Pearing the Apple: June 2010

Thursday, June 24, 2010

For the Earth

As the importance of wise use of energy looms as the largest issue of our times, it's good to know that small actions make a big difference. This weekend, we will let the world know we want clean energy, and we can always eat more locally sourced foods, which is what the NYC Greenmarkets have been about for decades.

Agretti photo by Stefan Proud via Wikimedia Commons

Local means anything but limited, this week John Schmid of Muddy River Farm in Orange County will bring to Market a trendy green from Italy called "Agretti." Catch the debut Friday near 17th & Park on Union Square, or check the Grow NYC website for more locations, but don't wait to long, the season is a few short weeks...

If you are like us and can't get to a beach Saturday at noon for "Hands Across The Sand" - a public participation event that will make a strong visual statement against drilling and for clean energy, join us in a park that spans Chelsea and the Village and a history from industrial development to urban dereliction and finally an elevated oasis for humans to share with local wildlife.

Enter at either end of the park and look for Fausto at 20th Street or Mark and me at 12th (if you want an elevator, go to 16th St.) - meet others and prepare to join hands at noon. You can learn more and download literature and signs at http://www.handsacrossthesand.com, or make your own (I am thinking of something like a handprint on re-used, re-cycled paper). It's one hour of your time to make sure the overwhelming opposition to dirty energy is seen and heard al over the world!

SEE YOU ON THE HIGH LINE SATURDAY, JUNE 26TH, 11-NOON!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Art From the Heart

On Tuesday and Wednesday, 2 art events support causes at the heart of the way we live and love....

"Everyone should have the right to marry. To make a commitment to love someone forever is a beautiful thing." - Louise Bourgeois

Louise Bourgeois

I do, 2010

Archival dyes on cloth with embroidery

16 × 12 inches; 40.6 × 30.4 cm

Edition of 300 with 35 APs

Gift of the Artist; Courtesy of Cheim & Read, New York

Price: $1,000

On Tuesday, celebrate the life and passion of Louise Bourgeois by coming out celebrate the preview of a limited edition print she donated to support the cause she cared about. Sales of "I Do" fully benefit Freedom to Marry /, the leading campaign working to win marriage for all, nationwide, by partnering with a diverse range of organizations and supporters across the country to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from the responsibilities, protections, and commitment of marriage.

http://www.freedomtomarry.org

The cocktail reception will be held on June 22nd from 6-8 PM at Cheim & Read, 547 West 25th Street. RSVP to ido@freedomtomarry.org required.

http://www.damascuscitizens.org/index.html

Damascus Citizens an organization based in Damascus, PA is dedicated to protecting the Upper Delaware River Basin and beyond from the ravages of deep-shale gas extraction and the threat posed by the natural gas industry. This month artist/organizer Alice Zinnes has enlisted members of the art community for support, and it has come together in an online/silent auction event that began on E-Bay Sunday and culminates this week in Manhattan.

Logo design by Paul Perlow

Art for Water, sponsored by Richard Dreyfuss and hosted by Joyce Towbin Chasan at Artsource International Gallery, features 80 works of art including contemporary originals and print as well as prints by well-known artist of past decades. The gallery preview will held on Tuesday, June 22nd from 4-7 PM, followed by the reception/silent auction on Wednesday, June 23rd, from 4-8, at 333 Park Avenue South (25th St.), Suite 2A.

For details, and to view all the works online visit http://www.damascuscitizens.org/ART-FOR-WATER.html

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Pictures tell the story...2 openings last night

A space uptown is No Longer Empty:

Performers inhabit Olek's installation @ Weaving In & Out

Installations by Cristobal Lehyt

Carol Warner in her real-estate inspired installation, with Allison

Visitors interact with projections in When The Time Comes by Isidro Blasco

Weaving In & Out presented No Longer Empty in collaboration with Tapestry and El Museo Del Barrio, thru 8/28 @ 245 E. 124th St. http://www.nolongerempty.org

And...

Art Flies High at the Roger Smith:

Artists Irene Christensen and Charles Meyers with Irene's works.

Painting by Charles Meyers, sculpture by James Knowles

Molly Barnes and Ed Adler

Sam Wiener and Lynne Mayocole with works by Charles Meyers

Mark Wiener and Fran Kornfeld

Paintings by Irene Christensen and Charles Meyers, curated by Molly Barnes, thru July 2010 at the Roger Smith Hotel 501 Lexington Avenue. 212-755-1400

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

A Present is Present!

Artist Ujin Lee has been wrapping gifts for weeks...and they are for all of us!

"Bojagi: Empty is not empty. Full is not full." was conceived by Lee to share "one small and graceful thing we can do to save the planet...to introduce the traditional Korean philosophy of living in harmony with nature." The presentation takes place in Washington Square Park beginning at 10 AM on Friday, June 11th.

First, as a performance, Lee will stack and place 777 boxes brightly wrapped with traditional Korean wrapping cloth, or bojagi, made of satin, in front of the Park's renowned a Arch at the terminus of 5th Avenue.

Ujin in her Chelsea studio

"Bojagi has been used for wrapping and carrying goods in Korea from time immemorial," says Lee. "Traditionally, people believed that the careful wrapping of objects not only showed respect but also brought good fortune and luck. Most importantly, this traditional wrap is not only practical, but also a sustainable and eco-friendly article due to its nearly endless reusability."

The completed installation will remain in place for visitors to view and walk through until 2 PM, then, all are invited choose a box to take home and re-use to carry on the tradition. The project closes when the last box is carried off.

The project will be video-documented and available for viewing at www.ujinleeart.com.

UJIN LEE

BOJAGI: EMPTY IS NOT EMPTY. FULL IS NOT FULL.

FRIDAY, JUNE 11, 2010
PERFORMANCE I 10 am – 12 pm
INSTALLATION VIEWING I 12 pm – 2 pm
PUBLIC PARTICIPATORY EVENT I 2 pm – Evening

WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK
Arch Plaza
Fifth Avenue at Waverly Place

This project is made possible in part with public funds from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Putting it all together...

From his youth in Communist Eastern Europe to the present day in America, Valery Oisteanu has used his stong, individual voice as a writer, artist, and speaker to speak out for freedom and creativity. This month (opening reception Saturday June 6th) don't miss the chance to watch him juggle two of his favorite forms - poetry and collage, in the exhibition "Waltzing In Quicksand: Poets In Collage" at Tribes Gallery in the East Village.

In Oisteanu's words, “Po-Collage or Poetry-collage” has text and images...not like a scrap book, but as a unified artwork: text + image = po-collage. The whole of po-collage becomes totally different than the sum of its parts. I started doing po-collages as a daily diary in Bucharest, Romania in the 60’s as a form of protest and also encoding my poetry in a such a way that the secret police did not get my anti-communist messages in the mail-art that I created."

Valery Oisteanu - Po-Collage Book cover

Upon arriving in New York in the early 70’s, Valery became involved in the Ray Johnson Correspondence school, and beginning in 1974 at Feldman Gallery uptown, showed with Johnson in group exhibitions in such venues Bucker Gallery in Soho, Club 57, Noho Gallery and the Mudd Club. The author of 11 books of poetry, a book of short fiction and a book of essays: ”The Avant-Gods” in addition to an active career as an art journalist, he continues to teach, create and exhibit collage, including one-of-a-kind handmade artist books called Zen-dada Diaries. Some of his creations illustrate his just-launched collection of poems, "Perks in Purgatory," published by Fly By Night Press.

Zen-Dada Diary page, 1980 by Valery Oisteanu

In an experience guaranteed to exceed the sum of its parts, on Saturday June 6th you'll have a chance to see both facets of Valery in person, see his work, hear his poetry...in a verse teaser for the event, Oisteanu writes:

"...Objects and glue create Assemblage

Max Ernst invented Frottage & Grattage..."