Art + Culture

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Michael Jackson Mural Hits East Village as Spike Lee Preps MJ Block Party

(Photo: Tara Yarlagadda)

At the corner of First Avenue and East 11th Street, tourists and residents alike stopped in their tracks, stunned by the mural in front of them. It was a very familiar visage split straight down the middle. The right half of the face depicted an image of a young boy with a relaxed smile, round cheeks and a discernible afro on a white backdrop. The left half, by contrast, showed an older, gaunt face with straight hair and alert eyes on a black backdrop. The faces were further bifurcated into crisp diamonds in all the colors of the rainbow, standing out from the neighboring red brick facades. The face was none other than the late king of pop: Michael Jackson.

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Feminist Food from the Past Comes to Life at MOFAD

An edible display of Saint Agatha at MOFAD (Photos: Tara Yarlagadda)

On the corner of Bayard and Lorimer Street in Williamsburg, the Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD) is a quiet, unassuming structure whose only distinguishing exterior feature is the bright red door that beckons guests inside. But inside the museum, food history is being made. Thirty-nine guests—mostly women—have come together on this Wednesday night to recreate Judy Chicago’s 1970s feminist artwork The Dinner Party, which is a permanent exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. Chicago’s Dinner Party arranges an elaborate dinner banquet on a triangular table. The table hosts place settings for 39 iconic female figures throughout history. These settings include gold china and brightly-painted porcelain plates in the shapes of butterflies and vulvas. The artwork also displays the names of 999 other women in gold inscription on the tiled floor beneath the table.

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‘He’s One of the Good Guys’: Lower East Siders Recall Filming With Anthony Bourdain

Bourdain and Danny Fields (Photo via @anthonybourdain on Instagram)

Back in April, Anthony Bourdain visited some of his old stomping grounds (and new ones) in the East Village and Lower East Side for an episode of Parts Unknown, chatting with numerous local characters along the way. It’s unclear what will happen with this and other episodes Bourdain was filming prior to his unexpected death last week, so we spoke with some of the featured artists and business owners about their experiences with a reporter and raconteur who was known for keeping it real.

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Astor Place’s Insta-Famous Rhino Sculpture Trots Off

The empty Astor Place, where ‘The Last Three’ once stood. (Photo: Tara Yarlagadda)

“Oh no, Jerry!” The 93-year-old woman in Washington Square Park called out to her husband, who was similarly distraught. I had just informed the passing couple that The Last Three—an installation in nearby Astor Place featuring three bronze, life-sized rhinos piled topsy-turvy on top of each other—was about to be taken down. The anguish was evident on their faces—and mine.

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The Brooding Long Goodbye Brings the Art of Brooklyn Film Festival to a Close

The trailer for Long Goodbye opens with a straight shot of a woman with shoulder-length hair and a jean jacket walking briskly away from the camera through the Morgan Ave subway station. We can’t see her face. One of the next scenes lingers on two friends chatting on a couch, with one of the guys uttering some language that feels rather stalker-y: “I drive around and clear my head and find myself parked outside of her place. I’m not going to do anything…I don’t know. Maybe she wants me to?”

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18th Annual Bicycle Film Festival Returns for the City’s Cycling Creatives

(Image credit: Bicycle Film Festival)

New York’s long-standing Bicycle Film Festival returns for a whopping eighteenth year between June 19-24 at Anthology Film Archives. It’s a whirlwind gathering of biking and film buffs that brings together the urban cycling community not only in New York, but also around the globe. The festival has hosted more than one million cycling enthusiasts in ninety-plus cities. More →

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Mysterious Masks, Creepy Collages, Cryptocurrency and More at Greenpoint Open Studios

Guests create collages at Amy Williams Studio (Photo: Tara Yarlagadda).

Out of more than 400 participating artists in the annual Greenpoint Open Studios this past weekend, Bedford + Bowery interviewed five zany (and impressive) artists you should definitely keep an eye on.

Check out our five artist Q+As below: More →

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Kat Cunning Is A ‘Curvy, Curly Queer Weirdo’ Ready For Pop Stardom

(photo: Chris Miller)

We know that Kat Cunning has a recurring role coming up on HBO—and we know what the show is—but we’re not allowed to tell you.

Last month, at the swanky, faux rich-person’s-living-room venue the Norwood Arts Club, Cunning hosted a private showcase for a rapt (and packed) crowd. Cunning’s voice is eerily specific, and with the moody, slow-danceable music, Ellie Goulding would be a quick comparison (and not a terrible one), but one could easily see her giving Katharine Whalen of the Squirrel Nut Zippers a run for her money, or sitting in with The Hot Sardines and trading licks with Elizabeth Bougerol. It’s that shift from ’20s-style back-of-the-throat to searing, modern hook head voice that keeps you on your toes and gives her music a moving, cabaret feel that feels a few carats richer than average pop. More →

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Elements Lakewood Brought Fire-Walking, Rainy Dancing, and Bushwick Friends to the Pennsylvania Woods

The toast of Brooklyn’s nightlife descended on the Poconos for BangOn!’s Elements Lakewood Festival, now in its second year. The best of our local DJs, performers, and party organizers united with an international roster including Claude VonStrokeREZZ, and Jamie Jones to create an extrasensory experience for the roughly 5,000 attendees, with music and more going well past dawn every day. More →