Endnotes at The Chimney NYC
In a warehouse-dense corner of east Williamsburg, between techy start-ups and under multi-story murals, art space The Chimney NYC is quietly celebrating their third anniversary with Endnotes, a show that brings together 12 artists, displaying their works along with books that have been influential in their lives and pieces. The show is as wonderfully surprising as the building, a stand alone box with a garage door on one side and a chimney stack rising above it. Suspended from the high ceilings, white dividers immerse visitors in the art and creates a path to wander through. Sculptural pieces sit on the three white bookcase/platform/seating structures designed by architect Tomaz Capobianco, which at their bases also contain the books selected by artists for the show.
Footprints on the structures show where visitors have climbed up to sit and thumb through the books on display, from short illustrated books on motherhood to thick tomes written in farsi to books on mushrooms and fungi. The exhibition is an invitation and a challenge: sit with this work and sit with the inspiration, look at all of the threads that have woven together to affect this creation. Take longer than you might normally spend in a gallery, and look beyond the short description already provided to change or deepen your understanding.
A person’s library, I have always thought, is the most intimate way to get to know another person. Here, the artists themselves are on display alongside their work, the curtain pulled back to reveal some of the machinations of their minds at work. The interplay of the books and the work intensifies the feeling that The Chimney is really its own self contained universe; home to a process, not a presentation. There is also overlap and conversation between the artists. Themes of language, cross cultural understandings (or misunderstandings), and even the Nevada test site for nuclear weapons are picked up by multiple artists in different iterations, more facets to already-multidimensional works.
If you’re looking for a break in New York, I can’t recommend The Chimney’s Endnotes more strongly. It will be open until the 24th, with performances from two artists on the 23rd and 24th.
Endnotes features work by Autumn Ahn, Setare Arashloo, Shahrzad Changalvaee, Kiran Chandra, Lizzy de Vita, Juliette Dumas, Andrew Erdos, Riitta Ikonen, Sara Mejia Kriendler, Yasue Maetake, Matt Taber, and Gian Maria Tosatti. It is curated by Clara Darrason and Jennifer Houdrouge.
The Chimney NYC is an exhibition and performance venue promoting multidisciplinary and international artists. Founded in June 2015, the gallery is run by Clara Darrason and Jennifer Houdrouge. Located in the heart of Brooklyn’s creative scene, The Chimney plays on the rawness of its industrial architecture. All works are commissioned to interact with the space, creating immersive environments and interactions with the viewers.
Follow The Chimney NYC on Instagram or visit them in person.
