Fountain House Gallery’s ‘You’ Mines West 40s Milieu

Leora Miller’s “9.” (2019, digital photography, 8 × 10 in.)
Cynthia Blumberg’s “Summer” (2019, Digital photography, 10 × 8 in.)

Having opened Jan. 9 at Fountain House Gallery in Hell’s Kitchen, We See You explores the milieu of the Gallery, its parent organization (Fountain House,) and the wider neighborhood.

Fountain House Gallery and Studio provides an environment where artists living with mental illness can express their creative visions, exhibit their work, and challenge the stigma that surrounds mental illness.

Said curator Frank Maresca, Director of Ricco/Maresca Gallery, “We See You is curated in a purely democratic manner, including all who submitted work in the open call.”

The installation, noted Maresca, “plays with the CMYK color model—the building block for every color print—to illuminate the accessibility and spontaneity of the work, while also serving as a metaphor for the rainbow of lives growing under the wings of Fountain House… Everyone in this collective of artists is essentially a co-curator, because they’ve selected a part of their neighborhood and represented it visually; I just focused their vision. All the images very effectively convey the full spectrum of what I look for in a photograph: the play of light and shadow, humor, humanity, and the fleeting moments or details that often get lost in the flux of the urban landscape.”

More than 35 artists shot hundreds of photographs for the exhibition. Each photograph is sized at 8 by 10 inches, and is priced at $30.

On view through Wed., Feb. 19, at Fountain House Gallery (702 Ninth Ave. at W. 48th St.). Hours: Tues.-Sat., 11am-7pm and Sun., 1-5pm. For info, visit fountainhousegallery.org or call 212-262-2756.

The Participating Artists Are:

Boo Lynn Walsh’s “Crossroads.” (2019, digital photography, 10 × 8 in.)

Christine Albane

Lyn Barlotta

Cynthia Blumberg

Marilyn Boden

Renee Bray

Jenny Chan

Skye De la Rosa

Donna Faiella

Amanda Fevrier

Alan Gary

Guiomar Giraldo-Baron

Glenn Goldstein

Maybellene Gonzalez

Bryan Michael Greene

 

From Jan. 9’s opening reception. | Photo courtesy of Fountain House Gallery

 

Maura Hall

Shelia Horne

Issa Ibrahim

Louise Kavadlo

Jayce Kim

Leora Miller

Ella Veres’ “Fluffy Vigilante” (2019, digital photography, 8 x 10 in.)

Marlon Moskowitz

Vilan Natanzon

Debra Nevin

Gary Peabody

Jayce Kim’s “I Made It Through the Rain” (2019, digital photography, 10 × 8 in.)

Annette Phuvan

Aracelis Rivera

Angela Rogers

Rene Santiago

Stephanie Sarnes

Susan Sasson

Jasmine Soto

Susan Spangenberg

Don’aë Tate

Marissa Tjartjalis

Eva Tortora

Alyson Vega

Ella Veres

Laura Anne Walker

Boo Lynn Walsh

 

 

About Fountain House (425 W. 47th St.)

Founded in 1948, Fountain House—the most widely replicated evidence-based mental health treatment in approach in the world—empowers people with serious mental illness to live and thrive in society. Every day, hundreds of individuals with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression come to Fountain House to contribute their talents, learn new skills, access opportunities, and build friendships. Alongside staff, they operate award-winning employment, education, wellness, and housing programs. For more info, visit fountainhouse.org.

Info compiled by Scott Stiffler

Artists, their friends, and members of the Fountain House community, at the Jan. 9 opening of “We See You. | Photo courtesy of Fountain House Gallery

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