Our weekly interview with the streets also wanders into a few Art Fairs this week as many Street Artists were in town showing studio work and getting up on walls. It was great to meet so many people who are on fire about this grassroots, interactive, DIY, in-your-eyeballs world of street art and to talk about where it is going. While there were a slew of Street Artists banging a luan wall at Fountain, we also got to see some peeps at Scope and Volta.
So here we go with shots of Andy Piedilato, Dalek, DFace, How Nosm, Mark Jenkins, Ron English, Tes One, Tristan Eaton, TrustoCorp, and Typoe.
The debut solo exhibition of NYC-based artist Joseph Meloy.
A hieroglyphic graffiti-inflected take on the spirit of abstract expressionism, Vandal Expressionism is a veritable child of New York City, drawing as much from the Abstract Expressionists of the 1940’s and 50’s as from the hordes of graffiti taggers whose scribbles and scrawls wallpaper our streets.
The media is mixed, and the message might not be entirely apparent, but it’s this inkblot test ambiguity that makes Vandal Expressionism a trip to explore…
OPENING PARTY – March 3rd, 2011 7PM to 10PM
Le Salon d’ Art
90 Stanton Street
New York, NY EXHIBIT
March 3rd, 2011 – March 31st, 2011
Fountain Art Fair
Fountain New York 2011 Spotlight: Artist Greg Haberny
When you first encounter the artwork of Greg Haberny, you find yourself on a detour off the main road of contemporary art, exploring an alluring roadside attraction of weather-beaten highway signs, familiar childhood characters nightmarishly stripped of their make-up, and political and pop icons soaked in acetate. Though the images and creatures are entrancing, below the feeling of familiarity is a lingering discomfort, an unease that spreads throughout the subconscious. Be it politics, commercialism, or consumerism, Haberny scrapes images of their superficial veneer, revealing grotesque truths that are otherwise glazed over.
Inspired by family members practicing Impressionism and Folk Art, swayed by classic film and repulsed by the perversion of the human psyche, Haberny combines the beauties and the monstrosities of everyday life in a way that resonates with each viewer. His art takes on a life force of its own, deviously sinking into the dark corners of the minds of those who look.
When you come upon Greg Haberny in the maze of Fountain booths, you will discover yourself immersed in his version of a brave new world. Haberny goes beyond individual artworks, transforming his entire space into an all-consuming installation, an atmospheric sensory-overload. While we can’t reveal what Haberny has in store for Fountain NY 2011, his previous Fountain installations Pop Culture Wasteland and Wanker’s Ball ensure we are all in for a surprising, unruly, and uniquely-Haberny experience.
Fountain Exhibitors: Camel Art Space, Brooklyn * Cheap & Plastique, Brooklyn * Christina Ray Gallery, New York * G-Spot presents: Cronin-Smith-Rose, Brooklyn* Grace Exhibition Space, Brooklyn * Leo Kesting Gallery, New York * The Marketplace Gallery, Albany * Marianne Nems Gallery, New York * McCaig-Welles, San Francisco * Microscope Gallery, Brooklyn * Mighty Tanaka, Brooklyn * Murder Lounge, Boston/New York * Temporary States, Brooklyn * Thaddeus Kwiat Projects, New York * We-Are-Familia, New York * What It Is, Chicago
Independent Artist Projects: Allison Berkoy, Brooklyn * Danni Rash & GILF!, New York * Evo Love, Miami * Greg Haberny, New York * Marni Kotak andJason Robert Bell, Brooklyn * Mark Demos, New York
About FOUNTAIN ART FAIR:
“The artists displaying their multimedia wares here are true avant-garde upstarts… Saturating your eyeballs with new imagery while listing on a rusty boat? Priceless.” —NBC New York
“Presenting a solid mix of street art, fine art, installation, performance, and all around general creativity, the Fountain Art Fair was a breath of fresh air for those tired of the white tents and fancy cocktails.” —Warholian.com
“A New York favorite, Fountain is the [fair] we always check out for punk, funk, and unvarnished bolts of creativity. With a number of Brooklyn galleries, artists, and undercover rebels getting into this mix, you never know what you are getting, but there will be something mind blowing.” —Brooklyn Street Art
“Possessed of a scrappy, youthful verve lacking in its more prestigious neighbors… Fountain was distinguished by a vintage street/self-taught aesthetic…” —ArtForum
“The way an art fair should be.” —The Economist
“For a riverside art fair with more grit, the Fountain Art Fair truly delivers. Named after Duchamp’s famous urinal, this one had the piss and vinegar…. It’s this scrappy energy that augurs well for the continued vitality of art in the age of the declining Dow.” —Time Out New York
Fountain Art Fair was founded in 2006 as an attempt to leverage support for smaller independent galleries to gain access to larger collectors and critics. Since its inception, Fountain has held five exhibitions in Miami, one in Chicago, and is now celebrating its sixth exhibition in New York. From its roots deep within the independent Williamsburg art scene, Fountain has grown to represent over 20 international avant-garde galleries and projects, showcasing progressive primary-market works. Fountain’s venue, Pier 66 Maritime, is a 10,000 square-foot complex adjacent to all the major New York exhibitions such as The Armory Show and Pulse New York.
About Fountain Art Fair
Fountain is an exhibition of avant garde artwork in New York during Armory week and Miami during Art Basel Miami Beach.
Location:
Pier 66 Maritime @ 26th Street & 12th Avenue in the Hudson RIver Park
March 3 – 6, 2011
General Public Hours:
March 4–March 6, 12pm–7pm
Special Events:
Thursday March 3, 12am – 5pm – VIP & Press Preview
Friday, March 4, 7pm – 12am – Opening Night Reception – Performance: Gordon Voidwell and Tecla
Saturday, March 5, 7pm – 12am – Performance: Ninjasonik
The Armory Show is America’s leading fine art fair devoted to the most important art of the 20th and 21st centuries. In its eleven years, the fair has become an international institution. Every March, artists, galleries, collectors, critics and curators from all over the world make New York their destination during Armory Arts Week
The Armory Show – Modern
PIER 92
MARCH 3-6, 2011
The Armory Show – Modern is a section dedicated to international dealers specializing in historically significant Modern and contemporary art. With one admission ticket, visitors to The Armory Show on March 3 – 6, 2011 will now have access not only to the newest developments in the art world, but also to the masterpieces that heralded them.
Piers 92 & 94
Twelfth Avenue at 55th Street
New York City
The Armory Show 2011 Opening Day takes place Wednesday, March 2nd for invited guests.
Opening Hours:
Thursday, March 3 – Saturday, March 5 Noon to 8 pm
Sunday, March 6 Noon to 7 pm
VOLTA NY is an invitational show of solo artist’s projects, it is the American incarnation of the successful young fair founded in Basel in 2005. VOLTA NY was conceived by art critic and fair director Amanda Coulson to continue the original mandate to create a tightly-focused, boutique event that is a place for discovery and a showcase for current art production and relevant contemporary positions — regardless of the artist or gallery’s age.
By putting the focus back on artists through exclusively featuring solo projects, VOLTA NY promotes a deep exploration of the work of its selected projects, an opportunity for discoveries that move beyond those afforded by a traditional art fair.
A platform for challenging, often complimentary, sometimes competing ideas about contemporary art, the strictly solo format is what gives the New York fair its unique character with visitors positively comparing VOLTA NY to doing a series of intense studio visits.
the Infamous dint wooer krsna Solo art Exhibition at 17 Frost Gallery. with a live performance by The Phonometricians on Cosmic Fire, & street art photography by Diana Trent. opening reception is December 4th (7-10pm) & runs until January 8th. 17 Frost Street (between Union & Lorimer), Williamsburg, Brooklyn. L train to Lorimer, G train to Metropolitan, or B48 bus to Frost Street. for more information please visit:
Stickering Adheres to Some Graff/Street Art Rules Too
Today we’re sticking to the little pieces; those quickly appearing peeled objects that people smack up on just about every smooth surface around the city. Getting your name, your art, your product out there for people to see has blossomed into a genre of it’s own, fostering shows, mini-conventions, websites, magazines, books, and collectors trading clubs dedicated to the sticky-backed missives some people call ‘slaps”. From individually handmade to glossy mass-produced pieces, the city is a magnet for these adhesive miniature works of art, accumulating them quickly in some locations like snow piling up in a doorway corner during a Nor’easter.
The humble sticker is an art medium that does not require a big production and carries a very low risk when being put on the streets and gets the job done. Doors are often the hot spots where the stickers live together in a seemingly harmonious life – and the rules applied to other forms of Street Art regarding space and real estate on a surface roughly apply here too; “Don’t overlap your sticker on mine or Imma bust you head, son.” In addition, getting up in as many places as possible, preferably where your fellow sticker artists can see you, is a goal.
Here are some images of richly textured surfaces around town that are “wall-papered” with a myriad of stickers. Even if we knew all the artists, it’s impossible to note them all here.
Hush’s work has been described as a sensory assault of shape, color, and character. Inspired by the portrayal of the female form in art, the artist builds up and tears down layers of paint and images as he works, “letting the canvas and marks take their own path.” The result is an enigmatic synthesis of anime, pop-infused imagery and graffiti that exposes the conflict between power and decay, innocence and sexuality, and the fusion of Eastern and Western culture. Hush continues to evolve his style with this latest batch of pieces, which merges his early anime and pop-art influenced graffiti technique with an exploration of Romanesque iconographic imagery. The new works are bigger, deeper and richer than anything he has produced to date. About the Artist: Hush is stimulated, influenced and driven by his cross cultural experiences. Having originally trained as a graphic designer and illustrator at Newcastle School of Art and Design, his work has taken him across Asia and Europe, whilst simultaneously developing his prominence as a contemporary artist. Hush now resides in the UK painting in his studio daily. EMAIL: mail@studio-hush.com
FAILE
BEDTIME STORIES
November 4 – December 23, 2010
Perry Rubenstein Gallery
527 West 23rd Street
New York, NY 10011
T 212.627.8000
F 212.627.6336
info@perryrubenstein.com
www.perryrubenstein.com
November 4 – December 23, 2010
Opening Reception, November 4, 2010, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
New York, October 18, 2010 – Perry Rubenstein Gallery presents Brooklyn-based multimedia artists FAILE. The artist collaborative returns on November 4th with Bedtime Stories, an exhibition of new works that feature imagery mined from FAILE’s singular visual archive and that emphasize the painterly dimensions of their frenetic visual tapestries.
Following on the heels of two major projects—the interactive arcade of Deluxx Fluxx and the haunting, allegorical suite, Lost in Glimmering Shadows—Bedtime Stories is a return to fundamentals that pushes questions of form and process to the forefront. Each of the twelve works’ compositions are assembled from numerous painted wooden blocks and they emerge as unified paintings. They reveal FAILE’s relentless assimilation and refinement of the vast visual vocabularies of both the urban environment and their own decade-long practice. The grids of these paintings are at once modular and fixed, tactile and graphic. On their surfaces, iconoclastic characters fluidly intermingle with adroit deconstructions of commodity culture. The re-combinations of carefully constructed texts and images provide a glimpse into FAILE’s rigorous and organic process, and draw attention to painting’s inherent materiality.
Works such as Addicted & Alone and Faile Launch reshape painterly traditions of pointillism and the affichistes, while simultaneously suggesting newer media that draws on the pixelation of digital technology and the improvisational roots of collage and street art. Bedtime Stories presents works of a neo-baroque ilk yet they are aggressively beautiful while underscoring FAILE’s continued exploration of formal and aesthetic inquiry and evolution.
Perry Rubenstein Gallery
527 West 23 Street
New York, NY 10011
T 212.627.8000
F 212.627.6336
E info@perryrubenstein.com
W www.perryrubenstein.com
Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
A lady, perhaps in her late 60’s or early 70’s with small wire-rimmed glasses stood on the pavement grinning in front of our flickering video projection time-lapses of Street Artists putting up work. She only turned from the screen once to make sure that her posse was also watching. When the video ended, with shoulders pinch up toward her grey fluffy hair, she clapped her hands quietly in front of her smiling mouth, and went back to the sidewalk to talk to her friends about it. She asked them if they had seen it. They had. A bit of wonder for us, her excitement.
We like to think that all of the artists involved in the first ever Nuit Blanche festival in New York received a similar experience for all of their efforts. As artists, few things make us happier than when we get to see the faces of the public enjoying the art being presented.
In New York there aren’t many venues where both the artists and the public get to mingle and talk directly with each other in an open and unrestricted environment: No VIP rooms, no PR handlers, no spokespeople, no velvet ropes, admission tickets, no one looking down their nose. The organizers of “Bring to Light” made this possible for one glorious night in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Perhaps 10,000 art lovers got out of their homes to enjoy one evening of free enlightenment without restriction.
With a five-hour convulsing light carnival by 60 artists, many of whom are well known for avant garde innovation, “Bring to Light” brought to life this former maritime hub of North Brooklyn that once blustered with lumber yards and rope factories. Now a rusty hopscotch of weathered industrial architecture, burned out lots, and faded hopes, Greenpoint in recent years has bloomed with the lifeblood of artists overflowing from neighboring Williamsburg. Aided by a crisp autumn night and Greenpoint’s Open Studios weekend, where artists open their doors to the public, “Bring To Light” was suddenly pulsating with the feet of thousands of art fans. All manner of projectors blasted on the walls with myriad images, forms, and shapes, some breathtakingly beautiful. Other artists created sculptures and installations that worked as light vessels and amorphous creatures while collaborative dancers entertained groupings of appreciative observers.
The show’s organizer DoTank:Brooklyn, calls itself a public vessel for interdisciplinary exploration, and Nuit Blanche seemed like the perfect showcase for everything these (mostly) urban planners are about. More interested in taking action than talking about it, their collective sense of focused urgency is like a refreshing gale of cool October air. Since they actually know how to plan and work with local civic and citizen groups, they were able to pull off New York City’s very first Nuit Blanche event in less than 3 months, and on a shoestring budget.
While DoTank had the initial idea, the Nuit Blanche ball started rolling when festival producer Ethan Vogt got involved to steer the effort in late July. DoTank had experience organizing participator events in public space and Ethan brought his background in film production and a passion for creating cinematic experience outside of traditional venues.
DoTanker Ken Farmer, originally from Memphis, Tennessee usually is riding his bike around the city or working as a consultant at Project for Public Spaces, a nonprofit planning, design and educational organization. He likes to ride his bike around the city and scope out cheap places to eat, or “blue collar hollas”, as he calls them.
A Boston born New Yorker since ’02, Ethan Vogt is a filmmaker who makes documentaries for organizations, music videos with found footage, and has produced three feature films with Andrew Bujalski. Now developing a masters thesis about Media in Performance and Architecture at NYU, Vogt hopes to produce Nuit Blanch for at least the next couple years in New York.
Brooklyn Street Art spoke to both guys about the success of their first Nuit Blanche in New York.
Brooklyn Street Art: How do you feel about the event, now that you are a few days on the other side of it?
Ken Farmer: We could not be more excited about how things turned out. Great weather, great crowd, great support from the community and a great response from both people who attended as well as those who have seen post-event coverage.
Ethan Vogt: Yeah, we are all just thrilled with how it came together – I’ve heard nothing but positive things from artists, visitors, and Greenpoint residents. I would say it exceeded our expectations and we were just in awe of what we had “organized” and “produced.”
Brooklyn Street Art: How long has this event been in the planning?
Ken Farmer: The idea began in July and planning really began in August. We were on pins and needles until the last minute getting the permits approved due to apprehension about an event with no prior history in NYC. Luckily, some key leaders like Councilman Stephen Levin and Borough President Marty Markowitz really believed in the event and helped us get over the hump.
Brooklyn Street Art: Would you call yourselves artists?
Ken Farmer: I’d say…artist and organizer…maybe that’s a curator?…of public spaces.
Ethan Vogt: Sure, I’d say I’m an artist and creative producer. I actually was going to do a projection project for the festival before I got too busy producing. You can see some of my projections and photography online. I feel like my art-making allows me to be a better producer, I often think about what I would want from a producer if I was the artist and then try to be that kind of producer.
Brooklyn Street Art: Who had the idea of launching New York’s first Nuit Blanche, and why did you think it was important to pursue and execute?
Ken Farmer: DoTanker Ted Ulrich organized a similar event in Atlanta and other team members had experienced Nuit Blanche events in other countries. We knew that it provided such a creative transformation of public spaces. Given our interest in short-term interventions to transform the way public space is experienced…we had to try.
Brooklyn Street Art: Can you talk about one of your favorite projections or performances from Saturday night?
Ken Farmer: We had some pretty well known light artists like Chris Jordan and Ryan Uzilevsky, but the thing that amazed me was the way the art, performers and crowd coalesced into a seamless experience. It wasn’t about individuals or feature pieces, it was about the transformed landscape that emerged collectively. This was our curatorial goal, but the reality far exceeded our expectations.
Ethan Vogt: So many of the pieces were amazing, it is hard to choose. I loved the percussion performance, “Scaffolding” by Tom Peyton with Terence Caulkins, Eddie Cooper, Lily Faden, Leo Kremer, and Mike Skinner, I also thought that the way that crowds were interacting with “A Small Explosion” by Kant Smith, “Light & Glass Dance” by Miho Ogai, “Oculus” by Nathaniel Lieb & Sarah Nelson Wright, and “Untitled (Drums, Lights) by Peter Esveld & Philippo Vanucci was remarkable and a very vibrant way of people connecting to artwork that I haven’t seen very many other places in my life.
Brooklyn Street Art: What role does public art play in the life of a neighborhood or a city?
Ken Farmer: It should be a manifestation of its surroundings showcasing the local identity. And it should compel us to appreciate our surroundings–aesthetically, whimsically, critically. But it is frustrating how often it falls short.
Ethan Vogt: I’m no expert on this but I think public art should encourage reflection, debate, and connection. New public spaces like the “High Line” in Chelsea are the kind of thing that I believe embodies this and I would love to someday be involved in producing a project like that.
Brooklyn Street Art: We’re always talking about the intersection between Street Art, Urban Art, Public Art, Performance, Projection Art – do you think that there is a growing interest among city dwellers in reclaiming public space for art?
Ethan Vogt: Yes, Yes, Yes! – I think this festival really struck a chord and that people looking for an authentic, non-consumer, artistic, participatory, and community experience.
Ken Farmer: I think there is a growing interest in authentic, and interactive public art. We are in a beautiful era of D.I.Y. culture. The big, corporate commissioned public art pieces in lifeless lower Manhattan plazas are old news. People want something more relatable and more dynamic. We are seeing a proliferation of low-cost, pop-up elements in public spaces. Some may see it as art, others as amenity, either way…its terrific.
Brooklyn Street Art: Were you surprised how difficult it could be to pull this off?
Ken Farmer: The difficulty lies in the need to do everything by the books. We intend to make this an annual tradition that gets better every year. So we dotted the “i’s” and crossed the “t’s”, which was costly, fiscally as well as temporally, but essential to building community support.
Ethan Vogt: It was extremely difficult to get all the pieces together to make this work but the reward of the experience was well worth it and things will certainly be easier next year.
Brooklyn Street Art: Do you think most people who see the show have any idea the amount of work that goes into it?
Ethan Vogt: I’m not sure if they have a sense of the work but I don’t care, I’m just glad they came out and had a night to remember. Hopefully they might continue to support us next year.
Ken Farmer: Hopefully they don’t know how much work goes in. I think the biggest barometer of the event’s success was how calm it felt. It was amazing to have that big of a crowd, with that many artists and that much excitement, yet have things seem so orderly.
We are extremely appreciative of how the crowd received the event…Thank You New York!
DoTank:Brooklyn is always looking for new partners. Please contact them at info@dotankbrooklyn.org
“Bring to Light” was organized by: Do Tank: Brooklyn Michael Doherty, Ken Farmer, Aurash Khawarzad, Tom Peyton, and Ted Ullrich
Produced by: Ethan Vogt, Furnace Media
Co-produced by: Pepin Gelardi, Jacquie Jordan, Annie de Mayo, Anna Muessig, Stephen Zacks
Please visit the Bring To Light site and click on their Kick Starter Campaign. They are only a few hundred dollars from reaching their fundraising goal. They need your support!
We are very pleased to announce our upcoming exhibitions; El Mac ‘The Humble and Sublime’ and Damon Soule ‘Tessellating Pigments.’ This will be Mac’s first solo exhibition with the gallery as well as his first solo exhibit in NYC. This will be Soule’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. The opening reception is Thursday, October 14th from 6 – 9 pm, both artists will be in attendance.
Joshua Liner Gallery
548 W 28th St. 3rd Floor
New York, New York 10001
212-244-7415
joshualinergallery.com
“Williamsburg is so layered and changing so quickly… I am so lucky to be able to document some of these fleeting visual gems”
Shooting Fossils with Your Phone
5 years ago, it was unimaginable. 5 years from now, assumed. Photography with your phone is ushering a new era in art, journalism, and information.
Kate Meersschaert has been capturing the beauty of the urban landscape in the midst of the Williamsburg transition to vertical suburbia, where shallow glass towers rise over blighted lots, Superfund sites, and Street Art. Since this spring she snaps the layers of posters and detritus, steel beams, gummy sidewalks… posts them on her site, and is making a book with them this fall.
Some of Kate’s images are charged with activity, some overlayed with weathered echo, others may prove to have a timeless quality.Because they are a “snapshot” using this technology in this location, they are so 2010.
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
How & Nosm finish wall in Brooklyn for Contra Projects (photo © Jaime Rojo)
