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9 years ago
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Given the racial landscape of the US in recent months surrounding the decisions in both the Michel Brown and Eric Garner cases, RESPOND which is currently on view in Brooklyn at Smack Mellon, really gets at the heart of the matter. Smack Mellon organized the show given the public response to the controversial verdict in the grand jury decision not to indict officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Garner. Garner was killed on July 17th in Staten Island when a New York City police officer put him in a choke hold.
Smack Mellon directors Kathleen Gilrain and Suzanne Kim, changed their exhibition schedule to accommodate this show. The show features the work of two hundred artists and the gallery received over six hundred submissions for the exhibition. The 200 pieces of art fill the Smack Mellon space to an overwhelming capacity. Almost every square inch of the gallery is being occupied by a work of art. Many of the works are displayed salon style in the two story high gallery space. The works in the RESPOND show are diverse and feature a range of artists and mediums including video, sculpture, installation, photography and even textile work.
Skinned by Hannah Hart
Given the show's theme and the overwhelming response to the call for work, the pieces featured in the exhibition are on point. Some of the artists featured in the show include Dread Scott who has also had work shown at the Whitney Museum of Art, Heather Heart who currently has work on view at the Brooklyn Museu[...]
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9 years ago
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As part of the "Homegrown" series, AFP will host a special night of great music at The Bowery Electric.
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9 years ago
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Brassland recording artists People Get Ready will open for Blonde Redhead on upcoming dates including Tuesday (November 26th) night at The Bowery Ballroom.
The Brooklyn based band released a new album (Physiques) this past June to exciting reviews.
The band is known for high energy live performances which showcase a blend of rock and performance art. NPR's Bob Boilen, placing their performances among his top 5 concerts two years running, put it best: "No single show took my breath away the way this one did- part rock concert, part performance art, part dance, all perfectly melded together. Having seen so many dudes with guitars ... it was incredibly refreshing to find a group challenging and changing the norm."
The first thing I thought was- sounds like an Art for Progress event!
I caught up with Steven Reker from the band to learn more about these multidisciplinary artists, and here's what he had to say.
How did the band come up with the name People Get Ready?
I was at a play and one of the actors said ‘...people get ready...' in his dialogue - the phrase stayed with me. Then I named the first piece I did at The Kitchen (before the band was a band) People Get Ready and as the project developed we just kept the name.
Are the band members originally from New York or are they transplants?
We're transplants - mostly. Jen and I are from Arizona - James comes from California - and Booker is from Nyack, NY.
Which artists/bands have been the most[...]
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9 years ago
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In association with Art for Progress (AFP) Déjà vu art exhibition, the group will host three exciting events during the two week show that features 14 international artists.
Following up a fantastic opening night on October 30th, AFP will host an evening of unamplified sounds from its talented stable of musical artists at the space on Thursday, November 6th at 7:00PM.
Barry Komitor, AFP’s Arts Education Program Manager and a teaching artist, will play an acoustic set followed by Jeremy Danneman from Parade of One. Plus, a surprise special guest performance.
On Sunday November 9th, Art for Progress will host a brunch titled, Drones, Donuts and DJ’s from noon to 3pm at NOoSPHERE Arts.
On opening night, artist Essam’s drone installation garnered much attention as people approached the space on Houston Street and experienced the actual sound from an approaching drone.
As guests approach the space on Sunday the 9th, they’ll also hear the rich, full sound of analog beats (vinyl) being spun by DJ’s Bruce Tantum, Gatto (AFP’s founder & director) and Brett Crenshaw.
And let’s not forget the donuts! Other than ice cream, donuts are one of the most loved foods in America! So, join us for brunch and enjoy a prominent topic of conversation, quality analog music and of course, donuts!
Although we’ll be sad to see the exhibition close on November 12th, it will be an exciting evening as we host an artist talk from 6pm-8pm with NYC based artists Essam and gilf!
We [...]
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9 years ago
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Celebrity ghost writer Michael Malice is the subject of Harvey Pekar's Ego & Hubris, and is best known for co-authoring books with prominent personalities like comedian D.L. Hughley. In an interview, Pekar aptly describes Malice as someone who is "motivated by things that are different than what motivates other people." Take his recent output Dear Reader: The Unauthorized Autobiography of Kim Jong Il, which explores the life and influence of the beloved/feared former North Korean leader. Funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign, Malice breathes new life into a little odd man from a "hermit kingdom" that many in the West would rather sweep under the rug of history.
He's also a fanatic of obscure 80s finds.
Follow him, Dear Reader, at @MichaelMalice. In the meantime, discover three of his prized personal possessions after the jump.
-Jacqueline Colette Prosper, @yummicoco
1) Traditional North Korean Suit
Backstory:
[When I was] going to North Korea, one of the things I really wanted was a handmade North Korean suit. There was someone on my tour who had one of those accordion cameras, like 1890s-y, but it was digital, and my guide did not know what that was. I'm like "oh, it's hipster," and then I tried to explain what "hipster" means. To a North Korean it was very hard for me to do, but fortunately good friend Nichelle Stephens had given me a definition years ago to mean "someone who likes anything that's old," so I said that's what "hipster" means. Later[...]
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10 years ago
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September has been another exciting month for AFP Arts Education. We have been forming alliances with a variety of other non-profit groups, as well as getting this semester’s programs under way. Teaching artist Elio Schiavo has been doing a great job with our new partner LACASA at P.S. 84. Elio is teaching four percussion classes per week to K-4 students.
I have hit the ground running at Humanities Prep this semester. In addition to having two great groups of kids in my regular classes, I have some very dedicated and focused students attending, and we are getting into some great stuff, including song analysis, learning how to identify the key or keys of a song, and some new improvisation techniques.
One of my favorite things about having the opportunity to teach at the same school for a third consecutive year is that new students have heard exciting things about my class from their friends. When they come to class in the beginning of the year they are eager and hopeful, they know the class can help them achieve goals that are important to them, and they are attentive and participate with less self-consciousness. Some students who have excelled and some who were slow to appreciate the opportunity actually request to be enrolled in the class for a second time. Whether they are expanding their repertoire or finally taking the class seriously, returning students are enthusiastic and focused without exception. Because there is a well established creative musical culture th[...]
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10 years ago
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Art for Progress (AFP) is pleased to announce a group exhibition of new works by artists from New York City, Los Angeles, Spain and Israel. The show entitled “Déjà vu” will run from October 30th to November 12th, 2014 at NOoSPHERE Arts in New York City, and the opening reception will take place on October 30th from 6 to 10 PM.
The exhibition will include a variety of mediums, from painting to sculpture, which tackle the theme of déjà vu. The term can be described as “a feeling of having already experienced the present situation” or “a tedious familiarity.”It first appeared in a 1928 text entitled a Text for Psychology. Since then, the topic of déjà vu has been addressed from the big screen to Sci-Fi novels. It is a concept and sensation that has captivated audiences for generations and in this exhibit AFP hopes to push the boundaries of this.
For this show, the concept of déjà vu has been explored from several vantage points, from ideas of storytelling to an affective feeling. This exhibition is seeking to both comment on this topic and try to rethink the way in which it has been socioculturally situated. Déjà vu has come to occupy a very specific place within popular culture and this exhibition aims to build on that while also carving out new meaning for it.
Fourteen artists will be featured in the show: Rocco Alberico, Ted Barr, Bill Claps, Lance Dehne, Tony DiBella, Essam, gilf!, Diane LaRaja, Lichiban, Sona Mirzaei, Carol Nussbaum, Juan Manuel Pajares, Jeanne Wilkinson[...]
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10 years ago
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The Soho Grand Hotel was the place to be for art enthusiasts on Wednesday September 10th as New York's fashion week kicked off. Known as a feminist artist and yarn bomber, Olek's latest show, "Reality What a Concept" opened to rave reviews. The show, curated by the uncompromising Natalie Kates, included performance pieces in addition to the crocheted playground created by Olek.
Olek's work will be featured at the hotel through the end of the year. The show is part of a year long curatorial series by Natalie Kates which includes an upcoming exhibition by artist Ron English.
- Frank Jackson
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10 years ago
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As we gear up for another school year, we've been hard at work applying for two new grants (Lily Auchincloss, Investors Bank Foundation), developing our new artist blog site, and planning events for the fall.
In June, the Sansom Foundation awarded AFP another generous grant for the fourth consecutive year. The funds will help support an expanded effort to market AFP's Arts Education Programs to new schools and partner organizations. We developed a great new brochure and we have been reaching out to many new schools across NYC over the summer. If you're a teacher or school looking for dynamic artistic programming, let us know!
We're equally excited about our new artist blog site which was launched in June. We have several great bloggers writing across various art genres. Hooking us up with fresh news, interviews and reviews in visual art, performance and such is Anni Irish. Anni's a Brooklyn based writer & editor and a graduate of NYU. You can check out her new posts in the middle of the month and the end of the month. Heading up our nightlife, parties, clubs blog is none other than former TONY's nightlife editor and all around great guy, Bruce Tantum. Bruce has DJ'ed at many AFP events through the years and when this opportunity came up I couldn't think of someone we would rather have on board. Bruce's blog titled, "We Learn Dances" posts on the first of each month. AFP's super duper, all around volunteer and fashion guru Allyson Jacobs heads up the fashion blog. A[...]
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10 years ago
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On August 4th people in Times Square were exposed to a unique art experience--digital billboards were changed from their usual advertisements to iconic American art pieces. This art intervention in a public space won't stop there and will also include a print campaign that will be seen on public transportation and throughout the city and in other locations. This is being done through the efforts of Art Everywhere US a collaboration between five major art museums and the Outdoor Advertising Association of America. According to an article in the LA Times, the campaign will run from August 4-31 and will feature fifty eight images which will be displayed in close to 50,000 commercial locations in all fifty states. All the images were voted on by the public and the museums involved include The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Dallas Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
The event was first conceived of by Richard Reed who produced a similar campaign in the United Kingdom in 2013. This included a similar collaboration between the Tate Modern, Art Fund and the UK out of Ihome advertising industry. Artists in the US nation wide campaign include: Andy Warhol, Winslow Homer, Cindy Sherman and John Singer Sargent among others.
Art Everywhere U.S. Times Square installation, featuring Winslow Homer’s “The Water Fan” (1898-99, The Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Dorothy A., John A. Jr.[...]
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