Bushwick’s art playground is still kicking with four new solo exhibitions opening on Friday night at Wayfarers, NURTUREart, GCA and Interstate Projects, plus a group show at Fresh Window that plays on all of the attractions and distractions of abstraction. Live it up with an artist discussion on art and mortality inside The Tarot Society’s gallery space and reading room, and catch up with ART 3 as they host a talk around their current exhibition, with insights from Dr. Mark MacDonald from the Department of Drawings & Prints at The Met.
#1 Stacey M. Holloway “Instinctual Drift” @ Wayfarers (FRI 7-10 pm)
1109 Dekalb Ave
Years of observing how animals demonstrate human traits led sculptor Stacey Holloway to render hyper-exaggerated human nature within her sculptural works. While they appear as accurate depictions of the animals themselves, their intentional behaviors and true human-like feelings are enhanced, revealing that humans are not alone in possessing the neurological substrates that generate consciousness.
Another solo show will be going up on the TOBY project wall at Wayfarers: Magda Mortner: Ensemble with sculpture and works on paper that document the artist’s self-reflection, studio practice and her close circle of friends.
#2 Christopher Dunlap “Deep Space / Shallow Grave” @ GCA (FRI 7-9 pm)
119 Ingraham Street
GCA’s newest show features the geometric depths of painter Christopher Dunlap. “Deep Space / Shallow Grave” communicates the abstract way in which Dunlap’s paintings relate to the perceived spatial relationships in his paintings, as well as the spatial elements. From here the irrationality of the show’s title is observed in correlation to the irrational act of painting itself.
#3 Ciarán Ó Dochartaigh “Upward Inflection” @ NURTUREart (FRI 7-9 pm)
56 Bogart Street, lower level
Through its complicated systems and slightly alien mechanics, the work of Ciarán Ó Dochartaigh lends itself to a soft darkness in “Upward Reflection.” This gallery-wide installation takes over NURTUREart with mug shots, scripts, shelving units and the actor’s own live theatrics on opening night. Rooted in common irrational fears, the show taps into the excitement and naivety of the computer age as what we’ve come to know as machines emanate more and more intrinsic human qualities.
#4 “CHLOE SEIBERT WHO’S HE” @ Interstate Projects (FRI 6-9 pm)
66 Knickerbocker Avenue
In Interstate Projects’ latest solo splash, Chloe Seibert explores the ways in which her work exists without explanation or references, the one-to-one impact experienced by her viewers, and their relation to figures in her sculptures and installation works.
#5 “Traction” @ Fresh Window (FRI 7-9 pm)
56 Bogart Street, lower level
Traction, the force that causes a moving thing to stick against the surface it is moving along, collides with abs-traction and at-traction in Fresh Window’s newest group show featuring Antoine Lefebvre, Amalia Piccinini and Magdalen Wong. As the general idea behind abs-traction is drawn to the electric and magnetic forces of at-traction, the result becomes an amusing and entertaining dis-traction!
#6 “Ellis Island of Bushwick” @ Secret Loft (SAT 1-7 pm)
McKibbin Lofts, 255 McKibbin Street
Secret Loft hosts “Ellis Island Of Bushwick” this Saturday, featuring over fifty artists who are bringing it all back home to McKibbin Street where many of them first began their Bushwick experiences. The works selected will take us through the tenement halls and subway walls of Bushwick’s industrial land, capturing its early impact on local artists. Plus–live music and special guest performances by Mike Finnigan, Janna Pelle and Lily Wolf will rock the scene!
Artist Talks
“Balance in Determination: Walking with Linda Karshan” with Dr. Mark MacDonald of the MET @ ART 3 (SUN 4-5 pm)
109 Ingraham Street
ART 3 will hold an artist conversation with Linda Karshan and Dr. Mark MacDonald, Curator of Prints from the Department of Drawings & Prints at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Linda’s current exhibition “Signs of Men” opened earlier this month at ART 3 with works that combine the rigor of minimalist abstraction with the spontaneity and expressiveness of her very personal and physically disciplined mark-making system. The title “Signs of Men” stems from a story of Greek philosopher Aristippus, shipwrecked on the shore of Rhodes when he noticed geometrical figures scratched into the sand, described as “triangles, or circles, or lines suspended signs of men.”
“Art & Illness” Discussion and Artist Talk @ Tarot Society Gallery (FRI 7:30-9 pm)
4 Charles Place, $7 donation with one complementary drink
Join members of the Tarot Society as they explore how illness and the knowledge of ones’ mortality effects and often inspires them to make art. The event will take place inside the Tarot Society Gallery and Reading Room with a discussion on The Book of Job, the Black Death and the history of Cleopatra’s Needle and how they all relate to illness, art and mortality. Artists Ash Faith, a writer and leader in meditation at the Interdependence Project, and Dallas Athent, a writer and Editor of Bushwick Nightz will share their experiences and lead the discussion.