AnkhLave artists take over LIC gallery

Kiki Bencosme is one of several AnkhLave Arts Alliance fellows whose work is displayed as part of a new exhibition in Long Island City.  Photo courtesy of Ankhlave

By Rachel Vick

The latest exhibition from AnkhLave Arts Alliance, a nonprofit arts organization, opened last week in Long Island City, exploring the dynamic between the creation of art and its consumption by the public as the pandemic continues to impact the creative world.

"For the Public," curated by Teri Henderson, Dario Mohr and Haiba Hamilton is being hosted at Local Project, located at 11-27 44th Rd., through Feb 19.

Henderson said she was asked to co-curate via Zoom “in a time where there seemed to be a sense of renewed hope, a silver lining of some post pandemic future possibility.”

“As time passed and Omicron surged, we made adjustments and have created a show that reflects the artists and curators abilities to create work and exhibit work out in the world and for public viewing,” Henderson added. “I wanted to select work by BIPOC artists that spoke to a sense of renewed hope as well as solidarity in surviving the past 3 years of this global pandemic. This exhibition offers a glimmer of hope and the beautiful possibilities of a new reality that we are all a part of."

The exhibition features work from exhibiting AnkhLave artists including Kiki Bencosme, Graciela Cassel, Renluka Maharaj, Moses Ros and Akemi Takeda.

“For the Public” is the culminating exhibition of the 2021 AnkhLave Garden Project Fellowship, with each artist presenting a sister piece to one they had on display last summer at the Queens Botanical Garden.

Bencosme’s participation in the garden project was the first time her work had been publicly displayed for an extended period of time, and she was able to watch it weather after standing in the elements and change with the interaction of passersbys, which she said was “like witnessing the after effects of a party after everyone’s been gone.”

“My sister piece for [For The Public] portrays an ancestral spirit with colors and forms reminiscent of my garden piece,” Bencosme said. “Both pieces reflect and honor nature, as well as the notion that our connections as people live within the natural world.”

In addition to the installed art, the exhibition will include a series of workshops and performances beginning with a Feb. 3 Spoken Word Performance and a workshop by Zania Cummings called “Black Bodies.”

The gallery is open Saturdays between 12:30 and 4:30 p.m., and Thursdays between 3:30 and 6:30 p.m.