NYAB Event - Esther Piaskowski Cohen "On the Way to Faraba"

Esther Piaskowski Cohen "On the Way to Faraba"

Octagon Gallery

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Octagon Gallery presents Esther Piaskowski Cohen's fourth one-person exhibition, On the Way to Faraba: A photographic journey to a small village in Senegal.

The show features more than 30 photographs taken in October 2009 when Piaskowski visited her son in Faraba, a village in the interior of southeastern Senegal where he serves in the Peace Corps. They journeyed from Dakar to Faraba, and also traveled to Mbour, on Africa's Western coast, known for its beautiful beaches.

Esther Piaskowski Cohen is an Australian-born, New York artist, living on Roosevelt Island. She graduated from Melbourne Teacher’s College, majoring in painting and philosophy, when Pop Art was the rage in America. Piaskowski has traveled extensively and lived in Japan, Germany and Israel before coming to the United States in 1985.

According to Piaskowski, "As an artist my fascination is with seeing beauty and the hidden essence in all things; internal, external, real, imagined, inspiration, ideas, poetry, chance, people and family.”

The humility and kindness of the people she met on her African journey left an indelible impression, which she captures in the photographs.

A number of the subjects of the photos are from the Malinke ethnic group, also known as the Mandinka. The Malinke have been present in sub-Saharan Africa for more than 7,000 years. Their history includes defeat by the Muslims in the 11th century, and, later, the rise of the Mali Empire, which influenced the development of western Africa from the 13th to the 16th century. Beginning in 1444, thousands of Malinke were enslaved by European traders and transported to the New World, where they worked as slaves on plantations in the South and the Caribbean. It is believed that many African-Americans in the United States are descendants of the Malinke.

Piaskowski had a solo show in Safed, Israel in 1976 and later became an Art Director of tourist and news magazines from 1979-1983. She has exhibited in Chelsea, New York City and in May 2001, helped coordinate the Art Frenzy on Roosevelt Island, as part of the Art Loop with MoMA, PS1 and the Noguchi Museum in Long Island City.

Piaskowski has been involved in the establishment of the Roosevelt Island Visual Artist Association and the opening of Gallery RIVAA in 2002 where she is vice-president. She has also assisted in establishing the Fall for the Arts Festival with the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation on Roosevelt Island. She has curated group and one-person shows at Gallery RIVAA for the past eight years, as well as other shows at the Octagon Gallery.