Made in Brooklyn, paintings by Ella Yang and sculpture by Martha Walker Brooks Brothers Manhasset, 2128 Northern Boulevard, Manhasset, NY October 30 – November 9, 2014 Opening Reception: Thursday, October 30, 6-8 PM
Brooklyn, NY – Brooks Brothers Manhasset will be presenting Made in Brooklyn, a two-person exhibit of Brooklyn artists Martha Walker and Ella Yang, this month. This exhibition pairs the light-filled landscape and cityscape oil paintings by Yang with the welded-steel sculptures of organically-inspired forms by Walker. At first glance, it is not immediately obvious what their works have in common. Then it becomes apparent: they share an interest in nature and forms in their environment. A champagne reception will be hosted by Debra and Claudio Del Vecchio and the Board of Trustees of the Nassau County Museum of Art on Thursday, October 30, from 6 to 8 pm. 15% of artwork sales will be donated to the Museum’s education programs for those with special needs.
Walker views her environment from a microbiological perspective, which she reconceives often in abstract forms that are somehow familiar, seeming to belong in our world without being immediately recognizable. These forms frequently take on aquatic imagery or may be reminiscent of other biological phenomena.
While it is the rage now to move to Brooklyn and consume all things local and artisanally-produced, for over 10 years Martha Walker and Ella Yang have been crafting their works in the industrial neighborhoods of Brooklyn. For the last eight years, they have been partners in a studio space in the Gowanus neighborhood, infamous for the namesake canal that recently earned Superfund status for its toxicity. Walker and Yang initially bonded over their unusual shared pasts as businesswomen; both had corporate careers in finance and then were small business owners, but eventually returned to their passions to become full-time artists. Today, they often collaborate to show their works together or to support their local arts organizations.
Ella Yang concurrently has a solo exhibition at 440 Gallery in Brooklyn, Look Again, opening October 23 until November 23, 2014. She has shown in solo and group exhibitions at other galleries in New York City and its environs. Her paintings are in private collections in the USA, as well as in Hong Kong, Italy, France, and Austria. A few of her paintings are on loan to the U.S. Embassy in Geneva, Switzerland, through the prestigious Art in Embassies program. In 2006, she spent a month at the internationally recognized artist residency program, the Vermont Studio Center. She is honored to be included in the book “100 New York Painters,” by C.M. Dantzic, published by Schiffer Books. Yang is a graduate of Yale University with a B.A. in architecture.
Martha Walker has had solo shows at Kouros Gallery in New York City, and the Phillips Museum in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. AB Levy Gallery in Palm Beach, Florida currently features her work. Her sculpture are are in private and public collections, including the Zimmerli Museum, the Anne Frank Museum USA, Pratt Institute and Kouros sculpture parks, Dwight Englewood School, and Boca Beach Club and Resort. Her work has appeared on television shows and movies, including Gossip Girl, The Following, and The Art of Love. Walker is featured in the publications “The Glory of Brooklyn’s Gowanus: Legacy, Industry, Artistry”, and “Masters of Landscape and Public Sculpture”, and she was reviewed in Sculpture Magazine, The New York Post, and Art Calendar Magazine. Walker holds both an undergraduate and masters degrees in Art from Pratt Institute.
Ella Yang Studio
168 7th Street, Suite 2L
Brooklyn, New York 11215
