Just when we thought spring was upon us, another late snow and chilly temperatures make us all want to curl up with a good book and a hot toddy. Before you don your Snuggie and slippers, check out these five art events this week that are sure to heat you up and give you reason to brave the last dreary days of winter in anticipation for warmer days ahead!
1. Brian Leo: I Hear The Droning @ David Kesting Presents (Friday, 7-10pm)
With ten years on the New York art scene under his belt, David Kesting has decided to open the doors of his first solo venture, David Kesting Presents, in the heart of Bushwick. Artist Brian Leo’s work draws from a myriad of sources, yet all arise from his experience growing up in New York City. Whether confronting issues of safe sex in high school or presenting technicolor depictions of the Twin Towers, Leo’s work is bound together by his love affair with New York City and the trials and tribulations that come from that relationship. As part of the exhibition, Leo will transform a section of gallery into a replica of his studio in the same spirit of other NYC-inspired installations, such as Calus Oldenburg’s The Store (1961), Warhol’s The American Super Market (1964), and Keith Harring’s Pop Shop (1986-2005). Paying homage to, yet distancing himself from, his predecessors, Leo’s studio installation will allow a conflation of public and private as the artist lets visitors encounter the intimacy involved in the artist’s process. (Allison Galgiani)
2. Johannes DeYoung & Natalie Westbrook: Diamond Head @ Interstate Projects (Friday, 6-9pm)
Celebrating two very different mediums, Johannes DeYoung and Natalie Westbrook will join forces for their first ever collaboration at Interstate Projects. DeYoung’s animated videos alongside Westbrook’s colorful collage aims to transport visitors on an expedition to distant lands, as the title “Diamon Head,” referencing a Hawaiian volcano, would suggest. The concept of transporting oneself through mediation of the senses is fully embraced, making it possible to travel by proxy through depictions of the bizarre and fantastical worlds of DeYoung and Westbrook. (Allison Galgiani)
3. Playful Corporeality: Live Performances by Quinn Dukes, Maira Vaz Valente, Hilary Sand, and Felix Morelo @ Grace Exhibition Space (Friday, 9-11pm)
No matter how prepared you might think you are for a performance at Grace Exhibition Space, somehow there is always something new/shocking/surprising/awesome to discover! This Friday’s performance will surely prove to be no exception with a superb lineup of artists. Whether focusing on the environment, the body and presence, gender and identity, or our urban environment, all four performances are sure to question, provoke and invite dialogue and debate. Rather than us trying to present a synopsis of the performance, make sure to be there on Friday to check it out yourself! As always, Grace Exhibition Space requests a $10 donation for their performances to enable them to continue to provide thoughtful and engaging performance art to the community. (Allison Galgiani)
4. Rocking on Empty @ Fowler Arts Collective (Friday 7-9pm, Greenpoint)
If you happen to stray from the Bushwick warehouses and find yourselves in the Greenpoint warehouses, get your rock on and visit the opening of Huyn Jung Cho’s Rocking On Empty exhibition. She is “just a small town girl, livin’ in a lonely world” who appropriates found objects, such as discarded mechanical parts and other industrial materials, combined with rock and roll nostalgia. And yes, writing about this exhibition at the Fowler Arts Collective definitely required the use of some Journey lyrics. (Dimitrios Manousakis)
5. Ken Butler: The Projection Grand Piano and other Anxious Objects @ AIRPLANE (Sunday, 8pm)
If you missed the opening for Ken Butler’s show, fret not! This Sunday, AIRPLANE will be bringing the artists in for an evening of experimental music that will compliment his installation on display. According to the AIRPLANE press release, Butler’s installation is “an interactive sculptural instrument that can be played like a piano but projects light onto the wall in an endless variety of patterns and shapes.” This Sunday’s performance is one in a series of events to surround the exhibition, which will include seminars, demonstrations, and other collaborative performances. (Allison Galgiani)