My Garden by Keren Anavy | Meet and Greet Reception | June 7, 2019 4:30PM
[Downtown Jersey City, NJ] Visual installation artist Keren Anavy creates the 36 x 177 inch-wide painting My Garden to be installed in the lobby of Park Francis, in the thriving microcosm of the Hamilton Park residential neighborhood. Capture the beautiful colors and unique shapes around us at Park Francis on June 7th, at 4:30PM. The artist will teach the techniques of Chinese ink and contemporary painting in a workshop FROM NATURE TO ABSTRACTION, from 5-7PM (no experience necessary, please RSVP).
The reception 4:30-5PM celebrates themes of access and inclusion, in accordance with the theme selected for JC Fridays this quarter, with refreshments generously contributed by Rumba Cubana and Madame Claude Wine.
Keren Anavy’s process begins on the ground, with mylar. First, gestural marks are created with water. Next, she introduces quantities of colored ink into the water — or directly onto the surface — patiently allowing organic mixtures to form. She continues to work on the ink surface, adding details and painting with layers of colored pencils.
Seeking to activate associations between nature and culture, and site, the tle of the painting pays homage to a classic of horticultural literature: The World Was My Garden, written and published by the botanist, discoverer, and plant hunter David Fairchild in 1938. Fairchild travelled internationally to study the seeds, roots and cuttings that were planted during the first sixty years of the 20th century.
A lively addition to the lobby of Park Francis, marked by expert woodwork by Eric Powers, this man-made concerto of colors taps the extended metaphors of biodiversity found in the natural world.
Wet brush, wildlife, and marshes (akin to parts of Jersey) of the Everglades have been absorbed into this painting from the beginning. It came to life last summer, when Keren and her multimedia collaborator Tal Frank were awarded the 2018 AIRIE Fellowship at the Everglades National Park, Florida. Keren continued this landscape in Tel Aviv, Israel, adding more detail and completing the artwork from her studio at the NARS Foundation in Brooklyn, NY, after her visit to Hamilton Park. Alas, intense greens delightfully placed on the sunburst horizon.
Park Francis was built by SILVERMAN in 2017, part of their vision for Hamilton Park district which includes over 500 residences, schools and beautiful stores. In addition to a collection of emerging art in surreptitious places (including a 50-foot mural of a girl peeking into a painted window on the southeast exterior wall, by muralist Seth Global), Park Francis wields conveniences like an amazing staff, valet parking, amenities lounge with courtyard, expansive rooftop, and proximity to Hamilton Park with adjacent retail and restaurants. The development group brings in baker Milk Sugar Love, meat-smoker Hamilton Pork, good vibes at Rumba Cubana, grilled cheese by Van Hook, Madame Claude Wine, and artists from around the world to pursue their creative vision.
Keren received her MFA from Haifa University; her BA in Art History from Tel Aviv University; and graduated from Hamidrasha School of Art, Beit Berl College. Her recent accomplishments include the artist residency at MASS MoCA, and solo exhibitions at the Sunroom Project Space, Wave Hill, New York; The Janco Dada Museum, Ein Hod; the Haifa Museum of Art in Israel. She has exhibited at SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2018 (Written in Water, curated by Katya Valevich); Queens Museum; Pioneer Works; DANSPACE Projects St. Mark’s Church; Cultural Institute Mexico-Israel; Pratt Institute; Flux Factory; NARS Foundation; The Israel Museum; Tel Aviv Museum of Art; and the 2nd International Biennale of Painting and Sculptors, Croatia, among others.
Keren Anavy My Garden, 2018-2019, ink and colored pencil on Mylar, 177 X 36”
