I was reminiscing on my favorite poem earlier this week—Robert Frost’s Birches, in which he claims, “I’d like to get away from earth awhile, and then come back to it and begin over… Earth’s the right place for love: I don’t know where it’s likely to go better.” And with Valentine’s Day coming up, my reigning singledom must believe that February is the right time for love. Further to Frost’s reasoning, I truly believe that Bushwick is the right place for art. As our crafty neighborhood reveals to us week after week, there are opening celebrations, closing parties, artist talks and plenty of wine, beer and good company in between. And hey, we might just find that Bushwick’s the right place for love as well.
#1 Introductions: ART BEASTIES @ Brooklyn Fire Proof East (THURS 7-10 PM)
ART BEASTIES hosts their first group exhibition in New York with an opening party this Thursday at Brooklyn Fire Proof East. This Japanese artist collective aims to deliver a more accurate and varied view of Japanese art that is underrepresented in most creative spaces. Curated by Sessa Englund, Introductions brings a contemporary mix of video, photo, sculpture, painting and screenprint, offering the audience a view into the works of artists who’s practice centers on the individual and academic exploration of self-identity.
#2 Björn Meyer-Ebrecht and Osamu Kobayashi @ Storefront Ten Eyck (FRI 6-9PM)
Artists Björn Meyer-Ebrecht and Osamu Kobayashi investigate their creative work with a shared interest in abstraction and geometry, referencing the tradition of modernism and reacting to its totalizing reductivity. With the upcoming exhibition at Storefront Ten Eyck, both artists invite the viewer to interrogate the extended meanings within the language of their practice. The artwork enters the real space of the viewer as the barriers between sculpture and architecture dissolve, resulting in graphical purity and logic, sparked by clarity and elegance.
#3 Portfolio x Appunti 8: Walls Spoke @ Centotto (FRI 7-10PM)
“It’s common enough to wonder what walls might say, as it were, if they could speak.” – muses Paul D’Agostino, curator of Centotto.
Centotto presents new works by Ben Godward in Portfolio x Appunti 8: Walls Spoke. So let’s say that in a way, the walls spoke and what they had to say now hangs in the balance. Ben’s new sculptural work fills this space with his recognizable bright, organic formations that flare up with excess material and exuberance. The distinction of this show will be the interactivity—you won’t want to miss the artist’s talk at 8 PM as he explains why.
#4 Not Everyone Feels Like They Have To Win All The Time @ Wayfarers (FRI 7-10PM)
Two of Wayfarers’ most beloved alum are back for the inaugural show of 2014: Renee Delosh and Craig Hein. In Not Everyone Feels Like They Have To Win All The Time both artists lampoon the inherit seriousness of art-making as they address themes of faith, death, failure and commodity culture. While Craig’s works resemble gift shop souvenirs and collectibles, Renee’s reference a Charlie Brownian view of the world – dashes of optimism juxtaposed with hints of grief. Craig’s interest in the power dynamic between the “inspirer” and the “inspired” shares an anthropomorphic quality in common with Renee’s symbolic exploration of cartoon-like imagery and cliché sayings.
#5 Holly Coulis – PITCHERS @ Sardine (SAT 6-9 PM)
Slightly skewed, awkwardly shaped, poetic and humorous—just a few ways to describe Holly Coulis’ style of painting. Holly’s recent work will be presented in a solo exhibition at Sardine this Saturday, in which she recontextualizes the traditional genre of still life painting. In PITCHERS, the familiar, everyday objects of pitchers, vases, fruits etc. are transformed from their conventional depiction, lending themselves more toward the dramatic or idealized.
#6 Bob Holman: a gathering of sorts @ Outlet Fine Art (SUN 4 PM)
Outlet Fine Art in collaboration with Norte Maar present an afternoon of poetry and performance with the illustrious poet Bob Holman and a gathering of his close friends including multilingual readings and music by Fabienne Geoffroy, Sophie Malleret and Salieu Suso. The event will be held in conjunction with the closing reception for Hermine Ford: Paintings and recent work by Joan Witek.