Whatever it is that you’ve been staring at– the gray slush, an excel spreadsheet, your cat, a brick wall–we recommend you take a break from it this weekend and get something beautiful before your eyes. In these dark winter days we need the rich color and fantastical imagination stored up in our galleries more than ever. As usual, there’s a lot going on in Bushwick, so here are our picks for shows and events to hit up this weekend.
#1 Azettagh: Samantha Bittman, Rachel Hayes, Brece Honeycutt, Robin Kang with Moroccan weavers @ Outlet Fine Art (FRI 7-10PM)
Outlet Fine Art presents a show this weekend, which draws out the similarities between the traditional techniques and patterns of Moroccan rug weavers and four contemporary women artists. Azettagh means “I weave” in the indigenous language of the Amazigh people, standing for both the woven method of textile-making and the way the show weaves together themes ancient and modern through the design and socio-cultural significance of the rugs. Brece Honeycutt examines the relationship of the textile object to the living environment in which it is made, creating eco-prints from recycled textiles dyed naturally with her own gathered plants. Robin Kang’s multimedia works mimic the visual language of textiles, highlighting the mechanization of craft and culture. Samantha Bittman’s paintings, with acrylic on hand-woven textile, are reminiscent of the mathematical patterns inherent in woven works, and Rachel Hayes’ colorfully composed constructions recall the visual texture of the rugs’ design in three dimensions.
#2 Things That Barely Exist: Pancho Westendarp @ Robert Henry Contemporary (FRI 6-9PM)
This exhibition employs Pancho Westendarp’s drawing, video, and sculpture to question our concept of time as a linear, mechanized institution, and how our experience of time relates to the formation of memory. We mark time in our lives through large events, which we link up to form a narrative of our sense of self. Westendarp seeks to uncover the theme which exists beneath that outward expression- the “events that pass unperceived.” In his work, memory is reconstructed through the detritus of everyday life (receipts, fortune cookie messages, subway tickets) to form a sculptural representation of the unperceived using ephemeral items. In his video installation, memory becomes circular and obsessive, while documenting the same forest path over the course of a year, hoping to repeat a previous encounter with a deer.
#3 VECTOR Artists Journal Launch Party @ Interstate Projects (SAT 6-9PM)
VECTOR, this “literary exhibition in the form of a journal,” in which each issue is compiled of essays by emerging and established artists (on any topic or theme of their choice), will be launching its third annual issue this Saturday at Interstate Projects. 300 printed and bound copies of the journal will be given away for free at the opening reception, so head over to pick up this collection of brilliant thoughts by a wide range of artists and curators. The event also gives you one more chance to catch Heather Guertin’s show “Heand” before it closes next week.
#4 BODY / MASS: Faith Johnson, Nyugen Smith, Geraldo Mercado, and Thomas Albrecht @ Grace Space (FRI 9:30)
Grace Exhibition Space presents a show curated by Samuel Burhoe, who worked with a theme of how “the body performs spirituality through ritual.” Nyugen Smith uses spontaneity and improvisation to investigate the psychological implications of colonialism in the West Indies, while Geraldo Mercado explores how physical movement is intellectualized. Thomas Albrecht’s acts are often performed along city sidewalks and highlight the language of ritual in public spaces, which will contrast with Faith Johnson’s interest in making visible the internal and intangible through re-contextualizing everyday objects and actions. This will be Grace Exhibition Space’s first show since hibernating for the holidays, and it’s bound to be a fascinating way to start!
#5 PAST/FORWARD @ Amos Eno Gallery (FRI 6-9PM)
Amos Eno Gallery will be holding the first exhibition at their new location in The Loom this weekend, and it’s a big one. The formerly Soho-based gallery is also celebrating its 40th anniversary, so the exhibition is been to honor the past, the present, and the future. New work in many different mediums by 12 artists close to the gallery will be on display to celebrate “both collective and individual experience” throughout the gallery’s long and prolific life.