Singlet at The Bushwick Starr, photo by Sasha Arutyunova
Consider yourself blessed, Brooklyn: the downtown and all’s-fair-in-love-and-cabaret artist Erin Markey is performing within walking distance from the L Train. Markey, whose preferred gender pronoun is they, has written — and is performing in — Singlet, a bold world premiere that is now playing at The Bushwick Starr through June 3 (207 Starr Street). Known for their one-of-a-kind and genre-defying Manhattan performances, Markey now comes to their home borough with a stunning and zippy world premiere. Continue reading →
Steve Wasterval isn’t from here, but you may be led to believe otherwise given the authenticity and love behind each of his New York paintings. In a culture where the definition of art can often seem haughty, where the medium itself is ever-shifting, there is something beautifully traditional and startlingly contemporary about Steve’s acrylic paintings: They simultaneously represent impressionism from the days of yore while also reflecting the evolving city he adores and inhabits. Steve is participating in Greenpoint Open Studios June 2–3, so if you long to see his paintings in person after reading his interview, you’ll soon have the chance!
Greenpointers: On your site you say you make art for “real” New Yorkers. Are you a real New Yorker?
Steve Wasterval: I do say that — and no I am not. Unfortunately, I’m from Texas so I am one of those people that moved from the south or midwest and are forever trying to earn our local status. My wife is from here though, and so is her family (her grandparents were born and raised in Greenpoint on Berry Street) so I’d like to think I’m native by marriage. Plus nobody can top me when it comes to love for the city! You may think you love her more cause you’re a Yankees fan, or know where to get the best slice or whatever, but I paint her everyday. She’s all mine in that way, no one loves her the way I do.
Once a year, hundreds of Greenpoint artists open up their studio doors to the public for a unique peek inside their process. This year’s Greenpoint Open Studios is happening June 2nd & 3rd, and promises an exciting weekend of art in every medium— from fiberarts to virtual reality to painting to architecture and more. Here are six of our favorite sculpture artists you should definitely check out while you cruise the neighborhood that weekend.
Be sure to check out the full list of artists and sign up for the email list to find out more about fun Greenpoint Open Studios events happening that week!
Alison Kudlow | sculpture 255 Calyer St, third floor, 8A
Based in Greenpoint for about five years, Kudlow’s sculptures explore the sun, cosmos, gender and the ethereal, through the physical translation of her sculptures using a few different mediums: glass, ceramics, resins, and thread. This year, she is creating a body of work specifically to show during Open Studios.
It’s hard to mistake an original by Pinky Weber. With their striking colors and iconic motifs, Pinky’s works look beautiful in varying mediums — as murals on brick buildings or even as square images on Instagram. Greenpointers spoke with the artist, the first in our May Thursday Spotlights to also be participating in the upcoming Greenpoint Open Studio. She’ll be featured in the neighborhood-wide event on June 2–3 — look out for her enjoyable and comical pieces next month! Til then, learn more about her perspective on street art, women in the field, and — above all — donuts in our engaging interview below.
Greenpointers: How long have you been in Brooklyn?
Pink Weber: I’m originally from San Francisco, but first moved to New York City in 2010 to attend Parsons The New School for Design. After a few years of Manhattan life under my belt, I decided Brooklyn was where I needed to be. I moved to Greenpoint in 2013 and haven’t looked back since!
GP: You’re a donut enthusiast! Are you a Peter Pan loyalist or do you have other favorites?
PW: Yes! I love donuts so much that my first mural was a 20×30 foot donut mural in Bushwick, which I painted as a collab with Christian Hooker. I’m pretty loyal to my gals in the green and pink uniforms over at Peter Pan, but occasionally dabble in the donuts at Dough Donuts. Continue reading →
Greenpoint Open Studios is back again this year June 2-3, 2018, and more than 300 local artists (yes, we have that many here!) will be opening their studio doors to the public from 12pm-6pm each day. Last year’s event saw the neighborhood swarming with thousands of visitors checking out artwork in every kind of media. From painting to video to sculpture to textiles to jewelry, Greenpoint artists represent a talented community of art in NYC. Here’s a few of our participating artists that are not-to-miss this year.
Be sure to check out the full list of artists and sign up for the email list to find out more about fun Greenpoint Open Studios events happening that week! Continue reading →
Dance, auctions, and film! It’s an eclectic mix of goings-on this week, Greenpointers. Enjoy your weekly roundup below.
Not an Ending at All Triskelion Arts | 106 Calyer Street May 10–12 | 8 PM More info, $18 in advance or $22 at the door
Not an Ending at All is an evening-length work, exploring the homes we build for the spirits that haunt us. Inspired by the Buddhist teachings on Hungry Ghosts and a deleted scene from Fred Astaire’s “Second Chorus,” the two performers — Sarah Capua and Audrey Lane Ellis — navigate an intimate world carefully guarded by a chorus of personal apparitions in this dance performance. Continue reading →
We’re approaching summer, and that means it’s time to get your dance on (and your drink on) outdoors. For North Brooklyn, the days of seeing live bands play in the belly of the decaying McCarren Park pool or along the Williamsburg waterfront have been dead for about a decade. Luckily there’s a handful of local venues picking up the torch, where you can groove to some sick jams al fresco. Read on for our top picks. Continue reading →
The 7th annual Greenpoint Film Festival is back, bringing a diverse mix of local, environmental and art shorts and feature-length films to the Wythe Hotel Screening Room (80 Wythe Ave) this week, starting today May 3rd and running through May 6th. Tickets for all the programs are $10 each, or you can buy a festival day pass for $18, or a pass for the entire fest for $56. Read on for our top picks of the fest! Continue reading →
A piece from ceramist Carol Joo Lee’s current show, Naturalized
The immigrant story is fertile ground for storytelling; it has been highlighted in literature (Ragtime), theater (Hamilton), film (La misma luna), and — of course — art. Carol Joo Lee, the bold and elegant Korean-American ceramist/artist, is now communicating part of her story in Naturalized, her art show that is now on display at Greenpoint Hill until May 27. We got to know Carol, talk about her parents’ influence on her work, and even how Manhattan (gasp!) may be her sturdy fortress even as her work spans boroughs.
Greenpointers: Naturalized has been open since Greenpoint Gallery Night on April 20. Can you talk about the viewers’ reactions to it?
Carol Joo Lee: I was quite surprised by how many people actually read the press release at the opening and wanted to share their own feelings or experiences with me. I’m naturally a very private person and don’t like to share that much about myself, so I felt a little exposed given that the backstory behind the work was quite autobiographical. But I felt very touched by that response. Continue reading →
The art fairs are coming. Those, and some noir films, art-that’s-not-at-fairs-but-that’s-still-art, and Cinco de Mayo celebraciónes. Below is your weekly roundup, Greenpointers!
The Other Art Fair Brooklyn Expo Center | 72 Noble Street May 3–6 | Times vary Tickets info, $13.50–$30
The Other Art Fair is returning to Brooklyn, popping up May 3–6 at the Brooklyn Expo Center in Greenpoint. This is the third edition of this Other Art Fair, New York’s leading market for a new generation of art buyers that runs biannually in the spring and fall. 130 artists will be featured this spring, and nearly 60% of them are women.
Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse, hosting the Moniker Art Fair May 3–6
Moniker Art Fair Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse | 73 West Street May 3–6 | Times vary Tickets info, $15–$28
Moniker Art Fair comes to the Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse. Here you will find some of the most talked-about artists, galleries, and collectors from the finer side of the street art movement and its related subcultures.
Change of Art, a pop-up, zeros in on the theme of Brooklyn
Change of Art 122 Waterbury Street May 3 | 7–9 PM Tickets info, $20 admission that includes open bar
JP PR’s ChangeofArt exclusive art pop-up will showcase artwork from three NYC-based photographers, and two NYC-based visual artists (painters), centered around the theme of “Brooklyn.” Come for the art, stay for the all-inclusive booze!
The “American Jesus” exhibit begins May 4
“American Jesus” Art During the Occupation Gallery | 119 Ingraham St May 4–27 | Times vary More info, Free
“American Jesus,”Art During the Occupation Gallery’s first solo exhibition of the work of Chris Bors, is titled after the Bad Religion song and presents new paintings using bold graphics and text commenting on our current political climate, commodification, trash culture, and personal obsessions.
A Nighthawk tradition!
Cinco de Mayo Screening of Desperado Nitehawk Cinema | 136 Metropolitan Avenue May 5–6 | 11:15 AM More info
Nitehawk in Williamsburg will host its annual Cinco de Mayo screening during brunch on May 5 and 6, showingDesperadowith a live performance by Las Flores mariachi band during the pre-show. Movies, Mayo, and Mariachi — can’t go wrong!
INCALL will have an encore presentation
Encore Screening of INCALL Film Noir Cinema | 122 Meserole Avenue May 6 | 8 PM More info, $10
FilmNoir Cinema in Greenpoint is having an encore screening of INCALL, an indie cult horror film. The film has been called “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer meets Brokeback Mountain.” After the film there will be a Q&A with the director. See the film‘s trailer and buy tickets here!
A Zulponian work at its best
UP & UP 1969 Gallery | 103 Allen Street, New York, NY Now–June 10 More info Greenpointer (and previous Thursday Spotlight friend) Aaron Zulpo is celebrating his first major exhibition in New York City, consisting of eight new narrative paintings and the debut of oil pastels on paper. If you dare to cross over the East River, you won’t be disappointed in Aaron’s proficiency, artistic ambition and long-standing interest in architecture and sequential art through the composition of his paintings.
Mothership brings a Columbian-Italian band playing energetic Latin-influenced music and poetry, a slideshow from Brooklyn performance art photographerWalter Wlodarczyk, and resident artist and painter Claire Zakiewicz, for their monthly informal, salon-style gathering.
