Pen + Brush: From Isolation to Revolution to Rebirth and Dissent

Artists Lola Flash and Michela Martello and Associate Executive Director Dawn Delikat and Visual Arts Manager & Co-Curator Parker Daley of Pen + Brush join Curatorial Assistant Nick Bennett of the Brooklyn Rail to discuss the history of the non-profit organization, from its 125-year history, its longstanding commitment to provide a platform to showcase the work of female artists and writers, and its ongoing resiliency in the face of struggles both old and new. We’ll conclude with a poetry reading from Fanny Howe.

In this talk

Lola Flash

Lola Flash uses photography to challenge stereotypes and offer new ways of seeing that transcend and interrogate gender, sexual, and racial norms. Flash works primarily in portraiture with a 4x5 film camera, engaging those who are often deemed invisible. In 2008, she was a resident at Lightwork. Most recently, Flash was awarded an Art Matters grant, which allowed her to further two projects, in Brazil and London. Flash has work included in important public collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Her work is featured in the publication Posing Beauty, edited by Deb Willis, currently on exhibit across the US, and she is in the current award-winning film “Through A Lens Darkly”.

More on Lola Flash

• lolaflash.com
•  @flash9

Michela Martello

Michela Martello is a multidisciplinary artist whose research is influenced by traditional and contemporary sources characterized by symbolism. Michela was an illustrator for children’s books for 10 years and later focused her research entirely on painting. In 2006 she was selected by the American Association of the University of Women in the “Emerging Women Artists Juried Exhibition” New York Design Center, in 2014 she was one of the winners for Understanding Media the Extension of Human Being, Exhibit at B.O.S., BK, in 2019 she received a Special Merit Honor Prize, From Cultural Affairs Bureau, Tainan City Government, Taiwan, for her Installation Everything Has A Vortex.

More on Michela Martello

• michelamartello.com
•  @michelamartello

Dawn Delikat

Dawn Delikat is the Associate Executive Director at Pen + Brush. Her work with the organization began with an internship in 2004 and she came on as gallery manager in 2008. She has facilitated and curated numerous multidisciplinary international exhibitions with prominent curators and artists. Delikat’s professional experience includes managing Claire Oliver Gallery, New York, operating a high-profile artist’s studio in Chelsea, exhibition installations at the Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ, and working as an exhibition facilitator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Parker Daley

Parker Daley is the Visual Arts Manager for Pen + Brush. She has worked at art fairs, organized exhibitions, and has worked as a gallery consultant. A passionate modern art enthusiast, Daley has studied abroad and also served as the teaching assistant for ART111 History of Modern Art: 1850 – Present at Syracuse University, worked as a Gallery Supervisor for the Handwerker Gallery (Ithaca College) and held the position of Ithaca College Student Curator and Student Assistant for the Art History Department.

Nick Bennett

Nick Bennett is the Curatorial Assistant and Publisher’s Assistant at the Brooklyn Rail.

In the Rail: Nick Bennett

The Rail has a tradition of ending our conversations with a poetry reading, and we’re fortunate to have Fanny Howe reading.

Fanny Howe

Fanny Howe has written many novels and several poetry books, of which the most recent is “Love and I” (Graywolf). She has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Lannan Award for Lifetime Achievement, and several other awards. She is Professor Emerita in Literature from UCSD.

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