The Bushwick Art Crit Group (BACG) celebrated its 1 year anniversary in March where we saw brave ranges in sculpture and politics, photography and poetry, painting and erotica, and more. One artist impressed us with a combination of seriousness and playfulness, while another bravely revealed just how much goes on underneath the (canvas) surface. An inquisitive audience voiced curiosities in scale, mediums and personal perspectives throughout the night.
Now BACG founder Christopher Stout prepares for the second installment of the spring session on Wednesday, April 16 @ 7:00 pm inside the gallery of Brooklyn Fireproof East. The presenters include artists Phil Buehler, Josh Kil, Luis Martin, Lauren Renner, Marina Ross, Michael Ryan and Jen Shepard. Missed last month’s crit group? Fear not, here’s a recap of last month’s presenters.
Adam Bohemond: Revealing unknown layers
Diving right into the night with bright colors and intense subject matter, Adam had no hesitation in sharing just how much goes on underneath his canvas’ surface. In a series of self-portraits painted in both muted and neon oils, Adam illustrates his experiences in the drag/performance art scene of New York City. His tendency to reveal himself in unknown layers within his works lends itself to his “Hellish” digital art and “Pretty Weird” comic series.
Beata Chrzanowska: Boldness in geometry and sexuality
There’s no better way to embrace your sexuality than by letting it filter into your art. With that, we witnessed Beata’s ability to illustrate bold features in the form of geometric shapes incorporated with her own sexuality. One audience member pointed out that these elements dissolved into the piece and were ultimately unidentifiable. Matching Beata’s intent perfectly, she meant to tease and leave the audience with a sense of mystery.
Gustavo Dao: Almost banned from Instagram
Gustavo began with a set of comics that seemed innocent enough, but by the end of his 9 minutes I am pretty sure every audience member was either shocked, stimulated, or turned on as the animator/editorial whiz shared his erotic GIF’s and even more erotic typography (aptly titled EROTIC JOY). The point, he claims, is to give more meaning to pornographic images—“instead of weightless images that we inject into our lives.”
Instagram isn’t quite sure about this. They threatened to ban him for his uploads.
Carlos Henriquez: In-between and behind the scenes
“Look at me, but I don’t really care if you’re looking at me” — is the intense sentiment that Carlos’ model Erica portrays in a recent nude portrait session. As Erica herself sat among the Art Crit audience at BKFP, Carlos described the mix of seduction, distrust, and emotion internalized in the images of his female subjects.
As a videographer and film photographer, Carlos captures the intense moments held behind the scenes, and brings out the personalities of his subjects while on set during freelance video gigs.
Katie Killary: Poetic narratives written into photography
Coming from a graphic design background, Katie believes in the designer as author and designer as photographer. Sharing a set of photos accompanied by a narrative poem titled The City is Different In Person, Katie described her personal take on the New York City we’ve all seen in movies and television shows. A set of printed posters is meant to create a walk-in environment for the viewer as they read and experience the city from her perspective.
Miguel Libarnes: Sexuality doesn’t need to fit…
An interesting experience transpired in the first few minutes of Miguel’s presentation: As he tells us about his background and growing up in the Philippines prior to moving to New York, a rather ironic and humorous video streams across the wall, depicting Miguel carefully applying mascara and being sprayed with waves of water while dressed in a body suit.
From there he shares a variety of playful works from lego creations to erotic scenes inside of a vintage toy television; “I go to these toy stores [audience laugher] for inspiration,” he tells us. “Sexuality doesn’t need to fit in a well-designed box.”
Andrew Cornell Robinson: From riots and trouble to political sculpture
The year was 1980 and Andrew would take the New Jersey PATH into Manhattan and frequent the bars of the West Village… at age 12. Andrew goes on to tell us the story of his days as a curious pre-teen who would find himself amidst riots and rebellious activity. Drawing on all of these experiences, Andrew’s artistic inclinations led him to make political sculptures, namely with his handcrafted piece Disobedience, made up of a small riot of wads of clay composed in a mania of miniature barricades.
The April installment of Bushwick Art Crit group will meet on Wednesday, April 16th @ 7PM inside the Brooklyn Fireproof East Gallery, located at 119 Ingraham Street.