STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Museum curator Rylee Eterginoso says \u201cHere You Are\u201d is an apt name for the Staten Island Museum\u2019s triennial exhibit because it feels \u201cambiguous.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does \u2018here\u2019 mean? Who is \u2018you?\u2019\u201d Eterginoso said in a preview of the show on Thursday. She describes the exhibit as \u201cdreamlike.\u201d Each artist, she said, offers a reflection on what it means to be \u201chere\u201d and what it means to be \u201cyou.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really rich exhibition,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Eterginoso and Janice Monger, Staten Island Museum president and CEO, worked together to present the museum\u2019s second triennial exhibit. Eterginoso described a triennial as a \u201cglimpse into an era.\u201d<\/p>\n
The last triennial, titled \u201cYes, And,\u201d was an open-call, and included 33 artists. This time, Eterginoso and Monger selected the seven featured artists \u2013 all with ties to Staten Island.<\/p>\n
Defining work<\/p>\n
Artist Gabri Christa said her work is hard to define.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s often called screen-dance or dance-film,\u201d Christa said. \u201cIt\u2019s like a multimedia, experimental film.\u201d<\/p>\n
Christa\u2019s semi-autobiographical film, Kankantri, plays on a loop in the exhibit.<\/p>\n
Filmed entirely in Suriname, the wordless video follows a woman\u2019s dreamlike journey meeting with different ancestors. She practices dance rituals with ancestors from various cultures.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about embracing heritages, to become whole,\u201d Christa said. She said she wants people to be \u201ccurious, not afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n
The piece was filmed primarily in a synagogue in Suriname, reflecting Christa\u2019s own ancestry. Part of the inspiration for the project, Christa said, was discovering she had some Jewish lineage on her father\u2019s side. Her rich heritage includes Surinamese, Chinese, and Dutch, too.<\/p>\n
Christa first thought of making the film on a trip to Suriname years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany different cultures live peacefully in Suriname,\u201d Christa, a Staten Island resident, said. The synagogue she filmed the project in is located beside a mosque, \u201cand they share everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Christa also remarked on the shared history of New York City and Suriname.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Dutch and British traded Suriname for New Amsterdam,\u201d Christa said \u2013 linking the two historically.<\/p>\n
\u2018Regular\u2019 people on Staten Island<\/p>\n
A photograph of a family in tableau greets exhibit visitors. Taken by photographer Olga Ginzburg, the image depicts a family gazing at the sky on July Fourth.<\/p>\n
Ginzburg, a Staten Island native who returned to the Island, has had her work featured in publications, like the New York Times. She photographs regular people living daily life, often on Staten Island.<\/p>\n
Siobhan McBride\u2019s familiar yet eerie paintings sit across from Ginzburg\u2019s photographs. McBride was born in Seoul, South Korea and grew up in Queens, but lives on Staten Island now.<\/p>\n
\u201cSiobhan\u2019s work represents the tone of orientation and disorientation, the disorder, and the magic of ordinary life,\u201d Eterginoso said. \u201cThe familiar spaces we sometimes take for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n
McBride\u2019s paintings appear realistic at first, but reveal a confusing jumble of textures up close. <\/p>\n
\u2018An earnest self-portrait\u2019<\/p>\n
In the back of the gallery on a wall is a collage of Roemello Agjmurati\u2019s work.<\/p>\n
Agjmurati, a Staten Island native, decided to make one poster every day for a year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really an earnest self-portrait,\u201d Eterginoso said. \u201cIt feels so deeply personal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lea Simoniello\u2019s abstract paintings depict, \u201cjust how hard it is to have a body,\u201d Eterginoso said.<\/p>\n
Simoniello\u2019s oil painting works explore themes of gender, trauma, relationships and the body.<\/p>\n
Simoniello paints on found materials, according to Eterginoso. This often informs the shape her work takes.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s very informed by skate culture and 90\u2019s and early-2000\u2019s NYC,\u201d Eterginoso said of Arjuna Routt\u00e9-Prieur. His work often depicts urban landscapes and sometimes includes spirit-like figures.<\/p>\n
Routt\u00e9-Prieur is a fifth generation Staten Islander. This is the first exhibition to show his work alongside his mother\u2019s, who passed away last September. Lenore Routt\u00e9\u2019s work is on display next to her son\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\u201cLenore grew up with a DIY-ethos,\u201d Eterginoso said. \u201cShe believed every scrap has creative potential, it can be used.\u201d<\/p>\n
The exhibit includes glassware, capes and a painting by Routt\u00e9.<\/p>\n
Eterginoso says the artwork Lenore created also has utility.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not just objects that are static, they\u2019re meant to be used,\u201d Eterginoso said. \u201cThere is life in them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beside a window on the right side of the exhibit is an unassuming collage. It\u2019s a collaborative work by the mother and son, from 1994.<\/p>\n
His crayon scribbles are visible across a black canvas. Routt\u00e9\u2019s typical quilt-like style collage renders a sunlike centerpiece.<\/p>\n
The exhibit opens to the public Saturday, January 24 with a public reception from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The triennial exhibit will remain on display through October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Museum curator Rylee Eterginoso says \u201cHere You Are\u201d is an apt name for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111035,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-111034","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}