Archive for category 2009 News
Lucky Gallery Presents “Anatomically Incorrect”
Anatomically Incorrect
These artists who have not worked together before were asked by Laura Arena, the director of Lucky Gallery to work together conceptually within the walls of the Gallery. Arena’s only instructions were to come up with a concept that would connect everyone’s work, through style, medium or content.
The artists chose to focus on anatomy, which is a concrete, organized system, which is in contrast to the chaotic/spontaneous process of this show – the end result leads to figures anatomically incorrect.
“Art has helped me to figure out answers to questions, I have,” says Scott Ferguson. “Although usually these answers are still vague or ambiguous, and to another person may seem anatomically incorrect, art collaboration helps me to get closer to answers.”
Each artist will work directly on the gallery wall, creating a visual conversation; the alchemy of characters, text, and pattern will affect how the mural expands as each artist works responsively to the other. Each artist also created an original art work associated with the exhibition, which is on sale at the gallery for the duration of the show. There is an limited edition of 10, and each work is 11 x 17″.
The idea of this process is taken from the surrealist game, “the exquisite corpse,” a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence – combining various aesthetics. For this exhibition this process should reveal something “anatomically incorrect”.
Featured Artist Works for Sale
Anastasia Akulinina/Kaerfkrahs
Fish McGill
Faro
Eunjeong Yoo
Downer
Scott Ferguson
Brian Butler
For sale inquiries email Laura@LuckyGallery.com.
“Wearing Whitman’s Words; A Typographic Exploration” Shirts are on ETSY.COM
Jennifer Heuer
Can’t make it to Red Hook to buy a shirt featured in “Wearing Whitman’s Words”… want to wear an originally designed t-shirt or give it to that special someone, want to support local artists and Lucky Gallery! Buy your shirt online while supplies last at www.etsy.com/shop/WearingWhitman
“Made in Red Hook”
Lucky Gallery is looking for artists that reside in Red Hook or have a studio in Red Hook to participate in an upcoming exhibition titled “Made in Red Hook.” All Mediums are welcome. Please contact Laura@LuckyGallery.com for more information.
Lucky Gallery Welcomes Amy Weng
Amy Weng
Lucky Gallery welcomes Amy Weng, who was born and raised in the beloved state of New Jersey. She had a happy childhood filled with creativity and imagination, setting her ambitions high on the path of becoming a unicorn when she grew up. When that career option proved to be impossible she chose to dedicate herself to the world of Art.
Amy experimented with many mediums like animation, painting, sculpture, dance, theatre, and music, but found a special interest and connection with photography. Amy had a little camera, whose body was black as coal. And everywhere that Amy went, the camera was sure to go. She practiced and played with photography for seven years. Nowadays, Amy is constantly surrounding herself with creative energy; eager to share artistic ideas, construct intriguing objects, and collaborate in engaging performances. She hopes to ignite communication between the community and the Art.
Amy graduated from Purchase College with a B.A. in Art History; and minoring in photography, she spent most of her time in the photo lab and darkroom. Amy currently resides in Brooklyn, NY with her cameras.
We are so lucky to have Amy work with us and please send her a warm welcome amy@luckygallery.com.
Lucky Gallery’s, “Honey I Shrunk Red Hook” on RADAR
RADAR is a weekly mini-doc series produced by WBP LABS-a division of the Workbook Project. The series is a timely, insiders view into the cutting edge of storytelling & creativity, & the attendant tools, tech, models and community. View it on www.babelgum.com/radar
When curator Laura Arena approached MIT’s Luis Blackaller & Andy Cavatorta, her brief was simple: create something that initiates interaction between the inhabitants of the neighborhood. From the Portuguese fisherman to the Projects, to the artists and hipsters, to a new influx of people, Lucky Gallery sits at the crux of several different communities, none of whom talk, but acknowledge each other as familiar strangers. Luis and Andy’s response was to build a miniature version of Red Hook and populate it with photographic doll versions of people they met and talked to on the street. We join Luis and Andy as they prepare for the opening and watch as the element of play in a virtual world impacts communication in the real one.
Lucky Gallery Presents “Wearing Whitman’s Words; A Typographic Exploration” Exhibition
Justin Thomas Kay
These designers were asked to make selections from Leaves of Grass to visually explore letter forms. The designed words will be displayed on the front of t-shirts with the selected text written on the back in a font consistent across each of the shirts. This contrast will highlight how the shape of letters can add meaning to the words we read.
The visual form of words is one of the largest influences of design on our everyday world. In this show, t-shirts are used for their value as common objects and as a vehicle for personal expression. The individualist attitude portrayed in Walt Whitman’s poetry shares the spirit that designers bring to the letters they create. Everyone attending the opening will be given a free shirt, extending the show beyond the gallery walls.
“The idea for this show is to introduce design to a new audience through typography in a way that is accessible and fun, while showcasing exciting new work to the design community,” says Ben Peterson, the guest curator for the exhibition.
This show is supported by generous donations from Monotype Imaging and Portal Porfavor.
The typefaces featured in this show are Slate, a versatile humanist/grotesque sans serif and Egyptian Slate, its slab serif counterpart. Both typefaces were designed by Rod McDonald, the award-winning typeface designer and lettering artist and are available from Monotype Imaging.
Lucky Gallery Welcomes Michael Gutowski, Assistant Director
Michael Gutowski, is born and raised in the deep deep suburbs of Chicago, IL. He currently resides in Brooklyn, New York with his wonderful Maine Coon, Milo. He received a BFA in Photography from SVA in 2008 and has an undying passion for Arts in all forms. In his free time, he take photos of women and ask them to tell him a significant story about their lives. He also immerses himself in other arts such as drawing and music.
Michael is currently in the midst of starting a non-profit called, The Visionary Trust. His goal through starting this organization is to meet as many talented Artists and create a community in which Artists can feel comfortable to produce Artwork that is meaningful to each. He also wants to promote and support Artists that have the talent, but need the help to produce great work. He is secretly in love with robots and draws them everywhere. If Michael could accomplish one thing in his lifetime it would be to time-travel back to when dinosaurs lived to wrangle pterodactyls for his dinosaur ranch!
Lucky Gallery is very lucky to have Michael as an assitant director and will do everything in its power to assist him with his time machine traveling.
Lucky Gallery Outdoor Film Event ‘When Clouds Clear’ by Danielle Bernstein
When Clouds Clear
‘When Clouds Clear’ is an award winning feature-length documentary that delves into one remote community’s radical resistance to a proposed copper mine that would level and destroy their way of life forever. Set in the isolated cloud forests of the northern Ecuadorian Andes Mountains, the film is narrated by the founders and children of Junín who depict how the village’s daily life has been affected by copper that were discovered beneath their land.
As two invading mining companies become increasingly brazen in their attempts to infiltrate and control the area, the community forms a united resistance in order to survive. Still, some citizens side with the wealth that the companies promise, causing irreparable divisions, pitting friend against friend and father against son. Suddenly these once-peaceful farmers find themselves thrust into a dangerous world of corruption, splintered households, murder and arson as they fight tenaciously to protect their land and families.
Danielle Bernstein
Danielle is a New York based filmmaker from Atlanta, Georgia. She attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Tufts University. In 2006 she started the production company Clear Films and went on to co-direct, produce and shoot the award winning film ‘When Clouds Clear’, released in 2008. Clear Films is in the process of becoming a green production company and supports filmmakers and artist whose projects address social issues and strive to move audiences to action. Danielle is currently working on a new film, Mothers of a Nation.
Lucky Gallery Presents “Nighttime is for Dreaming” Exhibition
“Nighttime is for Dreaming” Exhibition
Brooklyn-area art gallery will feature light installations by Christopher Coggiano, photographs by Ralph Maratta, painting by Alix Sorrell, and sound by “War of the Lightning Bugs”
From October 9th to October 31st, Lucky Gallery will present “Nighttime is for Dreaming” a collaborative installation of light, sound, imagery and text, from New York artists’ Christoper Coggiano and Alix Sorrell and New Jersey based artists’ Ralph Maratta and “War of the Lightning Bugs”.
Coggiano’s light installations of wire and handmade paper are brilliant colors of organic shapes, pulling spontaneously from his subconscious mind. His whimsical and playful creations bring warmth to your inner child and feed your imagination as if you have just woken from a fantastic dream.
Maratta’s imagery in “Big Dreams” is inspired by the idea that humankind shares a bank of common images; “archetypes” or symbols in the collective or “universal unconscious” as described by the psychologist Carl Jung. Such symbols and themes common to mankind can be found in religion, mythology, fables and folklore. Maratta explores this common imagery in his most recent work.
Sorrell is collaborating with Maratta, interpreting his text and visually displaying it within context of the installation in the gallery.
“War of the Lightning Bugs” is providing an evolving experiment in spontaneous sound inspired by the repetition of each passing day, the aggressive tension of congested roadways, the peaceful dreaming of free time and the happiness of coming home on a Friday night. The soundtrack is a reaction to the imagery and themes of the photos and is used as a mechanism for triggering universal ideas and emotions.
“Nighttime Is for Dreaming.” is collaboration between gallery artists and director Laura Arena of Lucky Gallery.
“The changing of the gallery hours to evening hours, the use of light, spontaneous sound, imagery and text together form a mood associated with nighttime”, says Arena. “Dreaming and the unconscious play a key role in illuminating dormant ideas, just like artists often bring new ideas to the forefront of our minds.”
Christopher Coggiano
Christoper Coggiano
Born in 1975 and raised in the Appalachian town of Tamaqua Pennsylvania, Christopher has been creating art since he was an imaginative child on the floor scribbling with crayons. He has had several successful solo art shows in Pennsylvania showcasing his paintings, sculptures, and lamps.
In 2002, his cultural political cartoons graced the The Allentown Times, and his sculptural collaboration with Michael Brolly and several other artists was featured in the book, Cabinets of Curiosity and American Craft magazine.
In 2005, Christopher moved to NYC where he works as a fine jeweler. He continues to paint, sculpt, and build lamps and hopes to one day share his art around the world.
Ralph Maratta, Study of Triangles
Ralph Maratta
Ralph Maratta studied photography in NYC from 1982 – 1984. Leaving the commercial-art field in 1994, he remained active as an artist, working primarily in black and white photography. His former projects include his travels through Asia, Europe, and North America in which he focused on the comparison and contrast of differing cultures.
Maratta’s current work draws from traditional, black & white photography and digital photographic processes. His photographs have been shown in local and corporate galleries and his work was most recently was featured on artinbrooklyn.com and the-art-world.com
Alix Sorrell
Alix Sorrell is a Brooklyn based graphic designer originally from Western Massachusetts. She graduated from University of Michigan with a BA in art history and Parson School of Design with a degree in graphic design. She keeps herself busy by painting murals for community gardens in Brooklyn and drawing dirty pictures of her co-workers. Before becoming a designer, she was a sushi chef in Montana.
“War of the Lightning Bugs”
War of the Lightning Bugs is an evolving experiment in spontaneous sound.
The music is inspired by the repetition of each passing day, the aggressive tension of congested roadways, the peaceful dreaming of free time and the happiness of coming home on a Friday night.
War of the Lightning Bugs resides in Shrewsbury, New Jersey.
Lucky Gallery
Lucky Gallery is located at 176 Richards Street in the heart of Red Hook Brooklyn, New York. Lucky Gallery works with underrepresented and emerging artists looking for a venue to share creativity and ideas in a supportive environment. For information, please contact Laura Arena at laura@luckygallery.com.
Lucky Gallery Hours: Fri/Sat 7-10 and by appt. only
Lucky Gallery Address: Lucky Gallery, 176 Richards Street, Brooklyn, NY. 11231
Lucky Gallery Presents “Peephole Mysteries” and “ATTRACKTION”
Lucky Gallery Presents “Peephole Mysteries” and “ATTRACKTION”
Brooklyn-area art gallery will feature peephole installations by Hannah Kasper, a puppet-performance and art by STRINGS ATTACHED (Suzan Choy, Diana Ho, and Jess Ruliffson)
From September 12th to October 4th, Lucky Gallery will present “Peephole Mysteries” peephole installations by Hannah Kasper and a puppet-performance “ATTRACKTION” and art by STRINGS ATTACHED, a group of three artists, Suzan Choy, Diana Ho, and Jess Ruliffson.
Hannah Kasper
Kasper’s “Peephole Mysteries” is a series of small paintings within shoebox theaters. The viewer approaches the peephole on the gallery’s wall and finds a view into a miniature world. The scale of the paintings, which are on blocks of wood, recalls the miniature and childhood, but the scenes depicted are more sinister than nostalgic. One view will depict a scene from a murder mystery. Another will show a room devastated by a natural disaster. The limited access of the peephole encourages each viewer to become a voyeur who completes the picture and imagines the narrative.
“When looking at images of interiors, it is hard to avoid comparing them to real rooms we have known, or to project ourselves into them and imagine how we might feel in their environment,” says Kasper. “For me it is similar to the sense of escapism one encounters when absorbed in a film or novel. I find images of vacant rooms and objects that reflect on memory and absence intriguing because they create a stage for the viewer’s thoughts.”
ATTRACKTION
STRINGS ATTACHED, “ATTRACKTION” is rumination on the Missed Connections listing on Craiglist that follows three narratives of individuals through the New York City subway system, as they spot and track objects of their desire. Featuring the journeys of a wayfaring minstrel, an imaginative but shy woman, and a helpful purple monster, the show takes the audience with our puppets on a rainy day train ride.
Choy, Ho, and Ruliffson will also feature artwork in Lucky Gallery based on the narratives of their performance “ATTRACKTION”. Choy paints intimate portraits on small oval canvases that are simple and bold. Ho uses ink over coffee-stained doilies, because of its accidental nature, creates shapes that have potential to become meaningful imagery. The doilies serve as appropriate frames to these random occurrences of Missed Connections – decorative borders on cheap material, making something seemingly trivial appear to be more special. Ruliffson’s embroidered drawings are a natural fit for Missed Connections, in response to seeing a stranger and then taking note of them and how those details fit into an intimate picture. These details including personal objects are transformed into small appendages that become part of the person.
Exhibition Dates: September 12, 2009 – October 4, 2009
Peephole Mysteries, Hannah Kasper Opening Reception: September 12, 6-9 PM
“Build Your Own Shoebox Theater” Workshop, hosted by Hannah Kasper: September 20, 2-4 PM
Art Reception and ATTRACKTION, Strings Attached (Artists Suzan Choy, Diana Ho, and Jess Ruliffson): September 27, 3-6 PM
Suzan Choy
Suzan Choy (STRINGS ATTACHED)
Suzan Choy was born in the Midwest and raised on the East Coast. As a child she had an unconventional and nomadic life traveling from state to state. Now as an adult she is influenced by the exploration of whimsical figures traveling through surreal environments. She also draws inspiration with the art of pattern making, repetition, and story telling. Currently living and working in Brooklyn, New York where she is enjoying summer rains and crisp winters.
Diana Ho
Diana Ho (STRINGS ATTACHED)
While New York-based artist Diana Ho is perfectly harmless in person, her artwork has a much darker edge. She often blurs the line between seemingly dichotomous themes, producing a result that can be simultaneously disturbing and amusing. When she is not being a hermit in her studio, you may find her wandering to a puppet show while harmonizing with the song stuck in her head and reading the latest article on neuroscience.
Hannah Kasper
Hannah Kasper was born in New York in 1981. She received her MFA from Glasgow School of Art in Scotland and her BFA in Painting from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and Rome. Her dreamlike paintings of vacant interiors could be taken from the pages of a mystery novel or from scenes of a film after the actors have left the set.
Exhibitions include Artnews Projects in Berlin, Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam, EmergeD in Glasgow, GaleriBOX in Iceland, the Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing, GE World Headquarters in Connecticut and Matter in Brooklyn. She was recently artist-in-residence at the Gil-Society in Akureyri, Iceland. Hannah’s studio is in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
Jess Ruliffson
Jess Ruliffson (STRINGS ATTACHED)
Jess Ruliffson is a New York-based illustrator. Hailing from the deep south, she has a love for sweet tea and front porches. You can find her whistling on the sidewalks of Astoria, but most of the time she is drawing interesting things and making small messes in her studio, under the close supervision of her cat Pascal.
Lucky Gallery
Lucky Gallery is located at 176 Richards Street in the heart of Red Hook Brooklyn, New York. Lucky Gallery works with underrepresented and emerging artists looking for a venue to share creativity and ideas in a supportive environment. For information, please contact Laura Arena at laura@luckygallery.com.
Lucky Gallery Hours: Sat/Sun 1-6 and by appt. only
Lucky Gallery Address: Lucky Gallery, 176 Richards Street, Brooklyn, NY. 11231