Hidden Treasures on Display
East Side artist’s work gets first public viewing in 20 years
By Kerri MacDonald
Posted by Our Town on December 23, 2009 · View Comments
When Joy Gush glances at the paintings featured this month in an exhibit at the Grace Institute, she thinks of herself not as an artist, but as a maternal figure.
“They’re all my children,” Gush said, sitting down among friends and admirers at a crowded reception in honor of her exhibit Dec. 16. “They’re all favorites.”
Gush, 78, hasn’t displayed her work publicly since 1989, when it was shown at Tuscany Gallery on Second Avenue and East 53rd Street. When the gallery’s owner died that year, Gush moved many of her paintings into storage, where they have been until now. She hasn’t seen a number of them in years.
“I’ve been so emotional about the whole thing,” she said of the decision to bring her work before the public once again. “It’s a big change in my life.”
Carrie McIndoe, a good friend whose sister lives in the same building as Gush, encouraged the artist to show her work and helped make arrangements for the exhibit.
“I noticed all the paintings in her closet,” said McIndoe, who decided the intimate setting at Grace Institute was the perfect place to display the work. “It’s really a hidden treasure,” she said. “A life’s work.”
Gush’s paintings depict her memories of Devonshire, England, where she was born and raised. As she described her childhood, she pointed to one piece depicting a miniature cottage her father built for her one Christmas. Her work has a serene, calming quality, bringing the English countryside to life with bright colors and whimsical strokes.
Although she was tossed out of art class in high school—“the teacher said, ‘Joy, you have no artistic ability,’” she said—Gush pursued her talent after moving to Manhattan. Her first painting was a portrait of her white poodle, which she sent to her mother as a birthday gift.
But one of the subjects she loves to paint most is England. For her, the subject is an ideal form of escape from a city like New York.
“I really love the skyscrapers,” she said, “but there are times when you want to take a breath.”
Over the course of her painting career, Gush has sold more than 600 pieces nationwide. She keeps a collection of 20 in her Turtle Bay apartment, which gives her a sense of calm at home. The exhibit at the Grace Institute includes 60 of Gush’s works.
Mary Mulvihill, the institute’s executive director, said the last artist featured there was an abstract modern artist, a contrast to Gush’s warm visions of the British landscape.
The institute, which helps economically disadvantaged women develop job skills, began displaying art on its walls with the hope of fostering an environment of creativity.
“To me, art transforms everybody,” Mulvihill said, glancing at the paintings in the crowded hallway as Gush chatted with admirers.
But for Gush, painting isn’t just about providing a calming experience for the viewer. It’s also a personal form of release. Even today, she continues to practice her craft with an almost meditative focus.
“I had to paint in order to be peaceful and serene,” she said. “It’s taken a lifetime.”
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Joy Gush’s work will be displayed at the Grace Institute, 1233 Second Ave., between East 64th and 65th streets, through Jan. 15, 2010.
I have see many of Joy's pieces and each have this calming effect when you look at them. I am glad to see Joy allowing the public to see here exceptional work.