Artist Talk: October 4, 6:30–8 PM

Paula Wilson’s mixed-media installation transforms Smack Mellon’s industrial space into a landscape resembling the high desert plains of New Mexico, where the artist currently lives. Central among the flora and fauna depicted are the yucca plant and yucca moth. Their pollination ritual represents a quintessential example of mutualism, which Wilson reimagines as a love scene. She outfits the gallery’s towering columns as larger than life naturalists who act as guides and observers of the display. By portraying an untold narrative of black and brown environmentalists, Wilson draws connections between the human rights and environmental movements and offers a paradigm for how embracing the natural world can engender harmony.

This exhibition is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, New York City Council Member Stephen Levin, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and with generous support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Robert Lehman Foundation, Iorio Charitable Foundation, Select Equity Group Foundation, many individuals and Smack Mellon’s Members. 

Smack Mellon’s programs are also made possible with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and with generous support from The New York Community Trust, The Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund of The New York Community Trust, The Roy and Niuta Titus Foundation, Jerome Foundation, The Greenwich Collection Ltd, Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation Inc., Brooklyn Arts Council, and Exploring The Arts.

The artist thanks the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant and Emerson Dorsch Gallery, Miami, for their support.

Space for Smack Mellon’s programs is generously provided by the Walentas family and Two Trees Management.