McBride / Dillman

Ameyn McBride/Dillman Gallery May 15 - June 28 Thank you all of those who have taken the time to visit and celebrate the opening of my recent body of work. Thank you to Ashley for giving me the opportunity. This came together very quickly and I couldn’t be more thrilled. For all inquiries reach out to @mcbride_dillman Ameyn by Jeffrey Melo Ameyn situates faith within a continuous state of instability shaped by crisis, repetition, and emotional fatigue. The work draws from a shared condition, focusing on how people locate themselves within ongoing uncertainty and sustain a sense of coherence over time. The paintings focus on bodies in prayer as sites of response. Hands pressed together, heads lowered, palms lifted. Each gesture processes pressure through the body, holding control and release at once. These positions register a search for structure while carrying the weight of instability. Context is reduced so attention holds on gesture, light, and duration. Light stabilizes the figure and sets a contained space. Surface carries pressure through abrasion, buildup, and interruption, with quieter passages opening into moments of clarity. These shifts track fluctuation, where intensity and stillness move in close proximity. Prayer operates here as repeated behavior shaped by need and condition. It organizes thought, absorbs fear, redirects attention, and registers strain. Each return to the gesture marks an attempt to hold form within changing circumstances. Across the work, repetition produces a pattern of endurance. The paintings follow how these actions accumulate over time, marking the effort to remain intact and to continue reaching beyond the immediate condition.

Thanks to everyone who came out yesterday for the opening of Jeffrey Melo’s “Ameyn.” I only managed to get one photo, but it’s a good one! Grateful to Susan and Michael Hort for stopping by and for their support of Jeffrey’s practice. We’re open today until 6 pm and tomorrow from 1–5. If you’re heading to Independent, we’re just a 10-minute walk—come by and see the show!

Please join us tonight for the opening of Ameyn, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Jeffrey Melo, opening May 15, 2026, with a reception from 6–8 pm and on view through June 28, 2026. In Ameyn, Melo situates faith within a landscape of profound instability—shaped by crisis, repetition, and emotional fatigue. This body of work emerges from global conflict - the widening U.S. military engagement in Iran, the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, alongside rising domestic turmoil marked by intensified ICE raids and enforcement actions that have raised alarm over racial profiling and civilian deaths. Against this backdrop, the work reflects on how individuals locate themselves within uncertainty and strive to sustain a sense of steadiness over time.

McBride/Dillman presents “Ameyn”, a new series from Jeffrey Melo May 15, 2026 - June 28, 2026 @jaemelo @mcbride_dillman Preview: 3-5p Reception: 6-8p + From Official Press Release: In Ameyn, Melo situates faith within a landscape of instability shaped by crisis, repetition, and emotional fatigue. The work emerges in response to escalating global conflict, from U.S. military engagement in Iran to the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, as well as intensifying domestic unrest marked by aggressive ICE enforcement. Against this backdrop, the paintings consider how individuals locate steadiness within uncertainty, and what it means to endure over time. A first-generation Dominican immigrant, Melo grounds this inquiry in lived experience. His subjects, which are people of color, often women and children, foreground communities whose vulnerability and resilience are most acutely felt in periods of upheaval. Their gestures of prayer (hands pressed, heads bowed, palms lifted) become quiet acts of negotiation between control and surrender. For all inquiries email Ashley at [email protected]

Serendipitous encounters between artists & writers! We’re humbled and delighted to share the magical backstory of Adrienne Elise Tarver’s discovery of Dr. Samantha Noël’s art historical research, and what ultimately resulted, years later, in their working relationship to produce the lead article in our newly-launched Spring/Summer 26 issue! We’re excited to roll out our latest WAJ 47.1! ・・・ @adrienne__elise : “I’m honored to be the subject (along with Firelei Báez) of a thoughtful article written by Samantha Noël in the Spring/ Summer 2026 Issue of Woman’s Art Journal, titled, ‘Utopic Tropical Imaginings: The Black Speculative Undercurrents in the Art of Firelei Báez and Adrienne Elise Tarver.’ And honored to have my painting ‘Three Graces’ 2019 on the cover of this issue. This article is special to me for many reasons, but the serendipitous way it came about feels important. Samantha Noël’s 2021 book, ‘Tropical Aesthetics of Black Modernism’ was recommended to me the year it came out by a mentee who had seen her lecture and told me how relevant her research was to my work. Her book quickly became one of my favorite studio research references and ever since has been the top my reading lists I share to help contextualize my work. Fast forward to a couple years later and Samantha reached out to me to interview me for her next project. It felt like kismet that the woman whose work I found so relevant to my practice had found the same relevance in my work. Years passed and I hadn’t thought much about that interview since then, but was pleasantly surprised to find out that an article using that interview and research about my work was going to be featured in the peer-reviewed feminist publication, Woman’s Art Journal this spring. The article speaks mostly about work from 2017–2020, bodies of work that dove fully into the tropical aesthetic that opened so many questions and continues to find its way into my work. Noël’s insightful thoughts on the Black Speculative in mine and Firelei Báez’s work speak presciently to the direction my work is increasingly headed: Thinking forward, imagining spaces where we can comfortably exist.”

Congratulations to Adrienne Elise Tarver @adrienne__elise ! Her work “The Three Graces” from 2019 graces the cover of the Spring/Summer edition of Woman’s Art Journal @womansartjournal . The featured article, “Utopic and Tropical Imaginings: The Black Speculative Undercurrents in the Art of Firelei Báez and Adrienne Elise Tarver,” by Samantha Noẽl, offers a powerful look at how both artists use reimagined tropical environments, mythologies, and speculative world-building to challenge colonial narratives and imagine new spaces of belonging. Adrienne’s practice is exceptionally rich, and the scholarship around her work continues to grow—this new article will only deepen and broaden the conversation. If you’re in town for the art fairs, we’re about a 10-minute walk from Independent. I’d be happy to show you Adrienne’s work. Images 1 and 2 Cover of Woman’s Art Journal and the article Images from Adrienne’s solo exhibition, Homeplace, that closed in January 2026

Last weekend to see these stunning small works from Sarah Alice Moran’s Splat Daisies! Sarah will be around this afternoon if you want to say hello. The last day is Sunday, May 10th and we will have the gallery dog on site from 1-5 to close out the show. 1. Sarah Alice Moran Sun (Flower) Bather, 2026 Acrylic on canvas 11 x 14 in. / 27.94 x 35.56 cm 2. Sarah Alice Moran Through the Center, 2026 Acrylic on canvas 16 x 20 in. / 40.64 x 50.80 cm 3. Sarah Alice Moran Daisy Does It , 2025 Acrylic on canvas 11 x 14 in. / 27.94 x 35.56 cm 4. Sarah Alice Moran Ghost Horse Acrylic on canvas 11 x 14 in. / 27.94 x 35.56 cm 5. Sarah Alice Moran Bodega Flower Dream , 2025 acrylic on canvas 11 x 14 in. / 27.94 x 35.56 cm

This is the last weekend to see @city_sarah city_sarah’s exhibition Solat Daisies! Thanks to everyone who has come to see this incredible show. If you haven’t made it, Sarah will be in the gallery Saturday afternoon. Stop by, say hello and of course your dogs are welcome!

Upcoming: JEFFREY MELO 
Ameyn 
May 15 - June 28, 2026 
Opening Reception: May 15, 2026, 6-8 PM McBride / Dillman is pleased to present Ameyn, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Jeffrey Melo, opening May 15, 2026, with a reception from 6–8 pm, and on view through June 28, 2026. In Ameyn, Melo situates faith within a landscape of instability shaped by crisis, repetition, and emotional fatigue. The work emerges in response to escalating global conflict—from U.S. military engagement in Iran to the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza—as well as intensifying domestic unrest marked by aggressive ICE enforcement. Against this backdrop, the paintings consider how individuals locate steadiness within uncertainty, and what it means to endure over time. Read the press release here: /jeffrey-melo-ameyn

Moran paints wet-on-wet, letting thin washes of color blend and bleed across the canvas. Sunflowers dissolve into daisies, shadows become shapes, and light seemingly glows from the flowers themselves. Her compositions balance the elastic logic of cartoons with a sophisticated command of color and atmosphere. Figures, rainbows, and blossoms appear in different configurations while animals move through these spaces less as narrative agents but as symbolic or devotional presences. Images Installation view of Sarah Alice Moran’s Splat Daisies, on view through May 10. 2. Sarah Alice Moran Sunflower Sun , 2025 Acrylic on canvas 11 x 14 in. / 27.94 x 35.56 cm 3. Sarah Alice Moran Corner Horse , 2026 Acrylic on canvas 11 x 14 in. / 27.94 x 35.56 cm 4. Sarah Alice Moran Bodega Flower Dreams II, 2024 Acrylic on canvas 24 x 30 in. / 60.96 x 76.20 cm

Congratulations to Matilda Forsberg @iamapainter , who was selected to create a mural to activate the redeveloped New Jersey Performing Art Center (NJPAC). Forsberg was selected along with Nina Chanel Abney, Damien Davis, Antoinette Ellis-Williams, Haemee Han, Kimmarii, Layqa Nuna Yawar, Eirini Linardaki, Tom Nussbaum, Angela Pilgrim, Danielle Scott, Shoshanna Weinberger, Malcolm Rolling, Hans Lundy, and Kaishon Way | YENDOR This remarkable group of artists, all with community-engaged practices, are creating pieces that will help envision and energize this new neighborhood. To read more about the project, visit their website: /publicart/

Thank you to everyone who joined us for Saturday’s artist talk. Despite the rain, we were standing room only, and we’re so grateful to all who came out. Hannah Beerman @hannahbeerman guided a thoughtful, generous conversation, and Sarah Alice Moran @city_sarah spoke with remarkable clarity about the ideas at the heart of her work—exploring resilience, hope, and joy in life… and in death, as well as the mystical bonds between humans and animals. The exhibition remains on view for two more weeks. We’d love to see you—please stop by and say hello.