One of my favorite holiday memories as a child was putting up the Halloween decorations. Now the only decorating that I do is when I hang art. But sometimes art can be the spookiest thing about Halloween… Just take a look at our haunted art gallery:

#1 Wizard Skull – Freddy Kruger prints

From The Artist’s Facebook Page

The prolific skateboard designer Wizard Skull has screenprinted this image from one of his many free zines floating around. An illustration based on the Nightmare on Elm Street dream-creeper that is made all the more creepy by how much he loves that cat. [We wrote about the artist here]  (more…)

By Katarina Hybenova

As of lately, we have been experiencing an influx of new galleries, bars and restaurants in Bushwick.  This post however, traces back four exceptional galleries that closed down recently. We would like pay homage to the places that helped to shape and form the art scene in Bushwick, and highlight their greatest moments.

#1 Famous Accountants

All photos by the author unless stated otherwise.

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By Katarina Hybenova

“Bushwick collage is not only popular, but increasingly amazing!” This was my conclusion recently made after numerous art-exploring adventures in Bushwick.  Collage being a combination of elements from different sources reflects the time we live in so accurately. Magazines, postcards, fliers… Stimuli coming at us from every direction, combined with artists’ own imaginary world reflect everyday subconscious battle with overload of impulses. While some artists work with physical elements and cut outs, others work with images compiled exclusively from the Internet, and create collages in Photoshop. I believe that this speaks loud about the spirit of the time, and the vanishing importance of print and physical objects in favor of the Internet…

Here is a selection of 10 extraordinary artists from the Bushwick area who work in collage listed in alphabetical order.

#1 Nate Anspaugh

photo via nateanspaugh.com

Nate Anspaugh lives and works in Ridgewood. A large part of his body of works is formed by poster collage. He scrapes of posters from the walls as if he was taking parts of the city home with him. Afterwards, he layers them frantically creating abstract objects, a collage of city impressions…

#2 Paul D’Agostino 

Photo via nortemaar.org

One of the number of the activities of Paul D’Agostino, a Bushwick’s renaissance man, is collage making. Almost forgotten memories, narratives and concepts are common to Paul’s works. Paul uses old postcards, cut outs from the magazines, advertising fliers, newspaper articles, or headlines…

#3 Andrew Hurst

Photo via storefrontbk.com

Collage and assamblage is the medium of Andrew Hurst. This sophisticated Bushwick artists creates imaginary worlds frequently balancing on the edge of the dark side.

#4 Kenna Kindig

Photo by Sean Alday

Kenna Kinding is a young artist who in addition to typical cut outs and drawing uses also artificial hair. Her imaginary worlds are altered consciously with borrowed elements from elsewhere, such as a typical manga eye on a character in her piece.

#5 Ken Kocses

photo via bushwickgallery.com

Ken Kocses, a Ridgewood-based artist combines drawings and collage. Characters from the 1990s TV shows, basketball stars, kid commercials – Ken’s pieces are full of pop culture references. He searches the Internet for images from the decade to print them and glue them onto his trippy drawings.

#6 Ellen Letcher

Ellen Letcher’s minimalism and brutality combined with tenderness are striking. She combines cut outs from (fashion) magazines with paint, result of which are intensely unsettling pieces.

#7 JP Marin

Photo via JP Marin's facebook

 JP Marin’s collage art is a trippy journey of the Internet. As a reflection of the stream of JP’s consciousness feel also his collages. He uses quirky, odd elements; his collage art is full of pop cultural references and insider jokes.

#8 Kevin Regan

Photo via Kevin Regan's flickr.

A journey through Kevin Regan’s body of work is adventurous, and if you set for it, you will most likely feel like a kid discovering new fantasy worlds. I personally enjoy his sense of humor and self-irony, which are leaking through  his narratives.

#9  Austin Thomas

Austin Thomas lives and works in Manhattan, but her numerous Bushwick activities, from exhibiting, curating, mentoring to supporting the community, qualify her for a honorary title of a Bushwick artist (at the very least). Her gentle collage pieces are an exquisite gate to her dreamy worlds. She frequently uses subtle shapes, pale colors, using mostly paper, her collage pieces belong to the most important of the list.

#10 Vahge

photo via Vahge's Facebook

Vahge is a Bushwick-based self-taught collage artist, which is pretty much absolutely amazing. She works in small scale with a surgeon-like precision. Her objects are usually women placed between romantic and unsettling reality.

We want to send some love and appreciation to all the Bushwick ladies in art. We chose 10 young female artists who either live, work in Bushwick or are an inseparable part of the Bushwick art scene. We find their art (and them as well) completely mind-blowing.  Also we would love to see their solo show in one of the Bushwick galleries (yes, it’s a total hint).  Big thank you for all the tips we received on Facebook and Twitter. If you think that we completely omitted someone extremely amazing, drop us a comment! We are always curious about new amazing atrists.

… and here are the ladies and their art in alphabetical order:

 # 1 Liz Atzberger 

Liz Atzberger: Magnet, Plate 1 (image by courtesy of Liz Atzberger)

[box]Liz Atzberger works in all kinds of media, from painting to 3D objects and sculpture. She uses innovative materials and bright colors that won’t keep you neutral. Furthermore, she has a great personality and a ton of energy.  She is one of the co-founders of Airplane gallery in Bushwick, and feels positive about collaboration.[/box]

#2 Andrea Bergart

Andrea Bergart: Cheetah (image by courtesy of Andrea Bergart)

[box]Andrea Bergart has a great eye for color and pattern, which makes her not only a brilliant artist but also a fashion icon. She finds her inspiration in the visual language of the 1990s and in African bead making. Andrea has spend a whole deal of time in Ghana, and we just love her art work and fashionable jewelry.[/box]

#3 Gilf!

[box]Gilf! is a street artist whose aim is to challenge everything! She fights inequality and is not afraid to address political issues in her street art as well as fine art work. Gilf! is one of the few street art chicks, and we dig her big time![/box]

#4 Rebecca Goyette

Rebecca Goyette in Lobster Lady costume. (Image by courtesy of Rebecca Goyette)

[box]Rebecca Goyette is a provocative, fresh artist with a great sense of humor. You will have so much fun enjoying her work! She works across the media, from painting to performance art and film. She has created her alter ego, Lobster Lady, and is basically about to blow up. Don’t loose the sight of her, and we promise an awesome art adventure![/box]

#5 Erin Haldrup

(Image by courtesy of Erin Haldrup)

[box]Erin Haldrup is a sweet, fresh voice in painting! Energetic palette and imagery balancing somewhere between abstract and figurative. We love it![/box]

#6 Ellen Letcher

(Image by courtesy of 45 Projects)

[box]Ellen Letcher is one of the most distinctive voices in the neighborhood. Ellen’s collages are cutting edge and throat, disturbing, charming, beautiful, ugly, energetic and calm – all of that at the same time. Ellen is also one of the co-creators of Famous Accountants, an influential gallery in Ridgewood. In other words, Ellen is absolutely brilliant!![/box]

#7 Rebecca Litt

Rebecca Litt: The Relative Safety of Solid Ground (Image by courtesy of Rebecca Litt)

[box]Rebecca Litt creates unsettling environments in her paintings. A recurring motive in her work is on orange plastic barricade fence. The characters in her paintings are surrounded with it to protect themselves from the world realizing that the protection is more of a feeling than an effective fencing.   We believe that this orange fence is something we can all relate to. Rebecca rocks![/box]

#8 Tescia Seufferlein 

Image by Bushwick Daily

[box]Have you been wondering who hang those sparkly shoes on wires in Bushwick as a response to typical Brooklyn hanging sneakers? It was Tescia Seufferlein! This girl works with costumes on Broadway, and creates great photo installations among other things. Watch out for her![/box]

#9 Julie Torres

(Image by courtesy of Julie Torres)

[box]A hit by the energy of Julie Torres! That’s how it feels like when looking at a grid of abstract paintings of this remarkable artist.  Julie has been not only creating, but also curating and organizing some of the most extraordinary art events in Bushwick. From a collaborative drawing shows to a 72-hour long art marathon using cult logic.[/box]

#10 Ashley Zelinskie

Ashley Zelinskie: Reverse Abstraction (image by courtesy of Ashley Zelinskie)

[box]Ashley Zelinskie is a new media and conceptual artist. She is pretty geeky when it comes down it. Ashley basically talks in HTML, and is fascinated by new technology and computer perception of art. Ashley is one of our favorite girls in Bushwick art also because she proves that everything is possible with the right attitude. Besides great conceptual art, in the age of 24, she runs an artist studio building and a gallery, The Active Space. Respect![/box]

By Katarina Hybenova

Dear Bushwick! Good news! We made it to 2012! May this year be even more awesome and artsy than the last year!

click to enlarge the photos

The first day of 2012 was sunny and windy. The streets were messy from the loud celebration last night, and most of the Bushwick residents sought a refuge in some good Bushwick brunch place.  Tens of art fans were circulating between two places, Norte Maar and Storefront Bushwick, where art joined forces with lovely food, coffee and mimosas. Yes, that’s how 2012 began in Bushwick….

Newly re-opened Storefront Bushwick welcomed its visitors with colorful geometric art  from Gary Petersen, Halsey Hathaway and Rob De Oude. Gallery owner Deborah Brown was happily smiling as the famous PM Taxes space was getting more and more packed. She was wearing a colorful geometric outfit to match the 1st exhibition in the new year.

Over at Norte Maar, the dream team of Jason Andrew and Julia Gleich were serving mimosas and brilliant art. Guilty / (NOT) Guilty is an exceptionally strong art show featuring some of the neighborhood’s favorite artists. We were happy to see intense collages from Ellen Letcher, a co-owner of gallery Famous Accountants. Widely celebrated Crucified Panda from Francesco Masci made us laugh, although it wasn’t funny.

The most hangover member of the team seemed to be Fern, Jason Andrew’s dog…