PRESS
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“Quite a bit to ponder at QUITE A BITE show”
VPRCOM MAGAZINE
“Take Heed”
“Take Heed was a darkly poignant, striking gallery show covering themes of poverty, the environment, the threat of nuclear war, 9/11, fear, and indifference. Even so, this show is much greater but far simpler than its parts.”
“it’s stark ambiance flavored with a tumultuous manic flair.”
“biting tone that largely reflects the wicked inner monologue one may hear and try to avoid.”
“symbols of compassion and unification.”
—Victoria Bruno, VPRCOM Magzine
WESTVIEW NEWS
“Jennifer Elster’s Multi-Medium Exhibition Take Heed At The Development Gallery in Tribeca”
“The sculptural assemblages beckon the viewer to near her direct statements written in her distinct and hauntingly beautiful handwriting style. A mask reads “Watch Out”. A paper towel reads “Historical Phrases: What’s Your Plan”. One gets the idea Elster is constantly creating and will use anything for means of expression. “If We Cower From the Demented We Become A Prisoner in a Fear Cell” reads the paper in a plastic enclosed box.”
—Taylor Dwyer, Westview News
“I believe we must face things, use our foresight, and care enough about the well being of the future, for all of us. We need to take care now to avoid people suffering, or ourselves suffering, in the future.”
—Jennifer Elster
THE VILLAGE SUN
“Sound and vision at ‘Take Heed’ closing event”
THE VILLAGE SUN
“Bowie, art and pandemic/Trump anxiety mingle in Tribeca exhibit”
“ ‘Harrow Head,’ a work Elster painted last year, features an anxious face trailed by an inky, roiling cloud that looks a bit like a caterpillar … The exhibit is essentially a distillation of Elster’s reactions living through the dual realities of the pandemic and Trump.”
—Lincoln Anderson, The Village Sun
DAVID BOWIE NEWS
“David Bowie Installation in Jennifer Elster’s Take Heed art exhibition in Tribeca, NYC”
“Take a deep dive into the mind of one of New York’s most intriguing underground artists. People have been enthralled by both the exhibition and the David Bowie installation. With artifacts from the character of Ramona on display including the original Serrated Piece he wore and the Bullet Belt.”
—David Bowie News
STYLE LUJO
“Artist Jennifer Elster Revolutionizes Mixed Media to a New Platform”
"In a sense, Elster is inventing new realities allowing viewers to challenge their experiences by developing an ability to understand forms of cultural production about broader contexts throughout today’s environment. "
—Agata Drogowska, Style Lujo
"Art helps us to cope and encourages us to see. It can be beautiful or terrifying. But it is also essential which artists get attention. What’s going on in the art world is very strange to me. And if it’s bullshit, then channels are wasted. "
— Jennifer Elster
PHOTOBOOK MAGAZINE
“Jennifer Elster ‘Take Heed’”
“Art relieves pain, and when it does its job, it inspires you and opens your mind.”
“Art gets to be important to society when the people who have been given the keys for amplification pay attention to what is valuable.”
THE KNOCKTURNAL
“Jennifer Elster Taps Into Visceral Memory With New Show at The Development Gallery”
“Jennifer Elster has always been a deeply reactionary artist. Whether it is rebutting (or accepting) seismic shifts in the #culture or simply responding to a question posed or a happening taking place, her multi-modal replies are always candid and fizzling with raw, determined energy.
Elster has always consumed with world as anyone else does- receiving and interpreting on an on-going basis. But rather than letting things happen to her passively, she posits and responds urgently and instinctually. Stepping into the Take Heed show, now on view at #TheDevelopmentGallery in #Tribeca, one feels as if they’re stepping outside for the first time after an #apocalyptic event.
Crystalizing the flurry of cultural norms that have been introduced in the past two years, Take Heed is the first honest retrospective of work that was created or heavily reconsidered under the shadow of an on-going global #pandemic and an affronting war.
Elster’s instinctual quips, done in chiseled marker, are not flailing in conspiracy, but are bright-red warning lights.
Elster is no longer angry. She’s done defending herself. Now she is a communicator. Her prophesies have come true and she’s been prepared for a long while. Now she invites the broader world to involve themselves. Of course, there is humor. There is realism. Elster remains as buoyant as ever, motivated by- believe it or not- absolute optimism.”
—Benjamin Schmidt, The Knockturnal
WHITEHOT MAGAZINE
“Jennifer Elster: Take Heed at The Development Gallery”
“…pitchdark clarity”
“…painfully timely show.”
—Anthony Haden Guest, Whitehot Magazine
INTERLOCUTOR MAGAZINE
“Taking Heed with Jennifer Elster”
Amid the jungle of construction lights iluminating the artwork and in what feels like a surreal cinematic experience, the exhibition speaks to our complex times with directness. The exhibit encapsulates both rage and dark humor and fights injustice, while the dates of the artworks document the foresight.
From interview with Tyler Nesler:
“Take Heed is a more dire, and to me personally, worn out version of pay attention --with punctuation. I think the exhibition cries out for an audience to hear, to pay attention, and yet the exhibition is a strange and somehow optimistic excursion. Cinematic too.
I know what it is to relentlessly try to open people's minds to what they don't want to be conscious of. That is no longer a role I burden myself with. I gave up on that. Now I'm able to enjoy my life, accept where others are at, and engage, and that in itself is liberating. This exhibit meets the person where they are at and takes them to different places. It inspires revelations.
I am meticulous about the placement of each piece. The exhibit is a proper art exhibition, but also feels like an intense mental experience for the participant. I put footprints out for people to follow, but no one does. People just start exploring.
The aesthetic is a perfect disorder for this body of work. I will forever love the image of this exhibition in my mind. “
—Jennifer Elster, artist
WHITEHOT MAGAZINE
“Poetry and Performance Before Art Basel”
“Take Heed is quite clearly the greatest answer to the ongoing contagion of cry-for-help activists, usually young and culturally, environmentally, politically, spiritually traumatized, vandalizing famous, undoubtedly priceless works of art in the name of climate and economic awareness and other nodes of social justice.”
“…she feels the wider, macro pain and trauma of the world deeply.”
"Words here will struggle to attest, but great performance art always has a “had to be there" quality."
—Kurt McVey, Whitehot Magazine
“These kids are splattering Van Goghs, I’m splattering this space with things people should be thinking about and considering,”
—Jennifer Elster, artist
“TAKE HEED” PRIVATE PREVIEW
“I love this show. Strong and unusual.”
–Anthony Haden Guest (art critic, artist)
Short film coming soon
THE TRIBECA TRIB
“Mick Rock Stars at Development Gallery”
The Window Exhibition has included such special highlights as a tribute to Mick Rock's life in photography, Jennifer Elster’s paintings and conceptual art, and a special David Bowie commemoration. Pass by the gallery to see what is being featured in The Window Exhibition.
DAVID BOWIE NEWS
An Interview with Jennifer Elster re: David Bowie and much else, exclusively for David Bowie News by Francisco Beristain
Me and Bowie. *New interview where I talk about trying to pull the titties I glued onto David, off (did I use the wrong kind of glue? Ha. I kid.) I also spoke about my music, upcoming film projects: one being the last film Karen Black was in before she passed, which I directed and acted in with her, as well as my current The Window Exhibition series at The Development gallery, pass by if you’re in NY, and I also spoke about growing up as an artist in NYC, etc.
ADAM’S WORLD
“When I first listened to Jennifer Elster’s new single, “You Know What Will Happen,” it gave me such a ‘90s alternative vibe that I had to play it again … and again … and again. “
UNCONTAMINATED SOUND
Watch Rob Lundberg Presents “Uncontaminated Sound – The Interviews” EP #38 with Thinker, Writer, Artist, and Filmmaker Jennifer Elster. This is an in-depth video, interview. The topics range from the creative process behind the multi-mediums of art; the current David Bowie exhibition; Covid 19: mask up; the upcoming and multi part film series entitled …In the Woods (and Elsewhere)
“Elster is most highly regarded for her artistic collaborations and multidisciplinary approach that stops at no end to offer you the most cherished and thoughtful experiences. One of Elster’s primary interests as an artist is the examination of the complexities of humanity and the struggle for social justice. A lot of her work often advocates for civil rights and equality under the law, as she enjoys using her art as a venue for scrutiny and debate.” Lundberg
Runtime: 1 hour / Some highlights from Elster from the interview:
"Everything is in my head. That's where it all happens"
"I never thought 'Oh I'm gonna be an artist.'" It was just what I did always and always what I continue to do. It's like walking or anything else."
"[…in the Woods (and Elsewhere)] was an absolutely beautiful and scary and crazy and wild journey through that film series. It was really something incredible."
"In each one of my art forms, I deal with [exposing your work to the other side] in a different way. And that's what's nice about music because it doesn't have a side. You like that? You like how it sounds, it doesn't have a side. So it's kind of interesting you can bring more people together"
INTERLOCUTOR
Read the most recent interview with Jennifer regarding the Bowie exhibition and the first two songs from her upcoming album.
Some excerpts
“So Bowie called me. In our initial conversation, we spoke for over an hour. He and i went to deep, psychological places to flesh out the characters to take them further. This happened right away, and it was obvious the artist boundaries between us were limitless.”
"Afterwards [David Bowie] gave me instructions for our next conversation. He wanted to speak again. So we did and we continued to go further. That is why when you see the images of us together we appear so familiar with one another. That was not a fluke, or a posed, pretty picture, but a mutual understanding of mindsets through multiple gratifying conversations prior to the actual week long shoot in London. The character Ramona was a favorite of mine. The desperation. The need. Somehow we both understood those channels, intensely. Ramona, to me, was born from scattered insanity. Needed protection. She psychologically reminded me of the people I would find in the stairwells in my building when I was a kid, at their wit's end. I don't identify with those characteristics, but I remember them vividly."
"Behind both [C'mon Now Baby and You Know What Will Happen] is someone who is worried. On one hand, I want to bring everyone together, and on the other hand, I am frightened of how awful some people can be"
UBER ROCK
“We have something VERY different: experimental NYC based artist Jennifer Elster has created something very minimalist, creating HEAVY ATMOSPHERE with very little used in debut “‘C’mon Now Baby’”
TINNITIST AND DUBLAB
“C’mon Now Baby came to me clearly as a path forward through the troubled terrain,” states Jennifer. “An unflinching acknowledgement of what is in front of us — a warning, combined with an invitation of sorts. It kind of says everything.”
Tinnitist and Dublab recommends C’mon Now Baby, You Know What Will Happen, and How We Do
DEK MAGAZINE
Interview with Jennifer Elster and other key creatives for her work transforming David Bowie into different characters for album 1. Outside. This is a celebration, tribute issue for 25 years since Bowie’s Conceptual Art album 1. Outside.
TRIBECA CITIZEN
Portrait of the Artist
Native New Yorker and underground artist Jennifer Elster puts forward a dialogue for our times in a multi-media exhibition.
HUFFPOST
ARTNEWS
TIME OUT NEW YORK
THE KNOCKTURNAL
FASHION MANIAC
"Into the woods with Alan Cumming"
The Prologue No. 8: This is Real Featuring Alan Cumming
Tartarus Magazine shares a sneak peak of Gale Harold in Jennifer Elster's 5 part miniseries, In My Mirror.
Art Zealous interviews Jennifer Elster and enters the world of The Development.
"I have been studying humans in a very acute way my whole life. That is my real work and it manifests itself through words, images and films." — Jennifer Elster
Visionaire interviews Jennifer Elster regarding the announcement of ChannelELSTER.
"I have worked through very hard things in my own mind to be on a level where I can tell the stories of so many others in a big picture, genuine, unprecedented and unorthodox way. It sounds complex, but it is actually very simple.” — Jennifer Elster
Garage Magazine premieres The Prologue No. 6 Where Are You? Featuring Paz de la Huerta.
“Gritty.”
– Garage Magazine
