Massapequa’s Studio 5404 had another terrific opening featuring local artists and had a special guest visitor, Farhan Ali from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ali came to see the show and critique the artists’ work. Lori Horowitz, artist and owner of the studio was pleased with the turnout and the recognition from Ali.
“This show is called the affordable art show and it is actually a takeoff of the affordable art fair that is run in New York City,” said Horowitz. “I thought it would be a nice idea to get more artwork in that is more on the affordable side without sacrificing the quality of the art itself. There are 11 artists in the show and they are all equally talented and they dedicate their lives to pursuing art.”
The studio, which opened a year and a half ago, has featured artists from Manhattan to Montauk with nine stellar shows.
“The shows are growing in popularity which is more of what we want,” said Horowitz “The community is more aware of what we are doing and is very interested.”
As he made his way around the studio and visiting with the artists, Ali, who is the collection information analyst for the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET), admired the work in the studio.
“I think what Lori is trying to do is bring new artists and new ideas and a lot of these artists are 10-20 years ahead of their time,” said Ali. “I think slowly and surely, we will have all people appreciate the in-depth art, which not just represents this time but also the future of civilizations moving forward.”
Ali added that the space was not only beautiful, but ample in size while at the same time remaining cozy enough for people to enjoy the show. He was especially taken with Massapequa artist Yvonne Dagger’s work, who had six pieces of fused sea glass in shadow boxes. Two of the pieces sold that night. 
“This is my collection of glass works, which is a combination of found objects and sea glass found all along the south shore beaches,” said Dagger of her work. “The glass is fused combining the old and the new together, which is pretty unique and I don’t think it’s been done before. I created squares of fused glass, which I fired and cut in a kiln and I adhered the sea glass to the pieces,” she continued, adding that everything is raised and housed in a shadow box for display.
Ali was quite taken by Dagger’s work as he admired one of the shadow boxes called “Past and Present,” which sold.
“Each piece of sea glass has a story all of its own and by the same token the new fused glass does too,” said Ali. “Here you have nature and nurture working together to create one piece similar in a way to all creation. The old and the new coexisting in one world, in this case housed in a shadow box on a gallery wall for all to see. A work that has taken time to create, perhaps even 200 years.”
Ali then moved on to Farmingdale artist Laura Cerrano, who explained her pieces.
“Both pieces are based off the principals of Fung Shei and the idea of energy. The first piece, “Transformation,” represents motion and understanding that everything doesn’t stay the same. The second piece, “Stream of Consciousness,” takes a Taoism perspective,” said Cerrano. “The idea that everything is in transition again but the writings of the Taoist tradition is embedded in the art work. It was burned with fire, so it’s called a soot drawing and rest with new pastels with the majority of it being erased. We use different graphite pencil. The idea is to pull you in closer to show that we tend to ignore the little things and those are actually the bigger lessons and the bigger teachings.”
After visiting with Ali, Cerrano was beaming with pride and excitement.
“We were talking about my art work and he broke it down better than I could break it down,” she said. “He basically brought me back to why I originally created ‘Transformation’ and then brought 
me up to date into deeper insights for ‘Stream of Consciousness.’ I deeply appreciated his comments.”
The evening was filled with energy from the artists and patrons. Horowitz was pleased with the event and also expressed her deepest appreciation of Ali’s visit.
“People like Farhan Ali are a rare gift: his generosity and insightful critiques shared with the artists, visitors as well as myself were so positive and encouraging,” she said. “Having the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s endorsement and support as represented by Mr. Ali gives Studio 5404 the validation of being an important new venue for innovative arts on Long Island.”
