The Unseen

Stone Sparrow NYC celebrates the innate artistic ability of women across the world in a major exhibition of nearly 80 works.

- ALYSSA M.TIDWELL

This year is special. While entering a new decade feels momentous in its own right, 2020 brings perhaps a far more monumental milestone. On June 4, 1919, Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and on August 18, 1920, the amendment was ratified. This summer, 100 years will have passed since women were granted the right to vote in this country, and while it’s been an uphill battle since then, the climate around notions of what women are capable of achieving has changed dramatically.

Gallery owner, artist and curator Marina Eliasi knows this well. Since 5 years old, she’s dreamed of opening an art gallery. This past summer, that dream came to fruition when she opened Stone Sparrow NYC alongside her husband, Udi. “I’ve always walked through art galleries as a kid,” she says, adding that her mother often brought her along on trips to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. “For a while, Mary Cassatt was the only name I knew. I feel like there are all of these amazingly talented women who are missing in the world of art galleries.”

In a response to the mountains we’ve yet to climb in terms of recognizing women for their creative talents—as well as a pure celebration of those talents—Eliasi has curated a major exhibition highlighting the works of 30 contemporary female artists from around the world. “I wanted to do this during a time where people are really looking at women being celebrated,” says Eliasi. The exhibition, titled The Unseen, will be held March 4 to 31 during Women’s History Month. An opening reception takes place the first day from 6 to 9 p.m.