Now that spring has finally sprung, and there has not been a snow sighting in weeks (keep your fingers crossed), it’s time to celebrate this remarkable occasion of fresh sunshine air with crop tops, cut offs and of course, a weekend packed with a diverse line-up of art events. This week slams a variety punch with performances, paintings, installations, and even art stores a la Claes Oldenburg’s The Store way back when in the 1960s. The galleries Bushwick has come to know and love—as well as some fresh-faced newbies to get yourself acquainted with—are bringing out the big dogs to rock your winter blues away.
#1 ART SHOP @ 99¢ Plus Gallery (FRI 6-10PM)
Who said an art gallery has nothing in common with a 99¢ store? For the official opening of new gallery 99¢ Plus, the space invited 9 curators based in Bushwick to choose 11 artists each to donate one small art object. By involving 9 curators and 99 artists the Gallery hopes to represent artists with diverse practices, experiences, and mediums. Each work is priced between $9.99 – 99¢, making art super fun – and affordable.
#2 4th Annual Big Green Theater festival @ The Bushwick Starr (FRI at 8pm)
The Bushwick Starr is hosting the 4th Annual eco-playwriting program by the Big Green Theater. Shows will be Saturday and Sunday, with a special preview event on Friday night sponsored by ArtLab—an ongoing blog and series at the interface of art and science founded by Maryam Zaringhalam. Big Green Theater is an annual eco-playwriting program celebrating environmental education, sustainability in the arts, and community enrichment. Original plays written by Bushwick’s PS123 5th grade students are performed by a professional ensemble using only green theater methods.
#3 Vertical Hallway and Her Attendants @ Honey Ramka (FRI 6 – 9)
Vertical hallway and her attendants is a solo installation by Brooklyn-based artist Lars van Dooren. The centerpiece of van Dooren’s exhibition is the freestanding structure Vertical Hallway and other forms overlap and closely juxtapose one another throughout the gallery space. Drawings serve as “attendants” to freestanding forms—leading to a procession that roams between intuitive and directed elements. Bannered walls, spatial constrictions, and low carpeted platforms invite participation to walk on, through, and amongst van Dooren’s casual and complex arrangements.
#4 Out There @ Robert Henry Contemporary (FRI 6 – 9)
Out There exhibits new paintings and collages by New York-based artist Patty Cateura that explore ideas about space and the power of nature. Her abstract compositions are derived from her personal relationship with nature and her time spent in remote landscapes hiking and camping. Cateura “hopes to counter the passive intake of images that bombard us daily by enticing the viewer to engage and find respite…” Thoughts about the transforming power of landscape and the rejuvenating qualities of nature have roots in both Eastern and Western philosophies, which Cateura combines with the visual language of minimal abstraction.
#5 MACGREGOR HARP: YOU DO THE MATH @ Jackie Klempay (SAT 7 – 10)
Is there a valid explanation for elevator music? If your taco salad is really just a taco with extra lettuce, is it still a salad? Questions about your daily routine may just be answerd by the artwork in Macgregor Harp: You Do The Math. The works in this show arrange every day images to form a new language. The artists transform normative definitions of objects and words through interesting and complex combinations. Inside the gallery there will be paintings and sculptures while in the back yard there will be a boutique with clothing for sale. There will also be a performance, as well as free off-brand menthol loosies. Do not miss out, there’s a little art something for everyone at this opening.
#6 CUT/SCRAPE/SMEAR: PURCHASE BFA PAINTERS @ Associated (SAT 7 – 10)
Associated Gallery is that quaint space Bushwick just cannot live without. The new show at this artist-run space presents new graduates from SUNY Purchase. Cut/Scrape/Smear: Purchase BFA Painters aims to showcase the variety of paintings created by BFA students today, many of which take on a tactile form in surface quality, and which vary in content and materiality. Nothing beats an evening surrounded by the artwork of ‘fresh off the boat’ contemporary artists.
