The exhibition encompasses two series of works, Soft City, and Complexity, both of which resonate with the words of T.S. Eliot in this exerpt from “Four Quartets.”

Home is where one starts from. As we grow older The world becomes stranger, the pattern more complicated of dead and living. Not the intense moment Isolated, with no before and after, But a lifetime burning in every moment And not the lifetime of one man only But of old stones that cannot be deciphered.

The images in “Soft City” are derived from Henrion’s neighborhood. Once the city’s hard unyielding surfaces are peeled back, the beautiful and complex patina of each facade is illuminated, hinting at the mysteries of past lives contained therein.

In the “Complexity” works, the focus is on the natural world, where the same mysterious beauty of the aging process is extended through eons of time.

The process of creating these works is the same for both series: the artist digitally manipulates her photographs, prints them onto cotton, and hand quilts the three layered construction together, creating the surface animation.

Henrion celebrates that irregular and intimate quality of things made of the human hand. Applying contemporary aesthetic sensibilities to traditional textile techniques, and combining them with modern technologies, she transforms the medium into a vehicle for sophisticated visual expressions with strong graphic impact.

Represented in the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art, Marilyn Henrion’s award-winning works have been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the world and are in major collections, including the Museum of Arts & Design, the Newark Museum, the International Quilt Study Center Museum, the U.S. State Department, Kaiser Permanente, Lucent Technologies, and others. Among the grants she has received are a grant from The Artslink Partnership, and a Fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts.

For more information, please contact: [email protected]

The Durst Organization maintains a continuing program of support for the Arts. By providing venues for exhibition in the lobbies of our buildings, we hope to increase the presence of Fine Art and contribute to the cultural richness of the city.