Ilana Halperin, Minerals of New York, University of Leeds, 2019
Ilana Halperin, Minerals of New York
NADA House, New York
1 Sep - 1 Oct 2023
Opening Reception 1 Sep 2023, 2–5pm Nolan Park, House #18 Governors Island, New York
We are delighted to bring Minerals of New York, a significant body of work by Ilana Halperin to NADA House on Governors Island this September.
The project is inspired by the New York Subway Garnet, a huge historic mineral found by laborers on 35th Street and Broadway, when they were excavating the sewage system in 1885. This encounter led the artist into the stores of the American Museum of Natural History NY, which led to a bungalow in Queens. Here Halperin met a 96 year old man who had started his collection of minerals as a boy, a member of the Pick and Hammer Club with the Brooklyn Children’s Museum. From there Halperin connected with a piece of Garnetiferous Gneiss, found 150 feet below the street where she grew up. The project has evolved into a mineral biography of the city of New York; a significant body of work combining 36 graphite and watercolour drawings, personal narrative and geological urban wonder.
After being shown at two major solo exhibitions at Leeds Arts University and The Hunterian Museum, Glasgow in 2019, the work will now travel to New York as part of the fifth edition of NADA House.
For a preview or sales enquiries please get in touch at thalia@patricia-fleming.com
Garnet, Grants Tomb I & II, 2018, Graphite and watercolor on Fabriano Paper, 39 x 29cm / 15.3 x 11.4in
Ilana Halperin (b.1973, New York, US, lives and works in Glasgow, Scotland)
Halperin’s work explores the relationship between geology and daily life. By connecting personal events and human histories to deep geological time, she allows for a space to think about our place within a vast continuum from a more intimate perspective. Her work deals with geological intimacy and vivacity, and the uncanny knowledge that something as inert and certain as stone was once liquid, airborne, alive.
Solo exhibitions include: My Conglomerate Family, Cairn Art Centre, Digne-les-bains (2022); There is a Volcano Behind My House, Mount Stuart, Isle of Bute (2021); Excerpts from the Library, Patricia Fleming, Glasgow (2020); Minerals of New York, Leeds Arts University and The Hunterian, Glasgow (2019); Geologic Intimacy (Yu no Hana), Fujiya Gallery Hanayamomo, Peacock Visual Arts and Patricia Fleming (2017).
Selected Press
Frieze: Ilana Halperin Sets House (and Geological Histories) In Order, interview with Hettie Juda Scotsman: Ilana Halperin, Mount Stuart Fleming Collection: Ilana Halperin, Living Mountain
Amphibole I & II, 14th St. and 5th Ave., 2018, Graphite and watercolor on Fabriano Paper, 39 x 29cm / 15.3 x 11.4in
About NADA House 2023
NADA (New Art Dealers Association) presents the fifth edition of the collaborative exhibition, bringing together 26 art galleries and art spaces to present 26 artists, with participants engaging the unique character of the 19th century former military residence and exhibiting work in a diverse range of mediums.