Use of Space at 395

I hopped over to Brooklyn last week to attend the open house for a series of new installations. Not only was the artwork impressive, but the concept was genius! Rather than leaving vacant commercial spaces empty and unwelcoming, why not fill them with vibrant works of art???

The project - 395 - is a collaboration between New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA), Your Art Here and Downtown Brooklyn Partnership. They have filled, and are still in the process of adding work to, six storefronts situated along 395 Flatbush Avenue Extension in Brooklyn.

From the 395 website:

This 5-month presentation opening October 9th provides support for galleries and emerging artists as well as an opportunity for the greater public to access and experience contemporary art. Educational activities, performances, and a variety of events will be programmed throughout the duration of the show in collaboration with local businesses and cultural institutions.

Click here to read more

Although the exhibition spaces are already open and accessible to visitors (during open hours), there is a grand opening scheduled concurrently with the NADA County Affair on October 18th from noon until 6pm.

395 Hours: Friday, Saturday and Sunday from noon - 7:00pm

Experience Green at DAC

If the description alone does not make you want to visit this art installation, I don't know what will...

"Wade Kavanaugh and Stephen B. Nguyen will fill the Dumbo Arts Center with their enormous site-specific installation The Experience of Green. Opening September 25, 2009, the exhibition will emphasize the contrast between the organic and the built environment. Viewers will step out of Dumbo’s stark brick-and-glass commercial district into a fantastical forest; a walk-through labyrinth of old growth trees made entirely from red kraft paper. The spectacular network of gnarled tree trunks and twisted roots will extend over every inch of the gallery, suspending the boundaries of space and time while fully immersing the viewer..."

Continue reading at dumboartscenter.org

The Experience of Green at Dumbo Arts Center through November 29, 2009. Wednesday - Sunday, 12 - 6:00pm.

Premier Gallery Exhibition

Now that the semester is in full swing I am prioritizing must-see gallery shows for the fall. An exhibition at Hauser & Wirth - a recent and exciting addition to the New York art gallery scene - is at the top of my list! Three contemporary artists have been commissioned to reinterpret Allen Kaprow's famous work from his 1961 New York "happenings" on their 50th anniversary. In addition to the date, historically significant to this artistic recreation is the location. The space where Kaprow's Environment Yard originally appeared (formerly the Martha Jackson Gallery) is now occupied by the Hauser & Wirth gallery.


Allan Kaprow YARD
September 23, 2009 - October 31, 2009
Hauser & Wirth New York
32 East 69th Street. Tuesday-Sat. 10am-6:00pm

Allan Kaprow, Yard, 1961.

Museum round-up

The art scene these days is certainly a busy one - there have been non-stop openings and events for the past couple of weeks and I must say I've been very excited. While I've spent much of my energy focused on the great gallery shows happening, there are in fact quite a few museum exhibitions of note:

Kandinsky

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

September 18, 2009 - January 13, 2010

Vermeer's Masterpiece: The Milkmaid

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

September 10, 2009 - November 29, 2009

Georgia O'Keefe: Abstraction

Whitney Museum of American Art

September 17, 2009 - January 17, 2010

Monet's Water Lilies

Museum of Modern Art

September 13, 2009 - April 12, 2010