Benrubi Gallery is pleased to announce Taken from a Cat, an exhibition which features two new series of photographs by Katherine Wolkoff. In her second exhibition with the gallery, Wolkoff observes migrating birds and contemplates humans’ interaction with the natural world and the looming threat of climate change. Taken by a Cat marks Benrubi Gallery’s inaugural exhibition in its new location, 529 West 20th Street. There will be an opening reception on Thursday, May 12th from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm.
Katherine Wolkoff’s new photographs are inspired by the life and work of Elizabeth Dickens, a devoted birdwatcher, school teacher, and conservationist. Born in 1877, Dickens lived her entire life observing the natural environment of Block Island, Rhode Island, a small New England locale that is a key resting stop for migrating birds on the Atlantic Flyway. Wolkoff considers Dickens both collaborator and muse, modeling her work after the early female environmentalist to herald the importance of birds and land conservation. Katherine Wolkoff visualizes narratives around migrating birds, the specter of death and the continual danger of extinction. In an array of forty small scale photographs, the artist beautifully details handwritten labels that amateur ornithologist Elizabeth Dickens composed each time a dead bird was found by her or her neighbors. The one-hundred year old tags recall how each bird died, for instance “Taken from a Cat,” “Flew into the Lighthouse,” or “Killed by Telephone Wire.” Five new large-scale works, made during the fall and spring seasons, offer bird’s-eye perspective of seasonally migrating birds. Utilizing a lensless camera, Wolkoff presents views of the natural landscape that are simultaneously seductive and disorienting. The large landscapes place the bird tags geographically in Block Island’s natural environment, and allow fleeting glimpses of their habitat.
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