On April 4, 2012, the gates of the Andrew Freedman Home will open to the public. The Home was once built to be a haven, a paradise, for the rich elderly who had lost their fortunes. Bequeathed by millionaire Andrew Freedman, the Home provided not only food and shelter but all the accoutrements of a rich and civilized life style – white glove dinner service, a grand ball room, a wood-paneled library, billiard room and a social committee who organized concerts, opera performances and the like.
Referencing this quixotic history, This Side of Paradise will reference the past and reconnect the vision of Andrew Freedman to today’s Bronx and its realities. The exhibition and its extensive public programming onsite and offsite will draw together the economic and social history of the Home with the present day realities of the Bronx and its residents.
The selected artists’ will work in a site-specific manner and will respond to such issues as memory, immigration, storytelling, aging and the creation of fantasy that the original concept of the Home “being poor in style” suggests. This Side of Paradise will celebrate human ingenuity, the strength of the human spirit and the resilience needed to fashion beauty, hope and rejoicing.
Opening Reception will be Wednesday, April 4 from 6 to 8pm followed by the Speakeasy After Party Fundraiser sponsored by St. Germain starting at 8:30pm. Support NLE and future exhibitions by purchasing tickets here.
Exhibition Hours: Thursday to Sunday, 1pm to 7pm (extended hours when events are hosted).
Bronx Arts Alliance is a partner for This Side of Paradise either installations, events or general cross-promotion of Bronx Arts. Partnering organizations are: Bronx Documentary Center | Casita Maria | Hebrew Home at Riverdale | Lehman College Art Gallery | Longwood Art Gallery at Hostos College | The Bronx Children’s Museum | The Bronx Council of the Arts | The Bronx Museum of the Arts | The Bronx River Art Center | The POINT | Wave Hill
Organizations Presenting Installations are Wave Hill – Installation by Adam Parker Smith; The POINT – Designed by Carey Clark, Alejandra Delfin, Danny Peralta, Lady K Fever, Sharon de La Cruz, Tats Cru, David Yearwood among others; The Bronx Museum of the Arts – Works by artists in the AIM Program; Bronx Documentary Center -Film by Tim Hetherington; Lehman College Art Gallery – Works by Scherezade García
Video and Production Support: BronxNet– a not for profit that provides local television by the people of the Bronx, for the people of the Bronx.
Media Partner: WNYC Radio
The Cafe in the Home is generously supported by La Colombe Torrefaction coffee.
This Side of Paradise is a collaboration with the Mid Bronx Senior Citizens Council, one of the largest nonprofits who has been providing community services in the South Bronx. Contact wpuryear@midbronx.org about the Andrew Freedman Home and mjenkins@midbronx.org about MBSCC.
Curatorial team is Manon Slome, Keith Schweitzer, Charlotte Caldwell and Lucy Lydon. A tremendous thank you to all our volunteers and interns involved in the project. Thank you!
ARTISTS:
- Ahearn, John
- Albi-Marini, Guido
- Art Jones
- Bliumis, Alina and Jeff
- Chamorro, Mario and Daniel Paluska
- Chin, Mel
- Crean, Melanie
- Cunningham, Linda
- Daze and Crash
- Enright, Nicky
- Fougeron, Martine
- How and Nosm
- Kahane, Lisa
- Ladda, Justen
- Lazkoz, Abigail
- Maldonado, Sofía
- Mayobre, Esperanza
- Napier, Laura and Carmen Julia Hernández
- Plachy, Sylvia
- Pope, Cheryl
- Prieto, Alejandra
- Ramos-Fermin, Hatuey and Elizabeth Hamby
- Richards, Bruce
- Rollins, Tim and KOS
- Tosatti, Gian Maria
- Uribe, Federico
Other Articles You May Like from BSA:
Neon Saltwater has that star-washed, sun-kissed aura about her visage and throughout her public/digital space installations. You remember 1990, don’t you? Ex-CIA chief George Bush was president, Sine...
Art Activism (Artivism) in progress here this past weekend at the Trashplant Festival in San Cristobal de La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands. A dozen artists have formulated installations directly in...
The sheer number of painted basketball courts that we see in the last two years makes us think there may be an evolving new category of art practice somewhere between street art, land art, billboard ...
Hyperrealism, Pop portraiture, cartoons, wildstyle, Big ears (Sipros) and of course Biggie, it’s the wake of the Bushwick Block Party! Urban Ruben (photo © Jaime Rojo) No matter which year it ...
This week BSA is in Detroit with our hosts 1XRun for the Murals in the Market festival they are hosting with 50+ artists from various countries and disciplines and creative trajectories. In a city t...