Most of you are probably already aware that New York’s favorite disgruntled art critic, Jerry Saltz, spent last Sunday afternoon checking out the Bushwick gallery scene. Saltz and his equally amazing art critic wife, Roberta Smith, seem to have had a great time in our fair neighborhood, as a Facebook post of his read: “I think that whatever is happening in Buschwick (sic) and other ‘outposts’ feels very very important and really needs to be dissected… Something’s happening here …Even old geezer-critics like moi can feel it.” Jerry, I have nothing but love for you and think that you should come back more often! In fact, here are five super fresh, well-informed shows happening this weekend that you can surely sink your teeth into! How about we meet up around 7PM on Friday to check ’em out?!
1. On a dark night I left my silent house: Michelle Kloehn, Nesta Mayo, Jenny Vogel @ Silver Projects (FRI 7-9PM)
The three artists represented in this show will tackle a different element found in Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote: attempt and failure, hallucinations, and 16th C Spanish military fashion. The artists’ tangential connection to the notorious epic story of Don Quixote’s dreams, ambitions, conquests, and ultimate downfall are all present in this show, as each uses their medium (drawing, video, and photography) in order to best capture one of the eternal tenets of the story.
2. Discussion / Performance: A Short History of the con-TRAP-tion-SET or Fly Swatters on Calf Heads with Tim Spelios and Matt Freedman (FRI 8PM)
Stimulate your mind while also enjoying a live musical performance at this Friday’s discussion/performance by artists Tim Spelios and Matt Freedman. The pair will touch on a plethora of subjects, from drum making and taking to photos, old books, and the simple pleasure of walking around the city. The discussion will be supplemented by Spelios’ drum beats as watch as he attempts to talk and drum simultaneously. The event coincides with Spelios’ solo exhibition Do Not Blow Horn Use Bell, which runs through October 6th.
3. Front Line @ Lorimoto (SAT 6-9PM)
As a gallery bordering the ever-expanding artist-led charge of the Bushwick-Ridgewood frontier, Lorimoto presents the extremely à propos exhibition that will showcase the work of three pioneering Bushwick artists who are pushing this Front Line of expansion. All three artists work within the neighborhood and focus on documenting aspects of this changing landscape in Bushwick/Ridgewood. Jonathan Auch’s larger-than-life black and white portraits capture the literal face of the neighborhood in direct confrontation with the viewer, while duo Armas Carino painstakingly reconstructs miniature facades of townhouses from actual found fragments, and Yasuyuki Takagi systematically documents the changing scenery of Brooklyn.
4. The Lure @ Youme Haus (SAT 5PM-Midnight)
Self-described as “fragilely curated” in their press release, The Lure is set up to capture the aura of each of the represented artists’ pieces. Based on the theory of an artwork’s aura put forth by Walter Benjamin nearly a century ago, the concept has continued to evade absolute definition and remains a hotly contested topic in this age of mechanical reproduction. Through its inherent indefinability, the aura remains elusive, and therefore leaves space for each viewer’s direct experience with the work of art and allows each person to be effected differently.
5. The Sacred and Profane Love Machine @ Ortega Y Gasset (SAT 7-10PM)
Based on the novel by Iris Murdoch of the same name, this show encapsulates the works of five artists (Susan Bee, Lucy Kim, Brian Scott Campbell, Pat McElnea, and Emily Janowick) who deal with issues of love, emotion and sexual experience. Lucy Kim’s casts real couples’ faces in order to capture 3-dimensional renderings of these feelings, while Pat McElnea investigates the surface of both human skin and the skin of the paint of his compositions. Emily Janowick uses material and color abstraction to recreate sexual paraphernalia, and Susan Bea captures the human melodrama reminiscent of film noir film stills. Meanwhile, Brian Scott Campbell’s intricate drawings tell stories of sexual encounters through the age-old convention of Grecian urns. Through and through, the show brings these tales of sex and love to life, proving new ways of showing the time-laden tropes of love, lust and emotion.