by tempting curiosities. Christian Little’s paintings uncover quiet Eden-esque moments. If you look closely, Exibitionists 23 (Camo) reveals a peeping tom in the boscage. This verdant density is prevalent in Sarah Weber’s watercolors; she thickly layers brushstrokes, so they accumulate into tantalizing impressions of wild flora. The work provokes a desire to push back the layers to reveal what lies behind the leaves.