Cat Del Buono
Voices
July 17 – 31, 2020
Cat Del Buono’s multi-channel video installation Voices will be on view at the gallery by appointment from Friday July 17th through Friday July 31st. The piece draws attention to domestic violence throughout NYC and seeks to give a voice to local abuse survivors and those currently experiencing abuse – particularly in Brooklyn and in the midst of the pandemic.
Through Voices, which features 18 monitors each playing a video of one participant telling their story, Del Buono wishes to let people currently experiencing domestic abuse in the New York area know “that they are not alone and to encourage them to lend their own voices to the project.”
From Cat Del Buono:
“Creating this connection for victims of domestic violence is especially relevant now, as cases have begun to rise during coronavirus lockdowns.
1 in 4 women will be a victim of severe domestic violence in her lifetime. Every 9 seconds a woman is assaulted or beaten. Every day, 3 women are murdered by a current or former domestic partner. These were the stats before COVID-19.
Prior to the pandemic, a survivor or victim could flee a violent situation or file a protective order with the police. However, due to the stay-at-home orders necessitated by the coronavirus outbreak, such options aren’t easily available now and victims are often forced to remain in dangerous situations.”
In Voices, Del Buono gathers the stories of people who have experienced domestic abuse and encircles viewers in videos that show only the mouth of the speaker. Without the distraction of the speakers’ faces, visitors upon entrance are wrapped in a cacophony of voices. Only when they get close to a monitor can they hear an individual’s personal story of abuse. The necessity of moving toward the individual monitors functions as a poignant metaphor; we are not aware of victims in our own social circles until we get close enough for them to tell us their story.
For this Brooklyn presentation of the work, Del Buono has partnered with Safe Horizon and NYC Mayor’s Office to End Domestic & Gender-Based Violence to conduct interviews at domestic violence shelters in Brooklyn, NY. Previously she has interviewed victims of abuse in shelters in Miami, Connecticut, Chicago, Washington DC, South Carolina, Los Angeles, Orange County California, and Portland Oregon, partnering with organizations such as The Lodge, The Retreat, Human Options, Good Shepherd, and Interval House.
Open by appointment only Thursday through Monday, 1 to 6pm. Please email the gallery at info@microscopegallery.com or call 347.925.1433 to schedule a visit.
Please note: Masks are required as well as adequate social distancing. Visitors are limited to 3 at a time and the gallery will be sanitized between visits.
For further info or to join the project please contact the artist at Cat Del Buono at 917.806.5770 or www.voicesproject.info.
Voices is supported by the Brooklyn Arts Council.
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Cat Del Buono is a daughter of immigrants. She received a BA from Boston College, an MFA from School of Visual Arts, and attended NYU’s Tisch graduate film program. She has shown at Bronx Museum, Bass Museum, Shiva Gallery at John Jay College, and MoCA Miami to name a few. Her “Voices” installation is an ongoing collaboration with domestic violence shelters which continues to show in a number of cities across the USA. She also curated a permanent exhibit for Art Connects New York in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office Against Domestic and Gender-based Violence for a shelter in the Bronx. Other awards include Brooklyn Arts Fund, Visiting Artist at American Academy in Rome, Bronx Museum AIM Program, Awesome Foundation Grant, SVA Alumni Award, and a NYFA Stipend. Her work has been featured in Jezebel, Huffington Post, Brooklyn Rail, Art Newspaper, Miami Herald, and PBS. Del Buono also started a nonprofit organization in her childhood hometown which provides free after-school art classes to underprivileged children. She lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
