Two artist-mothers explore bonds, betrayal, and beauty in “Motherland.”
Reyes, a Queens based Colombian/Italian-American artist and educator, and Brooklyn Art Studios artist, is a full-time working mother of two small children, trying to make space for her creative life and identity. That space is small and intimate, on wood panels, capturing endless, unseen events. Only glimpses of the mother herself appear in these scenes; the viewer experiencing the often humorous, sometimes bittersweet moments from her day-to-day routines. Her highly textural work straddles the line between sculpture and painting, and explores the interaction between the person-made and natural worlds.
Danenberg, a Bronx based guest artist, is the mother of two grown kids with lives of their own. Here, she collaborates with her own artist-mother, now in her eighties. At first, she paints on top of her mother’s paintings, treading carefully. What does it mean to transform your mother’s work? She experiments with silkscreen and digital collage as she and her mother recalibrate their bond through their art. Danenberg was an advertising creative director when a head injury interrupted her career. She turned to art to make sense of her life and often uses humor to approach serious discourse.
Motherland will be on view from May 4 - 24, 2023 at Yashar Gallery. Yashar Gallery is located minutes from Manhattan in the urban art community of Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Yashar Gallery opened its doors in April 2010, and hosts monthly rotating exhibitions featuring the professional artists from Brooklyn Art Studios in the Greenpoint Industrial Center.
On view: May 4 - 24, 2023
Opening Reception: Friday, May 5, 5-8pm
Mother’s Day Event: Sunday, May 14, 2-5pm
Closing Reception: Saturday, May 20, 5-8pm
Viewing Hours: Saturdays and Sundays 2-5pm and by appointment
Questions/Press/Appointments: brooklynartstudios@gmail.com
Jill Danenberg, “When I look in the mirror, I see my mother’s faces,” 28x44in, acrylic, gouache, marker, digital collage painted over, on canvas, 2022
Jill Danenberg, “Footsteps,” 22x22in, acrylic, gouache, marker, silkscreen ink, digital collage painted over, on paper, 2022
