BY EVELYN CHENG
Crossing Art in Flushing last weekend kicked off its exhibition Going Green, an international juried art competition.
Out of 200 applicants from countries such as Poland, Greece, France and Canada, six artists were selected for creative conceptualizations of green.
“They’re really strong, aesthetically and conceptually,” Assistant Director of the Gallery Jennifer Junkermeier said of the chosen art pieces.
Some works were interactive, such as Maria Michails’ handcar electricity generator. By pumping the handles, a current is generated that lights up two rows of model houses.
Michails, who recently moved to Brooklyn, said the images of corn on the houses are meant to raise questions about the true meaning of sustainability, while the machine itself illustrates the complex processes that make modern life possible.
“We need to take care of ecology if we’re going to have an economy,” she said.
Mark Andreas sought to demonstrate human impact on the environment with his reactive sculptures.
One sculpture dissembles into several parts when temperatures reach 30 degrees Fahrenheit, the point at which ice melts.
“I’m searching for that moment when you can’t really realize when things change,” Andreas said.
Exploring the color green itself, Rachel Kohn focused on cycles of growth and decay inspired by plants growing between the subway and her studio in Long Island City. Her 12 paintings incorporate sculpture techniques with mostly man-made rocks.
“I’m inspired by bursts of energy,” Kohn said.
Artists Susan Evan Grove, Diane Meyer and Andrzej Wasilewski were unable to attend the opening events but had equally atypical explorations of going green.
Grove, a resident of New Jersey, used digitally manipulated canvas prints of photographs to demonstrate how rural areas have become suburban complexes.
Meyer, of Los Angeles, presented prints from her project “Without a Car in the World,” documenting the “carless” experiences of herself and 100 others.
Poland-based artist Wasilewski considered human involvement in the ecological world in his video installation “Greentrix.”
Crossing Art, located in the Queens Crossing Mall at 136-17 39th Ave. in Flushing, was founded by mall co-developer Catherine Lee in January 2008. Like the mall, the gallery seeks to provide a Western context for contemporary art in a predominantly Asian community in America.
Going Green is the gallery’s second juried art exhibit and will be on display until Sept. 11. Admission is free.
