BEHIND THE SEEN IN BUSHWICK

Behind the Seen
a group exhibition curated by Michael De Feo
at AD HOC ART
December 13th, 2007 through January 20th, 2008
Opening Reception: December 13th, 7pm-9pm

A collection of artists and artist collectives, all who highly regard the street as their canvas fiercely decontextualized on the basis of medium.

FROM AD HOC ART:

Assembling a group of well known street artists from around the world, De Feo invited the participants to showcase work they’re not typically recognized for. Behind the Seen includes personal projects, works in different mediums or styles and pieces not necessarily intended for view on the streets. The mediums include paintings, drawings, photographs and sculptures by over 30 artists from around the world.

Street artists develop a level of notoriety for their originality, talent and frequency of a style or visual vocabulary.    Like most successful artists, they don’t limit their creative endeavors to what they’re known for.

Behind the Seen goes beyond the familiar to build upon what we already know… providing connections, challenges and insights to other facets of the artist’s oeuvre.

Participating artists include:

Aiko, Blek le Rat, Caleb Neelon, Dan Witz, Don Leicht, Elbow Toe, ELC, Ellis G., Eltono, Flying Fortress, G, Ian Stevenson, Jace, Jean Faucheur, jm rizzi, John Fekner, Judith Supine, Keith Haring, Lady Pink, L’Atlas, Lee Quiñones, Leon Reid, Lister, Mark Jenkins, Martha Cooper, Maya Hayuk, Michael De Feo, Momo, Nuria, Peripheral MediaProjets, Richard Hambleton, Ripo, Ron English, Shepard Fairey, She Kills He, Skewville, Swoon, Thundercut, Tofer

AD HOC Art
49 Bogart Street
Buzzer 22, Unit 1G
Brooklyn, NY 11206
Tel: 718.366.2466
Fax: 866.599.7270
Website:  http://adhocart.org
Online:

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Posted by Joyce Manalo, Brooklyn Art Project Blog Editor and founder of ArtForward. 

 

Flying South – Miami NADA (1 of 4)

2007 holds the count for 22 satellite art fairs that are taking place addition to Art Basel Miami Beach.  Sensory overload is a luxury.  Art fairs certainly provides an insight to trends in painting, drawing, installation, sculpture, installation, photography, video and performance.  In addition to trends in mediums, it also allows you to see art from a multitude of cities around the world.  An absolute treat! 

Some of the trends in medium were intricate ink and graphite drawings, flashe paint, animation, collage, cutouts.  In terms of sculpture, porcelain, taxidermy, felt and found objects.  Some booths were also dedicated to a single artist.  This year, the galleries really stepped up and presented very well curated open cubes.

New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) was located at the Ice Palace, 1400 North Miami Avenue.  Here are a couple of highlights:

James Benjamin Franklin @ Clementine Gallery
"No Laughing Matter", 2007, Flashe, resin on canvas, 14" x 11"

Kamrooz Aram @ Oliver Kamm 5BE Gallery
From series Revolutionary Dreams, Ink and graphite on paper, 15 1/4" x 13" inches (not exhibited)

Helen Verhoeven @ Wallspace
"The Walking", 2007, Oil on canvas, 72" x 110"

Ben Peterson @ Ratio 3
"Work From Home", 2007, Ink and graphite on paper, 48" x 83" (shown above)
"Timezone", 2007, Ink and graphite on paper, 53" x 96" (exhibited work in booth)

Jen Ray @ Galerie Jan Wentrup
Untitled (Women with Flags), 2007, Ink and watercolor on paper, 47 1/4" x 62"

Kota Ezawa @ Murray Guy
"Dead Troops", 2007, C-Print of paper cutout, 20" x 40"

Daphne Fitzpatrick & Adam Cvijanovic @ Bellwether
Fitzpatrick – Untitled, 2007, Wood, glass, installation
Cvijanovic – "Garden State", 2007, Flashe on tyvek

Matthew Day Jackson @ Ballroom Marfa
Installation based on an Albert Bierstadt western scene

Ivan Witenstein @ Derek Eller Gallery
Blakexploitation (#26), 2007, Watercolor and graphite on paper, 30" x 22" (28 pieces arranged 4 x 7, sold separately)

Posted by Joyce Manalo, Brooklyn Art Project Blog Editor and founder of ArtForward.  Please contact me, if you would like to receive ArtFWD-Quarterly Newsletter (December 2007-Miami Satellite Fair in Depth)

 

 

Ukraine in the Brain

“He is not a Man” opens with a photomontage and a live narration about a respectable man who grew up in the farms of Ukraine.  This man became a hero and was rewarded because he courageously rescued the Czar’s children from being massacred by a wolf. The ramification of these events three generations ago is revealed to the audience as Bryan Zanisnik’s autobiographical docudrama performance unfolds on stage.

In the next scene, the drums crescendoed, audibly introducing the boxing referee, and two fighters—a man and a wolf. Let’s get ready to rumble!  In a smoke filled room and referee’s spit in the ring, fists flew, trainers cursed, audience screamed and waved American flags.  Both fighters fought for their lives.  What a match!  The lights dim, the wolf walks away from the ring, and the audience chants, “he’s not a man”.

The underlying elements of this performance strongly resonate, heroism, masculinity, immigration, and class distinction.  The ambiguity lies in the oscillation of the past and reflection of the present.  History does not change, but history changes us. Bryan Zanisnik’s piece, “He is not a Man” invites the audience to have courage and seek out the past in an effort to demystify genealogical legends.  This undertaking leads to discovering deeper layers of identity.

“He is not a Man” is a performance piece by Bryan Zanisnik.  The performers include Bryan Zanisnik as the boxer, Dave Suter as the wolf, Ryan Saylor as the referee, and Eric Winkler and Randall Miller as trainers. Bob Carlton hails from Philadelphia and provided the music.  The performance was approximately 20 minutes.  The video piece edited with the photomontage was on MiniDV format.

Bryan Zanisnik is from New Jersey and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.  He is currently enrolled in MFA Program at Hunter College.  Some of the most recent places he has exhibited are Priska C. Juschka  Fine Art, Moment Art, Art Omi (summer residency), Jersey City Museum, Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art.

If you are intrigued, please visit his website and drop him a line about the next tour date of the match.  Please visit www.zanisnik.com.

Zanisnik’s performance was organized by "boundLES", a collaborative exhibition project that brings together commercial galleries, nonprofit arts institutions and artists in celebration of the rich creative spirit of the Lower East Side. Some of the longest-running creative centers in the community will host work by contemporary artists represented by galleries that have opened in the area over the last five years. boundLES is curated by Jane Kim (Director, Thrust Projects) and Cecilia Alemani (independent critic and curator), with the assistance of Elena Linares-Low and Padma Rajendran.

Exhibition dates: November 27, 2007 – January 13, 2007
(Bryan Zanisnik’s performance has come to a close – December 2-3, 2007)
Please visit www.boundles.net for more information about other programs and events in the Lower East Side.

Posted by Joyce Manalo, Brooklyn Art Project Blog Editor and founder of ArtForward.

 

All Bets Are Off with John Gagliano

"All Bets Are Off"
New works by John Gagliano
November 16-December 20, 2007
Mazi’s in Lower East Side

Mid-exhibition Opening
Friday, November 30, 2007 from 7-9pm
112 Suffolk Street (b. Delancey & Rivington Street)
Metro:  F to Delancey and J,M,Z to Essex

Featured Above:  "Oak Tree at Santa Anita", 2007, Acrylic on canvas, 48" x 72"

What really goes on behind the scenes at the OTB?  John Gagliano has created a new body of work of characters he has met, observed, befriended and loathed.  Heightened euphoria, fear and despair are all welcome at the OTB.  As the curator, I decided to step into the world of OTB and interview him about his new series.

Joyce Manalo (JM): Where are you from originally?  Have you moved around the country at all?

John Gagliano (JG): Floral Park, New York… a suburb a few steps from queens.  Oh and Iceman from the X-men was born there too.  I have never lived outside the city for more than a few weeks, but New York is dead to me and I would very much like to relocate in the near future. 

JM: I didn’t know that Floral Park had a celebrity status.  Okay, back to New York, NY, you have a BFA from FIT with a major in illustration and minor in graphic design, currently painting and the art director at Unruly Heir.  Do you think it makes you less of an artist having a job?

JG: The thing about New York is you really do need to have one or more jobs depending on your wage in order to live here.  No, I don’t think being an artist and having a job damages my credibility at all.  Being an artist isn’t just something you do to pass the time, you have to put everything you have into it… and before you do all that you have to pay the rent.  With Unruly Heir I’m actually able to experiment with ideas and mediums that are new to me.  I’m learning a ton and if anything working there only develops new directions and opportunities for my art.  I also work five nights a week at Off Track Betting.  Is my art-cred taking a nosedive?

JM: I don’t see any arrows pointing down.  What is Unruly Heir?

JG: Unruly Heir is a new menswear label…  like Ralph Lauren, after scuffing your khakis and huffing gasoline.  It really is quite amazing to me how quickly we came from nowhere, we were the long-shot a total dark horse from the get go.  When I first got involved in Oct. 2006, I was extremely skeptical at first.  After a few months the company started to take shape and I realized I was working with some talented people.  Angelina the fashion designer has a relentless work ethic, she’s the glue that keeps us all on the same page, and Kristian Laliberte has been a liability for us.  Then the founder Joey Goodwin has this outlandish magnetic persona and you can’t help but find yourself knee deep in his modest vision.

JM: How did you come up with the idea for "All Bets Are Off" series?

JG: All Bets are Off is only a small smudge on my complete vision for OTB.  As I said before, I work for Off Track Betting, I’m the bookie behind the bulletproof glass.  This month was the five year mark of my employment.  Within the first few hours of working there I knew right away this story must be told.  Bukowski touched on it often, but I knew I could tell it differently being a visual artist, and working in the industry instead of being a frequent patron.  It took me a few years just to understand the complexity of the OTB lifestyle but soon after I began working on the novel "Suspect Superfecta". I’ve dedicated the last two and half painting years to this project and "All Bets are Off" is just a preview of its completion. 

JM: Very exciting, I look forward to seeing more pieces.  The context of your paintings are derivations of circumstances at OTB.  Are you painting from photographs, memory or life?

JG: It’s a mix of all three.  I often draw at work with just a pen and any paper lying around.  That’s really my favorite way to capture the action.  I create all of my compositions from my memory and imagination, a lot of my art are exaggerations of the actual truth but are just as close to the reality.  I spend a lot of time writing down quotes heard at work and I enjoy spinning my art off that monotonous banter.  I use photos for reference to paint from, but I use some of my friends or anyone willing to pose for me as models to better tell the story.  I then recreate those OTB experiences through my friends. 

JM: The characters you painted seem to be abject, isolated, and manic.   Which artists have influenced you in conveying emotions through brush stroke and color?

JG:  Ralph Steadman and David Hockney.  These guys are amazing to me.

JM: The themes of your paintings are very much about addiction.  Were you consciously making a statement by painting these scenes?

JG: Well the thing about horse racing and addiction is the industry wouldn’t survive if only occasional bettors played the Triple Crown and Breeders Cup.  Horse Racing is about the regulars.  The question is are the regulars addicted to gambling or just hanging out for the action?  This is just scratching the surface but addiction in general is a troubling thought, addiction in gambling is a gross misconduct.  The Racing Fans I know are not all bad lost people, many are retired old men spending their pension and passing the time.  In many ways it is a social club.  There’s another half that have lost all control, most are younger and not yet retired, but being an OTB regular, rich or poor is a never ending…quandary, they are there opening to closing.  They are at OTB more than I am.  The difference is some have a thirst for gambling you can only find in night of the living dead.

JM: Do you have any advice for first time betters at OTB?

JG: First time at OTB…  well if you don’t turn right around and leave…(1) The second horse never runs second.  Meaning the second favorite usually doesn’t end up finishing second.  (2) Read the names of the horses, some full time gamblers do some don’t, but first timers seem to have a good feeling about a horse’s name.  Remember this only works once.   Horses that are named in likeness of cats always have a better chance of winning, just be sure to make cat noises while the race is going on. (3) Play your area code.

"All Bets Are Off" is presented by ArtForward and Unruly Heir in collaboration at Mazi’s:

ArtForward focuses on unconventional collaborations with the art community and business ventures outside the visual arts, to elevate emerging artists and their works to the forefront.  It is deeply rooted in working with local art councils, artist studios, alternative spaces, galleries, auction houses and contemporary museums to widen the channels for exhibition opportunities and cooperative projects in tandem with dispersing appreciation in the arts.

Unruly Heir represents an emerging lifestyle driven by an attitude that demands and instigates change where change is rarely accepted or appreciated.  Unruly Heir crashes the party of formulated men’s sportswear "classics" providing a new and subtle take on men’s fashion.

Posted by Joyce Manalo // New York City based Brooklyn Art Project Blog Editor and Founder of ArtForward

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The Curious World of Georgalas

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WORKS BY CHRIS GEORGALAS
ART OPENING – THURSDAY OCTOBER 11th 7-9pm
Mazi’s at 112 Suffolk Street (btwn. Delancey and Rivington)

Featured above:
"Kong", 2007, oil pastel, acrylic on canvas and buoy, 5.5 ft. x 4 ft.

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Brooklyn Art Project member Joyce Manalo runs NYC based, ArtForward, an organization committed to curating work from some of the most fascinating new artists to come onto the scene. Joyce is currently working with Arthur Christopher Georgalas, who CBGB’s 313 Gallery describes as artist who "has been influenced by illustration, comic books, graffiti art and pop imagery" the gallery goes on to say that Georgalas represents the "next progression of a Duchampian ready-made aesthetic suited and amended for contemporary art." 

With our curiosity sufficiently piqued, we caught up with Joyce to fill us in on this intriguing artist, his interest in melding sculpture and paintings and his current show at Mazi’s at 112 Suffolk Street in NYC’s Lower East Side, that runs through October 31st.

BROOKLYN ART PROJECT (BAP):
Can you tell us a bit more about Arthur Christopher Georgalas?

JOYCE MANALO (JM): Chris is a mellow guy living in Williamsburg.  He’s a hands-on person, he currently works in Red Hook at a furniture hardware.  He’s quite prolific; in the span of two days that I haven’t seen him, he executed works on 3 big canvases.  In addition to cranking out works, he is quite detached from possessing them himself, because it’s more important for him that others personally and privately enjoy his work.

BAP: How would you describe his work?

JM: His work is both multi-dimensional in medium and nostalgic references.  His canvas is made up of attentively chosen “found objects”. The process of drawing, painting, sculpture and collage are all apparent in his works. The recurring subject of his pieces play on the audience’s recollection of virility in classical movies, art history, and childhood.

BAP: Where does he find his inspirations?

JM: Outside–the industrial landscape and debris of nyc and the bucolic detritus of upstate new york.  He is visually influenced by 50s illustrations, comics and japanese anime and toys.  The artists that inspire his work are Jean-Michel Basquiat, John Chamberlain, Marcel Duchamp, George Segal, Robert Gober, Tadeus Kantor, Henri Matisse, Claes Oldenburg, Andy Warhol, and Bill Woodrow.

BAP: What would people be surprised to know about Christopher?

JM: That he actually goes by his middle name Chris and not Arthur which is his first name.  Usually first names are less embarrassing than middle names. He likes to also drink jack and coke, which is too sweet for most.

BAP: Where can people see Christopher’s work in NYC and online?

JM: His work can be seen at Mazi’s until the end of October, and he welcomes studio visits in Williamsburg.  Since he just finished his new works this October, his website www.georgalas.net is still pending updates, but you can see the works of his solo show at www.art-forward.com/curatorial.

BAP: What is ArtForward

JM: ArtForward focuses on unconventional collaborations with the art community and business ventures outside the visual arts, to elevate emerging artists and their works to the forefront.  It is deeply rooted in working with local art councils, artist studios, alternative spaces, galleries, auction houses and contemporary museums to widen the channels for exhibition opportunities and cooperative projects in tandem with dispersing appreciation in the arts.

 

CALL FOR ENTRIES – STREET ART PHOTOGRAPHY

//// DEADLINE: OCTOBER 9th!

Brooklyn Art Project is helping an interior design firm source street art photography for permanent installation in a Manhattan retail location. To have your work considered, upload it to Brooklyn Art Project and tag it "streetart7".

PLEASE NOTE: You must own the complete copyright to the photograph AND the street art shown in the photograph – written proof of copy right will be requested if your work is selected.

Photographs should be well shot, well composed and final versions will need to be provided at a high resolution. Payment will be made for all images selected. Work that is selected for the project will also be featured on Brooklyn Art Project.

We’re looking for images that are:
— Visually engaging
— Metaphorical
— G-rated
— Hopeful
— Upbeat
— Include street elements (brick, concrete, weathered paint, etc.)

 

Lower East Side Gallery Opening: Where neuroscience meets the canvas

If you happen to be in the NYC area this evening, you’ll should definitely come by the opening for Jennie Booth’s new show "2 to the Nth Power" that goes until September 30th. Jennie is a brooklynartproject.com member with a signature style and layers of meaning to her work. She plays at the intersection of art, mathematics and neuroscience creating a visually compelling canvas that resonates on many levels.

We caught up with Jennie to learn more about the show, her inspirations and her journey from Chicago to pre-gentrified Williamsburg Brooklyn.

What the is show about?

It’s an exhibition of 21 recent mixed-media tapestry style and stretched canvas paintings—including 2 really fun bas-relief sculptures.

–Working with the thought that one can travel literally and metaphorically from the ocean to the desert in a matter of minutes.

What does 2 to the Nth power mean?

The title is taken from a painting in the show called "2 The Nth Power. "  Originally a mathematical term, it is used to mean the ultimate incalculable something—so I ‘m talking here about the ultimate power of the brain—how we use it (if we use it) and how it uses us as humans.  There’s that play and struggle between intellectual (logical) and emotional thinking.  We are the sum of intricate electrical impulses in the brain–and then there is "the heart"

Can you tell us a little bit about your work?

My work is iconographic and narrative. The figures and symbols are multi-layered in possible meaning.  One person could see a devil where the other person sees a god. It is meant to be a primal, universal language where an artist or non-artist viewer, a viewer from say, Kerala, India or Bremen, Germany or Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, could each find a personal language and solution to the visual puzzle.

What inspires you as an artist?

The machinations of the brain.   The mind as vehicle or driver.  The razor’s edge reality between life and death. — And then let’s talk politics–gender, color, and class.  It’s all there.

Have you always been based in NYC?

I was originally in Chicago and participated in the Pilsen, Wicker Park art scene.  Incredibly, a rent hike in Wicker Park was the catalyst for moving to NYC—but I got in on the Williamsburg thing back when you could get off the Bedford L stop and be one of five or six people.  Artists are being squeezed out from all the NYC boroughs. I wonder, does culture have a place if it doesn’t have $currency$?

How can we learn more about your work?

Be sure to check out the show, which runs until September 30th.  @ skinNY–174 Orchard Street NYC.  That’s between Houston and Stanton on the Lower East Side.
I can be reached at jboothart@yahoo.com, myspace.com/jenniebooth and of course brooklynartproject.com!

Special shout out to Jim Carrano at skinNY, NYC for providing space where alternative artists can show their work.

 

NYC Battle of the Fugliest

The Municipal Arts Society has launched a nyc-wide competition for the ugliest photo of those infamous newsracks. The uglier the better. The ugliest of the ugly wins a $100 gift certificate to Urban Center Books.

The competition (called OUTRAGE!) is open until September 14th, after which Vanessa Gruen, Director of Special Projects for MAS will share the treasure trove of bad newsrack photos with the city to raise awareness and spark some change. Vanessa tells us some of the worst offenders are in the Upper West Side and large intersections in Brooklyn, but more images are coming in every day. See what’s been uploaded so far in the Flickr pool.

COMPETITION INSTRUCTIONS ///
Shoot the worst offenders in any of the five boroughs and upload the pics to the OUTRAGE campaign’s Flickr group page. Flickr users can tag their pictures nastynewsracks or join the nastynewsracks Flickr group. You can also email your pics to MAS directly at newsrack@mas.org.

Read more about the OUTRAGE! campaign on the MAS website, then go out shoot some fugly.

 

Brooklyn Art Project Weekly Gallery – New work from emerging artists worldwide

Here’s a fresh serving of new work this week from Brooklyn Art Project members around the world. Featured pieces include illustrations, paintings, photography and sketches. Great snapshot into what’s inspiring artists these days.

Find more photos like this on brooklyn art project

 

Video: How to Make a Messenger bag – Brooklynartproject.com

Brooklynartproject.com Member Bre Pettis created this video on how to make a messenger bag for the DIY’er in all of us. If you like the video, check out his site http://makezine.com/podcast where he makes something every week and then makes a video about it. Cool idea. Build yourself a bookmark.

Make a Messenger Bag