two artists

Howard McCalebb & Mary Ting

In this exhibition Howard McCalebb shows iconic architectonic structures that function as containers, gates, and theaters. They are configured using the Greek Golden Mean, and they explore the meditation between scientific reasoning and artistic sensibility. The space located within the central void of these structures provides a freewheeling dexterity. It lets the artist fill it with representational, non-representational, or text based forms. Five small painted wooden sculptures are enclosures for phantom stages with subtle comments on social issues; such as the sculpture Square-gate for Authentic Tribesmen showing a small troll doll in its stage. The two-dimensional work, a large mixed-media painting and collage, shows the artist’s continued interest in bold and prominent forms.

Mary Ting’s recent work reflects a more complex step into the realm of temporality, mythology, and the sensual. Poisonous creatures, the female figure, birds and primal impulses both personal and allegorical inhabit a haunted narrative made of cotton fiber and paper. Her new series, shown in this exhibition, Baishe, White Snake, combines sculptural props, set installation, performative elements and photography.

Howard McCalebb’s work has been shown in solo exhibitions at Momenta Art, Bklyn; Weatherspoon Art Gallery, Greensboro, NC; Art in General, NYC; Kulturfabriken, Copenhagen; among others. In New York his work was included in exhibitions at Ronald Feldman, The Studio Museum of Harlem, Sculpture Center, Socrates Sculpture Park, The New Museum and others. In 2001 he was the first American to lecture on art at Hangzhou University in China.

Mary Ting’s installations and drawings have been widely exhibited, including recent shows at CIRCA, Montreal; metaphor contemporary, Bklyn; Chelsea Art Museum, Axel Raben Gallery, Islip Art museum, Wave Hill Gallery, among others. Ting received the 2003-06 Lambent Fellowship in the Arts. She was awarded grants from the Pollack Krasner Foundation, Puffin Foundation and NYSCA. She has been an artist in resident at the Mac Dowell Colony, Millay Colony, Dieu Donne Papermill, Lower Eastside Printshop and currently at the Artist Alliance Inc. She teaches at John Jay College and Pratt Manhattan, both in NYC.

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 Crystal Hudson, The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation, the Joseph Robert Foundation, and the William Talbott Hillman Foundation.