For Queens residents, it may be exhausting to agree on a single attribute that defines New York Metropolis’s largest borough. For some, it’s the 7 practice, affectionately nicknamed “International Express” by locals, which runs from thirty fourth Avenue–Hudson Yards in Manhattan all the best way to Major Avenue in Flushing, bisecting neighborhoods like Sunnyside, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, and Corona on its means. For others, it’s the plethora of historic cemeteries and burial grounds, the oldest of which was based in 1668 and has markers courting as early as 1709, or its vibrant meals tradition representing areas from the Philippines to Ecuador.
The exhibition options works by over 70 artists.
All of those defining attributes and extra are featured within the ongoing World’s Borough Exhibition at Flushing City Corridor (FTH), which opened final Thursday, November 7 and runs till the twenty fifth. That includes greater than 70 New York Metropolis-based artists primarily from Queens, the present comprises the whole lot from personified felt dumplings and graphite rubbings of headstones to crochet renditions of the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Unisphere to a painted rodent remix of the Star Wars: Episode IV film poster (full with pizza slices). Curated by longtime Queens resident and FTH instructing artist Stephanie Lee, it’s the end result of the group’s first open name in 5 years, which passed off this summer time.
John Dingley, “Episode IV – A Queens Hope” (2024), acrylic on canvas
“It’s all about fostering community, so we tried to do as broad a topic and theme as possible so we can connect with as many people as we could,” Dan Bamba, FTH’s director of Arts Providers who additionally grew up in Queens and helped arrange the present, advised Hyperallergic. The principle requirement, Bamba defined, was that every work needed to have some kind of connection to the borough.
Thus far, the works on show vary from Queens Village artist Julia Shaw’s mixed-media collage tracing 50 years of her household lineage to Masstransiscope (1980), artist Invoice Model’s ink and watercolor rendering of a hosta in his Jackson Heights backyard. Within the heart of 1 wall, the SouthEast Queens Artists Alliance has 9 zines on show; based in 2017, the collective of visible artists and writers runs a cell museum and multilingual library of zines, artist books, and chapbooks that usually travels by cart to varied parks and outside occasions within the borough.
Julia D. Shaw, “Our Household – Yard in Queens Village – Celebrating 50 years plus (2024), combined media collage
Exterior of Flushing Townhall, a delegated historic landmark positioned on Northern Boulevard in Queens (all images Maya Pontone/Hyperallergic except in any other case famous)
In a single nook, an orange, grey, and pink gremlin sculpture hangs off a portray of the again of the 7 subway. In one other nook, a blue iris long-established from clay and fiber weavings conjures up photos of the borough’s lush 39-acre botanical gardens.
Lee additionally has work on show: a portray known as “Modern Wish” (2015) impressed by the chaekgeori Korean still-life work that flourished in the course of the Joseon dynasty. It options renditions of contemporary luxurious objects together with designer purses, a set of golf golf equipment, and a tea cup.
Stephanie S. Lee, “Modern Wish” (2015), colour pigment and ink on hanji
One other instructing artist at FTH, Steve Palermo, who has lived in Flushing for at the very least six many years, is presenting a 2024 {photograph} of one of many white picket doorways within the city corridor itself. Palermo advised Hyperallergic that whereas he’s seen a whole lot of modifications in his residence neighborhood, “they’re all good,” so he can’t complain.
“I’ve always said, the diversity and the people here is my favorite part,” Palermo added.
Left: Patricia Abrego, “Metas” (2022), acrylic on panel; proper: Giancarlo Vargas, “Señora” (2021), combined media on canvas (all images Maya Pontone/Hyperallergic)
SouthEast Queens Artists Alliance, “SEQAA Zine COllection” (2024), paper
Left: Amy Supton, “Blue Iris” (2006/2024), clay and fiber; proper: Karen Fitzgerald, “Here” (2006), oil on canvas
Left: Elliot Cowan, “Roosevelt Avenue, Jackson Heights” (2023), gouache and ink on watercolor paper; proper: Gregory Valentine, “7TrainGremlin” (2023), masking tape sculpture and canvas
Jim Richards, “Open” (2024), pictorico print on pine, damaged glass, mirror, burnt pine body with doorways
Invoice Model, “Towers Garden: Hosta” (2024), ink and watercolor on xuan paper
Dan Rubin, “Angel boutique” (2024), pictures
