Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Swoon's Cityscape at Deitch Projects
By
Branwen Buckley
Published Jul 7, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Branwen Buckley
Published Jul 7, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Summer in the city is always a slow period for gallery shows. Like any self-respecting Europhiles, many galleries stop opening on Saturdays and occasionally close all together for parts of August. Many of the big buyers have taken their money and fled the city for cooler pastures and almost all of the big art magazines produce only a single summer issue, so those shows that do go up in July and August often tend to just be group shows of works from the gallery's inventory.
So, for those of us peons stuck here without a Hampton escape, it is always great to hear about an exciting show to liven up the dog days of summer. Accordingly, we have high hopes for the artist Swoon's first solo exhibition at Deitch Projects. Swoon, whose work is influenced by everything from graffiti to German Expressionism to Indonesian shadow puppets, is best known for the carved paper figures she has posted in unlikely spots around Lower Manhattan. Most recently, she also created peep holes throughout the city, through which a viewer could glimpse a hidden fantasy world created by the artist.
For her installation at Deitch Projects, Swoon has created a Byzantine cityscape, handmade from paper and paint. The city, which is meant to evoke the spontaneous and unregulated development of a former Hong Kong slum, is created from reproductions of rooms upon rooms, illegal balconies, scaffolding, power lines, elevated trains, bridges, fire escapes, water towers and street signs, and many other structures of ramshackle urban life. This city is populated by paper cutouts of friends and family of the artists, as well as of people she has seen around New York, interacting with this city as part of their daily lives.
As a whole, Swoon's artfully designed paper landscape is meant to create a conceptual exploration of the development and street life of urban spaces. We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if this works, but if nothing else it should be a fascinating installation. The show will be on view at Deitch Projects (76 Grand Street) through August 13th. Opening night is July 7 from 6-8. Swoon's work can also be seen in P.S.1's Greater New York show through September 26th.
Photo by Jake Dobkin, who has several more Swoon photos on Flickr
Tagged
art
As
deitch projects
fire
flickr
friends
German Expressionism
graffiti
grand street
greater new york
Hong Kong
jake dobkin
lower manhattan
magazines
manhattan
money
new york
people
photos
summer
the city
Branwen Buckley
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
Thanks to Dua Lipa, Kim Kardashian, Timothée Chalamet and more, the rideshare program is having a moment.
By
Lindsay Lee Wallace
Published Oct 8, 2026
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
If you're playing tourist in your own town, this is an in-demand option.
By
James Ramsay
Arts & Entertainment
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
If you're playing tourist in your own town, this is an in-demand option.
By
James Ramsay
What happens when NYC kids take lessons in rock music? Really good bands.
By
Jayson Greene
Inside a photographer's journey to visit every neighborhood in New York City
By
Sonia Rao
Banned books and Winnie the Pooh: October in NYC libraries
By
Alec Hamilton
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .