The New Yorker Magazine, April 17, 2006

GALLERIES-DOWNTOWN

VALENTINA DUBASKY

The first in a series of two exhibitions featuring Du­Basky's paintings of birds and their habitats draws heavily from cave paintings-particularly of Buddhist origin-and petroglyhs glimpsed on her travels through Europe, along the Silk Route, and through the rain forests of Indochina. Silhouette heads and beaks of herons and cranes, necks curving with calligraphic el­egance, and flat, shimmering fields of background color conjure both ancient sources and more recent embroi­deries and scroll painting. DuBasky's renditions are far from the exactitude of Audubon illustration, but the ties with natural history and science explain why they were exhibited at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington before arriving here. Through April 15. (Pelavin, 13 Jay St. 212-925-9424.)