Yara Asmar, Mona Benyamin, and Huda Takriti
SCREEN MEMORIES
February 14–April 14, 2025
SCREEN MEMORIES is a group exhibition of video and sound-based work by Yara Asmar, Mona Benyamin, and Huda Takriti that considers the psychological impact of mass media in the Arab world for a generation of artists who grew up at the tail end of network television's popularity. These three artists reference and transform news broadcasts, children's shows, sitcoms, and music videos to examine historic and everyday moments as mediated by screen.
SCREEN MEMORIES is curated by May Makki, Abrons Arts Center’s 2024-25 Curatorial AIRspace Resident, presented in partnership with Artists Alliance Inc.
Presented across two venues, Abrons Arts Center and Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space:
- Abrons Arts Center's Main Gallery, 466 Grand Street (at Pitt Street) New York, NY 10002. Monday through Sunday, 10am–10pm
- Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space, 88 Essex St [inside Essex Market], New York, NY 10002. Wednesday through Saturday, 12–6pm
Opening Reception
Feb 14 February 14
Mona Benyamin, Moonscape, 2020 (Still). Courtesy of the artist.
About the Curator
May Makki is a New York-based curator specializing in contemporary art and performance. Her work focuses on media, the politics of cultural memory, and emergent aesthetics. She has organized exhibitions, performances, and discursive events at venues such as the Museum of Modern Art, 99 Canal, Sweet Pass Sculpture Park, and Spectacle. She holds an MA from the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College.
About the Curatorial AIRspace Residency
Abrons Arts Center’s Curatorial AIRspace Residency, presented in partnership with Artists Alliance Inc (AAI), annually supports a New York City-based curator. The resident receives an honorarium, production budget, materials budget, and office space to develop 2 exhibitions during their residency cycle.
About Artists Alliance Inc + Cuchifritos Gallery & Project Space
Artists Alliance Inc fosters the forward-thinking and experimental practices of emerging and underrepresented artists and curators with funded residencies and paid exhibition opportunities. Through artist-centered programming, AAI provides a free and accessible platform to produce, experience, and understand contemporary art in the Lower East Side–a longstanding epicenter for creative experimentation and cultural diversity–and advocates for art-making that challenges how we experience ourselves and our communities.
As an advocate of affordability and sustainability for NY-based artists and the enduring community benefits of free and accessible contemporary art, AAI offers programs within larger institutions that hold vital social and cultural significance on the Lower East Side of New York City. Cuchifritos Gallery in Essex Market and the LES Studio Program in The Clemente are strategically located to improve art access and distribution while serving emerging artists, curators, NYC’s creative communities, and the art world in general. Established as alternatives to the limitations of a commerce-oriented art world, AAI offers a professional framework for career development, self-representation, and experimental production.
Funding
Abrons Arts Center’s Curatorial AIRspace Residency program is made possible through the generosity of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation. This program is also supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and support from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.