Not likely to make it onto the Culture Picks, but notable nonetheless: An artist called “BiZZiD” who paints and sculpts images of ’80s performance artist Leigh Bowery and the equally queer C-3PO will have his work set up at 300 Knickerbocker (that’s near Suydam) this weekend for a photoshoot and wants people to come by and I guess ridicule his “stupid, ridiculous, crummy, 3rd rate” stuff.
Central, Stanhope, St. Nicholas! Trevor Geoffrey Adams rides his bike throughout the neighborhood; it’s amazing how the right music can brighten up even the most dismal of industrial corners. The old Chinantla factory, Lares Bar, El Pollo Mas Bueno, Tortillería Los Hermanos, Chimu Express… take a look, you might see part of your hood in here.
Ann Liv Young naked in 25 degrees at the Sanctuary of Hope. — Photo by Ellen Letcher.
It often seems that several interesting events cluster on the same date. This past Saturday, November 22nd, was one of those dates. I had four things I wanted to do: two art openings, a program of performances, and a music event. And they were all in the Greater Bushwick Metropolitan Area. More and more I ask myself, what’s the point of leaving Bushwick? There’s so much stuff going on in the hood now it’s getting downright confusing.
Out in the country side, Autumn and corn mazes are synonymous. But here in Bushwick, the harvest season produces vibrant art mazes — it’s only natural.
Last Friday, Factory Fresh art gallery on Flushing Avenue held an opening reception for “A Maze,” a unique exhibit that features Celso, Infinity, Stikman, LA II and Cbeauty. The miniature labyrinth was built from wood boards and then covered with the artists’ signature styles and symbols to create multilayered collages.
WaPo’s Andrea Sachs quotes Arts in Bushwick’s Laura Braslow: “There is a lot more experimental art here, partially because people don’t have the structural constraints where they are trying to keep up with the galleries… the Bushwick art scene is not about sipping wine and looking at white walls.”
For me, Sunday’s BETA Spaces art festival began in the staircase of an old warehouse on Melrose Street.
At first, all I could hear was the high-pitched squeal of a rusty bicycle wheel and sporadic, synthesized bass beats. Curiosity was sparked and I continued up the stairs until I was bombarded with more complex images than my mind could comprehend — a blue wig, electrical wires, yellow fairy wings, hundreds of knobs, a projector from the Chicago Department of Education aimed at my face and hot pink and black stripped leggings coming out of a giant diaper that was tied to the ceiling.
Kevin and Shari admire the work of Layton Hower at Norte Maar — photo by Anna D’Agrosa
I was a bad Bushwicker this weekend and didn’t make it to see very much of Arts in Bushwick’s fabulous BETA Spaces. (Although I hear that there were some art luminaries making the rounds and I definitely noticed a lot of energy in the neighborhood!) I did manage the short journey from Wyckoff-Starr to Norte Maar’s Hecho en Bushwick show with Paige, Kevin & Shari, and Austin Thomas of Pocket Utopia.
Strong turnout and a wide range of media and subject matter marked Arts in Bushwick’s latest event. BETA Spaces, which was a free one-day arts festival of independently curated group events held on Sunday, came as the latest evidence that the organization’s presence in the neighborhood is becoming more pronounced.
Held at English Kills, a Bushwick gallery that makes the claim of featuring “Brooklyn’s best artists,” a two man show entitled “In the Way” opened on Saturday.
The main room is occupied by the work of David Button, an artist whose other interests include fabrication, design, architecture and animatronics. His installation, comprised of a seemingly chaotic jumble of melted plastic sheeting held together by aluminum rods, recalls a microscopic view of an aggregate of fibers and cells forming a sort of pseudo-organic tissue.
Bushwick's Foreclosure 'Crisis' Bushwick's high rate of foreclosure -- and the accompanying boarded up, vacant homes -- have some locals worried about the stability of their corner of the neighborhood. By Jeremy Sapienza
Bushwick's Favorite Tacos Are Back The makeshift taco stand inside the Starr Street tortilla factory has reopened as a proper restaurant -- but the food hasn't changed and, of course, there's still no menu. By Diego Cupolo
An OASIS in a Sea of Industry Before you sign a lease on that industrial loft space, you should check its pedigree: code violations and zoning conflicts can get you tossed into the street by the City. By E. Sean Bailey
Kevin and Shari admire the work of Layton Hower at Norte Maar — photo by Anna D’Agrosa
