~wow, that was such a . . ‘girls’ !! only trip !! illustration by RUTH MARTEN / UNDERDONK

finding stepping stones / in the art world . . . brook /
NYC, Spring 2017.

loving nothing better, then when the path I take through the various shows I see – takes on a subtext of it’s own !!

this past month – it was really quite the WILD ride !!
and it was all about . . GIRLS !!!!!!

EMBRACE – THAT !!!!!!

RUTH-MARTEN---UNDERDONK
RUTH MARTEN, ‘Possession’, 2012.
POSTCARD . . OBTAINED FROM UNDERDONK, on a visit last weekend / May 14, 2017.

yeah, that was so F . . is for femme, femme, femme tripppppy !!!

it seems to have started, most unknowingly . . with the ‘SURREALIST DINNER ‘ at the woman-artist run SELENA / OLIVIA SWIDER, and ANJULI RATHOD.

that, got me to – thinking: Surrealist, Symbolist.
women / artists.

then, about a week later I walk into ‘Like Oxygen’ at MOUNTAIN / expecting a very tech-oriented / cutting-edge underground experience, only to be awe-struck by . . the shaman-centered ‘Crystal Flowers Radio’ 2017, install by ALLISON WADE !!

where the artist, ALLISON WADE . .
was presenting recorded seances, she had set up in the former apt/home of . . FLORINE STETTHEIMER !!
if, this wasn’t pushing ‘Surreal’ & ‘Symbolist’ . . right off the map / it was definitely raising the spirits.

because . .
not more than 4 days later, on Tuesday May 2nd, I found myself at the JEWISH MUSEUM for the press preview of one of the most wonderful exhibits you will ever happen upon, ‘Florine Stettheimer: Painting Poetry’ !!
& up thru Sept 24, 2017 – don’t miss it.

now, not only was this . . a ghost come to life / but a woman artist, who is long over-due a revival of interest & recognition !!
here we not only a have a . . . a ‘SYMBOLIST’ – !!
but, a magic realist / visionary.
resplendent with the most passionate paintings, and imagine that: passionate & whimsical in one sentence !!
including the most surreal theatrical costumes, fortune telling cards & . . garden scenes. imagine that: surreal and domestic in the same sentence ??/!!
you go, FLORINE !!!!

then somehow, while chasing the Old World treasures . . of Count Carl Gustaf Tessin (1695-1770) / which morphed into the ‘Treasures from the Nationalmuseum of Sweden’ at the Morgan Library, me & my friend . . took a stroll into another exhibit running concurrently: ‘I’m Nobody! Who are you?’ – a sweet, new take on EMILY DICKINSON, which had me totally enthralled, so much so, that I even hit up the movie: ‘A Quiet Passion’ – a new re-telling of her story.

so, it was all in all, all, all / it was: all-women . . stepping stones !!
though, what was even more surprising . .
was how the tour, took a most strange, and winding, and unexpected, but . . p-a-s-s-i-n-a-t-e turn !!

flowing from surrealism, and seances / thru symbolism . . . onto the fanciful / magic realism !! of GILDED AGE . . FLORINE STETTHEIMER,
to the . . classic Victorian parlor . . of EMILY DICKINSON !!
via herbarium / scientific nature collections, black paper profile cut-outs, Daguerrotypes / shaped poetry & the hand-bound / hand-stitched fascicle booklets of Emily DICKINSON !!

so how strange, is the meandering art world I prowl . . . ?

that last weekend . . .
I find myself at . . ‘NIGHTJAR’ / at UNDERDONK !!!!