Windows on Main St 2009

Windows on Main St is coming back for its fifth year. Ty Marshal and Derek Bryant of Floor One Gallery and Melissa Tatge of Melissa Tatge Creative are spearheading this year's exhibition and they are accepting artist proposals for site responsive storefront window installations along Beacon's Main St. This year's exhibition will be held between August 8 and September 12.
If you are interested in submitting a proposal for an installation or volunteering with the project or even sponsoring the project, email Ty at 17EastMain@gmail.com.

A river runs through it....the lobby that is

Jill Reynolds and Dan Spitzer's calendar for the next several months has just filled up a bit. The announcement was made today that the proposal by the glass blowing duo from Beacon has been selected for the commission of a permanent art installation in the lobby of a business tower in Pittsburgh, PA. The proposed installation titled "River of Glass" will cover about 1500 sq ft and incorporate about 1500 blown glass elements.
That's like one glass blown element for every square foot!

Last week I posted about Jill and Dan's proposal which was at that time being considered with 3 other finalist proposals.

Eye Candy Friday: with gravy

Paddy Johnson at ArtFagCity is constantly serving up some mighty fine Eye Candy for our benefit, as is the case with this post where she shares a chromatic transmogrification of a segment of Barney's Cremaster 3 by Paul B. Davis, embedded above. This "pixel bleed" effect is mesmerizing, and examples of several folks' endeavors with it are all over youtube.
Mark Creegan, who will be the featured artist for May/June at kork has a somewhat brutalistic touch in his youtube mash ups which I enjoy.

If an oldskool, cut and paste jobbie is more to your liking, check out the sonic mash up below by kutiman which comes to us via the Artful Manager. It's pretty cool, as are the others on kutiman's channel.

Syntax errors galore this weekend at the Montgomery Senior Center

An item gleaned from an email from the Newburgh Art Salon Yahoo Group about a choral performance built around the structure of E.E. Cumming's work caught my eye. The performance Cummings and Goings, composed by Ada Margoshes with additional songs and orchestrations by Steve Margoshes and directed by Nina Janik is a "lightly staged musical show, rather than a concert".
The performance will be staged on April 26 at 3pm at the Montgomery Senior Center, 36 Bridge St.

A blow-by-blow "review" of last week's performance of the piece at the Thrall Library in Middletown ran in the Times Herald Record earlier this week.
I have a soft spot for E.E. Cummings and I've been debating whether to go or not. It sounds like one of those things that can be utterly disasterous or pleasantly surprising. But even the utterly disasterous can be mighty entertaining (Cases in point: One particularly and brilliantly awful burlesque show I saw on a Valentines Day long passed at the Bluebird Theater in Denver and, of course, this memborable story from This American Life. So I'm leaning toward going. If you're interested in going, Tickets are $10 and reservations are suggested. Call 845.457.9867 for tickets/info.

Abenteuer im Ausland

Deborah Davidowits is among four artists featured in Upstate, a group show of accomplished artists living in the area opening tonight (April 18) and running through May 23 at Nicole Fiacco Gallery in Hudson. The other artists participating in the show are Susan Wides, Robert The and Joyce Robins. The opening reception is happening tonight from 6-8pm. Nicole Fiacco Gallery is located at 336 Warren St.

Karlos Carcamo is currently taking part in two exhibitions in New York. The first which opened on April 7 and will remain on view through April 25 is The Pleasure Seekers, curated by Dan Halm. The Pleasure Seekers can be seen at the chashama Times Square Gallery at 112 W 44th St. The second exhibit, \'flo\: art, text, new media at The Center of Book Arts is curated by Rocio Aranda-Alvarado. The exhibit which includes work by artists "all of whom engage in the concept of 'flow' - how text and image move and interfuse", opened on April 15 and will remain on view through June 27. An artist talk will be held on May 27 at 6:30 pm with Dahlia Elsayed, Jessica Lagunas, Cifford Owens and Robin Price. The Book Arts Center is located at 28 W 27 St, 3rd floor.

The Anne Street Gallery is hosting an artist lecture today at 2pm given by Bill Justin, a self taught folk artist and found object sculptor, as part of the gallery's current Art Brut exhibit on view through today. The Anne Street Gallery is located at 104 Anne Street in Newburgh.

Steven Evans, Dia Assistant Director for Beacon has curated an exhibit opening tomorrow at the Dorsky Gallery Curatorial Programs in Long Island City. Other Voices, Other Rooms brings together work by Max Cole, Marcia Hafif, Winston Roeth, David Simpson and Fred Sandback. An opening reception will be held on April 19 from 2 - 5pm. The exhibit will remain on view through June 28. Exhibition information is enclosed in this brochure. Dorsky Gallery Curatorial Programs is located at 11-03 45 Ave, Long Island City.

Today at 2pm, the Garrison Art Center is hosting an opening reception for its annual exhibit Site (School Invitational Themed Exhibit). The exhibit features work created by students throughout the area who range in age from kindergarten to high school in the area and includes work from Beacon High School and the Beacon Community Center's After School Program. The exhibit will remain on view through April 26.

In Yonkers this weekend, the YOHO Artist Studios complex is holding its annual open house. The open studios will be happening today and tomorrow from 12-5pm.

Finally, a project proposal by Jill Reynolds and Dan Spitzer is one of four that have reached the final stage of consideration for commissioning as a permenant public art piece in the lobby of a business tower in Pittsburgh PA. The chosen project will be announced on April 24. Schematics of the four contending proposals accompanies this article about the competition.

Now for Something Completely different.: BEEP on 3rd Saturdays

The latest group show at bau.
I think my Second Saturday fatigue reached its apex this past weekend.
I recognize the benefit of consolidated gallery openings and similar events, but after some six years of the same month-in-month-out rythm it can feel flat in a "Time to make the donuts" kind of way. There have been small alternative rythms that have pulsed out here and there; the occasional opening on an alternative night, the occasional quiet screening at Hermitage or other venue, or staged readings that pop up. All the things that can fill out a month's worth of evenings.
This coming weekend of April 18 will add a little tweak to the habitual with BEEP, a new monthly series of events geared more toward performance, but including visual art. BEEP is an initiative of the galleries and businesses on the East End of Main St. to concentrate some activity back into their quarter. Joe's Irish Pub, Zahra's Studio, Go North, Floor One, Open Space, Zuzu'a and the Piggy Bank are as the participating venues. Yes, this is just another monthly serial event, one that can, in time, if not guarded against, can become monotonous. But it ain't that yet, and I'd hope that the creative folks behind it can keep it pulsating and evolving. I also think this could be a good way for the East end to redistinguish itself and add a particular tone to that part of the street.
The events include an opening receptions at Zahra's and Open Space, and musical performances at several of the locations, topped of with a Next Step party at the Piggy Bank starting at 10pm. It's also a fundraising event for a second incarnation of the Electric Windows project. Check the link above for details.
The photos herein are snaps from Second Saturday in April, 2009:

Bumblebee Art and Music's newly opened space..

One of Caroline Ruttle's works at Go North.

Above, folks at Open Space. Below, works by Jim Darling.


The way to Floor One.

Teresa Marra's work at Floor One.

Tina Darling's work at Open Space in elegant rhyme with some Main St. mannequins.


Through the window: Jerimiah Lawrence at Mount Beacon Fine Art.

Tomorrow's BEEP line up of events on the East end of Main St.

Eye Candy Friday: Sponges and early onset puberty

photo by rekkid. The SpongeBob scene was illustrated by his 4 yr old son.
SpongeBob Squarepants is turning 10 years old. I think that Makes him 17 in human years. NPR celebrated his birthday this morning. The hormonally charged adolescent sponge has generated some controversy among parents with the latest Burger King commercial which features a reworked version of Sir Mix-a-lot's "I Like Big Butts."

A search for SpongeBob art took me to THIS FREAKY IMAGE on James Kuhn's flickr page, with then got me to this video. Simply trippy. Like the sponge himself.
Thanks for ten great years SpongeBob.

Video Artists in Dialogue Series at HVCCA kicks off

Terror Pidgeon Dance Revolt
Kickin and Screenin is the name of this year's series of screenings of video works at HVCCA taking place on Thursdays through April and May.
The first installment takes place Thursday, April 16 from 7-10pm and it will feature the work of Terror Pidgeon Dance Revolt! and Eric Barry Drasin with Cameron Wisch.

Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt!’s front man Neil Fridd walks the line between musician and performance artist. His performances are a sensory overload of sound, light, and funky costumes. Crowd participation is a must; Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt!’s performances are “an interactive dance party” giving the audience a unique opportunity to participate. The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt! released an EP on David Byrne’s Luaka Bop record label.

Visualist Eric Barry Drasin and Drummer Cameron Wisch will be premiering a new Audiovisual Collaboration that involves video projections, camera tracking technologies, black lights, body paint and an intense drum set.

Future installments will feature Joe Diebes (April 30), Paul Clay (May 7), and Oded Hirsch (May 28). Discussions with the artists will follow each night's screenings.
Admission is 7.50. Students and HVCCA members pay $5. (Students with a school id will receive a full year long HVCCA membership free.
Beer and wine will be served.

Nava Atlas' Secret Recipes

New Paltz artist Nava Atlas has just published her most recent book: Secret Recipes for the Modern Wife.
Nava will be discussing her book tomorrow (April 15) on Sarasota Florida's Community Radio, WSLR 96.5 fm between 10 and 11 am. You can listen live on the station's website.

Exercising faith in unexpected places; Hermitage, Peter Iannarelli at kork, and visions outside of a Boston video store

On the board of kork: Peter Iannarelli, Untitled

The holidays that have just passed and a bit of ruminating on Peter Iannarelli's work currently on view at kork, in Poughkeepsie through April 30 have all had me considering notions of the search for meaning and communion, and the difference among people in recognizing whether they've found it in such a way as to suit their souls.
A wheat-paste Peek-A-Boo Jesus by Maki105 placed on a wall outside of a video store in Boston earlier this month had folks falling to their knees. I first caught wind of this, courtesy of Hrag Vartanian.
On his blog thisrecording.com, Will Hubbard chronicles the rosy patch of enlightenment he found on a recent pilgrimage to Hermitage.
These are small, but parallel items that give me an added context in which to hawk Iannarelli's recasting of his Untitled work of 2007 for the environment of the kork space in the offices of Bailey Browne CPA and Associates.
Given the pencil snapping pressure this season of tax bears as a gift under its arm every year, a genuine photocopy of Iannarelli's fully customizable correspondence with the God of one's own making could be wonderfully suitable for that loved one ready to make a deal with the powers that be.
Just shoot us an email to kork[at]maykr[dot]com with the subject line: "let's talk" before April 30th, include your mailing address in the body of the email, and we'll send you your very own copy, straight from Poughkeepsie!
Check out the press release for more details.

Workshop on writing artist statements at HVCCA in Peekskill, April 19 at 10am

HVCCA is hosting an artist workshop on Writing Your Artist Statement.
The workshop will take place next Sunday, April 19, 2009 from 10am - 1pm and it costs $45.
The session will be led by creative/grant writer Carrie Rothburd.
HVCCA is located at 1701 Main St in Peekskill, NY.
To register, call HVCCA at 914.788.0100 or visit peekskillartscouncil.org for more information.

Second Saturday Sampler, April 11, 2009

Time is at a premium for me these days, so I've had to jam together a cursory glance at art items taking place tomorrow. There's more happening, for sure... I just can't do it all. Don't forget Dia's Community Free Day for Dutchess Co. residents and Caroline Ruttle at Go North.
bau is hosting a group exhibit that interprets the Golden Mean using line. Participating artists are: Heidi Lanino Bilezikian, Ron Debren, Janet Howard Fatta, Michael Gaydos, Carla Golberg van der Merwe, Elia Gurna, Erica Hauser, Tom Holmes Gary Jacketti, Dominico Petrillo, Linda Richichi and Lisa Zukowski.
Open Space next exhibit features the work of Jim and Tina Darling. A preview reception is happening from 6-9pm. The official opening reception with the artists in attendance and a complete installation is taking place next week, April 18 from 6-9pm.

Floor One is presenting the paintings of Beacon resident Teresa Marra. - Reception from 6-9pm.

Caroline Ruttle at Go North opening on April 11, 2009

Caroline Ruttle "You will never be afraid 2".
Next up at Go North is Caroline Ruttle's exhibit colored ink drawings"at the Villa Borghese", opening on April 11 with a reception from 6-9pm. The exhibit will be on view through May 3, 2009.

Dia: Beacon Community Free Day for Dutchess County Residents, April 11

Dia: Beacon will be hosting a Community Free Day for residents of Dutchess County this Saturday, April 11. A valid id will need to be shown as proof of residency (driver's license, govt. id, etc).
At noon that day, Dia Foundation director Philippe Vergne will welcome visitors in the forecourt of the museum, followed at 12:15 by a talk by Assistant Director for Beacon, Steven Evans which cover the transformation of the former Nabisco box factory building which is listed on the State and National Registry of Historical Places into the museum we know and love. There is at least one Beacon Resident who should appreciate content of this talk.
Guided tours of the museum will begin at 1pm.
at 2pm Educational and experiential activities for the family will be held starting in the Imi Knoebel galleries.
To reserve spots for the day's programs, call 854 440 0100 x 44 or email rsvp@diaart.org.

Thomas Huber in Formation group exhibit at Dutchess Community College through April 24.

Thomas Huber is participating in a group exhibit called Formation at the Mildred I. Washington Gallery of Art at the Dutchess County Community College. The exhibit, subtitled "Stucture In Nature, Art & Design" opened on March 30 and will remain on exhibit through April 24. An opening reception was held on April 1. The exhibit also includes work by Lori Adams, Jon Isherwood, Rosalind Roberston, Claire Benyon and Sam Bowser.

Portfolio Review Day hosted by HVCCA on May 17, 2009

HVCCA in Peekskill will be hosting a Portfolio Day on Sunday May 17, 2009 from 12-5pm. If you're interested in attending, I suggest you rsvp quickly, slots are sure to fill quickly.This is the museum's second such portfolio review event. I attended the portfolio review held last year when around 100 artists with small portfolios and laptops descended on the museum for their opportunity for a one on one with a reviewer.

Artists are invited to bring their portfolios for review. These one on one constructive critiques with leading gallerists and collectors offer artists the chance to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Each review is 20 minutes and reservations are required.
Portfolios should include 10-20 examples of your best work. Artists are encouraged to bring in laptops and high quality images. HVCCA provides no equipment.

The panel includes:
-Caren Golden, Caren Golden Fine Art, NYC
-Stefan Stux, Stux Gallery, NYC
-Peter Surace, Owner, RARE Gallery, NYC
-Skarlet Smatana, Director, L&M Art, NYC
-Emilio Steinberger, Director, Haunch of Venison, NYC
-Joel and Zoe Dicterow, collectors, NYC
-Marc and Livia Straus, collectors, Founders, HVCCA
First reservations allocated to members.
Book early - Last years' program was wait-listed.
Fee: $20 members, $40 non-members
To reserve space, please call 914.788.0100 or
email us at karalenkeit@hvcca.org or info@hvcca.org.

SpringKleaning

l-r: Paul Smart, Sparrow, Robert The, Brian Wallace, Christina Varga, Benjamin Krevolin,
Norm Magnusson and Tom Roe
On September 14, 2008, Van Brunt Gallery hosted a panel talk examined the state of culture in the Hudson Valley.
The conversation turned toward the difficulty of developing audience for the various venues and events up and down the valley - a fairly universal lament regardless of geographic location. The other major component of the talk rested on the particular challenge presented by the physical and physchological characteristics of the Hudson Valley which has had the effect of forming art communities up and down the valley that are largely isolated from one another.
I've been interested in finding out more about what's going on in the region, art-wise, but given my various constraints of schedule, I certainly don't make it out of town much less, out of the house. And although this blog was started as a way to talk about and share the goings on of artists in Beacon, nothing develops in isolation, and I've certainly tended to refer to items within the broader world - art and otherwise- that inform my perception of items that are closer to home.
I've long been meaning to clean up the blog for a while, and the time has come. This week I'll update it to the newer blogger platform and refresh the pertinent links. And, in the interest of greater regional connectivity, I welcome suggestions for links to regional artist and art venue websites. I expect links of a more Beacon-centric nature will remain in the sidebar including Beacon galleries and artist websites. I may create specific posts that will list venue and artist sites by generalized city/town locations in the HV. My goal is to maintain the links in some sort of context, but given that contexts can shift, such can be problemmatic. For instance, an artist may work in various media, making a medium based categorization irrelevant, but is some vague sorting not better than having to troll blindly through a list of artists until one trips upon a type of work that one finds interesting?
I'm open to suggestions....I'd like this site to serve as a resource - and a place to share. So if there's a manner in which certain information can be formatted in a more effective way, let hear your thoughts.
When I started this blog, there was nary any place to find updated listing of art events and exhibits in Beacon, and there was oddly very little ability to know what your neighbor artists were up to. I wanted to inform the community of such activities of its members as much as promote those activities to the outside world. Now, there are many more online sources for updates on local art events, but they can be scattered. What is certainly lacking is a form of sharing items of local art interest that is anything other than simple event promotion. My capacity to go deep is truncated by the competing voices in my head, but if nothing else, I try to share a sense my experience of what's going on, and eventually, I'll come back to certain items with a little more introspection somewhere down the line. I usually need time to digest things...(that's why I'm just now mentioning a discussion that happened back in Sept.)
So, to recap: changes are coming to MAYKR....not big ones, just little ones, and in the process, things will look a little different, perhaps...a little vacant, perhaps. I promise to add links to all of those artists have have been patiently waiting.....And, in time, I plan to go back and lable all of the old posts from years past, increasing your searchable pleasure.

If you have Hudson Valley area art links that you think are worth sharing, or favorite art oriented resource or blog, regardless of geographic location, shoot me an email and I'll see about getting those included. Keep in mind, this is not a career for me, just a mild and distracting addiction, so I can only promise so much...
Finally, there is a MAYKR group on Facebook. Feel free to join and make use of that as you will for sharing information on upcoming art projects, or to instigate some collaborative spirit. In fact, posting items there would be an easy way to feed me things for posting here.

More 'Bú

The Starn twins' Big Bambú wa mentioned in an item in this week's Times Sunday Magazine.
The video below posted this week on Vernissage.tv is a longish non-narrated document of the open house/preview held in conjunction last month as part of the Armory Show.

Reeling it in: March bookended

My virtual desk is piled high and spilling over with items I've meant to post, but have missed, like the slide slam that was held last night (March 31) at the Rosendale Theater. The slide slam was sponsored by the Women's Studio Workshop and consisted of 20 artists, some of whom are currently visiting artists in residence at WSW and others selected by three guest curators (Brian Wallace, Emily Putoff, Mimi Graminski ) and who each had 5 minutes to show and discuss their artwork. Deb Davidowits, Peter Iannarelli and Simon Draper were among the participating artists which also included Tricia Wright, Arthur Hash, Itty Neuhaus-Schuck, Anat Shiftan, Rena Leinberger, Jennifer Swenson, Elena Sniezak, Joy Taylor, Johanne Renbeck, Bibiana Huang Matheis, Tilly Strauss, Mimi Graminski, Emily Puthoff, Ellen Kucera Amanda Kalinoski and Ruth Wetzel. By the accounts I've received, it was a real whirlwind.
Earlier in the Month, (March 7) a trip down down to the city was bookended by visits to Pulse, which had a bunch of art, most of which I didn't have the energy to see, and a visit to Volta, which I enjoyed more.
I headed down to the Habitat for Artists installation at Ecoartspace project space in SOHO....HFA has also gotten recent attention online at Daily Green.com, Shedworking, and a video interview with Chuck Leavell on the Mother Nature Network.

From SOHO, I headed up to the Art Blogger panel discussion at Denise Bibro Fine Art. The panel was organized by Olympia Lambert, was moderated by Joanne Mattera, and was populated by Hrag Vartanian, Roberta Fallon and Libby Rosof, Bill Gusky and Brent Burket. The panel discussion was held as part of the Blogpix exhibit at the Bibro's Platform Project Space. The talk offered me the opportunity to finally meet Martin Bromirski in person. Martin has the distinction of a: maintaining an entertaining, photo laden blog for several years without actually having a computer of his own, and b: being defriended by Jerry Saltz on Facebook. Martin introduced me to Bill Gusky who upon learning I'm from Beacon said "Oh, so you get to visit Dia anytime you want." "Yeah" I said, "it's great." "Actually, I was being sarcastic." oh.
above: Sharon Butler's work, below: that of Steven Alexander included in the Blogpix show.