West coast band Oh Sees (recently/formerly/still pretty much known as Thee Oh Sees) are bringing their special blend of crunchy noisy dirty dancy garage rock to Warsaw(261 Driggs Ave) on Saturday September 9th and Sunday September 10th. ($24 tickets here) If you’ve never seen them live, you are in for a bonkersrock out to ultra-legit rock n’ roll. Their jams are sweaty, powerful, and will most likely knock your socks off. They’re currently touring to support their latest album, Orc, which was released at the end of August. It’s total psychedelic garage trash, and that’s a good thing.
Lucky for you, we’re giving away two pairs of tickets to the Warsaw shows, one pair for each night. Fill out this form by 5pm on September 8th for a chance to win. Winners will be selected at random.
Modern ceramics are having a moment. North Brooklyn boutiques are fully stocked with cheeky (Group Partner‘s kitschy butt planters at Homecoming), spiritual (ivyivyivy‘s incense burners at M Carter) and primitive-chic (Matthew Ward‘s vessels at Home of the Brave) hand-crafted local ceramics. But there’s something truly timeless about the craft. Earth, fire, air and water: these elements are our world’s most ancient foundations, and ceramics is the only art form that makes use of all them. The Brooklyn Clay Tour is three days of exhibitions and events shining a spotlight on Brooklyn’s diverse and growing ceramics community. More than 200 clay artists are participating across Brooklyn in exhibits, demonstrations, artist talks, workshops, art sales, and culinary events. They’re also hosting a Finders Keepers ceramic treasure huntof 100 ceramic objects hidden across Brooklyn for the finder to keep.
Some of the North Brooklyn events happening over the weekend include:
Kids…gear up for fall! A new, exciting afterschool activity is coming to Brooklyn. SING BKLYN children’s choir is inspiring young musicians, grades k-4, to blend their voices and talents to create something beautiful together. “Kids need more opportunities to perform. Kids need more music. Kids need to sing. Kids need a chance to build relationships that require them to work, support and encourage each other,” says founder Mary Duncan Stein.
Mary’s well-established SING LIC choirs in nearby Long Island City have been so well-received that she wanted to share this special experience with kids in Greenpoint and Williamsburg. Continue reading →
Frankie Rose, an original member of Crystal Stilts, Dum Dum Girls and Vivian Girls, introduced her fourth album Cage Tropical at Baby’s All Right (146 Broadway) before she heads out on her US and European tour. Frankie’s performance was a shimmery 80s daydream: ultra-confident and unapologetic, yet she exuded a mellow energy. Her vocals were glimmery and ethereal. And, psychedelic projections that changed for each song—from an atomic bomb to flashing disco palm trees—set a powerful backdrop to her intoxicating voice. Continue reading →
Kate McQuillen greets me from the driveway of her charming and noteworthy Greenpoint house, directing me into the garage where her fluorescent printmaking studio is set up. Her companion Kassie, a sterling herding dog, is attentively surveying the area and happy to have another to look after. The inherent New York City ankle weights have already slipped away, leaving us to speak candidly in Kate’s kaleidoscopic space. While we talk, the garage door remains open and Kate periodically greets her neighbors passing by. I feel as if I have crossed a portal into an alternate dimension, or at least am no longer in the city.
Kate and her dog Kassie in her Greenpoint garage studio. Photo: Ian Hartsoe
Greenpointers: When were you first exposed to art as a child?
Kate McQuillen: My dad studied painting in graduate school, and during my childhood worked as a graphic designer in Boston. We always had an art studio in the house, which allowed me the opportunity to experiment with literal cut and paste tools like transfer paper. I’d imagine this is what initially pushed me into printmaking. I think of printmaking processes as the perfect place between design tools and fine art tools. I always had a lot of interest in drawing, but was never super into oil paint. I think my new work is taking on a form reminiscent of paintings, but I can still use the printmaking tools I’ve grown to know and love.Continue reading →
The infamous Insane Clown Posse and presumably, their posse of clown-faced juggalos, are bound for Brooklyn with a show at Villain (303 Kent Ave) in Williamsburg on October 23rd where they will perform their classic hiphop album The Great Milenko in its entirety. Why should you be afraid? Well, according to Wikipedia, these are some of the identifying characteristics of juggalos: Continue reading →
Design and architecture buffs abound here in Brooklyn, and Greenpoint has even been called the home design capital of the borough, but Talking Tropics, a new series of discussions at A/D/O, the creative design hub at 29 Norman Avenue, is putting Tropical cities like Shenzhen, Rio and Chennai at the center of “a conversation about climate change and the future of design, architecture and construction in island and waterfront cities.”
Aaron Zulpo amongst paints in his Greenpoint studio. Photo: Ian Hartsoe
Aaron Zulpo‘s Greenpoint studio is a multitude of raw canvas hung on paint-stained walls. In the middle stands a table topped with piles of paint, smelling rich of linseed oil. His work looks immediately relatable, a style he later describes to me as “Cartoon Realism”. The divisions of brightly colored vignettes create elaborate narratives, enticing the viewer to engage further.
GP: When were you first exposed to art as a child? Are there visual influences from your childhood that currently influence your work?
Aaron Zulpo: I grew up in the Midwest and wasn’t exposed to a lot of art until high school. I was always a doodler, however, replicating imagery from comic books and a duplicated bronze Remington cowboy statue we had in the house. As far as visual references from my childhood go— action movies, bright colors, cowboys robbing a train—these are all things I liked as a child and I still like now. I took art classes in high school and really loved a specific sculpture class. After that I decided to apply to art school. This was the first time where all my classes related to one another. I could be in 2D Design in the morning, and learning about the same concepts and principles in afternoon art history. It was very exciting.Continue reading →
In a previous piece I described how Mae West funded her scandalous 1927 play sex through her romance with the rich, handsome, but very dangerous gangster Owney Madden. However, it was the poor, but handsome bag man of the gangster who made West an American icon.
In 1927 the Acting Mayor of New York Joe McKee, scandalized by the drama’s frank sexual portrayals, had West and the rest of the cast arrested. The arrest was a publicity gold mine and sex and West were the words on the lips of all New Yorkers. When the cops jailed Mae the gangster’s connections with Blackwell’s Island warden earned Mae a private cell and silk underwear. She even dined with the warden every night and left after six days being let out early for good behavior. Upon her release she quipped, “It was the first time I ever got anything for good behavior.”Continue reading →
Saint Anthony of Padua Church. Photo via Historic Districts Council
For years I passed the graceful façade of Saint Anthony of Padua church (862 Manhattan Avenue) and admired its beauty, but never really thought much about the man who built it. Recently I researched the life of the amazing man who built this Greenpoint landmark and his story is every bit as amazing as the church he built.
Patrick Keely (1816-1896) was the most prolific church builder in American history, constructing, by some estimates, seven hundred churches stretching from Nova Scotia to the Gulf of Mexico and from New England to Iowa. He built St. Anthony’s in 1876. It is like many of his churches built in the neo-gothic style. Keely’s prolific career is all the more shocking when we consider that he never received any formal training as an architect.Continue reading →
