So, new (old) plan, see all the galleries in Brooklyn. Decided to see a few Red Hook galleries before the cold temperatures hit. Stopped off at the Kentler International Drawing Space at 353 Van Brunt Street. The front door is not that inviting with its black façade but it has history - built by "1877 by the Kentler family it housed a men’s haberdashery serving Brooklyn seaport business workers." They were "founded in 1990, as a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing contemporary drawings and works on paper by emerging and under-recognized artists to the public and they include a flat file and exhibition submissions," - who does that these days?! When I stepped in I was greeted by a very nice young woman who told me all about the show. They are exhibiting an intense, emotional, nostalgic exhibition titled Spotlight on the Flatfiles: Meridith McNeal, A Portrait of My Mother up until February 10. The artist states, "Included are portraits of objects that belonged to my mother depicted in my own Brooklyn home; in their new surroundings they become both memorial and useful objects." While her watercolor technique is spectacular, what I felt and wanted to do with MY mother's belongings was to catalog them just as she has, gather a work, arrange it, meticulously render it, and mourn over the loss of such an important woman in your life. So often still-lifes are cold and removed - just a reason for an artist to practice their craft - and while the objects are often there for personal reasons we are not privy their meaning. This show is the opposite and made me so sad, I smiled and thought of my mom.
So, new (old) plan, see all the galleries in Brooklyn. Decided to see a few Red Hook galleries before the cold temperatures hit. Walked over the tunnel and down to 352 Van Brunt to Peninsula Art Space (love the name, love the logo) - a perfect white box, street level one room gallery with large windows on all sides. I could see the show from the street. I walked in and greeted a miserable woman minder (yes it was cold in the space) there was only a price list and no material on the show so I had to wing it - act like you know. The show titled A Strange Form of Life, curated by Johnny Mullen, is up until Feb. 9. The theme, "A collection of contemporary New York-based works that acknowledges (incorporates) the unfamiliar, the foreign, the strange." And it is guided by the lyrics of a song of the same title by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (a song writer from Louisville - go figure - that they call an "Appalachian post-punk solipsist.") Most of the paintings were crisp cubist or ash-can inspired and de Chirico imaged, and a huge yellow shield-like shaped canvas work by Jim Lee dragged me into the space. But the work that epitomized the show and made me smile was Trash Pail Ball, 2016, a nickel-plated steel sculpture of an inflated garbage can by the local Red Hook artist Lars Fisk . He's is inspired by NYC detritus, cobblestones, subway stations, and makes them into ball shapes - large and small. I had walked into the area watching untethered debris winging by due to the heavy winds of an oncoming storm front so this just rolled up trashcan was appropriate.
So, new (old) plan, see all the galleries in Brooklyn. So, across the canal, down 7th street, next to The Bell House is Site: Brooklyn Gallery a large well lighted space with two exhibition rooms - one large, one small - ringed and backed by studio spaces (which I am finding is quite common in outlining galleries - a way for the owner of the space to provide a community and make money). There is a large roll-up window in the front and a door to get buzzed through to the left. This is how they work - based on my chat with the owner or minder of the gallery and their website. The shows are done by open calls and curated / juried from the caFE website - one of those listing sites where artists put up images of their works, and look for shows to enter, like the one at The Drawing Center's "viewing platform or artist archive," etc. (also a way for organizers to make money). The gallery runs in good curators - folks I've heard of or folks affiliated with places I've heard of - the artists pay to enter a show, the curator chooses works, the artists ship them in, and they get to show in NYC - yay. They get reviews, the openings are huge, and it's a way to network. It's the way folks have been showing their works in the rest of the country for years - and sometimes the best way to get your stuff out there - different from the usual / but rarified NYC system of a curator seeking out artists and promoting them and their works. But, hey, whatever works. But when someone asks the artist to pay them to show their works it bothers me - just saying - I'm that kind of snob. The two current shows were interesting - if only curated by media. The first is titled Art on Paper and consists of just that, various media - watercolor, chalk, print, photography, etc. on…paper hung salon style. Standouts include - The well-composed photography by Ben Cricchi titled Switchman, Julia Justo's America (Patricia Stephens Due), Lori Crawford's Brown Paper Bag Portrait, and Khalil Charif, American Flag (To color) that had me giggling. I really wanted to query the artists about the work - as there were no informational labels. The second, better show, is titled Contemporary Sculpture and the like the first is a bunch of…3-D works. Brandon Smith's Outrage II: Indulge the Other paper mache figure with false teeth was jolting and Jill Bell's ceramic with glass beads titled Always with Me was touching and lovely. The gallery has been there for five years and I look forward to their future openings and exhibitions.
So, new (old) plan, see all the galleries in Brooklyn. Started by wandering down under the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday. Several galleries were closed, some were not worth it, some I need to check out again. Klompching Gallery had the best show of the day. Maybe I'm biased, but this just opened, exhibition by Max de Esteban and Doug Fogelson made me smile and laugh. The Fogelsons were brightly colored well done, tight, multiple exposure photograms, that first attracted my attention, but the de Estebans were what yanked me in - visually. They are, about "technology and its impact on social engagement," according to the press release - sigh, yeah yeah. But visually they are complex photo assemblages of the inner workings our cellphones, Gameboys, whatever - in black, white and grisaille, according to the gallery again, "concerned with a reduction of three-dimensional objects into flattened graphic shapes." Visual Doritos - you look and look and munch and munch. Nice.
