Media Contact
Timothy Brown
Hillyer Director
hillyerdirector@artsandartists.org

PRESS RELEASE

Newly Selected Artists: Judith Klausner and Deborah Grayson, April 6–April 28, 2024.

The opening reception is Friday, April 5 (“First Friday”), 6 to 8 p.m

Judith Klausner

(de)composed/noturne

(de)composed/nocturne is an exhibit in two parts: dark and light. Works in the darkened portion of the space utilize the science of light, including fluorescence, luminescence, and retroreflectivity. All of the pieces beckon the viewer to look closer.

Often when something has “gone bad,” it has given rise to something new, but it can be hard to appreciate new growth in the shadow of our disappointment. In this body of work, every element was made by hand: every rock and popsicle stick is painstakingly sculpted. This crafting of every detail inspires new ways of looking at familiar objects, and helps to reveal small and easily overlooked beauty.

(de)composed/nocturne reflects the artist’s journey to reframe life as a disabled person. It aims to encourage others to observe, reexamine, and perhaps find beauty for themselves.

Deborah Grayson

They Think of Love as a Reddening of the Earth Under the Sun

They Think of Love as a Reddening of the Earth Under the Sun is about what happens at the intersection of the archive, biomythography, and spirit memory. For the last seven years Grayson has been deeply immersed in origin stories—stories that say something about who we are, where we’ve been, and who we might become if we rewild ourselves and our stories. She reflects on questions like: Who are our people? How have we connected with and nurtured lands and communities? What are the rituals that have sustained and carried our families? What artifacts have we fashioned to bring magic, love, and life to lands and communities? She asks these questions as she wanders through archives and maps, time, space and cultures to restore the stories that have been violently annotated or redacted. Each work of art in They See Love is inspired by the stories of our ancestors to ground ourselves in communion with the land and community.

Image Credits (Top to Bottom): 

Judith Klausner, Everything (and More), 2023, clay, paint, wire, pigment, recycled cellophane, fibers, 1.5 x 3 x 4 in; Deborah Grayson, Ahoskie is on the Other Side of Harlem, 2023, woodcut on Rives BFK, paper size, 18 x 24 in, image size, 22 x 30 in, edition of 5, 2 AP.

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