The Serious Make-Believe of Artist Danielle Klebes

The Serious Make-Believe of Artist Danielle Klebes
Painter Danielle Klebes' next exhibition will open at Jennifer Terzain Gallery in Litchfield, Conn., on Saturday, Oct. 29 Self-portrait photo by Danielle Klebes

On the penultimate floor of Maxon Mills in the Wassaic Project's 2023 summer exhibition, "Counting the Seconds Between Lightning and Thunder," several life-sized, 3D portraits on wooden cutouts stood like ushers, guiding the viewer to climb the last staircase and enter the final installation: Danielle Klebes' "7th Floor Walk-up." 

A collection of over 100 paintings made up the contents of this space, an interior blending reality with imagination. From the red plastic Solo cups on the mantle to the taxidermy on the walls, from the books on the bookshelf to the magazines on the coffee table to the floor itself, everything in the space was a painting, creating a liminal space between reality and fantasy.

Klebes was born in Rochester, N.Y., but moved for the first of many times just two weeks later. Her mother, an artist as well,  lived her life following her muse, which meant that Klebes and her sister followed along with her. 

This itinerant childhood left Klebes with brief stints in "all of New England," Florida, and even some time in Japan. Now rooted more than she's ever been in Wassaic, a hamlet in Amenia, N.Y., Klebes is investigating place and what it means to be in a community.

In 2020, she applied to The Wassaic Project's exhibition and residency program. "It's pretty famous in the art residency world," said Klebes, "and I'd been doing residencies for about three years, so I was dying to get to Wassaic." 

The residency and the exhibition were both canceled due to the pandemic. A fellowship opportunity opened instead, which Klebes applied for and received. She was a fellow for about five months and then was hired as the full-time programming coordinator. "This is like my dream job, so I'm so excited." 

This is also the longest she's ever been anywhere. Standing relatively still, Klebes now gets to observe as other artists come and go, inspired and ignited by an ever-changing cast of characters. She said: "I love the community aspect of being in a residency. It keeps me pushing myself. If I'm alone in my studio, it's too easy to let yourself off the hook. It's really important to be around people that inspire you."

Klebes knew she loved painting from a very early age. She took a painting class as a child at the Currier Gallery (now Currier Museum) in New Hampshire. "I wasn't interested in make-believe. I was very serious." It is this kind of serious make-believe that is at the center of Klebes' work. Her upcoming solo show, "NOWHERE," at the Jennifer Terzian Gallery in Litchfield, Conn., opening Sunday, Oct. 29, will showcase interiors transporting viewers into a world where reality and imagination coexist. 

The beauty of everyday life is in a conversation with the intricate details that often go unnoticed in what Klebes calls a sort of "eye spy" approach to painting. "I'm having fun doing multiples," she said, "where the same things appear…find this car, find this calendar..."

In the few weeks leading up to the show, Klebes is interested in painting real spaces and the made-up ones of her imagination. She explained, "It's the accidental things that make you realize it's a real space." She continued: "I did this painting of my brother and sister, and my brother was wearing these weird black socks, and you realize these would never be there unless they were really there because they're just so strange. Those moments only happen in real life. By inventing, it cleans it up too much somehow. So in my last month before the show, I want to paint real spaces."

Sharing a home with her girlfriend, former Wassaic print fellow McKinzie Trotta, and working at The Wassaic Project has provided Klebes a new stability and space to explore. It has also provided ample storage space for her paintings—her mother's ever-changing abode required a recent relocation of her artworks from her basement. 

The question of what makes a space "real" now pervades her artistry. With incredible attention to detail, she dissects the essence of presence, the tangible evidence of existence, and the struggle to portray "now HERE" instead of, perhaps, "nowhere." 

"There's something about queerness in a small town," she explained, "I feel much more like I want to shout it from the rooftops." Now reunited with some of her older work, she's curious about the characters and what role they will play, the role that a chosen family plays in one's life. 

Klebes mused, "I am still trying to find the balance of reflecting my life in my work," and continued, "I love painting. Period. I'm curious. I like people. It's what always comes back."

Latest News

Pine Plains Planning Board approves waiver for proposed dispensary

Planning Board members granted a waiver to the proposed cannabis dispensary located in the historic weigh station on Route 82 allowing the business to operate within 300 feet of the firehouse and the Post Office in contradiction with Pine Plains's local law. Town attorney Warren Replansky explained the town's codes would likely be unenforceable following legal decisions handed down by the Office of Cannabis Management on Monday, Oct. 6.

Photo by Nathan Miller

PINE PLAINS — Members of the Planning Board voted unanimously to grant a waiver to Upstate Pines allowing the cannabis dispensary to operate within 300 feet of the firehouse and the Post Office at their regular meeting Wednesday, Oct. 8.

That vote came after Planning Board attorney Warren Replansky explained recent state guidance superceded the town’s ability to restrict the business on the grounds of its proximity to the Post Office and the firehouse.

Keep ReadingShow less
Packed house hears Hitchcock estate golf course pre-application

Dozens of people crowded into the courthouse at the Washington Town Hall on Reservoir Drive in Millbrook on Tuesday, Oct. 7, to watch a pre-application meeting between Planning Board members and representatives of Centaur Properties LLC. David Blatt and Henry Hay of Centaur Properties LLC described their plan to build an 18-hole golf course with limited membership and residences on the historic 2,000-acre Hitchcock estate.

Photo by Nathan Miller
"This is nothing like Silo Ridge," said Centaur Properties co-founder Henry Hay. "This is Buckingham Palace to a craphouse. It's completely different. It's much higher quality."

MILLBROOK — Dozens of residents of the Town of Washington packed into the courtroom in Town Hall on Reservoir Drive for a standing-room-only regular meeting of the Planning Board on Tuesday, Oct. 7.

Well over three-quarters of the crowd were there to listen in to a pre-application meeting between Planning Board members and representatives of Centaur Properties LLC, a New York City-based development company that’s proposing an 18-hole golf course, equestrian facilities and luxury residential development on the 2,000-acre Hitchcock estate.

Keep ReadingShow less
Stanford home market sees nine sales in July and August

Built in 1820, 1168 Bangall Amenia Road sold for $875,000 on July 31 with the transfer recorded in August. It has a Millbrook post office and is located in the Webutuck school district.

Christine Bates

STANFORD — The Town of Stanford with nine transfers in two months reached a median price in August of $573,000 for single family homes, still below Stanford’s all-time median high in August 2024 of $640,000.

At the beginning of October there is a large inventory of single-family homes listed for sale with only six of the 18 homes listed for below the median price of $573,000 and seven above $1 million.

Keep ReadingShow less
Dutchess County Sheriff’s Report
Village of Millerton offices on Route 22
John Coston

Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office Harlem Valley area activity reportSept. 18 to Sept. 30.

Sept. 23 — Deputies responded to 1542 State Route 292 in the Town of Pawling for the report of a suspicious vehicle at that location. Investigation resulted in the arrest of Sebastian Quiroga, age 26, for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree. Quiroga to appear in the Town of Pawling court at a later date.

Keep ReadingShow less