Lauren Powell Presents:

~ B. Chehayeb ~

Flowers from the Deli

Pleased to present this new series of sweet, scaled-down, intimate abstractions from Brooklyn based painter B. Chehayeb. Who says that flowers can’t last forever? These paintings are a documentation of B.’s first winter in Brooklyn, filled with the trauma and frenzied nature of the pandemic, but also spirited bursts of life and vibrant color passing the bodega windows - where caretakers stayed tucked away safely behind plastic shields. While chaos reigned outside, the fragile lives of these cut flowers were tended to, a simple act that reversed the artist’s hopelessness. The expressive mark making and thick application of paint makes it seem as if one could lean in and actually smell the flowers that inspired each scene, an active reminder that there is beauty and life hidden behind these thin artificial walls we put up to protect ourselves if we take the time for a deeper look. Each canvas feels like a visual poem offering escape, aligning perfectly with B.’s second discipline as an avid writer. Her work often pairs paintings with stories - forever examining the way in which we remember. Drawing from stories shaped by her bi-cultural identity growing up in Texas, B. creates a dialogue concerned with nostalgia’s mysterious power to allow us to remember things more gracefully and beautifully in hindsight. These ideas morph into abstractions, capturing a version of the truth that is closest to the truest essence of a memory that has survived a long and windy life. These works are also very much inspired by Hala Alyan’s piece Spoiler: Excerpt below. <3

“...A tatter of sea grass and blood from where you scratched your own arm

trying to fight the current. It might not happen for a long time,

but one day you run your fingers through the sand again, scoop a fistful out,

and pat it into a new floor. You can believe in anything, so why not believe

this will last? The seashell rafter like eyes in the gloaming.

I’m here to tell you the tide will never stop coming in.

I’m here to tell you whatever you build will be ruined, so make it beautiful” - Hala Alyan

Learn more about B’s work here: https://www.bchehayeb.com/ .

B. Chehayeb is an artist in Brooklyn by way of Boston. She holds an MFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and a BFA in Painting from the University of North Texas with studies in Creative Writing. Her work spans a wide range of media and focuses on the reconstruction of failed memories, specifically memories warped by nostalgia and cultural hybridity. Chehayeb was recently awarded the Mass Art Fellowship award to attend as an artist in residence with the Studios at Mass MoCA as well as an artist scholarship to attend the Vermont Studio Center in 2021. In 2020 she was an NYC Redbull Arts Microgrant winner, Hopper Prize finalist and shortlisted for the Wells Contemporary Art Prize in UK. Her works have been featured both nationally and internationally including Art Maze Mag, Hyperallergic and Maake Magazine.