The monumental archway that once perforated the High Line in Chelsea – one of NYC’s architectural icons – now forms the entrance of New York…NOW! It’s an ideal location for an exhibition that has been curated as a love letter to the city itself. Held at 25 Allen St. and co-curated by model and activist Gabrielle Richardson and writer Saam Niami, the group show invites visitors to contemplate various fundamental aspects of life in New York, including survival, romance, grief, joy and, most importantly, community.
This is the duo’s curatorial debut. “I just knew that if I’m going to do a show about New York, there’s no one more New York than Gabby,” Niami tells Dazed. “Before I even had a chance to ask her to be a part of it, she asked me if she could be a part of it, which I just thought was fate.” Guided by the shared purpose of celebrating NYC, they compiled their dream list of artists. “All the artists are people we have community with, whether they’re friends or we have some connection to over the Internet,” says Niami. This show is a full-circle moment for the curators. Only a year after one of Richardson and Niami’s first encounters was seeing a piece by performance artist and sculptor Miles Greenberg, they’re exhibiting his work alongside the likes of Baseera Khan, Ekene Ijeoma, Dean Majd.
Curating this lineup allowed Niami and Richardson the opportunity to showcase New Yorkers from all walks of life and career stages. Paces away from Greenberg’s mannequin pile and mirrored-room installation, you’ll find photographer Nuvany David in her first group show. Through a collage of intimate portraits, the Bronx native documents her family. In the hero shots, the artist’s 98-year-old great-aunt is unassuming with her warm smile and her bejewelled, manicured hands resting on one another. “I’ve been learning so much about how much family I have,” David says. “I just thought it’d be really special to immortalise them in ways that felt close to my heart.”
For the gallery’s inaugural exhibition, Richardson wanted to explore how New York has affected and transformed artists working across various mediums. Mikhaila Nödel-Kishner is a fibre artist whose vibrant embroideries depict surreal, otherworldly scenes. “I like to put a lot of high-saturation colours into my work to bring out a place of joy for queer people,” she says. “Texture and colour are the most important things to my work, because I want to create a very soft world that you can get lost in.”
But Richardson and Niami are also willing to hold space for tougher realities. In an oil painting by Ridikkuluz, a darker world takes shape. Against a desolate backdrop, a Zionist zombie dog viciously yanks at a figure’s t-shirt emblazoned with the word ‘Palestine’. “I think censoring the queer parts and Arab parts of me has manifested itself through this painting’s symbol and folklore,” explains Ridikkuluz. There’s humour in the details, with a lacey thong just visible, the protagonist is flipping off the beast the Arab way, with a middle finger lowered towards the palm. Ridikkuluz explains, “It’s the personal, sentimental, emotional, individualised stories that make this city what it is.”
Grappling with masculinity and manifestations of trauma, the two images on display by Palestinian American photographer Dean Majd, both shot in New York’s Astoria Park, are arresting and emotionally charged. “The roses image was taken the night my friend passed away,” Majd shares. “The glow from the flash felt like a metaphor for my friend; my friend’s spirit and love that he put into the world still existing in the space that we had spent so much time in.”
Hope is an important aspect of the exhibition. “There are so many reasons to hate on New York. But there are so many more reasons to love it here,” concludes Niami. “I love my artists. I’m proud of them and I am so honoured that they took this chance with us.” The feeling is mutual. Bre Andy says, “I’ve been saying, [the exhibition] feels very for us, by us.”
New York…NOW! is running at 125 Allen Street until November 15, 2024.
