(image courtesy of Milk & Night Curatorial)
Self-Reflection
Opening Tuesday September 27 at The Untitled Space, 6 pm to 9 pm. On view through October 8.
No less than 21 female artists will descend upon Tribeca art gallery The Untitled Space this Tuesday for the show “Self-Reflection.” Their art spans multiple genres, but all pieces will focus on some form of self-portrait, using the artists’s own bodies as a tool for creation. These self-portraits aren’t the typical depiction of oneself; some are even constructed through wool tapestry weaving. Rather than being potrayed by others, where objectification and the pesky male gaze can run rampant, these women will take their bodies into their own hands (in some cases, literally) to construct a self that feels authentic to them, however that might manifest. Some photograph themselves, some use images of their own nude form for painting references– either way, it’s all them.
(image via Artist Alliance Inc.)
Nom Nom Ohm: When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Chandeliers
Opening Friday September 30 at Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through October 30.
You’ve heard of a potato clock, but what about a fruit chandelier? If you’re feeling puzzled, let me explain. Artist Jessica Segall will be taking a variety of produce from Viva Fruit and Vegetables, located at nearby Essex Street Market. She will then take two antique chandeliers and rewire them to be powered not by just any old power outlet, but by a produce outlet. This takes advantage of “the unidirectional flow of electric charge,” known as DC power, but I like to think it might just be magic. This isn’t the first time the small in-market gallery has shown work directly involving items from the market, but it’s sure to be the brightest. The installation is on view for a month, so as the fruit begins to rot, it’s gradually replaced by fresh selections. It’s the circle of life. And it’s locally sourced.
Bushwick Chronicle – Meryl Meisler and James Panero, 2016, 8″x10″ silver halide print. © Meryl Meisler 2016 (image via Stout Projects)
Bushwick Chronicle
Opening Saturday October 1 at Stout Projects, 4 pm to 6 pm. On view through October 30.
Many (and I mean many) of the artists living in Bushwick nowadays didn’t grow up here, or even in New York for that matter. Photographer Meryl Meisler is not one of those artists. She was born in the South Bronx and raised in Long Island, but moved back to the city and began documenting her involvement with the neighborhood’s disco nightlife scene in the 1980s, which resulted in her acclaimed photo book, A Tale of Two Cities: Disco Era Bushwick. Which, no biggie, happened to be the “largest known photographic document of Bushwick during the era.” She also taught in Bushwick public schools for many years. She’s still around now, and has partnered with writer James Panero to formally revive this initiative to document the Bushwick world around her. Inspired by classic group portraits throughout art history, she has taken black-and-white film photographs of the artistic crowd inhabiting Bushwick today, which will be exhibited alongside her photos of early Bushwick and Panero’s writings on the neighborhood. Meisler will also have another show this weekend (it’s Bushwick Open Studios, after all) in the basement of bar and art space Bizarre, showcasing the wild performances the space hosts.
Fred Attenborough, Babes, 2010, Impossible Polaroid (taken at CLUMP at Trophy Bar) (image via BGSQD)
Coney Island Babies: Visual Artists From the Brooklyn Drag Scene
Opening Saturday October 1 at Bureau of General Services – Queer Division, 6 pm to 9 pm. On view through November 27.
The Brooklyn queer nightlife scene is a vibrant one, bustling with drag queens, drag kings, performance artists, and dazzling homemade outfits. Normally these folk do their thing in bars and warehouses, but the unique Fire Island Artist Residency has taken a handful of them under their wing and (shocker!) actually given them time and resources to work on their artistic practice, all while chillin’ on Fire Island, a historically queer space. Some of these artists make work that intersects with their creative output in nightlife, others keep them more separate. As a way of demonstrating this variety, there will also be recordings of drag performances and other related ephemera, blurring the notion of what is formally considered “art” by, well, probably gallery snobs. Some of these artists paint, some gravitate towards performance art, some sculpt… But only one of them is named Jon Benet Glamsey.