Did you have fun at the Festival. Or could not make it! Help us plan next year’s Westbeth Music Festival 2012 by filling out the questionnaire. All responses are anonymous. But extremely valuable. Click on heading to reach questionnaire.
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The Collective was group of feminist playwrights who produced plays at Westbeth. Check out their thrilling history in Wikipedia.

Westbeth Playwrights Feminist Collective (l-r) Sally Ordway, Susan Yankowitz, Christina Maile, Dolores Walker, Gwen Gunn, Patricia Horan , Photo by Lucille Rhodes 1971

WIKIPEDIA Article on Westbeth Playwrights Feminist Collective

Opening Reception Saturday 22 October 6pm – 9 pm

A group show curated by Greg Kessler “Urban Mythos” featuring the work of 13 artists. forming a collective dreamscape of images. Artists include Jennifer Nuss, Brian Novatny, Daniel Davidson, Erika Keck, Alex Kvares, Bekim Zeqiri, Heimo Wallner, Tricia Keightley, Jon Newman, Andre Lucien, Alexander DeMaria, and Bill Anthony.

Greg Kessler, a contemporary artist based in New York, curates the group show at Westbeth, which has been home to influential artists ranging from Diane Arbus to Vin Diesel. Westbeth Gallery provides a fitting backdrop to showcase the works of the 13 established and up-and-coming artists. Each artist has a diverse approach to image making, yet share an interest in the tactile qualities of their designs, creating a contemplative and engaging experience for the viewer.

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REVISIONS ON A PHOTO ALBUM

The exhibit comprises twenty-one of Anita Steckel’s intensely personal last works on paper before her passing on March 16, 2012.

We believe sexual subject matter includes many things: political statements, humor, erotica, sociological and psychological statements, as well as purely sensual or esthetic ‘art’ concerns, and of course, the primitive – mysterious reasons none of us know. – Anita Steckel.

Exhibit also includes works of her students at the Art Students League where Ms Steckel taught for over 20 years.

Exhibit Curator: Jessica Maffia.

Opening Reception Sunday July 15, 2012 at 6pm

Anita Steckel’s often witty and irreverent style has produced some of the most interesting and ground-breaking work of the last four decades. Her self portraits as a giant woman hanging from the Empire State Building may be tongue-and-cheek, yet they also speak to some of the main tenants of Steckel’s work where the phallic urban skyline is controlled, claimed, and made personal. She fearlessly investigates ideas of feminism, urbanism, sexism, racism and history. Her work has met with acclaim both internationally and nationally, and she has exhibited in over twenty museums and participated in countless gallery and university shows since the 1960s.

– BROOKLYN MUSEUM Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art: Feminist Art Base: Anita Steckel

Her art shocked and surprised. Save within the feminist artistic world, her teasing and sometimes disturbing erotic works were not very widespread until the turn of the century when her creations were described as brilliant and avant-gardist. Among her best known works, is Giant Woman, a series of paintings (1969-1972) depicting a gigantic naked woman lazing around the skyscrapers of New York.

The New York Times writes that Anital Steckel founded an association of female artists ─ the Fight Censorship Group. The artist declared, during a lecture at the University of Pennsylvania, that by definition, being an artist is about breaking social norms. – ART MEDIA ASSOCIATION

Click on the link below for an essay about Anita Steckel’s work by Donald Goddard

http://www.newyorkartworld.com/reviews/steckel.html

The black & white portrait posters you see around the building and the neighborhood are Claudia Vargas’ participation in “INSIDE OUT”, a large-scale participatory art project that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work. If you are interested in participating go to the INSIDE OUT PROJECT website and get started! Claudia became interested in this project because it allows her to occupy public space with the faces of people she likes to see. This is an opportunity to celebrate ourselves and to see on the street walls photos other than the ones imposed by corporate publicity.

Inside Out Project link

Some responses at the opening reception:
Amazing. Beautiful. Must see again.

Featuring the work of Christina Maile, Francia, William Kennon, Jackie Lipton, Gerald Marcus, Laurie Ourlicht, Claire Rosenfeld, Cari Rosmarin, Sheila Schwid and Milda Vizbar, the show presents a variety of traditional and contemporary printmaking techniques with subjects ranging from Dayak headhunters to medieval cities.

1 October – 16 October, Thursday – Sunday 1pm – 6 pm

PRINTMAKERS OF WESTBETH GRAPHICS STUDIO CATALOG

Sea Foam by Charles Seplowin. Photo by Madame J

Madame J on Art Blogspot

FREE

FREE ADMISSION

FRIDAY , SEPT. 23RD 8–11PM
BRECHT FORUM
451 WEST STREET BETWEEN BANK AND BETHUNE STREET

SATURDAY, SEPT. 24TH and SUNDAY, SEPT. 25TH 12 NOON—7PM
WESTBETH COURTYARD
155 BANK ST. BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND WEST STREET

Contact: Michael Moss, Publicity Chair
westbethevents@gmail.com
646-691-4330
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September 15 – 25, 2011

Featuring the work of 15 faculty artists
from Lehman College.
The exhibition offers a range of styles
and media including printmaking, painting,
sculpture, drawing, ceramics, photography,
and video.

Gallery Hours:

Thursday – Sunday 1 pm – 6 pm

Westbeth Gallery

55 Bethune Street (or enter through Bank St Courtyard) 212 989 4650
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