A new installation from artist Nassia Inglessis of Studio INI opens today at A/D/O (29 Norman Ave).
“Urban Imprint” (courtesy of A/D/O)
The “immersive, kinetic,” outdoor installation entitled “Urban Imprint” opens today (5/17) and will run through September 2nd; registration is open for free artist-led tours.
The “immersive” feature of the installation is highlighted by a rubber canopy which shape-shifts above the viewer’s head as they walk underneath, making for great Instagram snaps. Continue reading →
GOS is an un-curated event where local artists and creatives open up their studio doors to share their work with the public. Last year more than 400 artists participated and tens of thousands of art lovers swarmed our beautiful neighborhood to weave in and out of art studios and spaces. And again this year, throughout the inspiring weekend there will also be parties, artist-led workshops, talks and guided tours.
Who should register?Artists of all mediums, designers, crafters, fabricators, performers, and anyone who has work or work-in-progress to show inGreenpoint.
Today (May 1st) is the last day to get the $15 Early Bird Registration price! After today, the cost to sign up will go up to $40.
Your address will be on the publicly available GOS online map and a printed guide that is distributed all over North Brooklyn
Registered artists open their doors on June 8th and 9th to visitors, from 12pm-6pm each day
*Note: You can also sign up if you are a Greenpoint artist without a space to show your work. A few local venues have generously offered up their space to show artists’ work during GOS. You can let them know you’re interested by signing up on the forms here.
BBBBB (Buket’s Bunny Boy Beach Bed), 2017, oil on canvas, by Buket Savci
These are dark times, there’s no denying it. From political unrest and environmental crisis to smaller gripes like seasonal allergies and MTA woes, it’s easy to get bogged down in this concrete jungle we call home. But Buket Savci, this week’s featured artist, is here with a salve in her magnificently colorful and fantastically buoyant works. Buket’s paintings, along with Jacob Hicks’, will be the inaugural works at Wrong Side of the River (67 West Street, Suite 312) now through May 3. Their exhibition, Wonderland, is a welcome balm to our times and a stunning exercise in collaborative creativity. Below, we get to know Buket and her work, but most importantly her contagious and relentless optimism.
Greenpointers: How long have you been in Brooklyn?
Buket Savci: I live and work in Brooklyn; I’ve been in Bushwick for a little over three years. Before that I lived in Astoria for almost 10 years. But I’ve had my studio in Greenpoint since I received my MFA from New York Academy of Art in 2012. I also studied painting at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.
Your Wonderland series is so fun! What was the inspiration for that at Wrong Side of the River?
I am so glad to hear you enjoy our title for the show. I have been working on these series of paintings for a few years now, which are about the fleeting moments of pure joy and happiness. I create paintings addressing the ephemerality of happiness while using objects like balloons as a metaphor for our short lived contentment.
I really enjoy using saturated vivid colors, and I think everything else is so negative and dark so at least my paintings should be colorful and fun. That’s why I use the colors that makes me happy, and I enjoy including humor in my art. But actually I am not that joyful. Life is not easy and I had my share of traumas. Unfortunately a few years ago I had a major depression and even my psychiatrist was constantly telling me that my art will save me. Painting is my passion, and it is this wonderland where anything can happen, so I choose to make it fun and colorful like a playground.
Passengers, 2018, oil on canvas, by Buket Savci
There is this profound quote from a Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet; he asks to Abidin Dino, who was a famous Turkish artist. “Could you make a painting of happiness?” So all these led me to question what is real happiness, when and how we feel real joy, and how do I express this through painting.
Painting lets me live these fleeting moments in detail and throughly over a course of weeks even months. I want to create a niche of fantasy, where both the figures and I as the painter can be just like a child — innocent and playful, carefree and bold. A visual playground far away from all the darkness enclosing us outside and inside, blossomed through sincerity and trust.
Ready your paintbrushes: Eckford Street Studiowill host a Family Art Party on Sunday, March 1 from 10 AM to 2 PM at the studio’s home base, 70 Eckford Street. Families will enjoy food, games, drinks, and art (with supplies provided by the studio). Tickets start at just $35 for one adult and child, and $50 for two adults and two kids. But note: prices will go up at the door, so be sure to get yours today!
Every ticket purchased helps fulfill Eckford Street Studio’s mission to bring high-quality, affordable, and accessible art education to all members of our community.
Plus, those who attend will enjoy first dibs on the event’s auction, full of gift certificates, bar tabs, class passes, memberships, and more from some favorite hot spots including Artist & Craftsman, Artshack Brooklyn, Awoke Vintage, The Blue Stove, Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Brooklyn Kitchen, Burson and Reynolds, Glasserie, Greenpoint Massage, Greenpoint YMCA, Hosh Yoga, Kanga’s Playspace, The Karcher, The Land of Barbers, Le Fanfare, Nanno, New Love City, Nitehawk Cinema, The Noguchi Museum, The Palace , Paulie Gee’s, Pheasant, Pies ‘n’ Thighs, PLAY Greenpoint, The Rack Shack, Ramona, Ringolevio, Rockin’ Locks, The Sketchbook Project, True North Training, wBees Forest School, Welcome Home Studio, Whitney Museum of American Art, The Williamsburg Hotel, Woops, The Yard, and Your Spoiled Pets .
So come have a colorful afternoon, bond as a family, and support a thriving local institution!
Program support generously provided by The Atlantic Philanthropies Director/Employee Designated Gift Fund, Jonathan and Rebekah Ambjor, Jonathan Nadler, and Jessica and Ryan Demler.
Families enjoy communal painting at Eckford Street Studio
Greenpointers will have the chance to see the work of the celebrated Polish artist Joanna Sarapata this Friday, Nov. 16, at 7:00 p.m. at Klub Amber (71 India St.). Sarapata’s creations have appeared in galleries, museums, private and public collections around the world.
The show, entitled “ Scent of A Woman,” features sensual and intimate portraits of women. Sarapata, a graduate of the highly prestigious L’ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, won the Paris Opera Grand Prize in its poster competition in 1996.
Painting by Joanna Sarapata
Although she was born and raised in Poland, Sarapata arrived in Paris at the age of 18 and the city, like many artists before her, had a lasting and dramatic effect on her worldview. She referred to Paris as a “ school for femininity” and her work captures something of the legendary Parisian sensuality. Her work is very erotic, but Sarapata adds: “Eroticism is not just sex, a narrow waist and long legs. It is also behavior, a way to sit and talk topics. I do not paint pure erotica, only femininity. I like women, I am their friend, I know them well. I know well what it is like to be a woman in a relationship, a beloved woman, but also a woman betrayed.” Continue reading →
Pop-up park on the Pulaski Bridge! (via Lucy Levine)
With some turf and a table, the Pulaski Bridge pedestrian lane just got a little greener. A small “park” installation has been slotted into the span’s scenic-overlook which offers unobstructed views of Newtown Creek. Continue reading →
There’s a handful of figure drawing classes in North Brooklyn, but these two upcoming classes focus on bringing elements of the outdoors into your sketchbook. Both classes are held outdoors, and they’re both FREE!
Drawing plants is a wonderful tool for closer observation of the natural world. Join naturalist Gabriel Willow on a journey through the Kingsland Wildflowers rooftop landscape, observing & drawing various plants and flowers as you deepen your connection to nature. No drawing experience required; materials provided.
Botanical Art Workshop with Wendy Hollender Wednesday, July 25 | 6pm-8pm Franklin Street Garden | 61 Franklin Street Free, materials provided More info, sign up
Greening Greenpoint will be hosting a workshop with professional botanical artist Wendy Hollender. Wendy will lead a botanical illustration and plant biology lesson and all art supplies will be provided.
The next installment of Pete’s Mini Zine Fest is coming up this Saturday, July 14th from 2-7pm! This zine-fest-in-a-bar has been going strong for eight years. Head on down to Pete’s Candy Store (709 Lorimer St), drink some booze, meet the talented lineup, and check out some zines! As always, admission is FREE.
Field Day Friday at Kingsland Wildflowers, photo via Newtown Creek Alliance
Field Day Friday at Kingsland Wildflowers Kingsland Wildflowers | 520 Kingsland Ave
Friday, June 15 | 4pm-7pm Join Kingsland Wildflowers this Friday, June 15, at 4pm for their Field Day Friday (every 3rd Friday of the month) in partnership with Newtown Creek Alliance where you can volunteer to get your hands dirty and help maintain the beautiful rooftop garden!
Botanical Printmaking / Art + Nature at Kingsland Wildflowers Kingsland Wildflowers | 520 Kingsland Ave Friday, June 15 | 4pm-7pm And, this Friday as part of their art + nature series, you will also enjoy a guided tour of what is blooming on the rooftop meadow and learn creative ways to get to know the plantsbylearning botanical printmaking with artist Autumn Kioti! $10 suggested donation. More info + registration here.
A/D/O – Spirit of the City by United Visual ArtistsA/D/O – Spirit of the City by United Visual Artists
SPIRIT OF THE CITY art installation A/D/O| 29 Norman Avenue On view this weekend in the A/D/O courtyard as part of Greenpoint Open Studios, Sunday June 3rd from 12pm-5pm (and during normal business hours; note: A/D/O is closed this Saturday June 2nd for a private event)
Spirit of the City is a site-specific installation by London-based United Visual Artists that explores the physical and emotional response that individuals experience when navigating urban environments. Visitors are surrounded by 9-foot high gold mirrored rotating cubes which mimic Manhattan’s (and now Greenpoint’s) high rise skyscrapers. During the day, the reflective cubes cast beams of light onto the ground and walls in an ever changing confetti of light, while at night, the cubes are illuminated.
