Queens Library's "Line" Exhibit Draws Viewers In

Queens Library's "Line" Exhibit Draws Viewers In

Black lights, typically the stuff of basement parties and music stores, have taken center stage — at a library, of all places.

The black light installation by artist Lishan Chang is part of an exhibit now on display at the Queens Library Gallery in Jamaica. The free show, which presents work from seven different artists, takes a new approach to line drawing.

“I was looking for work that spoke to the idea of drawing through the use of line, but wasn’t necessarily a drawing,” said Juliana Driever, the gallery’s curator. 

She found just that from artists including Jose Ruiz, whose “Blindfolded Essay” uses text to create the shape of a person wearing a dark mask. Up close, the words are legible, but step back a few feet and the human form takes shape, rendering the words indistinguishable.

There’s also Doreen McCarthy’s “Circulation,” a three-dimensional piece comprised of connected, white, inflatable circles. It’s as tall as a person and because it sits front and center in the gallery, is equally visible to someone perusing nearby library shelves or walking through the exhibit.

“The scale of the piece was really crucial,” said McCarthy, who has worked with inflatable materials for more than a decade. “I wanted it to be somewhat human, but also architectural. I wanted to invite people to interact with it, be engaged, have a physical experience with it.”

This notion of interacting with art is counterintuitive, but it makes the exhibit user-friendly and accessible, particularly important for a gallery in the middle of a public library. Driever, who has worked at the library’s gallery for almost two years, said her aim is for the shows to provide this type of access. 

“Everything we have here at the gallery is for our community,” she said. “My goal is to bring stellar exhibits of contemporary art to Queens and specifically, to Jamaica.”

The community seems to be responding positively. Isador Monsanto twice brought his son, Zachary, to the show, the second time at the request of the 8-year-old. The pair said they liked the sketches of the robot Domo, by Pia Lindman, and Chang’s black light installation, which is housed in a separate room at the back of the gallery.

“The first time I went in there, I thought, ‘How did they do that?’” Zachary said, referring to the way a black light makes white or light material glow. “I thought they just put a light in my shirt.”

Even artist Carol Warner, who has six pieces on display, said she enjoyed Chang’s black light room and the rest of the exhibit.

“It’s so much about line, but I probably wouldn’t have thought that without seeing the material in that context,” she said. 

Warner’s work is some of the most colorful in the room. She takes images from magazines, cuts them into strips of different widths, and weaves them together. Minus any contextual clues, the shapes within the art are somewhat hard to distinguish. But their vibrant colors draw viewers in.

“My work is about line (and) about paper — the paper as a line,” Warner said. “(Juliana) just found so many different variations on the idea of something simple. I was thrilled to be a part of it.”

Driever seems to have succeeded not only in engaging the Queens community, but the artists involved as well.

“It’s been great. The community always loves all the exhibitions we do,” Driever said. “All of the artists were really enthusiastic and very happy with the way (the exhibit) came together.”

“Line (Drawing)” is on display at the Queens Library Gallery until Jan. 13. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is free.

For more information, call (718) 990-8665 or visit http://www.queenslibrary.org/gallery.