Fountain House Gallery is proud to present Mushrooms. Curated by vermilion, the exhibition explores fantastic fungi and their role in nature, culture, and medicine.

This exhibition is a visual conversation that engages with the multifaceted and expansive fungi. The show highlights the humble fruiting fungus — which presents itself in endless forms and colors — and the connectedness it builds throughout nature, literature, and culture. Also considered is the function of the mushroom as healing medicine.

vermilion is a make-something-out-of-nothing artist. Her textile art, collages, and assemblages have developed as of late into installations that have an underlying social or political message but also fulfill a need for playfulness, humor, surprise, and uniqueness. Her plan is to create an international artist retreat, a habitat made out of blue bottle walls, mosaics, lumber, and metal castoffs, on a patch of land by the woods.

“The idea for this show was in the air like a spore, and it landed!”, said vermilion, a longtime Fountain House Gallery artist who hails from Transylvania and has extensive experience in presenting visual and performance “artivism” events in the U.S. and in Europe. “Mushro oms are visually intriguing, and fungi have been integral to the development and sustenance of life on Earth. On another note, I thought of the current menace of ‘mushroom clouds’ in the war in Ukraine. Most of all, I’m excited by mental health research investigating the potential of mushrooms in medicine. Art is a catalyst for change, and my dream was not only to present a striking and thought-provoking exhibition but also for Fountain House Gallery to serve as a hub for a variety of events exploring the significance of mushrooms. I’m delighted that this is coming to fruition.”

The exhibition will be accompanied by diverse programming including storytelling, presentations, workshops, screenings, food tastings, and a fashion-forward closing party. Dates TBA.

Collaborators and guests include: New York Mycological Society; SmallHold; SHARP Gallery, London; and the Mood Disorders Support Group.

Participating artists include: Christine Albane, Elizabeth Atlas, Elizabeth Borisov, Maria Bronkema, Eugene Eunoia Brukhman, Catherine Campbell, Ariel Chynsky, Donna Faiella, Guiomar Giraldo-Baron, Fiona Heeran, Zeus Hope, Issa Ibrahim, Louise Kavadlo, Valerie Kerr, Mx. Je’Jae Cleo Mizrahi, Tzu Moy, Debra Nevin, Anthony Newton, Chris Polgar, Jared Rem, Angela Rogers, Tara Sue Salusso, Stephanie Sarnes, Solange Singer, Susan Spangenberg, Corey Streeter, Alyson Vega, and Jasmine Winkler Stobbe.

This program is funded, in part, by generous support from the Renate, Hans, and Maria Hofmann Trust, the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, the David Rockefeller Fund, and the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund.

Time: 6:00 PM — 8:00 PM EST

Free!

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