Jenny Maloney exhibits work at Salve Regina

By: Saniuk, Chrissy
Posted In: News

As I walked into the art gallery of the Antone Center to see the exhibit “New Work: Drawings and Paintings” by Jenny Maloney, I was instantly intrigued by her work. Maloney is an artist and professor at Adelphi University. She has previously taught at the Rhode Island School of Design and the New York Institute of Technology. She lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, and she received her MFA at Brooklyn College. More captivating is the fact that Maloney received her undergraduate degree at Salve Regina University (Class of ’99).

In the pieces shown in this exhibit, Maloney paints and draws seemingly ordinary, everyday objects. They are documented as she sees them, and juxtaposed with other random objects so that the viewer will think about the associations between them. She also focuses on the complexity of shapes and colors found in a single object. Her work is meant to make the viewer think.

The painting that I was the most attracted to was “Cathy’s Lifesavers” because of the vibrant green background and the array of colors used in the depiction of the cellophane wrappers. The variation of color that Maloney uses to create a reflection is complex and impressive. I also found her drawings “Receiver” and “Connection” extremely thought-proving. Each of these pieces is a single section of a telephone drawn in meticulous detail.

Maloney definitely strikes a deep importance with this exhibit. In her artist’s statement, she says that she “believe[s] that certain objects reveal something about who we are”. The first question that I wanted to ask Maloney was how the objects in the pieces related to one another, followed by asking how they all related to her. It is likely that each of the objects is a hint at some part of her past-that each is a memory. Regardless of differences in what these pieces represent to Maloney and to the viewer, this collection of work is incredibly well-done and it is undeniably worth exploring.