This week my inbox was full up with exciting press releases and invites to gallery openings. Just when we were beginning to think that Bushwick was reaching a saturation point of great galleries and artist-run spaces, the neighborhood gets hit with another round of incredible and innovative new galleries. Like preparing your troops for an epic battle, here is your guide to brand-spanking new spaces, as well as a number of stellar shows from stalwart galleries. Brace yourselves, kids, this weekend you’re in for a wild ride!
#1 Launch Party @ Amos Eno Gallery (SAT, 6-10PM)
To celebrate the opening of their new location at The Loom, Amos Eno Gallery will be screening the new film, “I Shut My Eyes,” the second collaboration between Bushwick-based film-maker Steven S. Harrington and the New York based experimental music group Small Dream Ada.
# 2 Anita Thacher: Detours @ Microscope Gallery (FRI, 6-9PM)
Primarily celebrated for her film, video, and light installations, Detours marks the first solo show of Anita Thacher’s paintings. For the past several years, the New York based film and video artist has transitioned into new forms of expression with her painting, and result is remarkable. Approaching painting from a unique perspective, Thacher experiments with different media, texture, dark and light, playing and exploring the opportunities available on the canvas.
# 3 Transitions V. 2 @ Associated Gallery (SAT, 7-10PM)
Saturday night Associated Gallery will present the second installment of their Transitions show, with work gleaned through an open call process. Through this method of selection, Associated Gallery has the unique opportunity to work within a selection of artists, finding the common thread between them. Truly a collaborative effort between the eight artists (even their press release was written in tandem), the work will range from being a comment on the ecological effects from consumer waste (Rachel Grobstein), and the abstract landscape of different realties (Elizabeth Johnson), to the supplication to technology as a replacement to ritual (Sarah Zapata).
#4 Corinne Jones: Tidal Fever @ Jackie Klempay Gallery (SAT, 7-10PM)
Come see the stunning and methodical abstract works by Corinne Jones this weekend. While tempted to call them monochromatic, the meticulous process Jones uses to apply, then remove that reapply to create layer upon layer of complimenting colors, allows the colors to work with one another to create an entirely new hue. The collection of works, all titled Casting Out Sevens, aim to create an environment where the pieces fit together to be signs, indicating meaning.
#5 Lisa Levy: Everyone Loves a Winner @ Auxiliary Projects (FRI, 7-9PM)
Conceptual, performance and visual artist Lisa Levy (known to many of our Bushwick Daily readers by one of her personas, Dr. Lisa), will present a collection of works at Auxiliary Projects this Friday. Known for her uncanny ability to put people at ease and help with all sorts of psychological and metaphysical ailments, Lisa Levy’s show is sure to reflect her interest in self-actualization and power and helping those around her.
#6 OUTSIDE IN: Works by Katherine Bradford, Farrell Brickhouse, James Castle, Thornton Dial, Chris Martin, Joan Snyder, Fred Valentine, and Purvis Young @ Life on Mars Gallery (FRI, 6-9PM)
Fueled by a desire to create a museum quality show that paired academy-trained seasoned abstract artists with untrained “outsider” artists, curator and Life on Mars founder, Michael David tirelessly searched to bring together a show that demonstrated the commonalities and the differences between these two types of artists.
#7 La Ritualist Project: Carla Avruch @ Sardine Gallery (FRI 6-9PM)
For one night only, Sardine presents La Ritualist Project, that focuses on the mantra: “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away” (Pablo Picasso). With this in mind, come enjoy this special night with Carla Avruch, who will transform drawing into performance.
#8 Alvarino Klein Design Production Systems Team: New Work @ Good Work Gallery (SAT, 6-9PM)
Another new gallery has popped up on Broadway, giving us a good reason to head over to the Kosciuszko stop on the J. Good Work Gallery presents the Alvarino Klein Design Production Systems Team, who will be working on a collection of Abstract Expressionist style paintings, some to be completed the night of the exhibition opening, which have been commissioned by a real estate company in Miami, Florida. The exhibition opens up a world of questions about the reframing of a one avant-garde style which is now becoming not only mainstream, but kitsch.