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See Duke Riley's 1,000 Hand-Painted And Embroidered Pigeon Paintings
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 14, 2017
Modified Mar 15, 2019
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By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 14, 2017
Modified Mar 15, 2019
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Last year, thousands of pigeons dazzled spectators as they flew, with LED lights on their ankles, in the sky above the Brooklyn waterfront in Duke Riley's magical (and somewhat controversial) Fly by Night performances. Riley had trained the pigeons to swirl overhead before heading back home to coops on a decommissioned naval ship at the Navy Yard. Now you can see work inspired by and related to the show at Magnan Metz gallery in Chelsea.
In an exhibition called Now Those Days Are Gone, Riley has put together large-scale photographs from Creative Time-commissioned Fly by Night. The photos showing the dreamy flight patterns of the birds as well as "1,000 individual, hand-painted and embroidered portraits of pigeons from the project, "complete with their name and loft and crew info. From Magnan Metz:
This information is typically found on a bird's leg band and is a nod to a tradition deeply rooted in New York City pigeon keeping culture. In some instances, the different types of breeds inform the pigeons' assigned names and make related references. For example, two Egyptian Swifts are named Cleopatra and Nefertiti, one Damascene bird, Nassrin Abdallah, is named after a Commander in the Syrian Women’s Protection Unit, and New York Flight pigeons are named after New York streets such as Jackie Robinson, Schermerhorn and Myrtle. Lastly, personality, physical traits and the artist's own sense of humor determined the naming of pigeons like Luke Floorwalker, Foghorn Leghorn and Quilty.
There are also three mosaic pieces, including one made from seashells and two 6' x 6' works showing pigeons being attacked by falcons. Those pieces are, the gallery says, a "direct response to the post-2016 U.S. election turmoil, the timing of which also coincided with the winter season when hawks most aggressively prey on New York City's pigeons. Hawks have been a long-standing symbol of fascist power, and just as all pigeon fanciers are forced to remain helpless amidst the destruction of their most beloved from above, Riley simultaneously grappled with the notions of fear, paralysis and resistance in the face of the country's charged political climate."
Now Those Days Are Gone is on view at the Magnan Metz gallery through October 21. The gallery, at 521 West 26th Street, in Chelsea, is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10am - 6pm
Tagged
duke riley
fly by night
now those days are gone
pigeon
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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