There are a lot of studios in Bushwick, and a lot of white boxes and apartment galleries, too. If you need a break from any or all of those, I recommend venturing out to 299 Meserole Street, where recent alumni of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Sculpture and Extended Media MFA program have taken over part of a warehouse.
June 2013
Posted inArt
5 Things to See at Bushwick Open Studios Today
So much to see, but here’s my short list of things you should most definitely check out today, the last day of Bushwick Open Studios.
Posted inOpinion
Required Reading
This week, the winners of the Venice Biennale, cat selfies, controversy in Poland, Abramović loves New York, a short history of the Bauhaus, questions for the Warhol Foundation, free PDF downloads of Wolfgang Tillmans books, and more.
Posted inArt
Uneven but Steeply Discounted Books and Posters at Luhring Augustine Bushwick
Luhring Augustine holds forth, a garrison mirage, on Bushwick’s Knickerbocker Avenue. After several hours of 56 Bogart bohemia, that grey facade, all frosted glass and sleek surveillance, seemed less sinister than inviting, the kind of place a down-to-earth oligarch might pass the time after putting their name down at Roberta’s.
Posted inOpinion
Weekend Words: Rocks
Sarah Sze is representing the USA at the Venice Biennale, which opened this week. Part of her project is the production of meticulously crafted artificial rocks, which she has placed around the city.
Posted inArt
Painting as an Occult Practice: Philip Taaffe’s Recent Work
There is something subversive about Philip Taaffe’s interest in how information can be preserved and transferred from one medium to another. Since the early 1980s, when he first began gaining attention, he has mastered a wide range of processes — including collage, linocut, woodblock, rubber stamp, silkscreen, marbling and decalomania — to capture images, symbols and signs from various sources and convey them to paper and canvas. Although many discrete steps go into making one of his layered paintings, the collection, preservation and transmission of bits of information are central from start to finish. Through his imaginative repurposing of minor art forms — collage, printmaking, and marbling — Taaffe has dissolved the barriers separating artisanship from painting, effectively redefining the latter.
Posted inNews
Resistance to Turkey’s Protest Violence Reaches the Venice Biennale [UPDATED]
In the last few days, the world is watching Turkey erupt in protest after Turkish authorities responded with shocking violence to peaceful protesters trying to save a small park in central Istanbul. A solidarity protest took place on the opening day of the Venice Biennale, and another arose at New York’s Zuccotti Park.
Posted inMusic
Skrillex: The 100th Greatest Guitarist of All Time
Everyone who said Skrillex was a novelty, a fluke, a parody, a caricature, a passing fad, the last straw, a new low, the most ridiculous music to ever hit the charts, the most ridiculous music to ever hit your eardrums, a one-hit wonder, oops-make-that-a-two-hit-wonder, or a man with bad hair was probably right. But he’s also the most important electronic musician in America.
Posted inArt
Guilt Complex: Selling Painting by the Square Foot
One of the most cleverly paradoxical shows to come around in a long time is G.T. Pellizzi’s The Red and the Black at Y Gallery, an installation of plywood walls built out a couple of feet into the exhibition space and painted entirely in — you guessed it — red and black.
Posted inArt
New Abstraction, 45 Years in the Making
Nothing new under the sun? Does it really matter? “The past,” as William Faulkner wrote, “is never dead. It’s not even past.” The past cannot be ignored, disdained, used up or discarded; it’s the ligand that strings us all together.
Posted inArt
And They’re Off: Friday Night Openings at Bushwick Open Studios 2013
Tonight’s hot weather drew throngs of visitors to the galleries of Bushwick, which kicked off the 2013 Bushwick Open Studios event. Tomorrow, artist studios will be the focus of everyone’s attention, but tonight galleries across the neighborhood attracted hundreds of visitors eager to enjoy the good weather and celebrate the community-wide festival.
