An unapologetically vibrant group exhibition will be on view at Ridgewood’s newest art gallery until June 3.
“Icing,” a multimedia show curated by Katie Cercone, a professor of feminist art studies at Manhattan’s School of Visual Arts, opened May 14 at the center for information alternatives — cia — gallery. The opening reception brought glitz, glamour and plenty of pink to the space, as well as live performances by Ama, a “paper funk artist” known as Metallic Fern.
The works on display, which include paintings, photos, sculptures and more, explore themes of sisterhood and “queer ecologies of the imagination,” Cercone wrote about the show in Beauty News NYC. By leaning into aesthetics and art forms traditionally relegated to the feminine, the pieces challenge the notions of superficiality and submissiveness they have historically evoked, she added.
“Like the icing on a towering cake, these curated objects d’art reclaim feminine aesthetics, from posturing to poise, potentiality to reinvention, caricature to containment and cataclysm,” Cercone wrote. The show features artists whom she termed a “bold intersectional feminist cohort,” consisting of Traci Johnson, Carol Anne McFarlane, Adehla Lee, Dakota Gearhart, Amelia Marzec and Ama of Metallic Fern.
The gallery at 1108 Cypress Ave. is generally open Thursdays and Sundays from 12 to 6 p.m., and by appointment. One may contact ciagallerynyc@gmail.com to learn more.