By David Mosca | The Jersey Journal

June may be LGBTQ+ Pride
Month, but August is Jersey City Pride Month and Art House Gallery and Mana
Contemporary are celebrating with “Not The End of The World…Yet”, a solo
exhibition of new work by Donna Kessinger from Aug. 4 to Aug. 28 at Mana
Contemporary. Art House and Mana are also teaming up with the Office of
Cultural Affairs of Jersey City for this endeavor.

Kessinger is a working
artist and curator in the New York metro area and encourages collaboration
between her emerging artists and their communities. Her projects mainly focus
on works that result in a marriage of art and commerce in the form of possible
interventions, performative works, and public art projects which also can be
executed seamlessly into traditional gallery exhibitions.

“My paintings are a part
of letting the world pass through me and onto the canvas,” says Kessinger. “The
process changes slightly with new technologies, but has stayed the same for
nearly 30 years, involving layering of unfocused abstract imagery, textures or
following the light in my studio, removal, sealing it with wax or in recent
work leaving the images exposed.”

In 2021, Kessinger began
spending time on a new series of mid-sized works layered with water-based oils,
traditional oils, wax mediums, house paint, and spray paint. The paintings were
made on linen with three more grid based painted series on smaller canvases.

“Donna’s work embodies a
timeless serenity that will capture your attention from a distance,” says Art
House Gallery Director Andrea McKenna. “Almost posing as futuristic landscapes,
the work seems familiar yet not recognizable as traditional. It will pull you
in and allow your senses to create a new reality.”

Early in her career,
Kessinger was mentored by Marsha Tucker, Alanna Heiss, Jenny Dixon and Kate
Millett. She is also familiar with operations relating to women’s artist
colonies ranging from top tier to smaller museums, traditional galleries, and
alternative art spaces.

Her feminist media-based video artwork has
been cloned and archived on Rhizome’s Artbase at the New Museum. Her work can
also be seen live on http://artfem.tv/documentary/ and
has been screened at the Jersey City Museum of Art.

A reception will be held on Thursday, Aug.
4, from 5 to 7 p.m. The Art House Gallery shows are always free and open to the
public. The show will be curated by McKenna with viewings made by appointment
on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from noon to 5 p.m. You can contact
Andrea McKenna at gallery@arthouseproductions.org to
set up an appointment. Mana Contemporary is located at 888 Newark Ave., Studio
351, 3rd Floor, Jersey City.

Published: Jul. 27, 2022, 10:30 a.m.