September 2008

Projekt Projektor in DUMBO this Weekend

PROJEKT PROJEKTOR
Getting Up on the Wall with Light

Brooklyn Street Artists Show their Work with Projectors in DUMBO this Weekend.

Brooklyn is in the streets this weekend with two nights of public art projections called Projekt Projektor, launched during the artist’s festival in DUMBO, Brooklyn.

Projekt Projektor expands the definition of Brooklyn street art to include the fleeting electronic and animated images of current projection artists in the public sphere; including video jockeys SuperDraw, SeeJ, Jeremy Slater, and Housewife’s Guide to Anatomy, as well as images of street art from photographer Jaime Rojo and stop-action animation from Steven P. Harrington.

Mounted at Halcyon on the Pearl Street Triangle, with a live soundtrack performed by four New York electronic DJ’s streaming live on DailySessions.com, the inaugural installation of Projekt Projektor will show video and stills in the midst of the public art celebrations.

Dates: Friday, September 26 and Saturday, September 27, 2008
Time: 7 pm to 11 pm
Location: Pearl Street Triangle area of DUMBO, Brooklyn

Who is invited: Brooklyn lovers, pedestrians, passersby, friends and fans of video projection, street art, electronic music, emerging art, and celebrants of the creative spirit.

Projekt Projektor Night 1
Friday 9/26
Artists
SeeJ
Jeremy Slater
Jaime Rojo
Steven P. Harrington
DJs
Padati
Golden Child

Projekt Projektor Night 2
Saturday 9/27
Artists
SuperDraw
Housewife’s Guide to Anatomy
Jaime Rojo
Steven P. Harrington

Read more

Quality of Life Show at Factory Fresh

Quality of Life is a strong collection by four of New York’s most intrepid photographers on the street art and street life scene today.

Luna Park, Jake Dobkin, Sam Horine & Street Stars; Each omnivore draws upon a wealth of stunning images from their pavement pounding and street gazing for the last half decade – Collectively the four represent the literal far reaches of our city limits, guaranteeing you a view of the city that you’ve never seen.

Quality of Life

Factory Fresh Gallery

1053 Flushing Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11237

Opening Reception October 10, 2008

6 to 10 pm

Show runs till October 31

http://www.factoryfresh.net/

Read more

The Week in Images 09.28.08

Mary Never Failes You     (photo Jaime Rojo)

Mary Never Failes You (photo Jaime Rojo)

Projekt Projektor was this weekend

and we had such a blast with all the fun art fans on the streets of Dumbo for the Dumbo Under the Bridge Festival.  Over the 3 day event it is estimated that 150,000 people flood through the neighborhood to see artist studios, galleries, and multitudes of public art installations.  Together with mind-bendingly talented projectionists Josh Ott (SuperDraw), Jeremy Slater, SeeJ, and The Housewive’s Guide to Anatomy, Brooklyn Street Art projected images from the book and others from the booming scene by Jaime Rojo onto the side of the Manhattan Bridge, among other architectural surfaces.

The definition of street art was expanded again – mounted at Halcyon on the Pearl Street Triangle, with a live soundtrack performed by four New York electronic DJ’s streaming live on DailySessions.com.

Superdraw
Housewife’s Guide to Anatomy
SeeJ
Jeremy Slater

Halcyon

Current.TV sponsored the Under the Bridge Festival -Current.TV did a rocking review of our Book “Brooklyn Street Art”

Read more

4 Geezers at Ad Hoc

4 Geezers at Ad Hoc Gallery

4 Geezers at Ad Hoc Gallery

The London Police, Flying Fortress, Pez & Eine

September 12th – October 12th, 2008

Opening Reception: Friday, September 12th, 2008

Hold on to yer hats, sound the alarm and wake up grandma and the kids because on Septemer 12th, 2008 it is gonna be on in Brooklyn, New York. World famous guerrilla street artists The London Police (Amsterdam), Flying Fortress (Germany), Pez (Spain) and Eine (the good ole UK) will be descending upon Ad Hoc Art in Brooklyn for an exhibition of all new, original artwork. All these artists have made a steady, internationally known name for themselves and we can’t wait to see what new work they have in store for us here in New York City.

Read more
Swoon Flotilla Arrives

Swoon Flotilla Arrives

Ahoy Matey! Swoon's Switchback Swashbucklers (photo Laina Karavani)

Ahoy Matey! Swoon’s Switchback Swashbuckers       (photo Laina Karavani)

After weeks on the mighty Hudson River, the peace-loving pirates of Switchback Sea made their heralded entrance at the Port of Deitch in Long Island City, with their effervescent captain at the helm.

Captain Swoon at the Helm (photo Laina Karavani)

Captain Swoon at the Helm (photo Laina Karavani)

Flotilla on the East River with The Manhattan Island Behind (photo Alison Dell)

Flotilla on the East River with The Manhattan Island Behind (photo Alison Dell)

The grand undertaking involved a veritable fleet of talent and beauty to successfully launch and land these ships of dreams, and the eagerly gathered crowd of friends and fans cheered wildly and gaily as each sculptural spectacular made it’s entry to land.

A Jubilant Marching Band Kept the Anticipation High (photo Alison Dell)

A Jubilant Marching Band Kept the Anticipation High (photo Alison Dell)

The boats, built by Swoon and compatriots, harken back to a place we’ve never been, except in childhood fantasies, and the multitude of shipmates aboard them were cleverly clad in ship-chic that alerted others.

Just swashbuckling steps away, the action continued inside the massive ship-hanger, where fans and friends were treated to a massive display of Swoon’s prints, woodcuts, paper, paint, and constructions.

A Cavernous Display of Swoon's Work inside the Gallery (photo Laina Karavani)

A Cavernous Display of Swoon’s Work inside the Gallery

The installation continues through October 18, and will include music and dance performances on selected days until then.

Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea

Images by Laina Karavani and Alison Dell

Read more
Power and Currency: Factory Fresh

Power and Currency: Factory Fresh

“Power and Currency” a new show curated in Bushwick’s Factory Fresh Gallery by Natalie Kates, strikes at the nexus of two words that shake out in the events of most days in New York.  On Brooklyn’s Flushing Avenue, just past Bushwick Ave, the road is rumbling with trucks and potholes, vibrating with the expectations and hopes of a lot of new people these days – artists seeking studio space and escaping high rents, small businesses strong-armed by condo-building piglords, musicians looking for a practice studio, artisans, woodworkers, furniture makers, ……it’s a growing list. You don’t have to look far to see the mounting pressures on the aspiring creative class, and one’s thoughts turn to power and currency more than ever.

Factory Fresh, celebrating three months on Flushing Avenue, is the lovechild of Ali Ha and Adam DeVille, who once fostered a vibrant, audacious, tiny and welcoming gallery of mostly street artists called Orchard Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the early ‘00s. Over five short years and 20 shows, it was a wellspring of new street art that crunched genres and gave foot to a number of underground street artists, and opportunity to many more.

Flyer for the Closing of Orchard Street Gallery

Flyer for the Closing of Orchard Street Gallery

But powerful “Luxury Condo Fever” had been coursing through the valley of lower Manhattan, and when the slimy, blinding affliction caught their landlord, Ali and Ad fought in court to save Orchard Street Gallery, their community and their dream. The fight lasted for 8 months, before they rallied in April “06 and gave their “Grand Closing” show to say goodbye to the soon destroyed building, featuring work by artists they had heralded, some for their first solo shows, including Jet and Rubble, Abe Lincoln Jr, Solar, Rep1, GoreB, as well as shows by Magmo and MCA, Skewville, Pufferella, Overspray Magazine and Azstar.

With more guts and gusto, they eventually set up shop in a former bodega storefront in industrial Brooklyn, where a nascent street art scene was quickly ramping up. “The surrounding Bushwick galleries have been wonderfully supportive, there is a great neighborhood vibe and I really like and respect them,” says Ali.  A quick hike in almost any any direction from the gallery finds current street art installations from Swoon, Frank Duval, Judith Supine, Gaia, and Chris Stain.

Smart alecs and artists Welcomed

Smart alecs and artists Welcomed

The Factory Fresh coronation featured Orchard alumni Skewville during the Bushwick Open Studios weekend in June – an instant success that was swamped with fans old and new; It quickly sprayed a large stenciled red star on the Bushwick map, alongside other newcomers like English Kills, which is a sneaker-throws’ distance down Flushing. But don’t expect the haughty chilled white box here; Factory Fresh is just as committed to the community of artists as ever;  over the summer they hosted a show that paid tribute to the hardworking artists and interns who helped make the gallery launch successful with a showcase of their work.

With Fall roaring in, “Power and Currency” opens with 22 artists in tow.  A huge fan of Orchard Street, “style curator” Natalie Kates was asked to put together her inaugural show. “She came to our 8th show at Orchard Street which was Elik in January 2005… I always appreciated the way she handled herself”

“We are trying to expand our horizons, she knows things I have no clue about but blends them with things I know and love. Natalie surprises me every minute, it’s exciting,” says Ali.

For her part, Ms. Kates, a street art collector, was thrilled to get a chance to create a show, “Ali and Adam were the first art gallery in Manhattan to show Street art at the Orchard Street Gallery space.  My first purchases were three ELIK panel’s that I still to this day adore. When Factory Fresh approached me to curate a show I jumped on the opportunity.”

On the horizon, the auburn Ms. Ha exhibits her customary patience with the process, “We are taking it one day at a time, mostly. I have a few tricks up my sleeve but I also don’t like to plan things too much, you never know what the next day might bring. I like surprising myself, I like surprising my patrons.”

“I think working with lots of people is what will keep Factory Fresh current.  It takes a village, right?”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ********

INTERVIEW with style curator Natalie Kates about “Power and Currency”

Brooklyn Street Art: What first drew your interest to street art (or urban art)?

Natalie Kates:
I have always had a heightened visual sense and have been aware of urban art since the 80’s style old skool bubble letter tags and throw ups.  Some of my favorites were Lee, Seen, Martine, Futura 2000 and of course Keith Haring and Basquiat.  Having deep roots in the fashion industry I first started to notice a visual shift in the urban landscape with Kaws hijacking Fashion Ad Campaigns in the late ‘90’s.

Almost over night there seem to be a change of guard.  The new wave of urban artist had a new voice in the medium of stencils, wheat pasted cut-outs, stickers and glass tiles.  I wanted to know everything about this movement.

Funny Money by DFace (photo Natalie Kates)

Funny Money by DFace (photo Natalie Kates)

Brooklyn Street Art: It is not unusual to hear of an individual curating a show at a gallery, museum, or even nightclub.  What is a “style curator” in the context of a gallery?

Natalie Kates:”Style Curator” is a title/term/concept I came up with to best describe myself and what I am trying to manifest in the world. To me a style curator is a person who is able to think and curate on multiple levels. For example not only am I responsible for curating the artist but also responsible for curating music, guest lists, invites and the overall stylistic look and feel of event. A “Style Curator” is a person who curates style. Style can come in many forms such as fashion, art, music and esthetics.  It is a way of thinking and life.

Nicoz (photo Natalie Kates)

Nicoz (photo Natalie Kates)

Brooklyn Street Art: When street art enters the gallery, how does its’ energy change?
Natalie Kates: I am not sure if the energy changes, but I think the perception changes when in the context of a gallery.  A gallery can give street art it’s credibility the genre deserves.

Brooklyn Street Art: One artist collective, Peripheral Media Projects, recently has been creating large canvasses of storm-trooper looking police in Warholian “Silver Elvis” arrangements.  Do you think this show is influenced by fears of state power?_
Natalie Kates: PMP or Peripheral Media Projects is in the “Power & Currency” show.  They have come up with an amazing installation of “Riot Cops” on Plexiglas.  I don’t know if the images are influenced by fears of state power._
What I take from the images and the installation is a fear to conform, to be apart of a hive like mindset, the fear to not celebrate our differences and flaunt out human imperfections.

Peripheral Media Projects "Riot Cop" (detail)

Peripheral Media Projects “Riot Cop”   (photo Natalie Kates)

Brooklyn Street Art: Aiko and Bast have been introducing more graphic elements of sexualized or sexual imagery into their work.  How does sex enter the power equation?  Currency?_
Natalie Kates: Sex is power and does hold a currency.  Look back in history, Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Evita Peron, all these women had this power and wielded its’ currency.

Brooklyn Street Art: Are there any examples in the show of the intersection of both power and currency?_
Natalie Kates: There are many amazing works of art in this show.  If I had to single out one piece it would be from artist Tom Fruin.  His piece is entitled “Bud Klan Church”.

Bud Klan Church by Tom Fruin (photo Natalie Kates)

Bud Klan Church by Tom Fruin (photo Natalie Kates)

Made from cut out Budweiser cans with (Klu Klux) Klan’s men illustrations in the silhouette of a southern church on fire. This is a solid piece that speaks of power and currency on many levels such as religion, fear, entitlement and alienation to name a few.

Brooklyn Street Art: From a curator’s point of view, what does the whole show look like when it all comes together in one location?
Natalie Kates: This show is a marriage of two art schools.  My attempt is a symbiotic relationship between the contemporary and street artist.  I feel the street artists can give a cool factor to the contemporary art while the contemporary artists can in a sense legitimize the street artist and give them their much needed nod in the global art world.

<<Brooklyn Street Art>>

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ********

Factory Fresh

is located at 1053 Flushing Avenue between Morgan and Knickerbocker, off the L train Morgan Stop

“Power and Currency”

Opening Reception September 5, 2008 from 6-10pm
Show runs September 5 – October 3, 2008
Curated by: Natalie Kates

NatalieKates.com

Factory Fresh Website

Read more