Between Waters

Francks Deceus and Heather Holden

curated by Vladimir Cybil Charlier

NEW DATE: Artist Talk moderated by Bob Clyatt: Sunday, February 9, 3:00pm

Works by two artists are juxtaposed in this exhibition. Both artists, for the past three decades, have put their vision on canvas; Deceus as individual experience and Holden as global/political outrage. Both artists believe in the power of images, which are the foundation of their process.

Francks Deceus came to the United States from Haiti at the age of nine and continues to pass on the knowledge of this immigrant experience through his work. A theme that recurs in many of his paintings is the visualization of the burdens and traps immigrants have to contend with. The paintings in the exhibition show Cappy, the artist’s alter-ego, wrestling with his frustrations, taming his inner demons, or navigating moments of his daily life. In several paintings, Cappy is ensnarled by worm-like tubing despite his rubber boots and cheerful can-do spirit.

Deceus constructs his images by layering strips of canvas, pasting pieces of paper together, building and laying blocks of color. In this patient progressive manner, the artist is able to develop a narrative. A place for Cappy to stand, to put down his bags, a place where crowds of witnesses, community members, and ancestors can live. Often, the canvas is augmented with additional side panels to make more room and continue to tell the story, to continue to remember, and to re-invent the narrative over and over again.

Heather Holden’s works involve the re-purposing of well-known photojournalistic images. She pairs images that have spatial or gestural similarities. The resulting juxtapositions can draw the viewer into a contemplation of specific events drawn from their distant memory of the news, made more provocative by the scale and graphic imagination of the paintings.

This exhibition includes two of Holden’s pieces. Deepwater Horizon/Burchfield is a monumental quadriptych frieze. The painting interweaves the dramatic 2010 image of oil bursting from the ruptured BP Deepwater Horizon wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico with the roiling landscape architectural image from Charles Burchfield's 1917 painting Insect Chorus.

Glove/Bomb, another towering triptych on view, is a glaring yellow half-tone war scene from the Iraq War: a vast plume of smoke where a bomb was set off, and a small figure running away. Superimposed on the explosion is a huge diamond studded Michael Jackson glove hovering over the landscape, conjuring associations of what the celebrity and war industries might have in common.

About the Artists:

Francks Deceus graduated with a B.A. in sociology from Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY. His work has been shown in solo exhibitions at UFA Gallery, New York; Medgar Evers College, Brooklyn; Mehu Gallery, New York; Long Island University, and has been included in exhibitions at The Schomberg Center, New York; MoCADA Museum, Brooklyn; FiveMyles, Brooklyn; PRIZMA Art Fair, Miami, among others.

Heather Holden lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Her work has been exhibited at the Drawing Center, New York; the Max Hutchinson Gallery, New York; Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, and other national institutions. She has been the recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Residency. She received her MFA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and taught at Virginia Commonwealth University before coming to New York City.

About the Curator:

The artist/curator Vladimir Cybil Charlier presented her solo exhibition Desire: Johnny Was in the FiveMyles Plus/Space, in 2018. Other solo exhibitions of her work were organized at Skoto Gallery (New York), OGT Gallery (New York), and the Studio Museum in Harlem (New York).

GALLERY HOURS:

Thursday through Sunday, 1pm to 6pm; or by appointment.

DIRECTIONS:

Take 2, 3, or 4 trains to Franklin Avenue. Walk two blocks against the traffic on Franklin. Walk ¾ block to 558 St. Johns Place. FiveMyles is within easy walking distance from the Brooklyn Museum.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

FiveMyles is in part supported by the New York State Council for the Arts, Public Funds from the New York City Dept. of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Council Member Laurie Cumbo, the Greenwich Collection, The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation, the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, and the Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason Foundation.