NOW: HESTER ST.
January 18 - February 13, 2025
CONVERSATION PIT
A Solo Exhibition by Caitlin McCormack
Curated by Kat Ryals
Opening Reception
January 23 @ 6pm
Artist Talk
January 30 @7pm
NEW YORK, NY –
A majority of my relationships transformed into exclusively text-based interactions during the pandemic, throughout its onset and extending far beyond the lockdown phase. I began creating a body of work with textual elements in response to this evolution, using crocheted cotton, antique fabric remnants, and armatures constructed from household trash. Assuming the form of hand-sewn cushions and domestic objects overgrown with vines and plant detritus, these works betokened the ways in which I felt inseparable from the items in my home.
The significance of the text components expanded as time passed. I had a sense that all of my doubts, fixations, and insecurities were seeping out of me and becoming trapped in my household belongings. A bizarre cycle had initiated in which my domestic existence was hinged on the alarming fact that I would never escape these intrusive thoughts.
This text-based aspect of my practice has developed into a vehicle which allows me to explore my general fascination with language, memes, infographics, and marketing, through meticulously hand-crafted totems possessing equally bizarre and familiar qualities. Accompanying these works are additional sculptures depicting silent, observant entities, equally embellished yet intentionally constructed without mouths.
"Conversation Pit” titularly references the 1970’s sunken couch trend, otherwise known as a grooving area, evoking the unsettling sense of disquietude and the dynamics of power that can lurk in a seemingly comfortable, domestic setting. It also refers to my innermost fear that conversations with me (a depressed person) are perceived commonly as a pit.
About the Artist
Philadelphia-based fiber artist and educator Cait McCormack has contributed works to solo and group exhibitions at Elijah Wheat Showroom, Hashimoto Contemporary, The Mütter Museum, Museum Rijswijk, The Mesa Contemporary Art Museum, The Taubman Museum of Art, The Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Feinkünst Krüger, Field Projects, SPRING/BREAK Art Show, and Future Fair in NYC. Their sculptures have appeared in publications including The New York Times, Hyperallergic, Juxtapoz, Whitehot Magazine, Smithsonian, and Bust Magazine. In addition to holding teaching positions at The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and Hussian College of Art and Design, McCormack has participated in artist residencies at ChaNorth (NY), The Peter Bullough Foundation (VA), The Wassaic Project (NY), Byrdcliffe Artist Colony (NY), Monson Arts (ME), and The Provincetown C-Scape Dune Shack Artist Residency (MA). McCormack was the recipient of a Joseph Robert Foundation grant in 2021 and received the Woodmere Art Museum’s Maurice Freed Memorial Prize in 2023.
@mister_caitlin
https://www.caitlintmccormack.com/
About the Curator
Kat Ryals (b. 1988 in Jonesboro, AR) is a Brooklyn-based artist, curator, and photographer. Ryals received a BFA in Photography from Savannah College of Art and Design and an MFA & Adv. Certificate in Museum Education from Brooklyn College. As a curator, she has organized solo and multi-artist presentations at SPRING/BREAK Art Show in 2019, 2022, & 2024, co-curated more than 20 in person and online exhibitions including booths at Satellite Art Show, Future Fair, and NADA through her co-founded arts organization PARADICE PALASE, and served as Curator of Art for famed nightlife and culture venues House of X at PUBLIC and House of Yes from 2021-2022. Most recently in 2023, she co-curated Nothing but Trouble, a group show featuring 15 artists at All Street Gallery alongside Sammy Bennett.
Ryals' artwork has been exhibited at SPRING/BREAK Art Show in 2020, 2022, & 2024, Elijah Wheat Showroom in 2023, Ortega Y Gasset Projects in 2022, and in group exhibitions with NADA Curates, ChaShaMa, The Wassaic Project, Geary Contemporary, The Locker Room NYC, and The Every Woman Biennial. Ryals has also completed several artist residencies, including the Museum of Arts and Design in NYC from March to August 2024, The Wassaic Project, ChaNorth, the Peter Bullough Foundation, and a Fellowship at the Vermont Studio Center. In 2025, she will be an arts research resident at the Studios of Key West and an artist-in-residence at Rondo in Mexico City.
@kitsch-witch
https://www.katryals.com/
About All Street Gallery:Founded in 2018, All Street NYC presents works by emerging and underrepresented artists whose works demonstrate social engagement and community empowerment. First established as an artist collective and grassroots protest organization by born and raised New Yorkers, All Street NYC is a space that is both created by and for artists. Having deep roots in New York City, the gallery and collective share a background in public art and activations as a means of creative protest and resistance. Such socially engaged work has carried into their gallery space as they opened their doors on 77 East Third Street, and as they now open their second location at 119 Hester Street.
For press and sales inquiries, please contact:
Eden Chinn
All Street Gallery
gallery@allstnyc.com