Three Generations of Artists Featured in Family Show at Bookstore

Seated, Hedi Kyle surrounded by her family, from left: Lucinda Warchol, Paul Warchol, Simone Kyle, Jonas Kyle, Ulla Warchol and Lucinda’s beloved dog Vigo. Not pictured is Leo Warchol.

By Rebecca Andre

ANDES — A family reunion, in the form of a lovingly curated art exhibit, is taking place at Diamond Hollow Books in Andes. Matriarch Hedi Kyle, living in Pine Hill with her husband Jürgen, is the original artist in this section of the family tree; her granddaughter Lucinda Warchol is the curator; with the works of five more gifted family members rounding out this unique exhibit that sold six artworks during the opening reception on Saturday, June 8th.

At first glance, the collection of works seems as eclectic and varied as the used book covers lining the small rooms and hallways of the cozy upstairs corner bookstore. You must look closer. You will see a family resemblance:

The lines of Hedi’s son, Jonas Kyle’s, tape-on-wood recreations of tartan and plaid commingle in a sibling fashion with Ulla Warchol’s, Jonas’ sister, wood formations made from sawhorses and apple boxes. Hues of orange found in the border of Jonas’s piece ‘890 West End’ are echoed in Hedi’s ‘Particles’ series. Hedi, a rare book conservator who has “never met a piece of paper she didn’t like,” uses coffee filters, thread, muslin, paper, acrylic paint and konnyaku powder to fashion a playful array of eleven delicate sculptures. Simone Kyle, an art history student studying in Berlin, obviously inspired by her grandmother, uses a variety of art supplies and recycled materials to create her art, which she says “reminds her of her loved ones from across the sea.”

Keep looking. The familial similarities continue, as demonstrated by the blues of Ulla’s husband Paul Warchol’s photograph ‘Three Bottles’ that can also be seen in their son Leo’s oil painting “Miss and Maps”, which depicts a spirited beach scene. Paul is a world-renowned architectural photographer living in Bucks County, PA. He was encouraged by a colleague Peter Aaron to go exploring among his tucked away 4x5 Polaroid tests that had been used to check the focus and composition of the buildings he captured in the late 80’s and early 90’s. In this way, time created art of these long lost captures, as “deterioration and fading transformed them,” according to Paul. There is no doubt that Paul and Ulla enjoyed the time spent with their son Leo due to the coming together for a family art show, as Leo Warchol currently resides in New Orleans, where he works in his studio “creating intricate scenes of imagined worlds and revelries in graphite.”

How did this family group show come to be?

Enter Lucinda Warchol, Hedi’s granddaughter, daughter to Paul and Ulla and sister to Leo. She is a student of Pratt Institute turned curator living in Los Angeles and describes herself as “artist-adjacent.” With love and intention she curated her family’s show, entitled “Windfall Waterfall”. She goes on to introduce the show in this way:

“There’s a small but might spring up on the old railroad tracks behind us. A certain mushroom grows nearby and the spring gushes from the mountain…we walk often to it, in all seasons and on all occasions…sometimes we drink from it or bottle it up to take home. And from this small crevice sprout questions of change, of growing older and younger, of rainfall and droughts, of developments and derision, of bees and bugs and the windfall and waterfall and thresholds and stress tests…the works in this exhibition respond to this familial fountain.”

This precious show “‘Windfall Waterfall’” featuring Hedi Kyle, Jonas Kyle, Leo Warchol, Paul Warchol, Simone Kyle and Ulla Warchol continues through July 28 at Diamond Hollow Books, owned by Miles and Susie Bellamy on 72 Main St. Andes, NY. More information and books for sale can be found at DiamondHollowBooks.com.