May 28 - June 28, 2026

OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday, May 30, 5 - 7 PM ● ARTIST TALK: Sunday, June 21, 4:40 PM

440 Gallery is pleased to present In Bloom, an exhibition of landscape and still-life paintings by watercolorist Joy Makon. Joy is a painter of observed life, creating works based on locations and views that she sees through daily activities. This collection of richly detailed paintings contains floral subjects that come from the streets of nearby Brooklyn neighborhoods, as well as from Makon’s garden. Joy’s buoyant feelings about the season are apparent through the convergence of light, textures and colors that she chooses to share with us.

“These paintings have an emotional element to them,” says Joy. “After such a harsh winter, the arrival of warmer weather and more sun just revives me. I wanted to convey that through this selection of paintings. I love how heavy spring blossoms throw interesting shadows against building facades—the shapes made with the light are as energetic to me as the actual trees are. I am also showing a selection of floral still life paintings that touch upon the passage of time and the beauty that intensifies through age. Most importantly, I want these paintings to bring a bit of respite from the bombardment of negative events we all try to endure.”

Joy Makon has a BFA in graphic design and photography from Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia. Her work is in private collections and has been shown in juried and gallery shows, including the American Watercolor Society, Salmagundi Club, Pennsylvania Watercolor Society, The American Artists Professional League, and the Adirondacks National Exhibit of American Watercolors. Joy is a signature member of the American Watercolor Society and a Resident Artist at the Salmagundi Club in NYC. She has been recognized by the Art Directors Club, the Society of Publication Designers, and the Society of Illustrators for her work as a magazine art director. A native of Philadelphia, Joy has lived in NYC since 1976. Her studio is in an old Brooklyn home that she shares with her husband Solomon, and the two gardens she tends.

In the Project Space:

“An Unfolding of Moments”: Destaing, Flanery, Kim

Throughout art history, artists have examined the human connection to time—Axelle Destaing, Gail Flanery, and Hyunju Kim follow in this tradition. An Unfolding of Moments inspires us to slow down, look, and contemplate our own connections to the elusive passage of time.

Axelle Destaing photographs the fragile architecture of transience. Through painterly camera movements, her images quietly register the passage of time, not by fixing a moment, but by inhabiting the in-between where one second dissolves into the next. Moments blur, linger, and slip beyond our grasp, revealing what cannot be held. She writes: “Presence is always accompanied by its own fading; to be fully present is to witness something gently disappearing.”

Gail Flanery makes prints that consider how color and form affect space. Nature feeds her work, and the imagery comes from her experience of the environment. In these highly abstracted pieces, one still finds a horizon line that affirms our attachment to this world. The colors in her palette remind us of the earthly pigments. Nature is the great timekeeper, prompting us to pay attention as moments unfold.

Hyunju Kim uses fiber and thread to examine and make connections with artists of the past. This piece, constructed of multiple layers of thread sewn onto stockings, is titled “NUBIGi,000,091.” It explores Marc Chagall’s “The Mandolin Player”, a portrait of his brother. Kim sees Chagall’s portrait as a translation of memory and emotion into artistic form, imbued with spirituality shaped by Jewish tradition. Her work examines her own personal relationships. Referring to her process, Kim explains it as “…a way of revisiting childhood memories and emotional intimacy through the process of stitching.” The work becomes a form of worship where faith, daily life, memory, and relationships intersect to become visible.