Jena Argenta: Love Letters

An exhibit of new works by Jena Argenta.  On view November 1st through December 15th.   Artists Reception Saturday, November 9, 2024 3-5:00 pm. Receptions are always free and open to the public.  Artist talk on December 15th.  The gallery is open to the public Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 12:00-5:00 pm or by appointment.

Multi-hyphenate, language-based artist Jena Argenta will bring her most recent work in progress to Wallkill River Center for the Arts (WRCA) in stages beginning November 1, 2024. The show titled LOVE LETTERS will feature work produced with funds from a 2024 Individual Artist grant.

“How do you write a love letter in American Ink? is an intentionally fraught question— but it’s also the one we’re faced with,” states Argenta.

The artist continues, “The works presented here aren’t an answer to the question – they’re an attempt at asking. They’re a way of using multiple art forms as a way toward that asking. Works here were born in dialogue with community voices, as well as historical, literary, and often banned or unrequited “lovers”.

“In many parts of the world, calligraphy is the highest art. Calligraphic forms & traditions are “love letters” in the deepest sense. In this series, I seek to bend my own vantage point, hand, and English with brush, reed, sentiment, and the use of empty space.”

Argenta is a world-traveled artist, whose vast experiences and adventures include apprenticeships in Arabic Calligraphy with Elinor Aishah Holland in NY and Ahmet Bursali in Istanbul. Her visual work has been privately and commercially commissioned internationally as well as in the US. Her Kimono designs walked the red carpet at the Fez Music Festival in Morocco.

“We are so pleased to be able to provide gallery space for Jena to bring this unique and deeply felt work to the public. It comes to us
in increments, starting with several works on display during our regularly scheduled artists’ reception on November 9th and culminating in additional works and an artist’s talk (on) December 15th” says Sarah Fortner Pierson, WRCA executive director.

This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a program of the New York Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by Arts Mid-Hudson.