A Year of Contrasts Ends With Art of Contrasts

By J. Taylor Basker

America has just experienced a year of massive contrasts ─ the growth of the rich v. the poor, ICE v. civil liberties, ethnic cleansing and genocide v. nationalist expansion, excess of food v. starvation, war v. declarations of peace and cease fires, health v. epidemics caused by distrust of vaccines. The list is endless. Artists are the barometer of a society’s soul. Westbeth Gallery’s Winter Exhibit closed the year 2025 revealing art of great contrasts paralleling extremes in our world today.

Stephen Hall’s striking photo-realistic painting State of the Union places a police helmet with the letters ICE predominant, on top of a view of a peaceful sea, expressing a contradictory vision. Scenes that should bring us peace, calm and healing are here disfigured by a reminder of the violence of our government’s Homeland “InSecurity.”

Artists using similar techniques to present the human figure conjure two radically different approaches. The large cut-out Mine of You With Me by Ana Kiley presents two nude female figures struggling in embrace, in bulbous grey forms, twisting, painfully contorted. Karen Santry’s Kabuki Yatsuhasi figure cut-out is a graceful, colorful rendition of this Japanese traditional figure, a male in female dress, in detailed regalia, exuding joy.

Faten Gaddes’ mannequin, in an ornate fin de siècle ball gown, composed of facial masks, is a satirical comment on the effects of the pandemic on society, while Ann Hamilton’s mannequin’s dress composed of contrasting large black and white gloves expresses the irony of our still racially segregated society in practice, despite civil rights laws, and DEI, now under attack by Trump. Both point to the contradictions in our world.

A contrast is found in the whimsical photo of a young woman’s elaborate orange braids, Braids of Grace by Lucille Rhodes, and the sardonic photo of an aging man with 6-foot-long orange braids attached, of Baldessari With Braids by Debra Jenks.

Political disputes are found as well in the artwork as Christina Malle’s large linocut that questions “Why Must the Palestinians Suffer for the Crimes of the Third Reich?” using a Palestinian woman carrying a cross. This writer’s (J. Taylor Basker) wood and paper screen collaged with over 100 headlines, articles and photos from The New York Times, with toy soldiers, dolls’ severed body parts and mini-body bags, depicts the genocide in Gaza. Both pieces confront the audience with perhaps their complicity and/or indifference to the suffering of the Palestinian peoples, using different approaches: traditional and innovative.

Even abstract art pieces using similar colors and media show distinct approaches. Tamara Wyndham’s acrylic painting X is a cheerful, dancing convergence of orange, yellow and black splashes and dots. Next to it, Parviz Mohassel’s Noho uses an identical palette of colors in a harsh, slashing statement that is angry and frightening.

The genre of landscapes in the exhibit also reveals extremes of contrast. Paul Morayani’s Aurora Borealis miniature landscape, created of small dark attached canvases is a precise, detailed scene of night woods and eerie sky lights in stark simplicity. Ruth Rioux’ watercolor The Woods at Cold Spring is a large, cacophonic woodland scene in exploding daylight, with loose brushstrokes, layers of watercolor and webs of branches tangled in complex patterns.

Westbeth’s Winter Exhibit, held at the end of each year, is always a reflection on the zeitgeist of our city and our nation. The art is divided in mood and technique, as is our nation. Artists both celebrate and criticize. This exhibit, curated by the gallery director, Valérie Hallier, demonstrates New York artists’ insight and conscious or unconscious response to the current social and political situation in our world this past year.

All photos of artwork taken by J. Taylor Basker.