Exhibiting concurrently with Jonathan Viner’s “Cold Snap” (previewed here), will be “Black Moon New York” by longtime friends, Jessicka Addams, Camille Rose Garcia, Elizabeth McGrath and Marion Peck. With the help of gallerist Alix Sloan of Sloan Fine Art, they began their collective for “Black Moon” in 2013, inspired by their special comradery. This year, they’ve created a more ambitious body of work inspired by autumn. Autumn and the idea of witchcraft is represented here in their signature stylistic choices. All share a dark and disturbing quality mixed with a dash of playfulness.
Rather than depicting this famous seasonal character as evil, each makes a connection between witches and their kin. Jessicka Addams portrays the trials of friendship in images of little witch girls and their cats. Her inspirations of Gothic culture and religious iconography are apparent in her morbidly hysterical scenes. Cats appear in Camille Rose Garcia’s new paintings as well, whose grinning smiles recall her successful “Alice in Wonderland” illustrations. Hers is almost like a satire of the Halloween season, where her drippy subjects revel in strange acts together. Demonic looking animals are also prevalent in Elizabeth McGrath’s new figures, while Marion Peck subdues the color palette in images of women sharing secretive acts. Like the covens they portray, you get the sense that the ‘Black Moon’ artists are a family unit with a secret of their own.
The exhibition opens October 24th at site/109, 109 Norfolk St, New York, NY 10002.