October 10 - November 17, 2024

Opening Reception: Thursday, October 10, 5 -7 PM

Zoom Artist Talk: Sunday, October 27, 4:40 PM REGISTER HERE

440 Gallery is proud to present Of One Another, an exhibition of prints and drawings by Brooklyn artist Gail Flanery. For her seventh solo show at the gallery, Flanery has assembled a collection of past and present work providing comparison and parallelism of old and new. It is not so much retrospective as it is a self-portrait.

Her work, dating from 1971 until 2024, creates a visual autobiography. What could be called Rothko landscapes — flat planes of color accented by the living, breathing nature of paper — initially appear as elegant geometry, until a deeper understanding reveals the emotionally complex landscape. Flanery’s calming prints create spaces within which our minds may rest. These pieces are also deceptively process-driven. The action of printmaking is essential to the final product. After establishing a color palette, the ink roller runs across the plate defining the horizon, the sky above or the plains below. Flanery uses the press as a translator.

Placing the earlier work alongside the new work shows more than linear development. The contrast between the old and the new is an elegant dance. Lines and intricate details play within the earlier landscapes. As time progresses, compositions become more minimalist, but equally powerful, depicting nature in both figurative and abstract ways. The differences in the works create a history.

About her relationship with nature, Flanery writes:

“Nature opens my way, and the work evolves and develops with a consideration of space, and a use of color, that refers to natural elements. It expresses a mood and a sense of place that is remembered rather than observed.”

Witness Flanery’s relationship with nature from then to now to the future.

Gail Flanery graduated with a BFA from The Cooper Union in 1972. As a printmaker known for color-based landscape abstractions, she has established professional relationships with master printmakers across the U.S., and her work has been exhibited and collected widely. She has shown extensively, including at Established Gallery, Brooklyn, NY; Krasdale Art Galleries in White Plains, NY; Kentler International Drawing Space, Brooklyn, NY; The Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY; and The Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ.

Only at 440 Gallery – Scan a QR code and hear an audio portrait of Gail Flanery that accompanies her solo exhibit, Of One Another. Listen to Gail discuss her artistic process in the audio portrait produced by Jamie Courville.

Project Space: On Paper

Fred Bendheim, Robin Roi, David Stock

Paper is the support — sometimes even the inspiration — for the works of Fred Bendheim, Robin Roi, and David Stock, on view in 440 Gallery’s Project Space. As an ancient art material, paper ranges from the finest 100% cotton rag to the cheapest cardboard, each with its own inherent qualities. These artists capitalize on those qualities to fashion their own distinct visions.

Fred Bendheim makes use of found paper and cardboard as well as fine art paper. He has used paper for studies and maquettes for other work, but in these works, the corrugated cardboard plays a major role. Bendheim paints his colorful abstracted forms directly on cardboard which adds texture and a spontaneous quality to the work. This free-flowing approach continues with his other work on paper. Bendheim states, “Lately, I’ve enjoyed using cardboard as a medium because it is ubiquitous and I like the variety of textures and edges I can get with it.”

Robin Roi’s panoramic triptych utilizes a technique called blind contour drawing, a process where the drawing is executed by looking directly at the object being rendered and rarely looking down at the paper. In these works, Roi follows the outline of the objects in her bedroom while rarely lifting her pen so her eye and hand are completely synchronized. It is an unconventional process resulting in distortions and duplications of familiar objects that are sometimes too abstracted to be recognizable. Roi then reorients us by adding small details, such as handles and books, that complete the scene in this charming and eccentric drawing.

David Stock finds photographic inspiration in his Jackson Heights neighborhood and surrounding communities. These recent images portray complex, yet organized street scenes. Pedestrians pursue diverse missions in a layered environment of bright colors, multi-lingual signage, and the shadow of the elevated 7 train. For Stock, finding and capturing these scenes within the chaos of city life is a challenging practice that draws on emotion, social observation, and visual style. He works to memorialize these “moments of recognition” through a painstaking process of printmaking on fine art papers using pigmented inks.