Just back in November, Sugarlift made the move to Bushwick and opened its new headquarters at 200 Morgan Avenue, across from Livestream Public and Fitzcarraldo. In a few short months Sugarlift has had some wonderful exhibitions, including Cut & Paste in January and Erik Hougen “Twenty Miles in Eight Hours” last month, and has been a great supporter of local Brooklyn artists.
This coming Friday will be the opening of their third show “Empire State,” a contemporary street photography exhibition celebrating some of New York City’s best young photographers, inside the Livestream Public Building at 195 Morgan Avenue. The exhibit will present over 50 works from 12 local street photographers who are “spearheading a new movement of urban photography.”
“We have been working on this idea for a while but it was not until we came across some of the Instagram photos by leaders in this movement that we realized the significance of telling this story right now,” explains CEO and Sugarlift Co-Founder Wright Harvey. “This show will focus on artists finding new perspective and mastering postproduction.”
“Empire State,” which is internally curated by Sugarlift, will include photographers who utilize Instagram, such as Dave Krugman, Jose Silva, and Anna Sian. “As we travel deeper into the digital age, shows like Empire State allow us to see that social media, such as Instagram, can be used proactively to reach, entice and engage viewers. The smart phone/social media account combination makes it even more accessible for people to not only create but to also share their work, whether it be still life photos or excerpts from their novel, with excess equipment always being optional. Gone are the days where the only choice you had was to carry around your bulky Cannon or get your film rolls developed (both are still very fun to do though, don’t get me wrong),” says Wright, who is interested to see how this move will be perceived in 25 years. “I feel like we are on this precipice of an explosion of creativity.”
“Empire State” will open with a launch party on Friday, March 6 at Livestream Public (195 Morgan Ave) from 6-10PM. Expect a live panel discussion of street photography from 6-7PM, followed by live music, 4 photo booths (!) and food and drinks by Fitzcarraldo (open bar from 7-8PM, followed by cash bar). Capacity is limited, so it is best to buy your tickets before. Tickets are $10 beforehand ($20 at door if not sold out) and can be bought here.
