THEMES AND DREAMS: A Joan Hall Retrospective Opens At Westbeth Gallery, March 4

Themes and Dreams, a retrospective of collage and assemblage illustration by New York-based artist Joan Hall, will be on view at the Westbeth Gallery from March 4-24, 2023.

Self-curated with input from independent curator Lilly Wei, the exhibition will feature seven distinct bodies of work that explore modernist strategies of fragmentation and re-composition. Produced over a 50-year career, the 100 pieces in the exhibition will be exhibited together for the first time charting the depth and breadth of Hall's varied interests and talent.

Since 1970, Joan Hall has been using collage and assemblage to explore different cultures, times and places. She creates imaginary spaces and newly arranged realities that have dreamlike qualities infused with humor and irony. Her assemblages tell stories by giving found objects new meanings resulting from unexpected juxtapositions and placements.

Exhibition Highlights

PARROQUIN DREAMS - Collages inspired by the magic and fantasy of the Parroquia, a grand neo-gothic church in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, known for its soaring pink spires and lofty ornate sanctuary.
MEXICO MI AMOR - Collages featuring various landmarks in Mexico.
THE PARIS PROJECT - Assemblages inspired by drawings of everyday objects by a young French art student found by Hall in a Paris flea market. After finding the six original drawings, Hall set out to find the actual objects in the drawings to combine them and related objects in assemblages. Hall made the additional drawings to expand the series.
ICONS - Found object assemblages that combine natural and man-made objects creating archetypal figures.
STRINGS ATTACHED - A play on traditional needlepoint with edgy subject matter made with embroidery hoops, thread and burlap printed with photographic images.
BOXED DREAMS - Surrealistic fantasies made with found objects in wooden boxes.
THE PARCEL PROJECT - Mixed media parcels ostensibly sent to Hall from all over the world. Each parcel has an image of a landmark from where it was sent.
JILL'S ROOM - A mixed media, interactive art piece composed of three boxes - Room 1, 2, and 3. The viewer looks through an opening in the box and sees a furnished room. Using mirrors, the room appears to change, creating illusion of infinite space. The viewer is reflected inside the room.