Yael Ben-Simon & Jessica Perelman

Next Door Guest: Geary Contemporary

Geary is pleased to present a two-person satellite exhibition at Johannes Vogt in the Upper East Side for the month of April. Belonging features the work of Brooklyn-based artists Yael Ben-Simon and Jessica Perelman. Israeli artist Ben-Simon will present a collection of oil and acrylic paintings that explore the perceptions of identity, nationalism, and borders in a colonized world as they manifest through flags and regalia. Ben-Simon’s new series of work results from her research into the 17th century book of emblems, Iconology, by Cesare Ripa. Emblem books were popular and contained depictions of human figures as abstract ideas in texts and images. Offering a lexicon of archetypal characters, it is a road map for deciphering the art and culture of the late Renaissance and Baroque eras. Ben-Simon’s fascination with this lexicon is a continuation of her previous body of work in which she works with flags, often with depictions of animals whose vigor and valor are translated into authoritative badges that augment the high social status of their bearers.

Jessica Perelman offers a series of tabletop ceramic sculptures on a single table in the center of the room. In this work, she references the maximalist tropes of femininity and language of craft arcing from The Met to The Salvation Army: lace, flowers, embroidery, pinks, quilting, weaving, floral arranging, and the female body. Her work is unapologetically handmade, yet recalls the mass-produced household object.

Together, these two artists consider home and origin point, and how it is perceived through material, object, and image.

Yael Ben-Simon is a Brooklyn-based painter with an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design Jerusalem. Most recently, Ben-Simon has exhibited at Rata Projects (Brooklyn), Wassaic Project (NY), Soo Visual Arts Center (MN), Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (Queens), and Hyde Park Art Center (IL). Artist Residencies include the Studios at MASS MoCA (MA), Wassaic Project (NY), Vermont Studio Center (VT), Pilotenkueche (Germany), and SIM Residency (Iceland). Ben-Simon’s work has been featured in publications including New American Paintings and Young Space.

Jessica Perelman was born in Chico, California, and works primarily in clay and painting. She graduated with Honors from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Drawing (2014) and has mostly worked in clay since then. Recent exhibitions include group shows at Russell Janis (Brooklyn), Cooler Gallery (Brooklyn), Calico Gallery (Brooklyn), and Thomas Hunter Project Space (NYC), and residencies at the Vermont Studio Center (VT) and Wellfleet Firings (MA).

Geary was founded in the Lower East Side in 2013 by Jack Geary and Dolly Bross Geary, and then moved to its current location on Varick Street in West Soho. The gallery represents emerging and mid-career artists working in a variety of media, with an emphasis on those from New York City and the Midwest. Geary presents solo, two-person, and group exhibitions, and seeks to raise artist profiles and exposure through placement in museum collections and exhibitions, and through presentations at art fairs.