The Lives That Made The Life We Live
February 7 - March 2, 2025
Celebrating Black History Month @ RIVAA Gallery
​​​Opening reception: February 8th, 2025
6:00 - 9:00 PM
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Closing Ceremony: March 1st, 2025
6:00 - 9:00 PM | Suggested Donation - $5
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The Lives That Made The Life We Live is an exhibition highlighting unlauded Black inventors and their silent impact on our way of living. Through this exhibition, artists explore the effects of Black inventions on the physical world and human psyche in mediums ranging from paint and textiles to photography and film. Serving as a tribute to these forgotten legacies, it calls for recognition and respect for Black creators who touch every part of our lives, often missed and taken for granted, spanning culture, technology, medicine, and everything in between and beyond.​
Basswood and Steel Sculpture
January 5 - March 28, 2025
Sculptures by Victoria Thorson
​​​Opening reception: Thursday , January 9, 6 -9 pm
The exhibition Basswood and Steel Sculpture features sculptures Waterfall, Ascent, and Foxtrot by Victoria Thorson whose artistic practice centers on a search for abstract forms.
Thorson works with basswood valued by artists for its soft, fine, even texture. It is in the process of making that she discovers the final form.
The artist explains:
“With minimalistic precision basswood is cut into tilting planes. Next, it is carved, shaped, and smoothed to a softness of touch. I sense the wood’s strength and flow by intuitively feeling the lines of energy in the grain, cracks and knots of the wood. Each form is then anchored by a repurposed, found steel object that is the right proportion, weight, and aesthetic to become part of the sculpture.”
The exhibition will run from January 5 - March 28, 2025 at the Octagon Gallery, 888 Main Street, Roosevelt Island.
@ The Octagon
Jessica Schnell, NY
"This is a local art association, which supports community efforts to enhance cultural development on the island"
Tanganyika Shipman,
NY
"RIVAA is one of the best galleries in the city!"
Ken Chester Jr, NY
