Have a Good One! - Group Show Curated by Christy Li and Debora Maurelli_2025
Text by
Christy Li and Debora Maurelli
Have a Good One! examines the challenges of daily life in New York City—and other hyper-urbanized cities worldwide—by transforming the grocery store into a space of exploration and insight.
Through subtle artistic interventions camouflaged within a bodega, the exhibition reflects the normalization of inflated prices and highlights the absurdities of economic inequality embedded in our everyday lives. The bodega, a mundane yet essential space, becomes a microcosm of contemporary capitalism’s surreal contradictions:abundance on display, yet out of reach for many.
The artworks seamlessly integrate into the store’s vending process, drawing attention to the tension between privilege and necessity. By embedding art into this familiar yet complex environment, the exhibition disrupts the routine act of shopping, encouraging audiences to confront how value is constructed and commodified, even for the simplest requirements of life.
The title, drawn from the familiar farewell often heard at checkouts, hints at a deeper ambiguity: the seemingly casual phrase gestures toward broader questions of value, worth, and what constitutes a “good one”.
Embracing humor, irony, and play as tools for critique, Have a Good One! reframes the grocery store as a site of paradox, where scarcity and abundance, necessity and luxury, uneasily coexist. By blurring the line between art and everyday objects, it challenges viewers to look closer at what often goes unnoticed or that is accepted as “normal”.
Artists are invited to respond to these tensions by creating works that challenge visitors’ perceptions of products, occupying the liminal space between purchasable goods and works of art. Through their unique perspectives and mediums, artists are encouraged to expose the absurdity of the “gentrification” of even the most mundane objects, reframing them to question their value, significance, and role in consumer culture. Engaging with the delicate balance between survival and excess, the works will adapt to the grocery store’s context, provoking questions about the disparities and contradictions of modern everyday life.
Tea Vines is an interactive participatory sculptural artwork that is a nod to gathering around the water cooler. It consists of finger knit vines made of yarn; from these vines hang an array of fresh, unused tea bags, ready for consumption. Serving as a secular altarpiece, Tea Vines is accompanied by teapots filled with freshly brewed water and mugs. Visitors may pick the mug of their choosing, fill it with with the brewed water, and hold it up to the Tea Vines, selecting the tea of their choosing, and allowing it to steep. Like the water cooler, this moment of awkward waiting amongst strangers and acquaintances is superseded and subsided by this coming together and sharing in a unique moment that otherwise would not have existed. For a brief moment, a shared bond is had, one that is not soon forgotten; forging a communal experience. As the mugs are removed from the vines, the tea bags drip onto a handmade white rug that absorbs the drips. A bouquet of color blooms as the used tea bags drip, and a collective mechanical painting is born. This in-flux work has served as a performative piece and as a sculpture. Beginning in 2014, used teabags collected from various communities have been assembled to create a work that thoughtfully considers the multi-faceted components of tea. Inspired by the precious moments embraced by numerous cultures across the globe, the act of having tea allows for a moment of solitary introspection, a sharing of stories with others, or a break in the day from our busy lives. The once-used teabags allow for the possibility of reanimation, rebirth, and an acknowledgement of the many fragments of time passed. Countless varieties of tea converged to create a new unique strain, reanimated tea from its old, discarded counterparts. These remnants grow to visually demonstrate the collective moments they bore witness to; resuscitating the forgotten into something tangibly memorable.
Yasmeen Abdallah (she/her/they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist, working across intersections of sculpture, textiles, painting, installation and social engagement.
Drawing from the personal and the political through elements of memory, trauma, resilience, and persistence, her work takes shape in various capacities from minimal gestures to maximal installations. Abdallah uses a variety of materials and processes to illustrate the connections between our bodies, contemporary culture and colonialism. She is inspired by histories, social movements, space, place and personhood. Abdallah holds Bachelor’s degrees from University of Massachusetts in Anthropology (emphasis in Historical & Collaborative Archaeology, which included field schools with New England indigenous tribal communities); and another in Studio Art with honors, including a Minor in Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies. Abdallah also earned a MFA in Fine Arts with distinction from Pratt Institute. Her work as a curator, writer, and educator has included roles as a visiting artist, grant recipient and resident at numerous institutions in and around New York.
Fortunes of Comfort series explores the yearning for belonging in a new place and highlights the nostalgic connections sparked by familiar foods. It draws from the artist’s experience, and that of many immigrants she knows, of the thrill and tenderness felt when finding childhood food items in grocery stores around NYC. Each piece is meant to describe the pull between an idealized “back-home” and the deliberately chosen new home of present life. Each amulet is made of ceramic decorated with beads covered in plastic food wrappers.
ADINA ANDRUS
Fortunes of Comfort
#9, glazed stoneware, metal, plastic wrapper and 24k gold leaf, 17 x 6.5 in 2020 selected works
Amulet
#3, glazed stoneware, metal and food wrapper, 16 x 7.5 in
Adina Andrus works across various media, creating mixed media pieces, sculptures, drawings and installations that confront questions of memory, belonging, and visual culture across time and space. Andrus is a recipient of the Queens Council for the Arts New Work Grant and the NY State Arts Alive Artist Grant and has exhibited work in the United States and Romania, including at the Ely Center for Contemporary Art, CollarWorks, LABSpace Gallery, KinoSaito, and Make a Point Gallery. She studied art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA and the Art Students’ League in New York City.
Amulet #1 , glazed stoneware, metal and food wrapper, 15 x 7.5 in
Amulet #7 , glazed stoneware, metal and food wrapper, 15 x 12 in
Amulet
Artwork Description
Jewel Wasps and Cockroaches tells the story of a process that has been present in nature for a long time: the zombification of cockroaches by emerald (or jewel) wasps. Through a highly detailed and meticulous process that involves several steps, these wasps stun the cockroach, putting it in a state of drownsiness, and ultimately transform it into the perfect place to lay their egg. The cockroach, “parked” in a sort of tomb, will become the food source for the new emerald wasp, which will be the only one to emerge alive from the grave.
This process is narrated in the form of an illustrated story in three phases, depicted in three different chapters, on three different cockroach traps. The trap can even be assembled, blending in perfectly among supermarket products.
A brutal and normalized act that represents the natural way in which emerald wasps reproduce. These two opposite poles serve as a parallel to tell another paradoxical story: that of a population suffering from inflation, unable to change things, and how the wealthiest and most powerful continue to demand more at the expense of those struggling to make ends meet. Common people are “zombified” by capitalism, which makes them believe in essential objects that only serve to fuel a market of false needs.
SILVIA FRANCIS BERRY
Jewel Wasps and Cockroaches
Biography
Silvia Francis Berry (b. 1998) studied at NABA in Milan and IUAV in Venice. She primarily uses drawing, in an ironic way, both as a work of art and as a means of self-exploration to investigate autobiographical episodes and reflections on surrounding space. In her career, important milestones include the solo exhibition “SI,” inaugurated in 2021 at Platea Palazzo Galeano (LO), where, through video and installation, she addresses the need to freeze the artistic process in order to display it, and “AFFITTASI LUMINOSISSIMO BILOCALE,” created in collaboration with the Zeroscena collective for the 2024 season at Spazio Serra, which instead tackles the issue of the housing crisis in Milan by putting the exhibition space up for rent.
You Are What You Eat repurposes electrical wires and discarded materials from landfills to explore the relationship between digital consumption and physical reality. By isolating these elements from their original function, the work highlights the tension between technological influence and its material impact.
The use of universally recognizable iconography references the dynamics of mass culture, intertwining themes of posthumanism, consumerism, and contemporary satire. The meticulous arrangement of electrical wires evokes both the aesthetics of industrial products and the invisible networks that shape global communication. Through the reuse of discarded materials, the work questions the ecological implications of production and waste excess, contributing to a broader discourse on sustainability and the redefinition of value in contemporary society.
LINDSAY-ANN CHILCOTT
You Are What You Eat (Artificial Appetite Series)
2022
cardboard, electrical wires, liquid glass, metal, plastic, and wax paper 2.5 x 9 x 6.5 in
Lindsay-Ann Chilcott (b. 1999) is a multimedia artist living and working in Niagara Falls, Canada. Specializing in pop surrealism, Chilcott repurposes electrical wires and other discarded matter from Canadian landfills to explore the themes of consumerism, social structures, satire, and the relationship between humans and technology, in ever-increasing digital environments. Her work is heavily inspired by popular culture, street art, and conceptual art. Chilcott has exhibited internationally, including shows at Viridian Artists and the Salmagundi Club in New York City, New York, the ARC Gallery in Chicago, Illinois, and Artist Project in Toronto, Canada. She has been included in solo exhibitions at MIWSFPA Gallery in St. Catharines, Canada, and On Task Studio in Toronto, Canada. Her work has been featured in several publications, including The Working Artist magazine, and Digital America. In 2024, Chilcott was awarded the Allister Young Arts & Culture Endowment Fund, by the Niagara Falls city council.
Drawing from the artist’s personal experience of overindulgence in sugary treats and childhood memories of longing for colorful candies, Sweet Jiggles explores obsession, sensation, and the complex interplay between sensory delight and unfulfilled cravings. These drippy, organic sculptures mimic the glossy, seductive appeal of confections, embodying both the promise of pleasure and the inevitable disappointment that often follows indulgence.
These hyper-artificial forms within the grocery store’s landscape, blur the line between desire and excess, between what is truly nourishing and what is artificially designed to keep us wanting more. The sculptures become both an object of temptation and a reflection on the way consumer culture manufactures and monetizes desire, leaving us in a perpetual cycle of craving and consumption.
YEN YEN CHOU
Sweet Jiggles
2019
acrylic and beads or glitter on flexible urethane foam three selected pieces, variable dimensions
Biography
Yen Yen Chou is an artist based in Taipei, Taiwan and Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from Pratt Institute with an M.F.A. in Painting and Drawing in 2018. She has participated in a number of group exhibitions at spaces including Dinner Gallery, New York, NY, Fridman Gallery, New York, NY; Tchotchke Gallery, Brooklyn, NY; Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Brooklyn, NY; Chinatown Soup, New York, NY; Gallery Cubed, New York, NY; Prince Street Gallery, New York; and SPRING/BREAK Art Show NYC.
Instant ramen, a post-war bodega staple, has long been a go-to for budget-conscious college students and residents of food deserts, including neighborhoods in Brooklyn, NY. Once priced under a dollar, a single serving now ranges from $1.50 to $5, driven by rising production costs and inflation. Among the most recognizable brands is Maruchan, whose mascot has fostered a sense of nostalgia and brand loyalty over time.
Despite its affordability, instant ramen is often packaged in disposable styrofoam cups, creating a conflict between budget-conscious living and environmental impact—factors that, in turn, influence its rising cost. This tension is reflected in Waruchan Mugs, a series of ceramic mugs designed to contrast the disposability of instant ramen packaging with the permanence of handcrafted objects. Priced at $45, each mug accounts for labor and cost-ofliving expenses, underscoring the paradox of sustainability: while ceramic elevates a humble product, it simultaneously places it out of reach for many. As the price of instant ramen continues to rise, the question remains— how can nostalgia and basic needs be met more sustainably, and why must the burden of sustainability fall on the individual?
ANGELIQUE DE CASTRO Waruchan Mugs
series of three, 4 x 3.5 x 3.5 in, 5.25 x 3.5 x 3.5 in, 3 x 4.5 x 3.5 in
2024 ceramic
Biography
Angelique De Castro (she/they) makes mischievous characters out of clay and pixels. Their characters’ mythologies are shaped by the cross-sections of labor politics, queer/trans embodiment, and disobedient cultural narratives. De Castro typically co-creates with other artists whose practices are socially engaged or whose presence in their medium is underrepresented. They are also a Senior Software Engineer at The New York Times engineering reader and editorial-facing news products.
The Sanest Response to an Insane Present
The dreaded moment is upon us – an era of political extremism even more intense than the last one. The prospect of living in a country with a president who proudly proclaims that he’ll be a dictator on day one, who fills his cabinet with cronies and stacks our courts with theocrats is nothing short of terrifying. Most of us want gun control, birth control and healthcare that doesn’t bankrupt us, but we’ve been outmaneuvered by SuperPACs and let down by the politicians they fund. Today, the future does look grim, but we can’t allow ourselves to be paralyzed by fear or hopelessness. If we abandon all efforts to imagine a better way to live just because we lost an election, we’ll become exactly the kind of people authoritarian rulers like to push around – passive and fatalistic. MAGA is coming for our rights, our schools, our books, our news, and our environmental regulations. Let’s not sit back! Let’s work together – and make it fun! Nothing irks those who believe in their absolute power more than being laughed at. Let’s skewer them with humor and expose the absurdity and pettiness of their goals.
- The Editors
NOAH FISCHER
The Siren || New York 2044
2025 printed newspapers
33 x 22.5 in each
The Siren edition presents the graphic and textual work of several artists, including:
EDITORS: Coco Fusco, Noah Fischer, Pablo Helguera
CONTRIBUTORS: Emily Waters, Federico Geller, El Fisgón, Greg Sholette, Guerrilla Girls, Isabella Bannerman, Juliette Colette, Lalo Alcaraz, Luna, Oliver Wasow, Peter Rostovsky, William Powhida and The Yes Men.
The print and online editions are designed by Noah Fischer.
Noah Fischer is a news junkie who grew up on Zen Monastery in California but has been in NYC since 2002. His work has been seen in the gallery and on the streets; from installations to stage design and performance, organizing, and writing and perhaps most of all, drawing. Noah has contributed to public discourse over the role cultural institutions play within capitalism and the debts that affect creative communities. He has exhibited in museums internationally from the Berlin Biennale, documenta, Whitney Biennial, and the Venice Biennale with and without permission. As a founding member of Occupy Museums, a member of Gulf Labor Coalition, and a longtime collaborator with Berlin-based theater group andcompany&Co, he balances collective and solo practice. Fischer is a unionized adjunct art teacher at Parsons and NYU.
These bright, colorful giclée prints originate from The Dolly Files, a public art project designed to bring fine art to a New York City audience through an informal, portable gallery setting. Happy You come from the Take Out Series, a collection of hand-painted and printed botanicals arranged in iconic packaging. Drawing from the design history of these recognizable containers, the series reflects on art history, the symbolism of flowers, sustainability, multiculturalism, and the visual language of NYC street culture.
By embedding fine art within everyday urban settings, The Dolly Files challenges traditional exhibition spaces and reimagines accessibility in an increasingly commercialized landscape. The project operates within a broader conversation about what is valued and where art belongs— engaging with the aesthetics of consumer culture while resisting its exclusivity.
ABBY GOODMAN Happy You
2024 selected works
Happy You, Cherry Blossoms, giclee print, 14 x 16 in
Thank You, Enjoy (Bright Bouquet), giclee print, 14 x 16 in
Abby Goodman received her BFA from Tyler School of Art. She continued training as an iron-working apprentice in the French Alps, and later, at the Johnson Atelier Technical Institute for Sculpture, where she spent several years executing bronze sculptures for the public arena before completing her MFA at Syracuse University. Goodman‘s work has been featured in galleries and museums internationally, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Islip Art Museum, Everson Museum, Parisian Laundry, Woodward Gallery, A.I.R. Gallery, Toronto Art Fair, Scope Art Fair, Rush Philanthropic, and Tribes gallery. She was one of four artists who participated in We Come From Brooklyn, a collaborative exchange between Brooklyn artists and the Galerie Aller Art in Bludenz, Austria. Goodman was a studio resident and proctor at the Chashama Studio Residency Program in the Brooklyn Army Terminal for seven years. During this time, she created several large-scale public works, including two collaborative interactive public sculptures for Governor’s Island, an interactive installation for her solo exhibition The Wishing Tree at the Brooklyn Arts Council, and numerous private commissions. Most recently, Abby completed a studio residency fellowship at Virginia Center For The Creative Arts. Abby’s work has been promoted in numerous publications, including The New York Times, New American Paintings, La Nuevo Herald, SOMA Magazine, Non-Stop Magazine, various exhibition catalogues, and the cover of Studio Visit magazine.
Biography
She’s Taking It! reimagines New York City as a living force, where a towering woman guides the city’s natural process of restoration and balance. Through a mix of street photography and illustration, the piece captures the city reshaping itself—an act of reclaiming space, not through removal, but through renewal. It’s a quiet assertion that the city’s soul remains in the hands of those who’ve always called it home.
DANI GRANDISON
She’s Taking It!
2025
digital-mixed media illustration variable dimensions
Hailing from the heart of Brooklyn, Dani Grandison is a visual storyteller who has been confident in her creative expression since birth. A graphic designer, illustrator, animator, and mama, her work is a vibrant dance of abstract views, colorful hues, and a deep connection to community. Dani learned early on the power of imagination—not just as an escape, but as a way to build and dream beyond limitations. Play has always been at the heart of her creative purpose, and becoming a mother herself reawakened that connection to her inner child. Through illustration, she embraces wonder, curiosity, and the unfiltered joy of creation. For Dani, creativity is more than a career—it’s a calling to nurture the parts of ourselves that the world often asks us to abandon, inviting others to see the world with fresh eyes, embrace play, and never lose sight of the magic we’re all born with.
Untitled (Happy New Year) explores the grocery market as a fundamental gathering place within the Asian community. When my grandparents and I first moved to the United States, our first instinct was to seek out a Korean or Asian market. These spaces serve as cultural anchors, offering a sense of familiarity and belonging in an unfamiliar land. Around the New Year, grocery stores become more than just places to shop—they transform into spaces of connection where people gather to share food, traditions, and moments of togetherness. Their footsteps and emotions intertwine within the aisles, forming an invisible thread of community. Through this work, I seek to reexamine the role of these markets, not only as physical spaces but as vessels of memory, identity, and the things we carry—both literally and emotionally—when we leave them.
YEEUN JOO
Untitled (Happy New Year)
2025
inkjet prints mounted on wire variable dimensions
Biography
Yeeun Joo is a senior majoring in Photography and Video at the School of Visual Arts. Born in Korea based in the United States, she explores themes of identity and cultural fluidity through her work. Drawing inspiration from personal experiences and the diverse narratives around her, she primarily works with printmaking, bookbinding, and analog photography, using film to capture intimate, fleeting moments. Passionate about storytelling and human connection, she seeks to create work that bridges perspectives and brings people closer—through art, through shared experiences, and above all, through love.
In Madonna and Child (Tomatokos), the Virgin Mary advertises Christ as a can of soup, a symbol of nourishment accessible to all through mass production. She offers the Anointed One freely, fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy: “You who have no money, come, buy grain and eat… you shall delight in rich fare” (Isaiah 55:1-2). At this utopian banquet, “he will destroy the veil that veils all peoples… he will destroy death forever. The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces” (Isaiah 25:6-8).
In the present age, we labor for our sustenance. Yet there is hope for the future where nourishment is accessible to all people regardless of merit or wealth.
At this intersection of a New Heaven and a New Earth is the bodega. It is where all are welcome to come and find affordable food. Here community comes together, and neighbors of all nations gather to enjoy a meal.
The corner store is the New Kingdom. God’s promise converges here, and it comes through a messiah, who comes in the form of food that is free for all to eat and multiplied and distributed to the world. Through this figure, God establishes a New Covenant that offers new life to all people. In this place and through this can, hunger ends, suffering ceases, and even death dies so that all may have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10).
NICHOLAS LEEPER
Madonna and Child (Tomatokos)
2024 acrylic and
leaf on panel 10 x 15 in
“Not a hunter, fisherman, herdsman, or critic”
Born in 1992 in New Jersey, Nicholas Leeper currently resides, studies, and works in New York City. With a background in history and education from Rutgers University-Newark, as well as a master’s degree in church management from Villanova University, their academic journey continues with a Master of Philosophy at Saint Louis University (2021-2024). Their artistic practice engages with theological and philosophical inquiry, exploring themes of religious iconography and contemporary spirituality. Their work has been featured in exhibitions across the United States, including What is Christ? (SLUMA, St. Louis, MO), Representing the Holy Name (Holy Name Church, CO), and Icon-ic (Covet Art Gallery, CA). Works are held in institutional collections such as Saint Louis University Campus Ministry and the Jesuit Residence in St. Louis, as well as in private collections nationwide.
The ongoing photography series Deptford captures the bustling market street near the artist’s home. A dynamic exchange unfolds—the bargaining over a long-sought vinyl, hands passing fish wrapped in yesterday’s newspaper, the mingling scents of rain and freshly cut pineapples. Week after week, the market draws visitors back, offering a tapestry of colorful chaos and quiet familiarity, shaped by fleeting conversations and shared nods of recognition.
Within the layered streets of South East London, the market’s resonance extends across the Atlantic to the urban pulse of New York City. Deptford presents the market both as a distinct locale and a universal metaphor, inviting reflection on the tensions between necessity and luxury, community and isolation, survival and indulgence. Both cities, shaped by histories of migration, commerce, and relentless gentrification, embody the paradox of abundance and exclusion that defines hyper-urbanized landscapes. Through this photographic dialogue, the series urges contemplation of how these parallel realities—separated by oceans yet bound by shared struggles—expose the precarious nature of existence in modern cities.
2024 print on paper variable dimensions
KARA LI Deptford
Kara Li is a multidisciplinary media artist with a deep passion for fine art photography and videography. Her work is fluid and exploratory, driven by curiosity rather than a fixed style or outcome. She embraces the unpredictable nature of the creative process, allowing space for interpretation and personal connection. Rather than dictating meaning, Kara invites viewers to engage with her work on their own terms, finding their own stories within each piece. Biography
Can you grab these on the way in is a series of repurposed fabric shopping bags from Chinese supermarkets in Flushing, folded and sewn using shibori fabric manipulation technique. Despite being constructed to serve as a sustainable alternative to plastic bags, this bag can often be found in landfills and littered across the streets of New York City. The time-intensive manipulation process turns this common item into something special. The title references the everyday action of asking a family member to help grab the bags of groceries on the way back into the house from the supermarket.
HELEN LIN
can you grab these on the way in
2023 selected works
can you grab these on the way in, pt. i, Jmart shopping bag, thread, 11 x 9.5 x 0.75 in
Helen Lin is a Chinese-American artist born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. She produces soft sculpture, interactive digital spaces, and confessional zines that cry out to be seen, touched, held, comforted. Through labor-intensive stitching of physical and digital forms, she drenches her work in melancholic cuteness, bringing ugly feelings to the surface of endearing, approachable fictional characters and worlds. Born and raised in a first-generation immigrant family in Brooklyn, she earned a scholarship degree in Visual Arts at Princeton University with a minor in East Asian Studies. More recently, Lin has been developing ways to translate illustrations and sculptures into new media, creating virtual mascot interactions hosted through web experiments and 3d immersive environments. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program.
Fruits of Labor is a series of trompe l’oeil fruit rattles made of clay. What began as a playful activity with the artist’s child during the early days of the global pandemic gradually took on a life of its own. Over time, she sculpted a persimmon, bananas, mango, papaya, and finally, a jackfruit. These forms embody time—just as fruits are often used to mark fetal growth during pregnancy: a blueberry at seven weeks, a papaya at 24 weeks, and so on. The rattles serve as a visual pun on the phrase enjoy the fruits of one’s labor, reflecting both the creative labor of an artist and the unseen labor of caregiving.
The sculpted fruit, transformed into rattles, blurs the line between functional object and artistic intervention, mirroring the exhibition’s focus on recontextualizing the familiar. By referencing both the unseen labor of caregiving and the commodification of everyday goods, the work highlights the paradox of abundance and scarcity within hyper-urbanized economies.
Labor
ALISA OCHOA Fruits of
2020 - 2021 selected works
Large Mango Rattle, Ceramic, glaze, and underglaze, 5.5 x 4 x 4.75 in, 2020, Ph. Julian Calero
Grapefruit , Ceramic, glaze, and underglaze, 5 x 5 x 4 in, 2020, Ph. Julian Calero
Seeds of Growth II, Pomegranate ink, pen, crayon on handmade denim paper, 8 x 11 in, 2021, Ph. Eva Lempert
Seeds of Growth I, Pomegranate ink, pen, crayon on handmade denim paper, 8 x 11 in, 2021, Ph. Eva Lempert
Alisa Ochoa is an artist and advocate based in Southern California. Her multifaceted practice spans ceramics, painting, and video, with meticulously crafted objects embodying themes of time, memory, and resilience. Ochoa’s art has been exhibited in various locations throughout the United States and internationally, including Berkeley’s Kala Art Institute, Malmo’s Galleri CC, and the International Print Center of New York. Her work has been featured in publications such as the Los Angeles Times, Juxtapoz Magazine, and Glasstire. She is obsessed with all fruits, using them as symbols to represent human migration, transcontinental diaspora, and personal growth.
Brooklyn is inhabited by a vibrant assembly of immigrant communities, many of which have dwindled due to raising prices and gentrification. One of these communities is the Caribbean population of Crown Heights, and ten years ago its streets were filled with block parties and children playing in the summertime. The artist Onaje Grant-Simmonds mourns the loss of this idyllic past and his own childhood through expressionist vignettes of the borough that weave urbanscapes with tropical imagery. Voyagers merges the symbolic Atlantic Ave with a Bajan shore, highlighting the tension between the past and present, showing how the commodification of neighborhoods erases the richness of local histories and cultural identities. The piece invites viewers to reflect on the erasure of community spaces, urging them to question the value of heritage in a world where change is driven by economic forces that often leave little room for preservation.
ONAJE GRANT-SIMMONDS
Voyagers
2024 oil on canvas 32 x 54 in
Onaje Grant-Simmonds (b. 2002) is a Surrealist painter born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. He concentrated in Visual Arts at Brown University in Providence, RI, where received his AB in 2024. Grant-Simmonds explores the ego, consciousness, anxiety, and divinity in paintings which merge abstraction with naturalism. Grant-Simmonds has exhibited in solo shows in Brooklyn and Providence, as well as group shows at prestigious venues including the New York Academy of Art, the RISD Museum, Brown University, and the Providence Art Club. Grant-Simmonds has a list of publications, including one in New York Magazine’s The Cut. His growing Vajrayana Buddhist practice and exposure to the New York art community growing up has instilled a lifelong passion for painting and a fascination with the mind. Grant-Simmonds recently attended his second meditation retreat at Gomde California and completed an abroad program in Florence, Italy. His current paintings reflect on memories. Biography
CURATORS
Debora Maurelli (Bari, Italy, 2000) is a curator, artist and art organizer. She holds a master’s degree in Visual Arts from IUAV University of Venice and a bachelor’s in Architectural Design from the Politecnico di Milano. Her education is further enriched by a master’s in Architecture and Museography for Archaeology, deepening her exploration of spatial design, heritage conservation, and exhibition curation. She has taken on a transversal role in artistic and cultural management, exhibition production, and installation, collaborating with various organizations in the art and non-profit sectors.
Her practice moves across the boundaries of visual arts, curatorship, multimedia installations, and writing, centering on posthuman perspectives. She investigates non-anthropocentric modes of interaction, fostering new relational dynamics between humans, non-humans, spaces, and objects. Through her research, she tries to challenge traditional perception, exploring multispecies entanglements and expanded ways of being.
As an artist, she has exhibited in Unfolding Roots (L’Appartement 49c, New York City, 2024), Artefici del Nostro Tempo (Padiglione 29, Venice, 2024), and Components of Existence (10 & zero uno, Venice, 2024). Her curatorial projects include Components of Existence (10 & zero uno, Venice, 2024) and she has been part of the curatorial collective Co_Atto in Milan. Her work is part of the collection of the Galleria Internazionale d’Arte Moderna Ca’ Pesaro in Venice.
Debora Maurelli
Christy Li
Christy Li (Beijing, China, 2001) is an emerging curator whose work bridges politics and art, reflecting her academic background at Pitzer College. She has interned at Pitzer College Art Galleries in Claremont, California, and Yiwei Gallery in Venice Beach, California, assisting curators in producing diverse exhibitions.
In the summer of 2024, Christy curated two exhibitions in Beijing. Intertwined Introspection: A Dialogue Between External and Spiritual Realm explored the complex relationship between personal identity and societal structures, providing a space for reflection on how individuals navigate cultural and spiritual landscapes. She also curated Rebirth: Contemporary Perspectives on the Heritage of Chinese Art, which reinterpreted traditional Chinese artistic practices through a contemporary lens. These exhibitions showcased her ability to merge cultural heritage with contemporary discourse and foster critical dialogue.
Christy plans to pursue a graduate program in Arts Management in Fall 2025, aiming to establish a nonprofit platform that amplifies the voices of emerging artists of color. She is committed to supporting underrepresented communities in the arts and fostering inclusivity within the art world.
Through her curatorial practice, Christy strives to create spaces that celebrate diverse artistic voices and contribute to a more inclusive and innovative art community.
Have a Good One! Group Show
Yasmeen Abdallah, Adina Andrus, Silvia Francis Berry, Lindsay-Ann Chilcott, Yen Yen Chou, Angelique De Castro, Noah Fischer, Abby Goodman, Dani Grandison, Yeeun Joo, Nicholas Leeper, Kara Li, Alisa Ochoa, Onaje GrantSimmonds
March 20 - March 25, 2025
Opening: March 20, h. 6 - 8 pm
Curated by Christy Li and Debora Maurelli
As part of the WhiteBox SIP - Staff and Internship ‘25 educational Program
A Program Designed and Led by Yohanna M. Roa, Dec. Dir.
Special Thanks to Ben’s Deli Grocery for the space
