Category Archives: Events

Olive Ayhens Transformation of Place

West Village by Night
2021
Watercolor and ink on paper
16 x 24 inches

November 9, 2021– January 7, 2022

Artist’s Reception: Thursday, November 11th from 12:00 – 6:00 pm

Bookstein Projects is pleased to announce an exhibition of new paintings and works on paper by Olive Ayhens. This is the artist’s fifth solo show with the gallery.

Executed over the last two years, the works in this exhibition were predominantly started and executed during the COVID-19 quarantine in New York City. Having recently moved from Brooklyn to the West Village, the artist found herself in a new neighborhood that was completely deserted and ripe for exploration. Having no one around allowed the artist to connect more immediately with the architecture and buildings in her new neighborhood, which would have normally been quite busy. Like many artists, Ayhens found a renewed passion for painting during the pandemic because it allowed her to concentrate on something productive, in an almost meditative way.

Overpop Jamboree
2021
Oil on canvas
51 x 63 inches

In Overpop Jamboree, the masterstroke of the exhibition, the artist has invented an urban landscape replete with a myriad of vibrantly colored buildings. While the painting does not represent a specific city, there are many skyscrapers that are reminiscent of actual buildings including Cass Gilbert’s Woolworth Building, New York (1913), Frank Gehry’s New York by Gehry, New York (2011), Foster and Partners’ Khan Shatyr Entertainment Center, Astana, Kazakhstan (2010), and Spanish architecture by Antoni Gaudí. In the lower right corner of the painting, a large crowd scene spills out of the picture plane. While Ayhens was initially interested in visually representing overpopulation, she resigned herself to the notion that it could not be done effectively and resorted to a crowd scene instead. Contrasting against the vivid colors of the city, the crowd scene is executed in a grisaille palette inspired by an ­­Old Master painting. In Waves are Coming, inspired by DUMBO, a modern glass building is raised on stilts to protect it from the rising waters of the East River crashing at its base. Higher up on the building’s glass façade, reflections of the East River blur the lines between what is inside and what it outside.

Olive Ayhens (b. Oakland, CA) received her BFA and MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. In addition to her extensive exhibition history, Ayhens has been the recipient of numerous awards and grants including the Joan Mitchell Grant, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award and Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Individual Support Grant. Artist residencies include The Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation Space Program, MacDowell Colony, Fundacion Valparaiso, the Salzburg Kunsterhaus, Yaddo Artist Residency, Djerassi Artist Residency, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Roswell Artist Residency, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and a residency at the Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program in 2017. The artist lives and works in New York City.

Bookstein Projects
60 East 66 th Street
3rd Floor
New York, NY 10065

Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 11:00 am to 5:00 pm.

For additional information and/or visual materials, please contact the gallery at (212) 750-0949 or
email at info@booksteinprojects.com.

West Village Community Blood Drive Sweepstakes

Tuesday November 9, 2021
1pm – 7pm
Westbeth Community Room
155 Bank Street
New York, NY
Enter through courtyard

All Registered Donors at the blood drive will be automatically entered into New York Blood Center’s November 2021 Sweepstakes with a chance to win one of three Target or Walmart Gift Vouchers1st prize – $1,500 gift voucher, 2nd prize – $1,000 gift voucher, 3rd prize – $750

Appointments are preferred however walk-ins will be welcomed if space permits.
Please remember to eat, drink, and bring your donor ID card or ID with name and photo.
Masks are required for all donors regardless of vaccination status.

CLICK HERE TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT: New York Blood Drive at Westbeth

Sponsored by Westbeth Artists Residents Council

RALPH LEE’S
HALLOWEEN PARADE
A 1970’s LOOK BACK

Ralph Lee skeleton puppet, operated by volunteers, hangs over the parade at the premiere of the first Halloween Parade in 1974.Photo Jill Lynne copyright 2024

“One awakened to the sound of sopranos practicing scales, the scent of incense, and as now, birds chirping “good morning.” At the western end of Bank Street was Westbeth, the former home of Bell Labs, which had just been revolutionized into the largest subsidized home for Artists in the world. All seemed rather idyllic and filled with dynamic possibility.

It was within this marvelous milieu that I was introduced to renowned mask maker and theatrical set designer, artist Ralph Lee.

Ralph whispered his ideas to me about creating a true Halloween Parade. The West Village of 1974 was a very different place than it is now — it was a tight-knit creative community of visual artists, musicians and literary figures.”

– Jill Lynne “Memories of Ralph Lee’s first Halloween Parade.
Read entire article in New York Social Diary

Westbeth puppeteers, Ralph Lee’s and Penny Jones’ puppets are currently on view at the Museum of the City of New York’s exhibit, Puppets of New York.
See more about the show here. Ralph Lee and Penny Jones

Westbeth Courtyard 1974 Photo: Jill Lynne copyright 2024

“Greed,” another fantastic creature by Ralph Lee at the first parade, 1974. Photo Jill Lynne copyright 2024

A fantasy camel, made by Ralph Lee, rides high above the crowd, 1974. Photo: Jill Lynne copyright 2024

Whimsical costumes — and humor — have always been a signature of the parade. “People Feed,” early 1980s. Photo: Jill Lynne copyright 2024

Along the parade route, it was customary for costumed celebrants to gather for viewing parties on fire escapes, balconies, and roofs. Pictured here are a group of masked marauders on Bleecker Street party in 1975. Photo: Jill Lynne copyright 2024

One of the features of the original Halloween Parade were live vignettes set up at strategic landmarks. Here, a witch entertains at the Jefferson Market Library, 1975. The Library continues the tradition to this day … Photo: Jill Lynne copyright 2024

Hooded Skeletons, 1976. Photo: Jill Lynne

A masked participant (mask by Ralph Lee) interacts with a real horse, 1970s.

Drag rock group Hibiscus prepping for the parade on Christopher Street, 1975.Photo: Jill Lynne copyright 2024

“Man in White,” 1980s. Photo: Jill Lynne copyright 2024

David Greenspan
Superstitions
A Terrifying Comedy

The POOL Pop Up Theater
The New Ohio Theater

154 Christopher Street Suite 1E
New York, NY 10014

DATES:
Nov. 1 at 8pm;
Nov. 5 at 5pm;
Nov 7 at 2pm;
Nov. 8 at 8pm;
Nov. 11 at 8pm;
Nov. 13 at 2pm;
Nov. 14 at 8pm;
Nov. 17 at 8pm;
Nov. 19 at 5pm;
Nov. 20 at 8pm)

SUPERSTITIONS
By Emily Zemba
Directed by Jenna Worsham
​
Grieg finds a penny on the ground. When he tries to offer it to a stranger sitting near him — it sparks an absurd and frightening conversation about “bad luck.” Superstitions is an 8-character unconventional comedy about navigating personal and national terrors. Who knew the ridiculous could be so terrifying?
​
Featuring: Celeste Arias*, Latoya Edwards*, Nicholas Gorham, David Greenspan*, Iliana Guibert*, Rebecca Jimenez*, Ricardo Vázquez*, and Naren Weiss*. *Actors Equity

Check out thepoolplays.org for cast and design information! In addition, there you will find the most current information on COVID-19 restrictions. To attend a performance you must show proof of vaccination with ID verification for admittance into the theatre. Masks are required for all audience members. However, performers will not be masked.

TICKETS: The Pool is all about expanding access to the stage, both for artists and audiences! Pay-What-You-Choose tickets are all General Admission at $5, $25, or $50. On show days, in person, audiences can choose any price (availability permitting).

MORE INFO: https://ci.ovationtix.com/34708/production/1076696

DAVID GREENSPAN He is the recipient of six Obies, including an award in 2010 for Sustained Achievement.

Sonia Gechtoff The 60’s in New York A Series of Transitions

October 27 through November 19, 2021

David Richard Gallery, LLC
211 East 121 ST | New York, NY 10035
2nd floor
P: (212) 882-1705

www.davidrichardgallery.com

An exhibition that looks critically into this pivotal and transformative period following the artist’s move from San Francisco in 1958. Like the preceding decade, during the mid-1950s with Gectoff’s arrival in the Bay Area, the 60s were full of change and experimentation in New York. This presentation maps several such transitions, including: changes in Gechtoff’s painting medium and method of application; experimenting with collage and lithography; but most profound, the notable change of the imagery in her drawings and paintings.

The presentation will include paintings and drawings, the mainstay of Gechtoff’s repertoire from the 1950s and 60s. Both media share strong relationships to one another with bold marks, paint laden strokes on canvas, full bodied gestures with graphite on paper, and equal attention given to figure and ground that spans both decades. However, this presentation will focus on the technical, formal and aesthetic changes that occurred in the 1960s with respect to Gechtoff’s paintings and drawings and will also include the new media of collage and lithography from that period.

Regarding technique, Gechtoff moved away from the palette knife, which was her signature tool for marking the canvas and delivering thick impasto applications of paint in bold and determinative strokes. In large part, this was a result of her move from oil paint to the new acrylic medium that had become very popular in the 1960s. While she did continue to work in both oil and acrylic during that decade, her migration to brushes was distinctly noted in both media. The painting presented in this exhibition, Sea Door, 1966 is an oil painting, but the predominance of brush strokes is evident. By the 1970s, her migration to acrylic paint was complete and continued throughout the remainder of her career.

Erin Quinn Purcell Directs “Where I’ve Never Gone: Diane in Ten Frames”

Where I’ve Never Gone: Diane in Ten Frames
By Ellis Stump
Directed by Erin Quinn Purcell

FREE PERFORMANCE

Saturday Oct 23, 2021 at 7PM
Sunday. Oct 24, 2021 at 7PM

Westbeth Community Room
155 Bank St
NYC 10014

Seating is limited. Reservations strongly recommended. Reserve Now!
Email” WARCevents@gmail.com

Covid vaccination, photo ID, face covering. Maximum occupancy 35 persons.

50 years since Diane Arbus’s passing by suicide, we reopen and theatrically bring to life her iconic final project: “A Box of 10 Photographs.” These scenic snapshots preserve moments in Arbus’s lifetime and New York City history, while exploring current themes of mental health, identity, creative appropriation, and imagination. 

This play, by rising playwright Ellis Stump, was mentored at Columbia University by David Henry Hwang (M Butterfly) and is directed by Erin Quinn Purcell.

Erin Quinn Purcell has worked as an actor/director/writer in New York City for over 25 years. She serves as Performing Arts Chair on the Westbeth Artist Residents Council.

In addition to directing “Where I’ve Never Gone”, Erin is also currently working with Jay Reiss (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) on a new musical, Iceboy! (music and lyrics by Mark Hollmann) at the Pasadena Playhouse starring Megan Mullally, Nick Offerman, Adam Devine and Laura Bell Bundy. You can watch 4 numbers from the musical on their website https://www.playbill.com/article/watch-megan-mullally-and-nick-offerman-in-the-upcoming-musical-iceboy.