Riley’s nautical-themed exhibition brims with antic details that constitute a feat of serious world-building.
Duke Riley
Navigating the Recent Wave of Renegade Seafaring in Art
WATER MILL, NY — On the same day the Apollo 11 Lunar Module touched down on the Moon, an art collective in Japan was rowing on a giant white arrow down the rivers between Kyoto and Osaka.
The Anarchy of the Pigeon
Through the castellated gates at the Sands St. entrance to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, I marched along a line of pointing volunteers.
A Fleet of 2,000 Pigeons Takes Flight in Brooklyn, Ruffling Protesters’ Feathers
For over a decade, helicopter pilots practiced their landings on the deck of the US Navy’s Baylander IX-514. Today, the now decommissioned and privately owned ship is serving as home base to flying creatures of another kind: pigeons.
Crossing Brooklyn, Without Leaving the Safe Parts
Let’s begin with the obvious: to attempt a comprehensive exhibition of contemporary art from across Brooklyn would be not only impossible but foolish, a kind of Tower of Babel of artistic practice. And so the Brooklyn Museum’s eagerly awaited Crossing Brooklyn is not a sweeping survey but a tight, thematic show, focused mostly on one specific type of art making manifest throughout the borough.
Duke Riley’s Pigeon Army of Cuban Cigar Smugglers
The United States spends billions of dollars on a balloon surveillance system on the Florida Straits waters as part of its Trading with the Enemy Act against Cuba, the only country currently under the restriction. Yet as Brooklyn-based artist Duke Riley states in his video for a recent project: “As it turns out, homing pigeons cannot be identified by surveillance balloons nor can they be prosecuted for smuggling cigars.”
Break Through the Lines with Artist-Designed Coloring Books
For anyone soothed by the careful filling in of white space or enthused by wrecking it all with random slashes of color and unconventional hues, there’s been a recent influx of coloring books created by artists.
A Sad Goodbye to Brooklyn Museum’s 1stfans Membership
LOS ANGELES — A few days ago, Shelley Bernstein at the Brooklyn Museum announced that 1stfans, the museum world’s first socially networked membership, would be coming to a close after more than three years of great programming.
Required Reading
This week, it’s a mixed bag of artist interviews, design and social media infographics.
Brooklyn Museum Posts Archive of 1st Fans Twitter Art
The Brooklyn Museum has posted an archive of its 1st Fans Twitter art. The Twitter Art Feed was a benefit for @brooklynmuseum‘s 1stfans (formerly @1stfans) members from December 2008 to December 2010. The feed featured tweets by contemporary artists every month, including Joseph Kosuth, Tracey Moffatt, Mike Montiero, Duke Riley, and names familiar to social media art fans, such as An Xiao, Man Bartlett, Lauren McCarthy, Nina Meledandri, and Joanie San Chirico.