Between Waters

About

Francks Deceus came to the United States from Haiti at the age of nine and continues to pass on the knowledge of this immigrant experience through his work. A theme that recurs in many of his paintings is the visualization of the burdens and traps immigrants have to contend with. The paintings in the exhibition show Cappy, the artist’s alter-ego, wrestling with his frustrations, taming his inner demons, or navigating moments of his daily life. In several paintings, Cappy is ensnarled by worm-like tubing despite his rubber boots and cheerful can-do spirit. 

Deceus constructs his images by layering strips of canvas, pasting pieces of paper together, building and laying blocks of color. In this patient progressive manner, the artist is able to develop a narrative. A place for Cappy to stand, to put down his bags, a place where crowds of witnesses, community members, and ancestors can live. Often, the canvas is augmented with additional side panels to make more room and continue to tell the story, to continue to remember, and to re-invent the narrative over and over again.

Heather Holden’s works involve re-purposing well-known photojournalistic or TV news images. She pairs these with images that may have only a visual or gestural similarity, and through pairing she offers a sort of randomized juxtaposition which can be fascinating and disorienting for viewers, even humorous at times. The particular paintings included in Between Waters have never been shown to the public.

This exhibition includes two of Holden’s newest and largest mature pieces. Deepwater Horizon/Burchfield is a monumental quadriptych frieze. The painting interweaves the dramatic 2010 image of oil bursting from the ruptured BP Deepwater Horizon wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico. These are contrasted with the calm and beautiful architectural imagery from Charles Burchfield's 1917 painting Insect Chorus.  

Glove/Bomb, another towering triptych on view, is a sickly yellow half-tone war scene from the Iraq War: a vast plume of smoke where a bomb was set off, and a small figure running away. Superimposed on the explosion is a huge diamond studded Michael Jackson glove hovering over the landscape, giving rise to thoughts of a mighty high five or a peace sign.

Francks Deceus  graduated with a B.A. in sociology from Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY.  His work has been shown in solo exhibitions at UFA Gallery, New York; Medgar Evers College, Brooklyn; Mehu Gallery, New York; Long Island University, and has been included in exhibitions at The Schomberg Center, New York; MoCADA Museum, Brooklyn; FiveMyles, Brooklyn; PRIZMA Art Fair, Miami, among others.

Heather Holden received her MFA at the University of Wisconsin. Her work has been exhibited at the Drawing Center, New York; the Max Hutchinson Gallery, New York; Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, and other national institutions. She has been the recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Residency, The Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant, The New York Foundation for the Arts Grant, Virginia Commonwealth University Summer Stipend Grant, Virginia Commonwealth University Grant-In-Aid, National Endowment for the Arts - Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art Grant.

The artist/curator Vladimir Cybil Charlier presented her solo exhibition Desire: Johnny Was in the FiveMyles Plus/Space, in 2018. Other solo exhibitions of her work were organized at Skoto Gallery (New York), OGT Gallery (New York), and the Studio Museum in Harlem (New York)