| Broadway Gallery’s resident curator, Tchera Niyego, is not a timid creature. Her passionate ideas lend color to a room, spark energy into a conversation and juxtapose artists in almost adventurous ways. In her 16th curated show, Niyego presents “Dreamy Techniques.” With such a title, one might feel light petals from freshly shaken flora as you lie upon the grass below a tree on a spring afternoon dreaming of no gravity and liquid skies. But, no, this is not a show that is all feathery and light for, as I mentioned earlier, Niyego is too much of a tiger for such easy concepts. The central inspiration for this show is rooted in the teachings… |  |
Dreamweavers – Steven Psyllos
Broadway Gallery’s resident curator, Tchera Niyego, is not a timid creature. Her passionate ideas lend color to a room, spark energy into a conversation and juxtapose artists in almost adventurous ways. In her 16th curated show, Niyego presents “Dreamy Techniques.” With such a title, one might feel light petals from freshly shaken flora as you lie upon the grass below a tree on a spring afternoon dreaming of no gravity and liquid skies. But, no, this is not a show that is all feathery and light for, as I mentioned earlier, Niyego is too much of a tiger for such easy concepts.
The central inspiration for this show is rooted in the teachings of Dov Chaim Ben Yosef. Niyego paraphrases the mystic’s words in the show’s press release: “Even the lowest of the low amongst us, murderers, rapists of children, men and women of violence and terror, do what they do in pursuit of happiness… What is any technique good for then? For painting and sculpting? For sewing so we can get dressed? … Can we survive without the sort of motivation and understanding of life as a dream? Is that sort of survival more of living or of dying?”
The opening reception was a grand event utilizing both the main space and project room for “Dreamy” (love when they do that!), packing a capacity crowd into the gallery, which often happens when you have Yoko Ono—that’s right, Yoko Ono—in the lineup. The curator’s thoughts on the evening’s attendance: “It’s great when there are just the right amount of people and conversations and art, but not an overwhelming crowd so that one cannot even see the works. Tonight, it was just a bit too many people for me.” Considering her level of show these days, she’d better get used to the company.
The group of artists included the aforementioned Ms. Beatles Killer, Yoko Ono with her A Box of Smile The work was a modest presentation sizing in at 2” by 2” by 2”. The tiny black Plexiglas box rested on a pedestal like a talisman waiting to be aroused. Niyego opened the box for me and I did indeed find a secret smile in that tiny space. Can’t tell you what it is or it’ll ruin the fun.
Next up is the crowd favorite, Jason Douglas Griffin. Niyego has included the artist in several group shows in the past, and he has attracted a growing number of loyal visitors, all present to view what this young artist will do next. Griffin is a young painter whose brush knows a certain freedom that most artists envy. The difference is pure talent. Griffin presents A Beautiful Wife, a truly impressive composition that blends classic portraiture with a contemporary, if not urban, sensibility. As always, it is confident and yet not brash, the palette is rich without being overbearing. Griffin is attuned to something and knows when to step aside and allow for the magic. I am wondering how intimate the artist is with this dreamgirl, if she represents the future to him, a peaceful embrace that will assure him all his work was not in vain.
Artist Nadiya Jinnah brings the technique of thick impasto to a whole new level with her rainbow-colored series of works swirling with the masterful motions of the artist’s wrists. Overflowing with color-infused depth and thickness, Jinnah would seem to have surpassed even the likes of Van Gogh in her heavy layering of paint and color toward a finished product at once abstract, figurative and sublime in overall affect. I’ll look forward to her solo show right here at Broadway Gallery this November.
Ay_e Küçük is a painter that also leans towards free expression, creating abstract graffiti-inspired compositions. G-Spot is like a wash of color, the free-falling dream you never fear or want to awake from. It is like a physical sensation that never peaks but only amplifies, spinning the eyes back in absolute ecstasy.
Hope Kelly paints animals that seem to have momentarily taken on human characteristics. For “Dreamy Techniques” she brings four small pieces that are bright and bizarre, sarcastic and sincere. Woman with a Red Hat evokes that aunt you’d only see on holidays but would still shy away from because her eternal grimace scared you in your youth. Interaction is that friend who timidly walks through his days and cowers from actual human connection, but in this moment is somewhat comfortable and truly interested in escape.
Blasting off on Heide-Marie Kull’s digitally manipulated images is a new way to dream. Taking photographs of her oil on canvas work only to alter them and add poetic elements of the final frontier, Kull creates layers of personal symbolism and adventure. Astronaut swirls the viewer into a no-gravity headspin while reaching to connect with that distant part of themselves that dreams to be far away from the mundane, to escape into the heavens within. Spaceship at Orbit reminds us of our fragile vessel, what we believe to be so solid and secure, which in actuality is merely floating in the chaos. Even while safely in orbit, at any moment, the currents of the unknown can throw us off into some other stream, dislodging the logic of mathematics.
Marie Jose-Vielot leans towards a more earthy visage of dreams. The artist uses shells to create flora, evoking wandering daydreams of serenity. Think is a small-framed question mark made of the natural curve of placed seashells. The piece is open for the viewer to interpret as she pleases, as its openness allows for new paths to exploration. Are you looking for answers in this life, or setting off on a new journey with each day? Rose Bowl is a circular sculpture of rose-hued shells that almost seems alive, stolen from the jungle floor. One cares to touch, see if the delicate petals react, reaching to envelop the fingertip.
Tom O’Hara works in a similar vein, using hide, wood, paper mache and cloth to create imaginative sculptural pieces. His Sun God evokes the feel of a living alien body that births suns from its mouth and blossoms once every million or so years, only to wither away and lull into pregnancy again, dreaming of what other universe it will create.
The final sculptural piece is by Apryl Miller who creates tiny works made of clay, metal and mirror, and places them like stored memories on the colorful table of our consciousness. Scrawled across this work are sayings such as “you will die with my silence” and “I take your silence to the grave.” The Silence of Love and Families speaks volumes of the tapestry of our familial lineage, each color and object representing ages of wisdom and experience. And yet, there is a sadness to this colorful piece, an almost violent ambition to smash it all into pieces and pick up the fragments and rework it into some new assemblage.
In the end, this proved to be a star-studded event as well as a must-see. Can’t wait to see what Niyeg
