'Navigation' by Claudia DeMonte

For Navigation, Claudia DeMonte’s new show at The June Kelly Gallery in Soho, the artist unveils a collection of paintings and sculptures that mine the story of her own life and take on the societal and cultural roles of women throughout centuries and their 

response to those roles on psychological and emotional levels.

One notable work in the show entitled Felucca Dreams, depicts a group of women and girls portrayed elegantly in gold leaf medium standing on a blue, wooden vessel sailing on a river depicted by green waves. The piece is a metaphor for women seeking to move forward in their lives and advance in their gender roles.

Felucca's Dreams (2020) by Claudia DeMonte

Another intriguing piece with a sea theme, Memories Lamanja, features a mermaid 

lying on her belly as though swimming. Her entire back doubly serves as a bag of 

luggage containing smaller bags of goods and also souvenirs of iconic landmarks like 

the Eiffel Tower and precious keepsakes like her childhood teddy bear.

DeMonte also includes two bronze figures of women balancing themselves on a skateboard with one wearing a blue dress and the other, a red dress. The figure, Skateboard Blue and Skateboard Red, are perhaps a commentary on today’s starkly divided political climate, but is also indicative of a strong woman traveling, carefully balancing on a skateboard while wearing sturdy shoes.

 Some of the other works in the show are more enigmatic like Pull Toy: 

Handbag and Pull Toy: Shoe. These works depict women’s accessories equipped with 

wooden wheels such as those you might see on a children’s toy that somehow relate to 

the notion of navigating the turbulent socio-economic tiers of this current coronavirus 

pandemic.

DeMonte lives and works in New York City and Miami Beach, FL.  She received a bachelor's degree from College of Notre Dame of Maryland in Baltimore and an MFA from Catholic University of America, Washington, DC. DeMonte's work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally.

At the June Kelly Gallery, 166 Mercer Street, through Nov. 17th. The gallery is open Tue.—Fri. 11 a.m.—6 p.m. Please visit the gallery website for Covid-19 guidelines.

'Emotional Support' by James Rieck

Animal companions are an important part in the lives of many people and James Rieck captures that concept perfectly in his latest show entitled Emotional Support. For this show, Rieck presents several paintings each with its own vibrant color scheme reminiscent of 1960s pop art that depict cats and dogs with their human companions. The human subjects are women portrayed with their furry friends in different rooms of their homes. One cheerful work entitled Buttery depicts a woman wearing a bright yellow blouse cuddling her fluffy, light brown dog against her chest with amid a backdrop of white wallpaper and yellow flowers.

Buttery (2019) by James Rieck

Another image entitled Master Bedroom has a turquoise color scheme and features a woman laughing joyously as she cuddles with her bulldog on her bed. Two similar images that depict the same black and white cat include Powder Room with a blue color scheme depicting a woman with a blonde bob haircut holding her beloved pet as she stands on the shaggy rug of her bathroom which Rieck captures with great detail. A similar feline appears in Sun Room which has a green color scheme and depicts a woman holding her cat as she strolls dreamily through the room.

Powder Room (2019) by James Rieck

Also on display are three smaller, oval-shaped paintings like Daisy, Coco, and Rocky depicting women holding their dogs and Snowball featuring a woman holding her fluffy, white Persian cat. In each of these works, you can see the sheer happiness on these women’s faces that can only come with furry companionship.

Snowball (2019) by James Rieck

Daisy (2019) by James Rieck

At the Lyons Wier Gallery, 542 W. 24th St., through June 1st. The gallery is open Tues.—Sat. from 11 a.m.—6 p.m.

A Collection of Things That Float by Eleni Giannopoulou

The Hionas Gallery in Tribeca is currently presenting a collection of works by artist Eleni Giannopoulou for the show entitled A Collection of Things That Float. For her first solo show in New York, Giannopoulou presents two mixed media installations conveying the notion of traveling on boats, ships, and similar vessels and the emotions associated with the journey. The individual pieces in the show are composed of organic materials and mass-produced objects Giannopoulou found in her native Greece as well as from recent travels to New York and Mexico. She focuses on the anatomy of a boat, then looks beyond that by examining the often tenuous relationship humankind maintains with nature. The installation as a whole evokes a sense of calmness with the sensation of sailing on a river and moving along with the rhythm of the waves.

“I grew up watching the cargo ships coming in and out of the port of Thessaloniki,” Giannopoulou explains, “and big ferries would take me and my family to my grandparents’ home in Crete. Since 2015, large numbers of refugees displaced by war started using Greece as a point of entry to the European Union. When news arrived that many of their makeshift rafts were capsizing in the Aegean Sea and claiming lives, the very idea of a boat took on new meaning.

A Collection of Things That Float (2018/19) installation by Eleni Giannopoulou

Giannopoulou’s integration of found materials and use of repetition in the series serves as a memorial for those refugees whose lives were lost thereby conjuring up feelings of sadness and nostalgia for fond memories of a life left behind. In this aspect, her fleet represents a voyage that is beginning and ending all at once.  

The May Pole (2019) By Eleni Giannopoulou

Notable works in the show that evoke fond memories are Boat Filled With Books which features a bookshelf holding stacks of books, mostly classic stories and novels; and Boat of Another Family Meal featuring a round, 2-part table set for supper on a barge of thin pieces of wood representing personal memories of Giannopoulou’s family life. She also has a way of making ordinary objects she remembers from home items of nostalgia such as beds, toilets, sinks, bathtubs, and even an ex-boyfriend’s t-shirts.

Within her reminiscing, Giannopoulou also touches on intimacy in relationships and feelings of pleasure with Twerking Workshop featuring clay models of a person and two mythical creatures engaging in a sexual act. Another piece that touches on these notions is Boat of Couple Not Holding Hands featuring small, flat clay models of a man and woman lying side by side on a boat made from rusted factory pipe from Greece.

The second installation in the show entitled The May Pole pays homage to a classic childhood dance and celebration of spring with several strings hanging from a pole and symbolic objects and creatures each holding on to the end of each string.

At Hionas Gallery, 356 Broadway between Franklin and Leonard Streets, through March 30. The gallery is open by appointment.