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KIM FOSTER - Peter O'Kennedy, Blanche Nettles Powers, Jim Toia

248 views · Published 21 February 2014 · 7:12 · Indexed 29 September 2026

Channel: NYC GALLERY OPENINGS · 2014 · Entertainment

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Peter O'Kennedy, Blanche Nettles Powers, Jim Toia
Mushrooms, Moss, and a Movie

February 20th - March 22nd, 2014
Opening:  February 20th 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM


BLANCHE NETTLES POWERS

Fascinated by Savannah's iconic and beloved Spanish moss, Nettles Powers' 
imagery is a culmination of numerous years of examinations and experimentation 
with this profuse flowering plant. Using a restrained palette, she successfully 
conveys the animate quality of Spanish moss, forcing viewers to see this ubiquitous 
organic material from a fresh perspective. Drenched with india ink, moss is folded 
into sheets of unprimed canvas. The moss is discarded and the ink process repeated 
until a desired effect is achieved. Employing a poetic distortion of the media, 
Nettles Powers removes Savannah's iconic plant from its familiar vertical pose, 
strung like frazzled tinsel on the limbs of live oaks.

JIM TOIA

Over the past decade, Toia has cultivated his interest in mushrooms and the 
physical capture of their spores. His spore drawings are unique examples of his 
partnership with nature. Decades ago, he saw his first scientific spore print. In a 
controlled environment, a mycologist allows a mushroom to drop its spores for the 
purpose of scientific study. Toia's spore drawings are deliberately executed under 
less controlled conditions. His manipulations combined with chance occurrences 
lead to surprising results and unworldly imagery. Only a few of his numerous 
attempts pass his rigorous standards of approval for his art.

PETER O'KENNEDY

O'Kennedy's work tends to be time-based and takes the form of installations and 
the moving image, with a chance element often activating the work. A leaning 
towards the philosophy of the absurd motivates the artist, leading to a precarious 
relationship with meaning and purpose both in the content of the work and in the 
production of art.

Mowing Cricky's House (2012) Single channel HD video, 12.5 minutes.

An incredible building sits unfinished and with the appearance of being 
abandoned, surrounded by artificial lakes and carefully maintained gardens, in a 
hidden location in County Meath, Ireland. The house is the work of a man called 
Cricky, who has been building it for years and claims he will finish it. A gardener has 
been employed throughout to keep the lawns mowed.

Tracking Beacon NY12508 (2007) Single channel video, 104 minutes.

An abandoned railway track runs through the town of Beacon, New York. A 
miniature camera mounted on a small machine built to ride the track records an 
extreme close up of one of the tracks as it enters, passes through, and leaves the 
town. As the machine carries the camera along the track (as the track tracks itself), 
the sun goes down and the piece ends in darkness

Music by:
Chill Carrier - A New Day

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