When feminist art collective Hilma’s Ghost inaugurated , their stunning 600-square-foot mosaic mural at the 42nd Street entrance to the 7 train in Manhattan’s Grand Central Station, they did so with a ritual, chanting whispers into the colorful glass artwork.
“There must be magic in that,” said Dannielle Tegeder, “that the MTA should support witchcraft,” Sharmistha Ray added, completing the thought. They told me their dedication of the space had been meant to open up the portals in each panel: “Please, when you go there, whisper into the wall to continue charging it.”
The two artists who make up the collective began working together during lockdown, channeling the once-obscure spiritual painter Hilma af Klint to create their own works responding to the Swedish artist’s pioneering abstractions. If painting is dead—as first announced by painter Paul Delaroche upon his first time seeing photography in 1840—Hilma’s Ghost looks to reanimate its very soul, breathing new life into contemporary art with a mystical feminine energy.
The duo made their debut at New York’s Armory Show in 2021. There, they enlisted art witch and psychic medium Sarah Potter to do readings using their limited edition tarot deck, , while selling the 78 paintings on which it was based.
Hilma’s Ghost artists Dannielle Tegeder and Sharmistha Ray with their new mosaic installation at 42nd Street MTA 7 Line entrance. Photo: courtesy of the artists.
Their big MTA unveiling came during Frieze Week, and I saw Tegeder and Ray later that night, at a feminist dinner they hosted with artist Eve Biddle, who also runs the Upstate New York artist nonprofit Wassaic Project.
The three women have been collaborating on dinner parties infused with magic and spirituality, as well as hosting a mystical after-hours event at New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum earlier this year celebrating the “Harmony and Dissonance, Orphism in Paris, 1910–1930” show. (It was the Guggenheim’s 2018–19 af Klint blockbuster that first inspired Hilma’s Ghost to work together.)
Hilma’s Ghost, at 42nd Street MTA 7 Line entrance. Photo: by Etienne Frossard, courtesy of MTA Arts and Design.
The “Cleopatra’s Pearl” dinner series takes its name from the legend of Egyptian queen dissolving and drinking a valuable pearl as a show of her wealth.
Last week’s gathering was held in Biddle’s childhood home in the East Village, which was also the studio of her late mother, feminist artist Mary Ann Unger (currently the subject of a solo show at New York’s Berry Campbell Gallery).
Hilma’s Ghost, at 42nd Street MTA 7 Line entrance. Photo: by Etienne Frossard, courtesy of MTA Arts and Design.
The hosts assigned each guest the role of a notable woman from history, with place cards providing their biographical details. Tegeder and Ray cast a circle to welcome in the spirit of these foremothers, from the goddess Hecate to artists including af Klint, Unger, and Pamela Colman Smith, the original creator of the tarot deck.
Biddle did all the cooking, as well as making the ceramic plates and candle holders, one for each diner, for practicing candle magic. If you’re not familiar with candle magic, it can be as simple as making a wish when you blow out the candles on your birthday cake. This is the kind of forgotten feminine tradition rooted in pre-Christian goddess worship that Hilma’s Ghost hopes to renew with their paintings and their new subway artwork.
Hilma’s Ghost, at 42nd Street MTA 7 Line entrance. Photo: by Etienne Frossard, courtesy of MTA Arts and Design.
MTA Arts and Design commissioned Hilma’s Ghost to create a mural for the subway two years ago. Their design, fabricated by Miotto Mosaic Art Studios, draws on symbolism from tarot cards, translated into abstract geometric forms, with diamonds, stripes, concentric circles, and radiating beams all arranged in orderly, symmetrical fashion. The colors are rich and vibrant, shades of green, purple, red, yellow, and blue flecked with shimmering gold.
“It’s essentially telling the story of the major archetype of the tarot. It’s all color magic and sacred geometries to tell the story of the heroine’s journey,” Ray told me.
Hilma’s Ghost, at 42nd Street MTA 7 Line entrance. Photo: by Etienne Frossard, courtesy of MTA Arts and Design.
The artists first saw the work installed on Easter Sunday—fitting, given their interest in rebirth. They hope their piece speaks to New York as a place where growth is perpetual, new visitors constantly arriving and helping make the city their own.
The unveiling coincides with Hilma’s Ghost first solo show in Mexico, at Galería RGR in Mexico City. They’ve built a feminist altar in the gallery, highlighting the way in which their painting draws on the power of women creatives, such as af Klint, throughout history. But they are especially excited to have a permanent public art piece out the world, where anyone can see it, experiencing a little bit of beauty—and witchy spiritualism—on their daily commute.
Hilma’s Ghost art installation at 42nd Street MTA 7 Line entrance. Photo: by Etienne Frossard, courtesy of MTA Arts and Design.
“We love having work in museums and galleries, but this is something else,” Ray added. “In this time where everything seems so devastating, I just feel a little bit of hope in this moment.”
Source: Exhibition - news.artnet.com
