Diagnosed with schizophrenia while an art student at Ohio University over 40 years ago, the multidisciplinary artist Linda Carmella Sibio is particularly sensitive to the challenges faced by those living on society’s margins. A recipient of over 20 grants and rewards, Sibio is the founder of Bezerk Productions, a nonprofit that educates the public on the art created by people with severe mental disabilities.

Continuing through this week at Andrew Edlin Gallery is Sibio’s solo multimedia exhibition, The Economics of Suffering. Curated by Martha Wilson, it explores the devastating effects of the financial crisis on society’s most vulnerable. Featured above is Body Type C Minus, fashioned with gouache on watercolor paper, depicting the impact of the financial crisis on our bodies. Several more images from The Economics of Suffering follow:

Cash Air, Gouache on paper — depicting a dying Earth, along with its inhabitants, a casualty of corporate greed

Economic Paradigm of Life, Gouache on paper — depicting a violent world that demands “we give up a limb or two to feed our children.”

Check Mate: Monkey Stew, Gouache on watercolor paper — depicting a hungry parent who has evolved into a green monster playing chess while devouring her children’s brains 

Poetic Pond of Despair, Gouache on paper — depicting the abyss that awaits those who attempt to escape from their torturous lives

Located at 212 Bowery, the Andrew Edlin Gallery is open Tuesday — Saturday from 10am to 6pm.

Photos of images by Lois Stavsky; research on the artist’s life and work by City-As-School intern Alyssa Torres

A group of self-taught Rwandan artisans living in the aftermath of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsis, the women of Savane Rutongo-Kibuye collectively create stunning embroideries portraying images of Rwandan life. PAX Rwanda: Embroideries of the Women of Savane Rutongo-Kibuye, a traveling exhibition showcasing these artworks, has been featured in a range of spaces including The Textile Museum in Washington, DC and The Puffin Foundation in Teaneck, NJ.

Curated by Juliana Meehan, the exhibition is now on view at the gallery inside the Port Authority Building on West 42nd Street. Featured above is The Weaver in the Palace, one of the many painterly images fashioned with needle and thread. Several more follow:

PAX Rwanda: Embroideries of the Women of Savane Rutongo-Kibuye is an homage to these remarkable women, their talents and the role they play in the reconstruction, reconciliation and desire for peace taking place throughout Rwanda.

Photos of artworks by Lois Stavsky

On view through Wednesday, February 27th at Fountain House Gallery is Knotted, Pieced & Wound, the gallery’s first exhibition devoted entirely to fiiber art. Curated by Sarah Margolis-Pineo, Knotted, Pieced & Wound, stretches the boundaries of fiber art, as it incorporates a wide range of media and techniques. Featured above is Straphanger’s Ball Gown– fashioned with brass findings, Metrocards, nylon tulle, bubble wrap, copper wire, chicken wire and nylon thread — by Lily Ng.  Several more images from the group exhibition follow:

Lucinda Fernandez, Blue Jack, Crocheted wool and cotton with acrylic, 2018

Multimedia Eastern European artist Ella Veres, Dandelions, Plastic trays, textiles, and acrylic, 2018

Multidisciplinary artist Boo Lynn Walsh, Relic, Canvas, acrylic, and wood, 2018

Multidisciplinary self-taught Southern artist Angela Rogers, Twisted Mermaid & Frida Tribute, Fiber, found objects, and wire, 2018    

Award-winning self-taught fiber artist Alyson Vega, Line Sampler, Grid Sampler, Circles Sampler, Mixed fiber, 2016

Located at 702 Ninth Avenue at 48th Street, Fountain House Gallery “provides an environment for artists living and working with mental illness to pursue their creative visions and to challenge the stigma that surrounds mental illness.”

Post by City-As-School intern Alyssa Torres

Photo credits: 1 & 4 Lois Stavsky; 2,3,5 & 6 Alyssa Torres

Opening this evening and continuing through March 16 at the Blue Door Art Center in Yonkers is “WE ARE FAMILY: Celebrating Black History and Culture.” Curated by Katori Walker and Evan Bishop, the exhibition features over 40 artists — many self-taught — working in a diverse range of styles and media. The image pictured above was painted by Yonkers-based multidisciplinary artist Michael Cuomo. Several more artworks that I captured while visiting the space earlier this week — as the exhiibit was being installed — follow:

Khouri Rowe

Patricia Stuart

Katori Walker

Nordia Byfield

The opening reception to “WE ARE FAMILY: Celebrating Black History and Culture” — with performances by Ashley Antonia Lopez and Tyrone Birkett — takes places tonight, February 16, at 13 Riverdale Avenue, located just three blocks from the Yonkers Metro-North Station.

Photos of artworks by Lois Stavsky

The mesmerizing image pictured above was created by self-taught, Argentine artist Julia Sisi, whose vibrant visionary aesthetic is featured in the current issue of Raw Vision Magazine.  Several more images of faces that I came upon while visiting the Outsider Art Fair 2019 at the Metropolitian Pavilion in Chelsea follow:

Self-taught Japanese painter Issei Nishimura, Copy, Acrylic, colored gesso, linen on plywood, 2013

Pure Vision Arts Queens-based artist Roy Gabbay, Untitled, Acrylic on board, 2017

Self-taught UK-based artist Stephen Goddard , Linda, oil on panel, 2016

Self-taught Japanese artist Masayoshi Hanawa, Untitled

The late African-American self-taught artist Mose Tolliver, George Washington, Housepaint on found wood

Photos by Lois Stavsky

Committed to providing full inclusion for people with disabilities, SHEKEL offers an enormous range of resources to thousands of people – religious and secular, Jews and Arabs — throughout Israel. Among SHEKEL‘s more recent ventures is “The Open Space,” a wondrous site in the country’s center that provides people with autism an opportunity to engage closely with the natural world, while developing new skills and interests. Among the many activities that “The Open Space” offers are: agriculture, animal care, horse-riding, cooking, computers, ceramics, language and communications development. On her recent travels, arts specialist and ARTBreakOUT co-founder Bonnie Astor had the opportunity to conduct an art workshop — focusing on the theme of happiness — with several young adults at “The Open Space.” Featured above is Yonatan’s depiction of happiness — a horse and a home. Several more images captured that day follow:

Yonatan at work

Omer depicts his past, present and future — with the “present” characterized by bold, vivacious colors

Omer assesses his completed painting

Sharon illustrates “happiness” with some direction and encouragement from Bonnie Astor

And Sharon — a bit later in the day — with her favorite donkey

Special thanks to Sharon Simmer, SHEKEL’s Resource Development and Communications officer, for introducing us to this extraordinary space and to “Open Space” manager Tlalit Bar for sharing so much with us during our visit.

Photos by Lois Stavsky

Based in Orange, New Jersey, Arts Unbound is a non-profit organization dedicated to the artistic achievement of people living with mental, developmental and physical disabilities. Currently on exhibit in the delightfully welcoming Dora Stern Gallery, located at 544 Freeman Street, is No Shame in My Game, an intriguing exhibition featuring artworks in a diverse range of styles and media by African-American and African diaspora artists with disabilities. The image pictured above was painted by self-taught Montclair-based artist and musician Richard Pierson, who also performed — along with his trio — at the opening. Several more artworks that I captured while visiting this past Saturday evening’s opening follow:

Also by Richard Pierson, Sunny View

Newark-based multidisciplinary artist  Armisey Smith, My Black is Beautiful

NJ-based artist and arts specialist Danielle Scott, Blind, Seen and Unbroken (Keratoconus eye 2018)

NYC-based artist and hand-stylist Dubblex, Six Innocent Unarmed Blacks Murdered

From the outside looking in

Dubblex signs window he designed with his distinct handstyle

No Shame in My Game continues through March 16th at 544 Freeman Street in Orange, NJ, a short commute from NYC.

Reinterpreting images that he finds in magazines, Marlo Mullen fashions infectious paintings characterized by playful abstractions. Diagonosed with autism spectrum disorder and largely non-verbal, Mullen communicates essentially through his artworks. Based in Berkeley, California, Mullen, who was born in 1963, creates his work at NIAD Art Center in Richmond. Marlon Mullen: 2017 – 2018, featuring the artist’s paintings largely based on images from covers of ARTnews, is on view at JTT, 191 Chrystie Street 2F, through Sunday, February 17. Several more of Mullen’s artworks than can be seen at JTT, follow:

Untitled, Acrylic on linen, 2018

Untitled, Acrylic on linen, 2017

Untitled, Acrylic on canvas, 2017

Untitled, Acrylic on canvas, 2017

Untitled, Acrylic on canvas, 2017

Photos of images by Lois Stavsky

Pictured above is a mixed-media painting featuring a couple in what appears to be a domestic setting by the self-taught Israeli artist, Vered Gersztenkorn. Several more artworks — fashioned in varied styles and media depicting couples in a range of situations and poses — that I’ve come upon in my recent travels follow:

Austrian artist Johann Garber, as seen on the Haus der Künstler, the House of Artists 

Self-taught Brazil-based artist Paulina Pinsky, Wedding Portrait, Oil on wood, as seen at GINA Gallery 

Brooklyn-based self-taught artist Sara Erenthal, as seen in Jaffa

Unidentified artist, as seen on the grounds of the Negev Artist House

Photos by Lois Stavsky