Peter Hopkins directing the first salon at The Bogart Salon. (photo by the author)

We are pretty bummed here at Bushwick Daily that we have to break this sad news. The Bogart Salon is closing down. One of the most distinctive galleries at 56 Bogart and in the neighborhood as well, has released a note addressed to their friends and supporters last night. “After a remarkable year The Bogart Salon will be closing on Monday, October 29th,” writes the gallery director and the curator of the galleries in the building, Peter Hopkins. Peter Hopkins doesn’t explain the details of his abrupt end at 56 Bogart. In order to obtain an explanation, we tried to reach the owners of the building Ted Hovivian and Adrienne Saccone by phone, however we didn’t have any luck.

Peter Hopkins regrets to end the 14 months at The Bogart Salon. However he is promising some exciting news for the future: relocating to another location in Bushwick and an “even bolder and more expansive vision for art and culture.”  (more…)

Two ideas were organically integrated into nearly every discussion during the citydrift panel discussions over the weekend.

1. Art galleries in this neighborhood are artist enablers.

2. People involved in this scene, veterans of older ones, and even casual observers are keenly aware of the assumed narrative of what happens as artists move into neighborhoods.

To the first point, there were over three hours of artist panels on Saturday to kick it off. Artists who participated in citydrift each gave presentations in Momenta Art.

Drawing by Michael Kronenberg of the various artist panels in Momenta Art. (more…)

By Peter Hopkins

I have recently been in lengthy discussion with Katarina Hybanova, the Editor of Bushwick Daily, about citydrift, a project of mine, which has been in development for over three years, and is debuting on September 7^th. citydrift is a 3 day “meta” event that seeks to connect over a dozen galleries in Bushwick, dozens of curators, hundreds of  artists, poets, musicians, urban planners, and writers, and thousands (?) of curious, but somewhat skeptical participants in a 72 hour walking, thinking, talking exploration of our “urban grid”.

Describing the “point” or purpose of citydrift is something I have spent countless hours trying to do with so many people throughout these past years, that sometimes even I grasp for words to help explain it. This morning, in a beautiful moment of serendipity that mirrored the same bit of peculiar logic of finding a thing when you stop looking for it, I stumbled upon the words I was looking for in this quote from Oliver Sacks in his article in the August 27^th New Yorker entitled Altered States, where he describes the need for a project like citydrift in ways I could never quite sum up:

To live on a day-to-day basis is insufficient for human beings; We need meaning, understanding, and explanation…And we need freedom (or, at least, the illusion of freedom) to get beyond ourselves. We may seek, too, a relaxing of inhibitions that makes it easier to bond with each other…

We seek a holiday from our inner and outer restrictions, a more intense sense of the here and now, the beauty and value of the world we live in.

 citydrift, was created as an homage to my first gallerist, Colin De Land, and his ground breaking gallery American Fine Arts Co. In 1986, I had the great fortune to be a part of the beginning of De Land’s amazing endeavors, and I went on to exhibit and collaborate with him for over a decade. During this time I came to witness firsthand the ways that playfulness, and “letting go” can open up powerful states of creativity. He and his partner (later wife) Pat Hearn of the Pat Hearn Gallery went on to found not only their own unique and powerful art galleries, first in the East Village, and then later in SoHo, but also other incredible concepts like the Gramercy Hotel art fair, which originated the idea that the art fair booth could be in your hotel room, rather than necessitating travel to a distant city, like Basel or Cologne, and taking on all the expenses of participating in a fair. Now since done to death, this model was at the time enormously risky, and having been present at the first one, where I sat on a bed talking to a few of the attendees about a drawing of mine that was in the bathroom, I can say with certainty it seemed a poor model for future success. Later, he and Pat helped create the Armory Fair, and it too at that time seemed a project doomed for failure, just like all past attempts to hold a contemporary art fair in New York City had been. The West Side piers was at that time no one’s idea of a “hotspot” for gathering hundreds of galleries and tens of thousands of viewers from around the world.

Colin De Land (photo from the archive of Peter Hopkins)

The lessons I learned from these and the other things I saw were, first, to look for “the future” in unlikely places, places most everyone else had decided weren’t worth paying attention to, and second, to not try to replicate other past successful platforms, but instead “let go” of pre-conceived ideas and let your mind…drift.

After his untimely death in 2002, and Pat’s in 2001, I wanted desperately to re-imagine what Colin might do with the collapse of the art economy and wondered what he might now think of how his own successful attempts at changing the ways in which the art world perceives itself had become two more cogs in the machinery of normative culture.

I started to realize how his concept of “letting go” of fears and expectations was essential, and I embraced his willingness to critically inspect “the rules”, all the protocols that govern our daily art behaviors. None of this mattered, though, until I came to Bushwick in 2006 after having spent 23 years in Williamsburg. It’s here that I discovered the same artists and galleries thinking, talking and working in ways I had long since come to believe did not exist anymore. These incredibly thoughtful, risk taking individuals were creating the future; freshly graduated 25 year-old creative minds alongside 60 year-old former “whatevers”, from stockbrokers to recovering artists and everybody in between, all inside a thriving, ethnically diverse community. Most of them seemed completely uninterested in auditioning for somewhere else (Chelsea, Wall Street, the usual aspirant ranks). Most simply decided to be where they were and take the chance to create a new model of what was possible. For an example of this new spirit, look no further than the now-famous Roberta’s, a literal “hole-the-wall” pizzeria on the surface, but that once opened up shows itself to be something much more: a tiki bar, an urban garden, a radio station; an establishment that is open sourced, unpretentious, and deeply responsive to the needs of its community. This is the template of what Bushwick can be.

It is another question, though, whether this spirit can be maintained. It will require a delicate balance that I am at times wildly hopeful for, and at others profoundly pessimistic about. I am, at the very least, lucky enough to have witnessed this change taking place and I hope that citydrift will play its own small part in it. I look forward to reading here in the coming months about the different opinions and perspectives from others from this same place called Bushwick.

To read or understand more about citydrift, please visit www.citydrift.org. To support the project, please go to the citydrift Kickstarter page.

By Katarina Hybenova

Photo via Nordemaan flickr.com

We are taking it by subway stops. That was a decision when wondering how we could possibly write a guide to Bushwick Open Studios 2012. Over 540 participating locations aren’t easy to cover. Here is what we won’t miss off the Morgan L stop:

#1 The Bogart Salon: Isha A Tell All Tale

You can either hate or love the 56 Bogart building filled up to the edge with galleries and studios, but you certainly can’t miss it when strolling through BOS2012 participating art spaces. We promise an unlikely art and cultural experience at The Bogart Salon. Meenakshi Thirukode, Peter Hopkins and the crew will be filming a Bollywood style soap opera about the art world and the perils of a young woman, right there on the set in the gallery.

Directory

Facebook Event

#2 Robert Henry Contemporary

Robert Henry Comtemporary is a brand new gallery at 56 Bogart. When in the building go check out their inaugural show Centuries of Noon by Andrew Zarou. (Wink wink – keep your eye on Andrew Zarou. We predict some sparkles and stars shooting around him…)

Directory

Facebook Event

#3 Carol Salmanson Studio

Carol Salmanson is a truly interesting artist who likes to use light, glass and electricity in her work. Her studio happens to be in 56 Bogart building, so check out her work.

Directory

#4 CRE8

On the 3rd floor of 56 Bogart building, visit CRE8. CRE8 features visual art from resident artists, Modesto Flako Jimenez among other. Modesto is a Bushwick-raised poet and cabbie in his spare time. This super-smart and super-talkative guy talks about gentrification in his art. He created a documentary to be featured during BOS that everyone should see!

Directory

#5 This Is So Fucking Temporary

There is a lot going on at McKibbin lofts as well. Make sure you don’t miss Daniel Greer’s surrealistic posters, large scale drawings, music and readings on Friday and Saturday nights.

Directory

#6 Centotto

Take a quiet moment from BOS insanity and visit Centotto, Paul D’Agostino’s apartment gallery across the street from Roberta’s. Paul has prepared an exhibition that looks really beautiful and features Austin Thomas, Meg Lipke, Josh Willis, Gili Levy, Cecco Angiolieri, and Charting the Not.

Directory

#7 Rafael Fuchs Studio

L’enfant terrible of contemporary photography, local icon, and a very sociable man of Israeli origin has his studio on Bogart Street right above Swallow Cafe. Pay him a visit and let him tell you all about Bushwick since he moved here in 2005.

Directory

#8 Bushwick Dimensions

Jean Luc Van Damme invites you to explore a survival game played on the streets of Bushwick!! Visit BushwickDimension.com on your smartphone and start playing now!

Directory

#9 Brooklyn Fire Proof Film Series

Over at Brooklyn Fire Proof they have prepared a film festival consisting of old and new films celebrating life. This could be a nice change of festival pace. Visit The Seltzer Room Studio 3 Screening Lounge.

Directory

Facebook Event

#10 Gili Levy

While at Brooklyn Fire Proof complex, visit artists’ studios located there. Gili Levy will be showing her gentle abstract paintings and welcoming guests.

Directory

Facebook Event

#11 Ethan Petit Contemporary

Ethan Petit Contemporary is a brand new gallery in Bushwick that will open during BOS2012 for the 1st time. In their innaugural group show Ethan Petit will feature many of our favorite local artists.

Directory

#12 The Living Gallery

One of the very new galleries and art spaces in Bushwick, The Living Gallery, is located in The Loom. Nyssa Frank is hosting photographer Meryl Meisler who collaborated with writer Vanessa Martir. Defying Devastation will be an exhibition that is an absolute must if you’re interested in Bushwick and its history. Vanessa Martir grew up in the streets of Bushwick in the ’80s when Meryl Meisler used to take photos in the streets. As it turns out, Meryl took a picture of Vanessa as a child playing in the street, and Vanessa learned about the existence of this picture through Bushwick Daily. We will bring more on this fascinating encounter on Bushwick Daily soon.

Directory

Facebook Event

#13 Storefront Bushwick

All-time favorite gallery in a storefront on Wilson Ave, Storefront Bushwick will bring works by Abdolreza Aminlari and a sculpture by Drew Shiflett. Abdolreza is a an artist of Iranian origin explores ideas of cultural memory and identity, specifically the idea of “home” in relation to the Iranian Diaspora.

Directory

Facebook Event

#14 Two Coats of Paint

The founder of the blog Two Coats of Paint, painter Sharon Butler has recently moved her studio to Bushwick. Additionally, she invited Austin Thomas of Pocket Utopia to curate a painting show there for BOS.

Directory

Facebook Event

#15 Truck Yeah

Truck Yeah Meet Up is a very cool project whose goal is to transform any location into a creative gathering. Visit Pine Box Rock Shop on Saturday and Sunday and have fun!

Directory

By Terri Ciccone 

Peter Hopkins (in the middle) of The Bogart Salon. (Photo by Katarina Hybenova)

Big collectors never come to Bushwick. Or do they?

Two paintings  sized 11″ x 14″ and priced at $12,000 were sold two weeks ago at The Bogart Salon (a third similar one is on reserve). One of the many new galleries that have sprung up in the past year at the 56 Bogart building can be rightfully proud. While $12,000 price tag on a painting might not raise many eyebrows in Chelsea, they have shaken the common opinion that big collectors never come to Bushwick.

One of the greatest contemporary artists and collectors in America who wishes to remain anonymous saw the potential in Royce Weatherly’s paintings, and didn’t hesitate a second. “These works are special” says gallery director Peter Hopkins regarding Royce Weatherly’s paintings currently exhibited in a group show titled Modesty: A Policy at The Bogart Salon through May 28th.

“Everything that we have worked for is “now”. It will either work, or it won’t work but it will happen now,” said Peter Hopkins referring to his predictions that the bigger collectors can and will come to Bushwick. During the panel discussions Confronting Bushwick held back in January, and more recently this past March at Capital and its Discontents, both organized by his gallery, the panelists and the audience alike were mostly skeptical that this would ever happen.

“These sales have helped change Royce’s life, my gallery, and mybe even Bushwick. This one small thing, that moment, everything may have turned on it,” says Peter.

The Bushwick Game

Royce Weatherly’s slow art

Royce Weatherly’s hand can be compared to Vermeer, and his mind to Matisse. After a 12-year painting hiatus, Royce produced a work that caught the very notable attention of major collectors. What makes Royce’s work so enticing is the arc of time in which he creates a work. Many young Bushwick residents will be middle aged and perhaps have moved on from the neighborhood by the time Royce’s work is “finished,” for a key element in many of his paintings, is age, both in the deliberate fashion his paintings take to produce, but also in the arc of their “completion.”

Royce Weatherly: Untitled (Black Walnuts #2) 11" x 14" 2012, oil on linen (Images of art by courtesy of The Bogart Salon)

“In a way, Royce represents the kind of person who Bushwick should theoretically be here to represent,” said Hopkins after talking about this painting as if it were a precious artifact that has been buried for years. “He’s 54-years-old, he’s shown all around the world, but no one could wait for him. I could.”

The paintings that are sparking the most interest however, hang on another wall perpendicular to this piece. We see two paintings of walnuts, one is dark, and yellowing with the years, and the other is bright, painted in the exact same way only lit from an opposite direction. The paintings emphasize the negative space, shadows and light, proving what isn’t there is just as important as what is. The viewer will have to patiently wait for the bright one to also become beautifully dim.

Royce Weatherly: Untitled (Work Lights), 11" x 14", 2012, oil on linen

A painting Untitled (Work Lights) of the type of lights you might see on a construction site, glowing in a dark space. The lights are painted with such precision that this work can easily be mistaken for a photograph. But like so many works, the mood in this painting is what makes it come to life. The overhead lights are actually the lights that hang in Royce’s basement in New Jersey, where he paints. This is his studio now after his break from painting. The hiatus came from simply the everyday progression of life as the culprit (moving to the suburbs, buying a home, supporting a family, etc.) The painting appears to be created at a time where hope may have been lost. The dark basement is hardly visible beyond the two lights, except for a small shining orb in the distance, just barely illuminating a sliver of a staircase, perhaps revealing a glimmer of hope, a way out.

Royce Weatherly: Untitled (Bupkis) 11"x 14", 2012, oil on linen

Perhaps the somber tone of this painting is what makes the next one in the series so inspiring. Untitled (Bupkis) is bright, and simple in its objects but complicated in almost every other way. On a white background filled to the brim with shadows and light, an empty coffee cup lays on its side. It’s beautiful circular geometry is balanced by its dark blue color, and drop of brown liquid leaking subtly at the back. Next to it lays the plastic packaging of a cigarette carton, painted with a delicacy and precision comparable to the way Botticelli painted veils on the Madonna. Both packages are empty, but there is nothing empty or somber about this painting at all. It’s almost joyful in that these two empty objects say something is coming, I’m back, I’m moving.

“I think I’m lucky. Its hard to back and out and come back into it again,” said the artist as he explained what may have sparked creating these paintings after such a long period of time. “Its kind of nerve wracking, you’re not sure if your ideas are any good… But hang onto your ideas and pay attention to what you know.”

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

Meenakshi?

Em Tee?

Surrounded by the necessary dose of mystery, drama, flashy accessories, colorful outfits, and naturally hundreds of tweets, Isha: A Tell-All Tale is probably the least likely art project in Bushwick these days. Meenakshi Thirukode teamed up with The Bogart Salon with the idea to film a true Bolllywood soap opera. Yes, right here in Bushwick.

“Bushwick is the perfect place,” says Meenakshi. The soap opera takes place in the art world, and follows the story of a young South Asian woman who came to America to make it big. She gets a degree, an internship in a gallery, falls in love, and moves to Bushwick. In addition to all the obstacles that the art world itself brings, she has to deal with being an immigrant and a woman in a mainly man-dominated world. Naturally, her family would like to see her in a more traditional role, which isn’t exactly where her life is going…

Isha: A Tell-All Tale will use all the components of a Bollywood soap opera to tell the story: songs, dancing, and meta narratives with characters stepping in and out of their roles. Audience will play a big role as it will often be a part of the filming. The film set and the simultaneous screening will be located in the gallery space of The Bogart Salon.

For a glimpse of the Bollywood glamour, come to the Kickstarter party Meenakshi and the crew is organizing this Saturday at The Bogart Salon. Isha: A Tell-All Tale crew promises Hindu dancing and a lot of fun. Additionally, the audience gets to play a small part of the script for the camera, which will be used in the soap opera. They will have a bindi make up artists present and a lot of Indian jewelry and vintage clothing designed by Terese Bennette and Matthew.  Simultaneosly, an art exhibition of art created for the film by Federico Massa and Stefano Ortega will open.

You can probably easily imagine that we talked with Meenakshi Thirukode for hours about the project. She told us all about Bollywood, its obsession with light skin, melodrama, MIA’s music and why is the project important…

Your background is in art theory, right? 

Yes, my background is more specifically in the history of the art market, connoisseurship and art criticism. I took up the Masters program at Christie’s auction house.  I wanted to understand the nature of the beast, so to speak. At the time, India, along with China was considered the big emerging market. (You might notice how we are forever considered an emerging market.) It was all about the market. I’m glad that every single day during my masters program alongside theory, we were thrust into the “real” world too. And the real world not that pretty at all. In my curatorial work, my articles and essays, I have tried to understand everything – all those contradictions, expectations, perceptions, including specifically the very narrow lens through which South Asian art and artists are being contextualized or seen.

How did you come up with an idea to create a Bollywood soap opera where, in addition, you play the main role?

I’m interested in perception and how it lends to our understanding of what we think is real, what is the truth.  Also what role might the expectations – from yourself as well as from others including your peers, play. I think we work in an industry where the lines between personal and professional are so blurred that its hard to separate the two and those relationships, those networks for better or worse dictate how well you do or how your work is received or put out there or talked about…

This project is another dimension through which I’m exploring all that. There are so many stories there that are essential, that need to be told from how I experienced it  – as a woman, as an immigrant…

The idea really stemmed from conversations with Peter Hopkins. I found a real connection with him! We felt that telling this art world story through the narrative style of soap operas was perfect because it touchs all the emotional arcs of what life really is. And we wanted to push it some more…push it so you think you are watching this young South Asian woman struggle in a treacherous industry that is the art world…It’s that and it’s also more…The narratives break, meta narratives start to pop up, slippages occur…The characters you see aren’t just scripted but some of them are being played out in “real” life.  I exist in many realities in this project – online and in the physical world. Which one of those is the real story or the real person is for you to decide! Maybe all of them are real…Maybe the main narrative is based on real life experience or maybe not…Maybe Meenakshi is real and Em Tee isn’t…Maybe Em Tee is real and Meenakshi stopped existing somewhere along the line….Who knows!

One thing is certain.  This never ending thirst and consumption of images and everything being produced here is just taking these narratives and images that are out there in contemporary popular culture and regurgitating them – because that’s what the world wants and expects, and will take. So I’m giving it to them.

Bollywood is huge, right? 

Bollywood hates being called Bollywood! Because they find that a “westernized” term derived from Hollywood. Semantic Wars! Anyways, I have to say that while it’s a Bollywood reference, most of the Western world equates to movies from India. However, there are close to 24 regional film industries.  Each state in India has its own language and its own cultural specificities – from rituals of birth, weddings, food to traditional clothing. Naturally, the films, the music, it all varies too. I’m using music and the script of a language from the part of India that I grew up in, Tamil, which is a south Indian language maybe you’ve sung unbeknownst to you, if you’re an MIA fan. The music we sourced for the teaser is all beats from Tamil folk and Tamil movie songs with a bit of MIA thrown in. MIA is a big star in the West but essentially she samples a lot of tamil folk. But how many people know what “KUTHU” music is? Tamil movie songs use a lot of it, and I grew up listening to a lot of that music along with songs from “Bollywood” which is essentially the Hindi movie industry – Hindi being India’s national language.  Oh and do you know the Tamil movie industry is called Kollywood – YIKES!

Can you give us some spicy details of the scene?

Spicy details reflect how screwed up perceptions and expectations are…Indian films love light skinned actresses despite majority of India being of a darker skin tone. We are so obsessed with light skin that Indian films cast American and European actresses for roles of South Asian women…We continue to teach generation after generation of young Indian women to idealize and desire that. Straight hair and size zero are the in thing now.

The career of an actress ends at 25 but male actors at the age of 60 can still play a hip college student. Yes it’s a misogynistic world. But once your career of a film actress ends at 25, there’s always the world of television soap operas!!!

Also Bollywood loves TWITTER! Every single person in the industry tweets. Indians love tweeting! Being the second largest populated country in the world, that’s a lot of tweets…So that’s why Lady Gaga famously tweeted “ Who cares for Hollywood; it’s all about Bollywood.”

What countries besides India are into Bollywood?

Morocco loves Bollywood!!! When I was traveling there everyone would look at me and my family and ask “Indian?” We would nod yes, and their eyes would light up and then they would proceed to name every actor and actress and film they have seen. It happened all the time!

What is typical for a Bollywood soap opera?

Bollywood is its own thing and TV serials or soap operas are their own thing. Usually those who don’t make it in Bollywood or whose prime acting years in movies are a thing of the past, find themselves producing or acting as leads in soap operas. I think Bollywood soap opera is a whole new genre thanks to Isha: A Tell-All Tale! We took all the drama and multiplied it twice. It’s going to be lethal! [She's laughing.]

But I have to say that if you watched some of the Bollywood movies from the ’70s or even earlier, the kind of arcs in the story – the way the actors emote, it’s all very melodramatic and theatric. You might not see this melodrama in everything that comes out of Bollywood these days.

What’s typical in serials is there is always one central character. I have noticed it’s more women-centric; its almost always about daughters-in-law, mothers-in-law and about big joint families where generations of the family live together so there is more possibility for drama. There has to be an evil mother in law or sister in law or step mother, or sometimes all three. Someone is always plotting to do something evil, but good always prevails. Like all telenovelas, there are dramatic pauses, an over-emphasis just to make sure you get the point. You could stop watching a serial in 2008 and get back to watching the 1000^th episode in 2010 and still not miss a thing. But as I was sifting through the millions of serials being produced these days in India, I came across this latest bunch of soap operas that blew my mind! One of them is literally adapted from the Twilight movies! It’s not overly tacky, actually it’s very slick. And yes all the actors and actresses look like they could be in Hollywood – young light skinned, westernized standards of beauty, wearing skinny jeans, texting incessantly about boys and vampires.

Alright. What about the connection between Bollywood and Bushwick?

EM TEE! [She's laughing]. You have to admit that she’s the one creating any kind of interest or conversation around the subject, right? Who knows…You might be walking down Morgan one day, and a bunch of people might break out into a dance!

I think it’s appropriate to have something that is about this whole struggle and the love/hate relationship between all the different art world players, happen in a place like Bushwick. At this time a lot is going on here. Artists and even the immigrant population who have been living here longer than the artists can hopefully relate to the story. It’s all about how we adapt, and who can adapt to these cyclical changes, and about the self-awareness that we all have about making it or getting left behind…The Bogart Salon’s programming also addresses all these issues. Being a gallery space in Bushwick and showing the work in the context of the space only seems natural to further the conversation…

Can you explain the concept of Isha: Tell all Tale? You plan to engage several Bushwick artists curators and bloggers, right?

Essentially the story is about the journey of a South Asian immigrant woman through the art world and her quest to make it “big”. So we see what it is like for her to get to America, get an education, intern and work in auction houses and galleries and find her “voice”. We also see the relationships she builds – both professional and personal. It is about being a woman and balancing work and family – the role of wife, mother, daughter and what that is like when there are certain cultural expectations in the mix from family and society. Especially in an industry that’s not “typical”, stable and still more of a man’s world.

I’m also interested in addressing the broader perceptions within and outside the art world, like the idea of an “immigrant” or being a “woman of color” or being “brown”. I moved to the US when I was 23 and until that point I was never categorized under any of those terminologies. The burden of those signifiers is kind of thrown at you merely because it’s just easy, and that’s what you “see”.

Isha: A Tell-All Tale, has a main narrative thread that will be told in the language of soap operas in India. The role of Isha is played by Em Tee, which is an alternative reality some part of me exists in.

The idea is to talk about all the politics in a bizzare, absurd way so you are left questioning the veracity of the whole story. Is this REALLY a true story? Did all that really happen? Is that how it works? And yet there would be parts that, hopefully, people can relate to from their own experiences. The main narrative also breaks into Meta Narratives. We see slippage of race and reality with fantasies and performances all tied in.

I’m not casting professional actors but those who work or have some kind of connection to the art world. If they happen to be actors, great! The deeper dynamics of their place in, and relationship to the art world, that’s important to me. I’m casting  friends, family, colleagues, former bosses maybe…For instance Seema and Sunil who play Isha’s dad and mom, are parents of an artist whose work I admire and is my dear friend, Swati Khurana. The moment where the actors step out of the scripted role and talk about who they are and why they felt they could work in this film is very important for the meta narratives.

Furthermore, we wanted to push the story telling beyond just one linear narrative. We will be filming parts of the soap opera in spring at the Salon. We will create/transfer the sets there, so that people can see the actual filming and become part of the narrative. Another part of the gallery will screen the episodes already filmed and edited. So you are a viewer and a participant. The end is left open so that many endings, and therefore many more stories, can be told.

‘Spring Break’ – Kickstarting Isha: A Tell-All Tale party is taking place on Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 6pm at The Bogart Salon, 56 Bogart, at Morgan L train stop.  

By Katarina Hybenova and Terri Ciccone

Over 100 people gathered last night at The Bogart Salon, one of the newest galleries in Bushwick, for a talk about the nature and the future of the art scene in Bushwick. That the location of the panel discussion Confronting Bushwick was the first “Bushwick gallery mall” was maybe a little symbolic for the subject matter of this talk…

The panel was hosted by the editor of a popular art blogazine Hyperallergic, Hrag Vartanian, who as Peter Hopkins from The Bogart Salon pointed out “is no cheerleader of Bushwick, he’s rather a cricital observer.” Other panelists were Deborah Brown, artist and owner of Storefront Bushwick gallery; Thomas Burr Dodd, artist, owner and founder of Brooklyn Fire Proof; Carolina A. Miranda, art critic and culture writer for WNYC and Artnews; and Marco Antonini, Director of NURTUREart.

The panel discussion was very interesting and many resonating issues were raised by the panelists. It is also noteworthy that a parallel lively Twitter discussion was going on. The Twitter talk included the editor of Art Fag City, Paddy Johnson, New Criterion managing editor, James Panero, artist William Powhida, Stephen Truax from BushwickBk,  and others. We were monitoring the debates both online and offline, and we are bringing you the most interesting points made through out the night.

How was your arrival to Bushwick?

Hrag lived in Bushwick between 2000 to 2008. He said that if you told someone in 2000 that Bushwick was the next thing, people would just laugh at you…

Carolina, whose big article about Bushwick is coming up in Artnews next week, spent 7 years in the neighborhood. She said that when she arrived, the only way to make connection with other artists was to spot someone with weird hair in a deli. She pointed out that art is an industry. While in 1968 there were 72 MFA programs in the country, today there is over 900… She said that Bushwick is actually the place where the entry level workers of art industry come to live. With the artists, the businesses come, which should be a good thing for the neighborhood, but often new businesses don’t hire locally, which creates tension. Carolina thinks that for people who came to Bushwick before the Blackout, its development is a good thing. They are welcoming a safer environment, new opportunities, etc. For people who came after the Blackout, it’s not so good. She said that whenever the locals see another U-Haul truck, they roll their eyes, because another Blanquito is coming, and the price of their rent, even the chicken in a bodega will go up.

Cynicism! @cmonstah says Bushwick is in love with itself. Nothing new here but there is a critical mass. #bushwickarts

1.19.12 8:49 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@artfagcity

Paddy Johnson

Thomas, who runs Brooklyn Fire proof, rents 185,000 sq feet of property in Bushwick. He has been in the neighborhood for 9 years, and originally opened BK Fireproof as an art gallery in Williamsburg. He used to come to Bushwick to party. He said that there are many people around who don’t want to see Bushwick progress, because what many of us don’t know, Bushwick serves to Manhattan.  For example most of the garbage from Manhattan ends in Bushwick. There are people who don’t want this to change its industrial function.

.@hragv says city told him trains wouldn't be shut down during open studios if a study is done to prove money is brought in. #bushwickarts

1.19.12 9:51 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@artfagcity

Paddy Johnson

Deborah Brown came in 2006 for the first time by accident, and 3 weeks later she owned a factory at Stockholm Street. Her intuition told her that Bushwick will be happening soon. Deborah said that she had witnessed big changes throughout the years, but the biggest changes have occurred within the last 6 months. Deborah thinks that 56 Bogart building is a manifestation of the art community, and that you can do anything in Bushwick. She co-founded a gallery, and is a member of the Community Board. Also, at the Community Board you get a completely different outlook on Bushwick; you get to learn who the leaders of the community are, you meet families, etc.

Deborah said that she has heard virtually nothing on the Community Board about the art community for years, and she has been the only one there and on her block, of her race and age…except for the last 6 months. Hers was a voice expressing anxiety and fear of the change. She said that it was the number of people coming recently to this neighborhood that triggered this anxiety.

Dodd acknowledges overwhelming power of bloggers and twitter in terms of making or breaking his business #bushwickarts #brooklunfireproof

1.19.12 8:54 pm via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite

@StephenTruax

Stephen Truax

Deborah said that the demographic composition of Bushwick is a lot more complicated that people think. There are many people of Latin descendant, but also many undocumented new immigrants.

Marco Antonini has never lived in Bushwick. Ironically when NURTUREart moved to Bushwick recently, he wanted to move here too to be closer to work, but he couldn’t find a place that he could afford. He lives in Clinton Hill.

He said that arts have always been a major factor of gentrification, and you can’t stop city from expanding. He, as the only European on the panel, said that what is being referred to as “community” is simply a class that differs by education, race and wealth.

.@Powhida asked if Bushwick is a starting gate or an end game. #bushwickarts

1.19.12 9:21 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@artfagcity

Paddy Johnson

Infrastructure in Bushwick. Will the L train kill us?

Hrag makes a point that many galleries that moved from Williamsburg back to Manhattan did so because of the L train and its frequent repairs. The question is how much the L train influences Bushwick. We saw during Bushwick Open Studios 2011 when the L train was not running, that its impact could be significant. Other panelists seemed to agree with Hrag, and everyone was wondering what the hell MTA is always repairing there. “They could have had another tube by now,” Thomas said.

arguing against organization:"spontaneity is what keeps this neighborhood alive" #bushwickarts

1.19.12 9:49 pm via Twidroyd for AndroidReplyRetweetFavorite

@gbriana

briana green

The first galleries in Bushwick didn’t have a commercial agenda at the top of their priority list. How will the arrival of art business influence Bushwick?

Deborah said that there are new galleries arriving in Bushwick that certainly want to do business. Like Stephanie Theodor, a gallery that is about to open at 56 Bogart.

Carolina thinks that Bushwick is a little in love with itself, because apartment art shows are something that has always happened in the beginning of a scene. However, this commercial wave can have a “parachute effect,” meaning that the art collectors from Luhring Augustine will go to the gallery, eat at Roberta’s afterwards and go back to Manhattan.

http://t.co/G9QhDGH9 Twitter row @bogartsalon #bushwickarts #bogartsalon

1.19.12 8:29 pm via HTC PeepReplyRetweetFavorite

@JamesPanero

James Panero

@cmonstah says Bushwick changing at hyperspeed and is becoming the art industry, not a scene.

1.19.12 8:22 pm via Tweetbot for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@Powhida

William

Hrag points out that this scene is more self-conscious.

Marco makes an interesting point that the critical mass in Bushwick is very self-sufficient, DYI. He sees the future in smaller commercial ventures. He thinks Bushwick has a pragmatic scene that will make sure to survive.

Hrag points out that this self-sufficiency might be also caused by the cuts in funding of arts, and that the artists had to learn how to be self-sufficient.

Interesting point MT@artfagcity @hragv wonders is community becoming more entrepreneurial bc arts funding is disappearing. #bushwickarts

1.19.12 9:13 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@debrahampton

Debra Hampton

Thomas says that he sees a trend in Bushwick where the most of the artists realize that they probably won’t become world’s most famous painters. Instead they become mini-manufacturers with 1 or 2 employees creating their product, living a creative life. He says that every closed door in Bushwick is hiding something exciting happening. He sees a very entrepreneurial spirit in Bushwick.

Is it weird that I was coming here to talk about art and not about politics, gentrification and class? #bushwickarts

1.19.12 9:12 pm via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite

@StephenTruax

Stephen Truax

Are we getting support as a community?

Marco thinks we definitely are not, but that’s a problem with funding for arts everywhere in the world. However, it’s not automatic in other countries that artists have this entrepreneurial spirit, and that’s why the lack of support is sad.

Deborah thinks that because we vote, we can influence the allocation of funds.

Carolina says that it’s not easy to be creative when the housing prices are astronomical. That’s something that the Bloomberg administrative didn’t address very well…

Also there are huge poverty issues going on in Bushwick outside of the art world, that are more urgent and require attention.

Thomas expresses his frustration with the city. His businesses are always getting huge, unreasonable fines from inspectors. (“A fruit fly, $300.”) He says that the inspectors are squeezing money out of little businesses, and taxes are being raised even during the worst recession.

MT @StephenTruax line between artist & entrepreneur blurs as we price ourselves out of a neighborhood that has never been ours #bogartsalon

1.19.12 8:19 pm via HTC PeepReplyRetweetFavorite

@JamesPanero

James Panero

Dodd speaking out against oppressive city inspectors. Right on. This nabe came from breaking codes. #bushwickarts

1.19.12 9:05 pm via Mobile WebReplyRetweetFavorite

@JamesPanero

James Panero

The texture of bwick hasn't changed so much as the complexion. #bushwickarts

1.19.12 8:39 pm via Tweetbot for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@Powhida

William

Brooklyn Open Studios 2008 cited as a watershed moment.. Question of how long this growth will be beneficial to everyone. #bushwickarts

1.19.12 9:38 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@artfagcity

Paddy Johnson

The #bushwickarts " great art, great energy and great artists doing their own thing" - @artfagcity

1.19.12 9:23 pm via Twitter for BlackBerry®ReplyRetweetFavorite

@TerriCiccone

Terri Ciccone

By Katarina Hybenova

Peter Hopkins (in the middle) of The Bogart Salon, one of the new generation of Bushwick galleries.

“Everything in Bushwick will change after this talk,” said Peter Hopkins regarding the talk Confronting Bushwick that is being hosted at The Bogart Salon. Peter Hopkins is the co-owner of one of the new galleries in Bushwick, The Bogart Salon, and additionally he curates the building at 56 Bogart. In case you haven’t heard yet, the huge yellow building across the street from the Morgan subway entrance, 56 Bogart is currently home to seven galleries, including two big art non-profits, Momenta Art and NURTUREart. Additionally,  more galleries are expected to move in pretty soon, including a Bushwick branch of a SoHo gallery, Christina Ray.

56 Bogart is something like a gallery mall, or a gallery arcade as Peter Hopkins likes to say. Its presence in Bushwick is bitter sweet. On one hand, it’s awesome that seven galleries can coordinate their openings and attract more people to come. On the other hand, it’s changing the game in Bushwick where most of the “old” galleries were DYI, artist run spaces, working mostly on a non-commercial basis. 56 Bogart attracts commercial gallerists from around the city. Also let’s not forget about Luhring Augustine, big fancy gallery from Chelsea, who are having their first opening in Bushwick on February 17 few blocks away.

Confronting Bushwick aspires to cover all these topics and more. The panel is hosted by Hrag Vartanian, editor of Hyperallergic. Other panelists are Deborah Brown, artist and owner of Storefront Bushwick gallery, Thomas Burr Dodd, artist, owner and founder of Brooklyn Fire Proof; Carolina A. Miranda, art critic and culture writer for WNYC and Artnews; and Marco Antonini, Director of NURTUREart.

The question is whether the panel is diverse enough to speak for the entire art scene in Bushwick. Several people pointed out that the panel doesn’t contain anyone from the original Bushwick gallery owners, only people who came to Bushwick just recently. Peter Hopkins objected that they wouldn’t accept the invitation for a panel discussion anyway. We can sense certain tension between the “old” and the “new” gallery owners in Bushwick… Peter Hopkins also said that he expects a lot from the discussion and that “It will be a dividing point. Bushwick 2.0 begins now.”

Bushwick is changing. That much we can state without any doubt. The question is how will the change be? Friendly? Natural? To the benefit of us all? Or drastic? Exclusionary? And eventually pushing the rents so high that the artists will leave?

Let’s see. About this and more, will be the discussion tonight from 6 to 9pm at The Bogart Salon at 56 Bogart. RSVP on Facebook here. Everyone will be there, and it will be heated!

We are live-tweeting from the closing of Dejeuner sans L’Herbe at The Bogart Salon in Bushwick: comments on the happening, review of the art in making and encouraging a dialogue in the virtual space. Tweets using #BogartSalon are being projected on the wall at The Bogart Salon and displayed on Bushwick Daily.