A view of Peirogi Boiler with all the gravity racers lined up against the wall and the track in the middle. (all photos by the author for Hyperallergic)
Pierogi is a Williamsburg, Brooklyn art gallery and one of its longest-running traditions turns 20 this week: Brooklyn Gravity Racers.
Featuring four distinctive categories (“The Speed Award,” “The Heavyweight Division Award,” “The Aesthetic Award,” “The ‘What Were You Thinking’ Award”), artists and the general public are invited to submit their miniature gravity racers for three nights of head-to-head match-ups, culminating in a race between finalists on Friday, September 19.
The racers are on view September 13–21 (Thursday through Sunday, 12–6pm), but the real action happens in the evenings. Renowned artists including Fred Tomaselli, Dawn Clements, Peter Fox, Greg Barsamian, David Kramer, Ati Maier, and Tom Burckhardt, among others, have made their vehicular contributions to the event. Races take place at the Pierogi Boiler space on 191 North 14th Street beginning at 7pm.
Of the hundreds of racers, here are some that caught my eye:
Peter Fox’s lasagna-inspired racer
Fred Tomaselli’s Presidential car
Elizabeth Meggs goes literal, I mean literary
Brooklyn pride from Francesco Pizza
A shadowy figure from Kathy and Paul
Tom Burckhardt puts his work into it
Peter Garfield goes Freudian
Gowanus pride from Paige Tooker
Larry Krone likes flames
I guess Jonathan Schipper is going for the aesthetic category because I can’t imagine this one will finish
The eyes have it for Matt and Alix Marello’s car
Vanessa van Walraven and Keith Mendak provide a punch
Justin Amrhein’s sleek design
Linda Herrit and Mark Beton are inspired by the new Freedom Tower
OMG Glenn Wonsettler
Not In My Gravity Racer! WM (Bill) Giraef
Racing makes Greg Barsamian hungry
Dawn Clements has a slippery car\
Fuck Yeah, Matt Blackwell’s gravity racer
Mike Ballou is into big dogs
Raimundo Rubio thinks racing is a piece of cake
What if Frank Lloyd Wright designed a speed racer? Nico Koehler and Michael Koehler seem to ask
Some people would love to see Peter Freitag’s car in real life
USA! USA! USA! screams Seokyeong Yoon
I guess if the race doesn’t pay off, Pierogi can use David Kramer’s creation
preliminary race video…… https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152696252917445