Category Archives: Events

STRANGE FLOWERS

Strange-Flowers_web_800 REVISED

Artists
Cecile Chong, Elisabeth Condon, Nancy Friedemann, Brece Honeycutt, Amy Lincoln, Judith Linhares, Rebecca Saylor Sack, Chrysanne Stathacos, Jessica Weiss, Jimmy Wright

Organized by Elisabeth Condon
elisabethcondon@gmail.com
917.449.4483

Exhibition Poster: Jessica Weiss GENIE 2014 (detail) Silkscreen, acrylic and collage on canvas 70 x 68 inches

Westbeth Gallery
55 Bethune St. at Washington St., New York, NY 10014
westbethgallery@gmail.com

Exhibition Dates: September 9 – September 30, 2017
Gallery Hours: Wednesday – Sunday 1 – 6 PM

Opening Reception: Saturday, September 9, 6 PM to 8 PM
Gallery Walk-Through with Selected Artists 4:30 – 5:30 PM
(Chong, Honeycutt, Lincoln, Linhares , Sack and Weiss)

Exhibition Statement

In the art and fashion worlds this season, flowers bloom in gallery and museum exhibitions and flourish in upscale window displays, pop-up shop exteriors and a myriad of high-end products from handbags to vases.

Yet beneath their decorative veneer flowers possess a strange morbidity. The desire to encapsulate their beautiful forms is to contain that which cannot be controlled. Michel Houellebecq jokes in The Map and The Territory ( 2010. p17-18) that “the flower’s will to live manifests itself in the dazzling spots of color which break the greenish banalty of the urban landscap, as well as the generally transparent banality of the urban landscape–or at least in municipalities in bloom.” A long-standing custom of sending flowers in the event of illness and death persists. Sadie Stein observes of Childe Hassam’s painting “The Room of Flowers,” 1894, that documents poet Celia Thaxter’s room the year of her demise, that the flowers depicted symbolically replace Thaxter’s body after her death.[1]

Strange Flowers considers what flowers symbolize to artists working with flowers today and who have worked with them a while. What compels artists to utilize flowers? How do flowers function as image, form or structure for each artist, and in a larger context help navigate life? How can frail flowers combat global instability, terror, falsity? Do flowers’ reminder of life’s fleeting beauty inspire artists, or in fact do they perceive flowers as beautiful at all?

[1] Stein, Sadie. On the Island of The Shoals with Celia Thaxter. Paris Review, February 4, 2016.

Nancy Friedemann CORNUCOPIA 2016 India Ink on Tyvek 225 x 108 inches

Nancy Friedemann CORNUCOPIA 2016 India Ink on Tyvek 225 x 108 inches

Artist Links:

Cecile Chong, NY, NY
http://cecilechong.com

Elisabeth Condon, NY, NY
http://elisabethcondon.com

Nancy Friedemann-Sanchez, Brooklyn, NY – Nebraska
http://www.nancyfriedemann.com/chapter-2/1

Brece Honeycutt, Sheffield, MA
http://brecehoneycutt.com

Amy Lincoln, Brooklyn, NY
http://amylincoln.com/paintings/1

Judith Linhares, Brooklyn, NY
http://www.judithlinhares.com/Gouache_BlueVase.html

Rebecca Saylor Sack, Philadelphia, PA
http://rebeccasaylorsack.net

Chrysanne Stathacos, Toronto, Athens
http://chrysannestathacos.com

Jessica Weiss, Brooklyn, NY
http://jessicaweiss.net

Jimmy Wright, NY, NY
http://www.jimmywrightartist.com/works/

Bruce Honeycutt FLASHCARDS:WILDFLOWERS 2016 ecoprint on paper, child's slate, vintage flash cards 73 x 24 x 8 inches

Bruce Honeycutt FLASHCARDS:WILDFLOWERS 2016 ecoprint on paper, child’s slate, vintage flash cards 73 x 24 x 8 inches

Cecile Chong DETAIL: WORK IN PROGRESS FOR STRANGE FLOWERS 2017 Flowers, foam paint. Dimensions variable

Cecile Chong WORK IN PROGRESS FOR STRANGE FLOWERS 2017 (detail) Flowers, foam paint. Dimensions variable

Valerie Ghent releases her newest video, New York City Streets, featuring rock solid music performances in dozens of locations throughout the city.

Valerie-Ghent-New-Video-NYC-Streets.banner(1)

NYC recording artist Valerie Ghent celebrates her newest video, New York City Streets, with a worldwide release today on youtube.com/valerieghent and a call for response videos made by anyone who loves New York City.

Valerie Ghent NYC Streets

A love letter to her native city, the New York City Streets video was shot in all five boroughs of The Big Apple, in dozens of locations, many of personal significance to the enthusiastic and rockin’ NY singer/musician/composer. “New York is a beloved and iconic city for people around the globe”, Valerie says, “Whenever I travel people tell me how much they love NYC! So I’m inviting anyone who loves New York City to make your own video with the song, showcase your favorite parts of New York, and post it on YouTube. Show us your “New York City Streets!”

Voted #2 Best Song of 2016 by LA West Coast Music Radio, New York City Streets features rock solid performances by veteran New York musicians who have played on countless hits by world-class artists including Ashford & Simpson, Luther Vandross, Chic, Whitney Houston, Roberta Flack, Lou Reed, Bruce Springsteen and many more. A free mp3 of the song is available from Valerie’s website, valerieghent.com, for anyone who wants to make their own version of a New York City Streets video.

Critics rave: “New York City Streets”, right out of the 70s/80s Luther meets Ashford & Simpson period with a driving piano lead and Alfa Anderson and Dennis Collins (together with Keith Fluitt) bringing back those inimitable Chic and Luther Vandross moments in the super-slick hook, supported by a cool horn section. A real gem!” – Gina Loves Jazz

WHAT: Valerie Ghent New York City Streets video release & invitation
WHEN: Friday September 15, 2017
WHO: NYC recording artist Valerie Ghent
WHERE: filmed in all five boroughs of New York City, video on youtube.com/valerieghent
WHY: We Love New York!

WEBSITE: valerieghent.com
YOUTUBE: youtube.com/valerieghent
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/valerieghentmusic
TWITTER: twitter.com/valerieghent
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/valerieghent

“Ghent sings from the guts. Her contralto rises with the smooth momentum of something out of NASA.”
– Woman About Town
“Ghent, herself, is a vocal phenomenon…she has the glistening, effervescent energy of a top pop/rock star.”
– NY Cabaret Today
“Valerie Ghent – a “kick butt” artist. That kind of quality never really goes out of style.” – Soul Tracks
“Valerie Ghent, la Dame de New York – Il est rare de trouver une voix aussi singulière et une maîtrise du rythme aussi pertinente. – La Marseillaise (France)

MEDIA CONTACT: Jim Eigo jim@jazzpromoservices.com

OPEN HOUSE NY | OPEN STUDIO

Open House Open Studios 2017 Poster

WESTBETH OPEN HOUSE
Westbeth is the largest live-work artist community in the United States. Westbeth residents lead 1 hour tours throughout this landmarked building.

First hour tour departs at 12 noon.
Last hour tour departs at 5pm

New tour every 30 minutes

FREE EVENT

Registration in Westbeth Courtyard
155 Bank Street between Washington and West Sts.


WESTBETH OPEN STUDIO
Explore dozens of artists’studios amd meet the artists in their work spaces.

Visits are un-guided, and visitors travel at their own pace.

Studios are open 12 – 6pm

Individual Artists will be selling their work

Studio Roster in Westbeth Courtyard
155 Bank St between Washington and West Sts.

FREE EVENT

GWEN FABRICANT featured in Voices of Contemporary Art, Thursday September 14, 2017 6PM at Fales Library, Bobst Library, NYU.

GWEN FABRICANT

Gwen Fabricant,
in conversation with Jennifer Hickey

Fales Library,
Bobst Library, NYU
70 Washington Square South, 3rd Floor, New York NY 10012

As part of Joan Mitchell Foundation’s ongoing collaboration with Voices of Contemporary Art (VoCA), please join us on Thursday, September 14, when artist Gwen Fabricant will sit down with VoCA Program Committee Member Jennifer Hickey to discuss her life, work, and artistic legacy.

Gwen has been supported by the Foundation in a number of ways, as a grant recipient, an Artist-in-Residence at the Joan Mitchell Center, and as a Creating a Living Legacy (CALL) Artist. The CALL/VoCA programs aim to highlight the innovative CALL initiative while also underscoring the crucial need for dialogue with artists around the production, presentation, and preservation of their work.

“CALL enabled me to cross the divide into the digital age. This opened new ways for me to communicate with people and institutions. In order to create this archive, we had to bring all the past work out into the open… and that, surprisingly, changed the way I see the whole course of my work.”

– Gwen Fabricant

About Joan Mitchell Foundation
The Joan Mitchell Foundation increases recognition of the work and life of pioneering abstract painter Joan Mitchell. Grounded in Mitchell’s desire to support the aspirations of visual artists, the Foundation engages individual artists through grantmaking, programming, and collaborations. We work to amplify the essential contributions artists make to the culturally diverse world in which we live. To learn more, visit our website.

About VoCA
Voices in Contemporary Art (VoCA) is a non-profit organization run out of NYC that generates critical dialogue and collaborative programming around the stewardship and preservation of contemporary art. VoCA’s network consists of artists, conservators, curators, collectors, registrars, arts administrators, and educators, and aims to develop knowledge via three major program streams: VoCA Talks, VoCA Journal, and VoCA Workshops. To learn more, please visit their website.

Robert Bunkin: An Illustrated Talk on
Giovanni Battista Moroni

BUNKIN MORONI TALK

Giovanni Battista Moroni (ca. 1523-1579) is known among cognoscenti of Renaissance painting, but is relatively little-known compared to such masters as Titian and Raphael.

He painted superb, and uncannily modern-looking portraits of the people in his community: nobility, ecclesiasts, officials, intellectuals and merchants, including the earliest portrait of a skilled tradesman, Moroni’s famous Portrait of a Tailor in London’s National Gallery.

Despite his limited renown, his work can be found in most of the major art museums of the world, including about 22 works in American museums (the Metropolitan Museum owns 3). His reputation has recently soared, due to an historic exhibition at London’s Royal Academy in 2015. Plans are now afoot for the first NYC solo show of his work at the Frick Collection in 2019.

Robert Bunkin, former Curator of Art at the Staten Island Museum and figurative painter, has studied Moroni’s work in depth for over 40 years. He has traveled to see most of Moroni’s paintings, and will have recently returned from a visit to Moroni’s cities: Bergamo and Albino, having met with Dr. Simone Facchinetti, the scholar of Moroni who is currently preparing a new catalogue of Moroni’s complete works. Dr. Facchinetti, Director of the Adriano Bernareggi Museum of Sacred Art in Bergamo, has curated numerous exhibitions about Moroni in the past two decades (including the Royal Academy show, co-curated with Arturo Galansino). The publication of Dr. Facchinetti’s catalogue is planned to coincide with the Moroni exhibition at the Frick Collection.

Mr. Bunkin’s talk will be profusely illustrated with works primarily in American Museums. He will also address Moroni’s influence on later artists, such as Van Dyck, Velazquez, Kauffman, Reynolds, Whistler, and Cassatt.

A Free event sponsored by Westbeth Artists Residents Council

West Village Happy Hour from
Westbeth Artists Residents Council
and Grove Pharmacy

Happy Hour Sept 10th

West Village Happy Hour is a social event for the West Village Neighborhood.
Held in the Westbeth Community room, sponsored by the Westbeth Artists Residents Council and Grove Pharmacy, your neighborhood pharmacy on 8th Avenue, this event is for people of all ages. It includes live music, refreshments and a short presentation on a timely subject – Not to Worry.

Christina Maile’s litho print, History of the World Part 2, will be featured in the Spring 2018 print edition of the San Francisco Peace and Hope Journal

Christina Maile History of the World Part 2

Christina Maile History of the World Part 2

San Francscio Peace and Hope is a literary journal devoted to poetry and visual art.

The current political climate is one of the most unsettling in the history of our country. Politicians throw words around carelessly and dangerously – and this year Trumpism has brought forth a sad new model.

The fact is, words matter. Images matter. If anyone understands this, it is the poet and the artist. We need words and images that pave the way for evolution; words and images that can be part of history, that one hundred, two hundred, one thousand years into the future, people will look back on and be inspired.

At SF Peace and Hope we believe that the most important moment is now. How shall we use this moment in time? We need to choose carefully. Every word, every image, every action makes an impact for ourselves and the world. With a creative act there is always a new beginning, always a fresh hope when a poem or painting is created.
– Editor, Elizabeth Hack