During the long hungry days of winter, we don’t always make it up to Smallpeace as often as we’d like. Work schedules, weather challenges, and a bountiful calendar of cultural events in the city combine to keep us in Long Island City.
It’s not all bad, mind you. Manhattan and its surrounding boroughs provide much intellectual and social stimulation for jacking up those serotonin levels and beating back winter blues. And just last Thursday, I was reminded of how fortunate B and I are to have such easy access to New York’s vibrant art world.
I was introduced to Joyce Pensato’s work more than 10 years ago by my friend, the painter Susan Wanklyn, and have remained a fan of Pensato’s paintings and drawings ever since. Though her career stretches back decades, her work seems more current than ever. It has loosely been described as a combination of Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art, and features close-ups of cartoon characters you may or may not immediately recognize, including Donald Duck, the Cookie Monster, Homer Simpson, and Mickey Mouse.
Pensato flanked by two friends
When I attended the opening of her new show “Batman Returns” at the Friedrich Petzel Gallery in Chelsea, and was delighted to see that her latest canvases introduce a range of color beyond her requisite black and white and silver, and welcome back the beloved superhero who hasn’t made an appearance in her work since the 1990s. If you are in the area, try and stop by the show. My sad little iPhone pics don’t begin to do these images justice!
Joyce Pensato, “Batman Returns”
Friedrich Petzel Gallery, Tue – Sat 10am–6pm.
Ending: Sat Feb 25 10am–6pm
535 W 22nd St (between 10th and 11th Aves)
On a different note—and for an entirely exciting reason—I will be posting a little less frequently on Smallpeace throughout the month of February, as I prepare myself for my first semester of graduate school. That’s right, I’ve been accepted into The City College of New York’s graduate creative writing program and, not having been a student for…ahem…more years than I’d like to confess, I will need to take some extra time to adjust to being a student again.
Meanwhile, I will do my best to post whenever I have a spare moment and will return to Smallpeace in earnest as soon as the semester is successfully underway. Thank you for your patience, support, and continued interest in Smallpeace. Warmest, Michele
Smallpeace 
Belated good wishes (on this last day of February, or March negative one,
and welcome back to the world???????
I’m back, T2T, though a bit bruised and battered. This life thing can be a big, bright, beautiful challenge as you’ll read in my new post. Thanks for asking for me. xo