E. V. Day and Kembra Pfahler have transformed the Hole gallery on Bowery into Monet’s Giverny (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
GIVERNY: BY E. V. DAY AND KEMBRA PFAHLER
The Hole
312 Bowery
Friday, April 13, free, 8:00
Exhibition continues through April 24
212-466-1100
theholenyc.com
giverny slideshow
From 1883 until his death in 1926 at the age of ninety, master Impressionist Claude Monet lived and painted in Giverny, a garden paradise in France filled with colorful flowers, trees, plants, lily pads, a Japanese bridge, walking paths, ponds, and other primarily natural elements that populated many of his most famous works. In 2010, installation artist E. V. Day was awarded the prestigious Versailles/Giverny Foundation Munn Residency, allowing her to live in Giverny as a means to inspire her the way Monet himself was inspired by his surroundings. The native New Yorker invited her friend Kembra Pfahler, lead singer of the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black, to join her for part of the stay, during which Day photographed a naked, purple, fright-wigged Pfahler, made up like a shocking version of LeRoy Neiman’s Femlin character. Day and Pfahler’s thrilling collaboration is now on view at the Hole through April 24, where they have re-created a section of the garden, complete with live flowers, wallpaper of trees, fake grass, a stone path, and the Japanese bridge arching over a large pond. As you walk through the indoor Bowery garden, you’ll come upon many of the photos Day took of Pfahler, who inhabits the scenes as if a living, breathing creature emerging from nature. “Giverny” is a gorgeous installation, offering visitors the opportunity to walk through Monet’s mind and palette. On Friday, April 13, the Hole will host a free evening of poetry, featuring Stefan Bondell, Lizzi Bougatsos, John Holland, Bob Holman, Stuart S. Lupton, Lisa Pomares, Michael Quattlebaum Jr., Jessica White, Arden Wohl, and Pfahler reading from the bridge.