By Katarina Hybenova
For the third time already, an artist couple Andrea Bergart and Joe Ballweg organized an art show at Joe’s Ridgewood studio. Joe works in an amazing, lofty space at the ground floor of his house at Woodward Ave. In addition, he has access to a lovely backyard, and so the decision to use his studio every three months or so for a pop up art show is a really good one. Wide Field featured eight artists (Gina Beavers, Chris Dunlap, Matthew Fisher, Matthew Fischer, Elisa Lendvay, Margrit Lewczuk, Matthew Mahler, Alan Prazniak, Adam Parker Smith) and consisted largely of paintings.
The featured artwork was fresh, colorful and often quirky – a great sample of what’s being made in hundreds of artists studios in the Bushwick/Ridgewood area.
Adam Parker Smith is making large pieces by sewing together hundreds of friendship bracelets. We saw another of his pieces a couple of weeks ago at Ghost Face art show at Bobby Redd Projects (the famous church art show).
Matthew Mahler is a co-owner of another cool Ridgewood art space, Small Black Door. His newer pieces are dark as night, and we dig them.
Matthew Fisher is studio-mates with Matthew Mahler, but he paints very differently. These four pieces play with a desert plant embracing the sun in four different ways.
I really like the simple idea of this DIY endeavor. Clean up the studio, invite artists, invite friends, bring your own drinks, look at art and have fun! The turnout at the third art show at Joe Ballweg’s studio was pretty huge, and so was the fun in the studio and at the subsequent afterparty at Gottscheer Beer Hall.
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