UPCOMING AT YASHAR GALLERY
All Over Everywhere is an immersive, sculptural installation by Jody MacDonald presented as a
work-in-progress at Yashar Gallery in Brooklyn, New York.
All Over Everywhere
November 14–December 4, 2024
Open House Weekend: Saturday/Sunday November 16/17, 1–6pm
Reception and Artist Talk: Friday, November 22, 6–9pm
Closing Celebration: Wednesday, December 4, 6–9pm
Yashar Gallery
276 Greenpoint Ave
Brooklyn, NY
Gallery Hours: Wed–Sun, 1–6pm or by appointment (347-593-9001)
Consisting of one thousand, 10-inch-tall bat/human textile figures set within an immersive
diorama, All Over Everywhere presents a miniature greyscale New York City tableaux that
explores ecology, war, pandemics, social divisiveness, and democratic decay.
The work is a combination of fine art and craft materials and techniques that has been over a
decade in the making. Inspired by the 2006 outbreak of White Nose Syndrome (WNS) in New
York State—a deadly fungus affecting bat populations that has led to a demise of 70-100% of
colonies—the installation is a meditation on the folly of a society on the brink of extinction.
WNS is highly contagious and affects bats by rousing them from hibernation. This abnormal
activity burns through their energy stores and without sufficient food available, leads to shocking
numbers of bats starving to death.
When MacDonald first learned of WNS she began imagining what darkly comedic activities the
bats might engage in upon waking up to find no food and wandering about trying to fill their
days.
The result is an installation disturbingly parallel to our own reality, where viewers who invest
time investigating the many minute details are rewarded with complex and layered stories that
both delight and dismay.
* * *
All Over Everywhere features bat-human hybrid figures set within a greyscale patchwork of New York City places that no longer exist and are presented in three stages of White Nose Syndrome:
pre-infection (still hibernating), post-infection (dead), and currently infected (awake). Grouped
into tableaux these “woke” bat/humans act out satirical yet poignant narratives inspired by
current politics, contemporary society, pandemics, and the ongoing demise of ecology and human rights.
Created through labor-intensive hand and machine sewing and constructed from unbleached
muslin, the figures are stuffed with polyester fiberfill and internally wired for pose-ability.
Detailed, miniature accessories are obsessively crafted and present clues to layered and complex
storylines.
Multiples of these miniature accessories are peppered throughout the installation: cellphones,
protest placards, assault weapons, and satirical newspapers. The newspapers, found in almost
every tableau, are a merging of factual information and fictional advertisements. Read
collectively, the headlines of these mini periodicals serve as a de facto artist statement that
reveals the background story of the installation.
A nod to old-school architectural model-making, the minimal, modular structures of the
shelf-like environments that the figures inhabit are created using humble materials: foam board,
mat board, glue, and paint. Built around sheets of small-cell Styrofoam insulation, the shelves
provide an ideal base to affix the figures and pose them in a myriad of ways, magically activating
the space with their antics.
This presentation features both elements that are completed and elements that are in progress.
MacDonald will continue to work in the gallery during the run of the exhibit, adding to the piece
and allowing visitors a behind-the-scenes experience of installation art.
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This project has been supported in part by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA),
sponsored by Long Island City Artists (LIC-A). Through New York State’s continued investment
in arts and culture, NYSCA has awarded over $80 million since Spring 2023 to over 1,500 artists
and organizations across the state
