Observatory and Curious Expeditions’ Michelle Enemark are delighted to announce “Entomologia,” a group show of art incorporating and inspired by insects.

“Four years of hard work in the darkness, and a month of delight in the sun – such is the Cicada’s life. We must not blame him for the noisy triumph of his song. For four years he has dug the earth with his feet, and then suddenly he is dressed in exquisite raiment, provided with wings that rival the bird’s, and bathed in heat and light. What cymbals can be loud enough to celebrate his happiness, so hardly earned, and so very, very short?” -Jean Henri Fabre

Participating Artists:

Jennifer Angus Joianne Bittle Catherine Chalmers Rebecca DiDomenico Joanna Ebenstein Michelle Enemark Judith Klausner Barrett Klein Shanna Maurizi Herbert Pfostl Brian Riley Stacey Steers Steve Thurston James Walsh Lisa Wood

Observatory is an art and events space in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Founded in February 2009 and run by a group of seven artists and bloggers, the space seeks to present programming inspired by the 18th century notion of “rational amusement” and is especially interested in topics residing at the interstices of art and science, history and curiosity, magic and nature. The space hosts screenings, lectures, classes, and exhibitions, and is part of the Proteus Gowanus art complex.

About the curators: Michelle Enemark is the creator of Curious Expeditions, a site devoted to traveling and exhuming the extraordinary past. Curious Expeditions was named a finalist for best travel blog in the 2008 Weblog Awards and received a 2009 Cliopatria Award. A motion graphics artist by trade, visual artist by training, and historian and naturalist by self appointment, Michelle aims to show the forgotten bits of the world, be they lost pieces of history, forgotten museums, or elements of the natural world that have been ignored or overlooked.

Jessica Oreck works as an animal keeper and docent at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. When not at the museum, Jessica spends her time inventing new ways to create a sense of wonder in the world. Jessica just finished her first feature documentary, “Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo.” She is currently in production on several animated science shows, building her own museum exhibition, and pre-production for her next feature film, The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga.