The art scene in Bushwick is as unique and diverse as its residents. Just as we hate typecasting ourselves, our galleries are both true to their identities yet flexibly push their own boundaries (and ours!) in order to continue to challenge and engage our community’s many faces.  This week’s art picks offer an array of themes and medium – from exploration of modern myths to sustainable societies, and from abstraction to interaction – that are guaranteed to entice and excite each of Bushwick’s multiple facets.

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Gallery hopping.

We spotted Frankie the Dog on Friday night in front of Storefront Bushwick. He was appreciating the warmth of the outdoor heater, in a subtle way only a Maltese can: he stuck his pink tongue out, and tilted his head to the right. His owner and a friend Chris Harding, from the English Kills gallery, was nonchalantly discussing art with a couple of friends while Frankie was already planning our route for the night of gallery hopping.

Peggy Guggenheim with her three Maltese dogs. Clearly a lady of the highest taste. (Image by David Seymour, 1950)

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A glance at the list of events this weekend made me scream a little, and when I took a closer look I was screaming for sure. Apologies to my cats and neighbors but this weekend will be EPIC! With Art Basel Miami and Holidays in December, we haven’t seen too many art openings lately. Well, cry no more! Friday will be a big night for art, so have an extra cup of coffee before you go out! After you’re done with all the openings, we suggest some dancing to keep you warm! And not just any dancing, but some proper Bushwick wilderness… Are you ready? Let’s go!

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Bushwick-based non-profit NURTUREart focusing on emerging artists is gearing up towards the greatest event of the year – their annual benefit. Hundreds of artists (many from Bushwick) donated their works through an open call. Juried selection will be displayed at Charles Bank gallery in Lower East Side on Sunday (VIP evening) and on Monday. The ticket holders are entitled to pick a piece and take it home. This is a great opportunity to get piece of art by your favorite artist and to support great cause.

There are still a couple of tickets left!

Put that bow tie on and get ready to sip some cheap beer while intellectually discussing art! Friday in Bushwick means A LOT of art openings,  and here are four of them you should definitely pencil into your social diary!

#1 Molotov Cocktail Hour @ CCCP North Light Gallery, 6-8PM

CCCP stands for Creative Curator’s Collective Program and North Light is for sure one of the most liberal galleries at 56 Bogart. They have an event called Molotov Cocktail Hour scheduled for today to accompany their current art show Exogenesis, so pay them a visit today 6-8pm.

#2 Scott Lawrence: Monochrome @ NURTUREart, 6-9PM

At 56 Bogart you are rather likely to see more than one gallery show, which is very practical especially in an eventful neighborhood such as Bushwick. NURTUREart, one of the area’s most significant non-profits is having an opening of Monochrome, the first solo exhibition of Scott Lawrence.  Lawrence works in sculpture, painting, drawing and manipulates everyday objects.

#3 Still A Machine After All These Years! @ The Loom Gallery, 6-9PM

Big cheers for Bushwick Film Festival is happening tonight at The Loom Gallery! Holly Shen Chaves has been invited to curate an art show related to film to support Bushwick Film Festival. Holly who has been involved with Arts in Bushwick as a lead of the in the bloggers for Bushwick Open Studios and recently also with Bushwick Daily, has curated an exhibition to offer a contemporary response to structuralist film concepts from the late 1960s and 70s.

#4 micro/MACRO @ Weeknights, 7:30-10PM

Multitalented artist and blogger Jen Hitchings decided a couple of moths ago that it’s time she opens her own gallery. She divided her studio at The Active Space into the part where she works and into the part that serves as a gallery, proving everyone that everything is possible if you only want it… micro/MACRO is the second exhibition curated and held by Jen Hithcings.

“Radiant Child” – Keith Haring (Photo by the author)

I’m going to cheat a little. This one is a three-way tie. (more…)

For Bushwick, this summer’s art exhibitions were few and far between. There was a tendency to go for long exhibitions high on concept, NURTUREart’s Is This Free…? comes to mind as does Norte Maar’s Beyond the Bedroom.

The same can be said for my pick of the best show of the summer, Secret Project Robot‘s month-long hosting of the You Are Here Festival. Also known as The Maze, conceptualized and created by the duo Trouble. This year’s iteration, formerly held at Death by Audio in Williamsburg and now heading to Berlin, featured walls made from twine, many performances, and interactive art pieces hidden within the maze.

This kid.

The best part about this exhibition was how much it loosened up the participants up. I didn’t see another show this summer, including during Bushwick Open Studios, that organically inspired this much conversation between people. You weren’t being told to buy into anything when you entered, you were given a plane to explore. What you got out of this show was entirely unique to you and depended only on your willingness to enter. Even if  you hated the experience, it was a success, I have yet to hear an indifferent opinion on this show.

Obviously we’ll have to agree to disagree.

Best of Summer is our mini series to provide a sweet look back into the summer awesomeness and to honor some stuff, which by its coolness exceeds any our expectations far beyond everyday life.

By Katarina Hybenova

[highlight]Friday, July 6[/highlight]

NURTUREart: 7-9pm: …Is This Free? (Art Opening)

NURTUREart’s director Marco Antonini can officially start to be known as a creative summer curator with unique ideas. Last year he created awesome series WE ARE collaborating with different Bushwick Art Spaces; this year he created a series f three exhibitions, featuring artworks, ephemera and publications that have been mostly conceived and produced to be freely distributed. Art work that will ultimately become a part of the show will be outsourced to community high-school students and members of our audience.

Storefront Bushwick: 6-9pm: ‘Cut Up’ + ‘Ghost in Machine’ (Art Opening)

Eleven artists working in collage will be featured in this summer Storefront Bushwick show. Additionally, neighborhood’s favorite abstract painter Julie Torres (recently reviewed by Wall Street Journal) has a show in the project room.  The show titled Ghost in the Machine displays interesting twist in Torres’ work toward 3D and painting/object creation.

Shea Stadium: 8pm: Thousand Foot Whale Crew, Woodsman, Troller, Meadowlands (Concerts)

Experimental DIY venue Shea Stadium features great bands tonight. Woodsman among others.

[highlight]Saturday, July 7[/highlight]

Inter State: 8pm: Content Launch

Inter State, a gallery of Tom Weinrich has always been a one of the more interesting spots at 56 Bogart building. Now, the space has moved to 66 Knickerbocker. To celebrate the move, Inter State is throwing a party featuring performance by Shana Moulton, reading by Ben Gocker, music and refreshments.

Shea Stadium: 8pm: Shilpa Ray, Caged Animals, Give To Light, Kyle Avallone (Concerts)

Our tip for Saturday night is the band Caged Animals.

[highlight]Sunday, July 8[/highlight]

Maria Hernandez Park: 11am-7opm: Occupy Town Square Bushwick

Occupy Bushwick & Occupy Town Square present a day of teach-ins, political discussion, food, music, and celebration. Bring your kids and enjoy the day while being active for the good thing.

Sweet & Shiny Coffee Shop: Kids’ Art Workshop + Free cupcakes (10am-12pm for years 1-6, 2pm-5pm for years 6-10)

Sweet & Shiny, the new kid-friendly coffee shop on Knickerbocker (more info on Bushwick Daily soon) is having an art workshop this Sunday. For just $20, children will have a 2-hour art workshop along with free cupcakes! Their creations will also be feautred in an art show at the Coffee shop. Get ‘em started young!

By Sean Alday

On Saturday NURTUREart held an opening for Juxtacombo. An art show conceived and curated by five local high-school students for Project:Curate!

Project:Curate!  is a part of NURTUREart’s Education Program headed by Molly O’Brien. The show was curated by Miguel Lopez, Cearia Janicki, Jazmin Luna, Chastity Rodriguez, and Yadria Gomez of Juan Morel Campos Secondary School. These students worked with the Director of Flux Factory Christina Vassallo and their teacher Denise Martinez to put together the show.

Opening Reception Awards presented by Assemblyman Joseph Lentol

Some had participated during last year’s Project:Curate! and helped along the discussion in the classroom of what curating actually meant. At first the general idea was that to be a curator meant that one was like a movie director or producer. Which is to say that dictates would be given and followed accordingly.

According to Christina Vassallo, the moment when curation became distinct was during the discussions concerning the theme and the wording of the open call. The students that we spoke with were very insistent that Cearia Janicki had come up with the title “Juxtacombo” which gave them a nucleus to attach the democratically chosen theme.

The theme of the show commented on jarring inconsistencies found in early 21st century life. On the ground were raised platforms featuring patterns reminiscent of the Islamic golden age when modern algebra was developed and a world-history preserved, walking closer, you realize that these patterns are encased in a glass frame and made with sugar-coated cereal. Personally, I found the swings between a childhood spent watching Saturday-morning-cartoons eating cereal and the transition into adolescence in 2001 to be sublimely affecting and present in the work.

The Assemblyman and myself found ourselves talking about our grandmothers while standing over one piece. Definitely a symptom of the “potential for unintended interpretations.”

This Piece

The students chose the works on display (at NURTUREart until June 29th) out of over one hundred submissions from both national and international artists. They installed the work and each reported a similar feeling of elation when calling it a “cool experience.” While curation is cool, it says something that these young adults were able to work together to put on a dense, mature, and yet still playful art show.

Or, as Molly O’Brien put it:

“The students think they are learning about contemporary art and curation- and they do. Most of the students have little idea what curating is when they start, and learn a lot throughout the year to the point that they really own the curator role.

But the program is really about teaching them larger lessons and preparing them for life after high school. They are held accountable for things and (eventually) learn how to show up on time. They learn how to work as a
team. They learn how to interact with adults- Christina, the artists, and the staff of NURTUREart. This program gives them a voice, but also teaches them how to back up their opinions.

The students were definitely challenged this year, it isn’t an easy thing to do- a group of teenagers curating a show- and Christina held them to high expectations. They are given this power and treated like adults throughout the process. Every year it is amazing to witness this growth in the students.”

Every student will repeatedly hear during their school career about the “real world.” Nothing prepares you for that except jumping in feet first. This program seems to offer a stepping stone between being a herd of cats to becoming herders themselves.