I happened to pass by and see Danielle Mailer, “Queen of Dreams” @ Umbrella Arts + Projects  www.umbrellaarts.com last Tuesday evening while walking around in the East Village - I hadn’t known about her show, or that Danielle Mailer is the daughter of recently deceased Norman Mailer.

In fact, The New York Times published an article on Danielle Mailer earlier this year - A Woman With a Rich History, Making Art and Teaching Children :

“…Ms. Mailer, who lives in Goshen, is the daughter of Norman Mailer and the abstract artist Adele Morales Mailer. Her life has also been lived in silhouette, or “low profile,” as she prefers to call it.

“I’ve kept a low profile because there’s always that sense that you want to make it on your own,” said Ms. Mailer, 49, who has a full-time job in Lakeville as chairwoman of the art department at the Indian Mountain School, a private school for prekindergarten through the ninth grade.

“I’ve just been quietly doing my thing,” she said.”

I had no idea Norman Mailer had such an interesting life, and so many wives (and children) - hmm..

“…Adele and Norman Mailer split up in 1960 after a highly publicized event in which Mr. Mailer stabbed her at that last party with a penknife. She was the second of Mr. Mailer’s six wives. In all, Danielle Mailer has eight brothers and sisters, including Elizabeth Mailer, who is also the daughter of Adele and Norman Mailer. “

I saw the Queen of Dreams show and liked it - every piece was finished - I couldn’t help feeling torn about liking the work more for the object I was seeing in front of me - or as an illustration in a book or magazine, where many of these images would also play well.

Been very conscious of “finish” and “craft” in works of artists that are mature - I had not always made that distinction before - but I can usually tell, based on my own experiences as a painter, when others work is done in a consistent manner - vs. when they might be groping for something but not really having it.

I didn’t feel any of that in Danielle Mailer’s work - every work was at the same level - also liked the colors; again, many of the paintings and cutouts would also work as illustrations - but that takes nothing away from the painterly qualities of all the works.

Overall, a good show that I’m glad I did not miss.  And that just goes to show that I go where I’m supposed to go, meet whom I’m meant to meet and see what I’m meant to see - I believe that with all my soul - and I just stumbled onto Danielle Mailer’s  “Queen of Dreams” at Umbrella Arts in the East Village, NYC the other day, so it was just where I was supposed to be.