By Katarina Hybenova

It’s been subject to whispering and rumours for a couple of weeks now. This year’s Bushwick Open Studios will bring much news. A smart phone app for better orientation; more studios and art spaces than ever; the L train running (!); and Bushwick’s first very own art fair.

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By Katarina Hybenova 

Rob de Oude in his studio at 17-17 Troutman.

Repeated randomness creates patterns. That’s the premise Rob de Oude derived, not from mathematical computations, but from his geometrical paintings. Rob de Oude was born and raised in the Netherlands, but art school exchange in New York spurred a set of coincidences and he eventually settled in Bushwick, where he now lives with his wife and 4-year old twins. Rob works in Ridgewood, in 17-17 Troutman building, which is also a new home to the gallery he co-runs, Parallel Art Space.

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By Katarina Hybenova

You can tell you’re in Ridgewood by the chill atmosphere that lingers in the local galleries and bars. Sort of on the periphery of Bushwick, Ridgewood is enjoying its off-radarness. On Friday night, our favorite Ridgewood gallery Small Black Door opened their new show, Post Acid, in a post-trippy festive fashion.

Matthew Mahler, who curated the show, built it around the hypothesis that everything - from fashion trends to socio-political statements made public on Twitter – echoes sentiments of the countercultural revolution of the ’60s and ’70s and is littered with reminders of the psychedelic. Ten artists in the show (Andrea Bergart, Thomas Burke, Lisa Candage, Myla Dal Besio, Rob de Oude, Adrian Jevicki, Matthew Mahler, Jenna Ransom, Adam Parker Smith and Aaron Williams) have been subconsciously incorporating the trippy reminders that have now became a part of pop culture. Seriously. How would art look nowadays if nobody had tried LSD and told us what the world looked like?

The art show proved the excellent taste of Small Black Door. The desire for more color, more variety and more innovation in arts has been apparent throughout the programming of Small Black Door.

The opening was friendly, half BYOB/half Coors supplied. We merrily discussed the Ridgewoodian happenings. Matt Mahler, a co-owner of the gallery told us that Jonathan Terranova, his buddy and the other co-owner has just become father and, thus, very understandably missed the opening. Rob de Oude, an artist in the show and a co-owner of new Parallel Art Space, was mentioning the upcoming art walk in Ridgewood organized by the Queens Museum. It’s called “This is Ridgewood actually” and likely refers to the fact that parts of Ridgewood were called Bushwick in previous years. We all concluded that the neighborhood borders discussion is a waste of energy, and the beautiful creative spirit is common to both Bushwick and Ridgewood. Moreover, it doesn’t come from the specific geographic location but from the people who live in both Bushwick and Ridgewood…

I don’t know how about you and your acid experience, but one time on that mountain cottage, a guy with a small, innocent looking paper appeared, and xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.

Crazy story, right!?

Anyway. We are stealing the acid theme and the acid song from Small Black Door gallery which is having a Post Acid opening. Here are the best events in our beloved hallucinogenic township of Bushwick.

#1 Newtown Radio Party @ Shea Stadium (Saturday, 8pm-2am)

We have been praising Newtown Radio on and on. The fact is that we absolutely love this Internet radio station broadcasting from Bushwick. And yes, we can’s stop listening to it all the time. So hold it against us if you want, but since these guys launched their brand new awesome website, listening to the fresh new sounds from Brooklyn and beyond has never been better! To celebrate their re-birth, Newtown Radio is throwing a huge party at Shea Stadium! You can imagine that these guys would have the best bands in town playing, and it is absolutely true. Dirty Beaches, Windowspeak, Black Marble, Family Portrait, Cousins and MORE will play on Saturday night! The whole parade will cost you $15 (or $12 in advance).

#2  ’Spring Break’ – Kickstarting Isha: A Tell-All Tale @ The Bogart Salon (Saturday, 6pm)

Indian soap opera about the art world based in Bushwick? Sure! Meenakshi Thirukode, in collaboration with The Bogart Salon, is gearing for the filming of a crazy meta-narrated story that has never been told! We interviewed Meenakshi who told us all the spicy details about Bollywood and more. We believe this project is really worth your attention, folks. On Saturday night, the crew will kickstart their Kickstarter campaign in a glamorous Bollywood style. They will have hindi music, make up artist, vintage clothing and jewlery – all in Indian style. Additionally, the exhibition of art created for the film by Stefano Ortega and Federico Massa will open at the same night. All your donations will go to support the kickstarter campain.

#3 Tattoo art @ Brooklyn Fire Proof (Saturday, 8pm)

Bear Skin is the name of the art show featuring tattoo artists: Rachel Hauer, Spencer Alexander, Adam Paterson, Jeremy Aquilino, Timmy Martineau and Bishop203. We simply love the idea of putting together an art show featuring tattoo artists! With tattoos and tough kids comes punk music, so the art show will feature also concerts of Big Shots Jett Brando, Wyldlife, Ritz Riot. $4 will get you in and includes free wine until 9pm!

#4 Sketchbook @ Sardine (Saturday, 6-10pm)

We’re listing ANOTHER awesome event for Saturday night. Yep, it might be a lot to handle but you gotta do what you gotta do, and rest when you’re retired or move to Williamsburg (*joke ya, Willy people*). Sardine is a cute Brooklyn-made accessory shop  and an art gallery on Standhope St. They have been closed for couple of months now, and we’ve missed them. So go feel like a sardine at Sardine (it’s a tiny space), and check out great art by local talent (Monica Cook, Rob de Oude, Sam Martineau, Gary Murphy, Alexandra Rubinstein, Robin Scheines, Adam Taye, Andrew Zarou).

#5 Post Acid @ Small Black Door (Friday, 6-9pm)

On Friday night, head over to Ridgewood, and look for small black door, because you will find some post acid art behind them. Following their epic mention in the NY Times, we are expecting the gallery to be awesome. As usual  (Andrea Bergart, Thomas Burke, Lisa Candage, Myla Dal Besio, Rob de Oude, Adrian Jevicki, Matthew Mahler, Jenna Ransom, Adam Parker Smith and Aaron Williams).

Ehm, ehm, we also have a page where we list all the cool events in Bushwick/Ridgewood area. Check it out here.

By Katarina Hybenova

Can you see the tear in Camel's wooden eye?

The wooden camel behind the window of Camel Art Space was wearing a festive red cravat that night, and despite it was looking very fancy, I could see the sadness in its eyes. Its days of fame when it stood proudly as the mascot of Camel Art Space were leaning quickly towards the end.  This weekend, Camel Art Space said the last good bye to the space at 722 Metropolitan Ave. Camel Art Space and Tom Marquet took this occasion to threw one last show for us to keep as a memory, or Souvernir if you like….

The concept was simple and yet so entertaining and engaging. The artists previously featured in a show at Camel Art Space were asked to create a souvernir of their work, a memento, or an object that one could purchase at a gift shop. Almost 40 artists created fun merchendise following the line of their own work. Postcard, mugs, T-shirts, tote bags… You could tell that the artists had a lot of fun when coming up with their pieces, and this ease in creation made for a really great and fun show. Here is a little sample.

Julie Torres' playing cards.

Bijouterie on legs by Rebecca Litt.

"It's made to look like silk screen, but it's painted," said Kerry Law.

Rob de Oude's window installation.

Oliver Warden aka Interactive Artist.

PS: Camel Art Space is dead, but long live Parallel Art Space! Yes, Camel Art Space members made a move to 1717 Troutman building, and started fresh under a new name, Parallel Art Space. They have their 1st show coming up in April, and the rumor says it will be great…!

By Katarina Hybenova

[Show as slideshow]

“Hipster brunch is a late, low fi version of brunch in East Williamsburg,” said the ironic invitation from Rob de Oude from Camel Art Space. Last weekend was the final weekend for their current exhibition Narrative Ability (and Matthew Mahler and Andrew Zarou in the Project Space), and actually the final exhibition weekend for Camel Art Space as well. Indeed, Camel Art Space is moving from their current location on 722 Metropolitan to 1717 Troutman in Bushwick. I stopped by to check out the food art at Camel, and to chat with Rob de Oude and Enrico Gomez about their upcoming move.

One of the reasons for the move is that many galleries left the area and Camel became sort of an isolated animal in East Williamsburg. However, the main reason for the move is of practical nature. The building on Metropolitan Ave has become increasingly unstable. Leaks and other unsafe conditions are not the best spaces to store and exhibit art…That’s why Rob and his fellows from Camel didn’t hesitate to sign the lease at 1717 Troutman. Unlike other art spaces who are coming to Bushwick because of the increasing hype of the place in the art world, for Camel the move to Bushwick is more than natural. Not only does the space have more of a Bushwick than Williamsburg vibe, but Rob has lived in Bushwick for over six years and is actually happy that he can walk to his studio after several years of L train trouble.

Camel is not only moving their gallery but also their art studios. Rob said that the new space will be smaller, but they are welcoming the decrease of space as they want to focus on smaller and solo person art shows for the future, and get deeper into curation. They also want to exhibit more of their own work, as Camel Art Space was focusing mostly on big group shows and guest curators. Camel Art Space will be losing its name and is also leaving their mascot, the wood camel, behind. The camel came with the building, and no one would refer to the building differently as a result. The artists haven’t decided on the new name yet, and to my tiny disappointment, they ruled out animals from the selection [*sigh*]. The new space will be ready for the 1st show in April. We can’t wait!

Camel Art Space has been operating on Metroplolitan Ave since 2008, though Rob de Oude has been renting his studio in the building for at least 10 years. Camel Art Space started as a collective of artists who had studios in the building, and who were aspiring to curate group shows and to show their own work in the gallery space. Rob said that the decision to use the space at 722 Metropolitan as a gallery followed the recession peak of 2008, after which many galleries in Williamsburg had to close down. He felt like Camel has the necessary space and enthusiasm to fill in the sudden gap, and has been doing a great job since.

Welcome to Bushwick*, guys!

Correction, 1717 Troutman is one block into Ridgewood.