Andy Vernon-Jones, Raheem and Raquan Smoking Before School

Vernon-Jones manages to capture the many layers of the neighborhood that the average person does not see traversing the main street. There is a sense of nostalgia and romanticism in this work a sense of timelessness; it is hard to tell the time frame of when this work was made. He is so at ease with his subjects and the neighborhood he unobtrusively captures their spirits and weaves together a narrative, through desolate landscapes and candid portraits, of one of the most unique neighborhoods of Brooklyn, Red Hook.

Here in Red Hook presents a body of work that Vernon-Jones has been working on for nearly five years and presents the series in its entirety for the first time. Some of these images have been featured: on Vernon-Jones’ blog www.hereinredhook.blogspot.com, at Lucky Gallery’s “Made in Red Hook” exhibition and at the Brooklyn Museum. All the photographs in the book were shot on medium format film includes an introduction by Brian Zimbler and a hand-drawn map of Red Hook by artist Adam Thompson. Avni Bhatia and Andy Vernon-Jones designed this 96 page, limited edition book hand-numbed by Vernon-Jones.

Lucky Gallery is very excited to work with Vernon-Jones again after the closure of Lucky Gallery storefront at 176 Richards Street in July 2010. Lucky Gallery’s director, Laura Arena is reincarnating “the spirit of gallery” by hosting this event at 360 Van Brunt Street just a few blocks from the where the gallery once was located.

“Lucky Gallery does not need a storefront to exist, the spirit and practice to provide a supportive environment for emerging artists lives on,” says Laura Arena. “Having this opportunity to work again with Red Hook artist Vernon-Jones and hosting this event in the community of which this book reflects is fitting for the relaunch of Lucky Gallery as an independent entity working and collaborating with artists, galleries and artist spaces world-wide.”

The book release party for Here in Red Hook is on November 17, 2011 from 7 – 10 at 360 Van Brunt Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The party will include food, drink, music, and book signing with the artist. There will also be limited editions of photos for sale of Vernon-Jones imagery from Here in Red Hook. For more information email laura@luckygallery.com.

This event is sponsored by, The Good Fork, Steve’s Key Lime Pies, Sixpoint Brewery, Baked, Brooklyn Ice House, Esser Vineyards, and Breuckelen Distilling.

And special! special! thanks to Scott Pfaffman for the use of 360 Van Brunt Street!

Illustration Luis Blackaller

Curated and directed by Yagil in collaboration with Amy Weng, the installation includes sculpture, video, music, painting, poetry, and photography, from thirteen artists, including Benjamin Ayers, Jeremy Holmes, Michael Kondel, Emily Gosweiler, Timothy Shipman, Andrew Rowley, A.M. Breakups, Krystal Kaler, Claire Dickinson, Patrick Lamothe, Ani Sevag, Kelsey Bozler and Kipton Hinsdale.

This is a celebration of more than a year of Lucky exhibitions and events and includes musical performances by Yagil, Mighty Alpacas, Comadante Zero in collaboration with visual artist 0h10M1ke and from Boston, the Gondoliers. In between sets enjoy the sounds of DJ Spacey Sissick who will end the evening with sweaty dance party and with ongoing performance by Boston peformance artist Heidi Jane.

Beer and wine will be provided with special drink specials over the course of the night. Come and say goodbye, buy a Lucky Gallery t-shirt, and enjoy an evening of some of the best entertainment South of Brooklyn in the tropics of Red Hook!

Illustration by Luis Blackaller (blacklog.mitplw.com)

The installation conveys the progressive nature of western technology juxtaposed with the organic world and the affect it has on today’s modern lifestyle. It questions the benefits and detriments of the Western world’s techno-scientific advancements in relation to the natural world. Presented in a lighthearted fashion, the installations borrow and relate to the pace, aesthetic and feel of contemporary Western media.

“Arc Angle” is curated by Yagil, in collaboration with Amy Weng. The installation includes sculpture, video, music, painting, poetry, and photography, from artists Benjamin Ayers, Jeremy Holmes, Michael Kondel, Emily Gosweiler, Timothy Shipman, Andrew Rowley, A.M. Breakups, Krystal Kaler, Claire Dickinson, Patrick Lamothe, Ani Sevag, Kelsey Bozler and Kipton Hinsdale. The installation transforms the Lucky Gallery space to create discussion within the community about the ongoing topic.

Special Thanks to: Henry Jeria – Keys, Keisha White – Vocals, Allen Mednard – Drums, Alex Violette – Sax, Sean Lewis – Bass

In keeping with our mission statement, Lucky Gallery’s Artist in Residence program provides affordable studio space and an opportunity for artists to interact with the community and with each other, sharing creativity and ideas in a supportive environment, and an opportunity to showcase their work in a gallery setting.

“Front End and Back End” a computer science and technology concept, is a generalized term that refers to the initial and the end stages of a process. The “Front End” is responsible for collecting input in various forms from the user and processing it to conform to a specification the “Back End” can use. The “Front End” is an interface between the user and the “Back End.”

“Lucky Gallery’s resident studio behind the gallery is the ‘Front End’ in this analogy,” says Laura Arena the Director of Lucky Gallery. “The studio is where the artists are creating and collaborating in preparation for the ‘Back End’, which is the actual gallery itself. Even our guest artist, Hiroshi Shafer will have his studio webcasted with the other artist’s working spaces. The exhibition in Lucky Gallery will act as the interface between the public and the artist.”

Maria Baraybar’s works for this show involve a juxtaposition of her own poetry and Artie, her comic-style drawings. Her search for meaning and absurdity shares one space whether it is comfortable or distressing to the human mind.

Stephanie Homa’s work aims to explore the endless rigid things that spook her with their insignificance, lightness and disappearance, carrying the simple title “reality”. Her practice as a painter transforms thought to a sort of visual copy, revealing emotions and ideas that are neither right nor wrong, mean everything and nothing and in the end, create a fraction of the whole, like a missing piece of a puzzle.

Kathleen Murray’s prints and paintings are all of urban environments with the benefit of the absence of people. Murray re-interprets urban structures as clean, crisp landscapes of muted colors and abstracted lines, breaking them down to their simplest components (a square, a rectangle, a curved line) then rebuilding them, removing whatever feels unnecessary. In the end, we are left with a simple structure that can be understood at its most basic levels.

Hiroshi Shafer, a Japanese artist now living in Brooklyn, is the guest artist for the resident exhibition. His conceptual use of video, sculpture, the human body and movement compliments the resident’s artist’s two dimensional works. Shafer’s most recent work “Your Future Camera” mixes playfulness, fantasy and function, with the debut of his wearable and functional camera obscura.

Lucky Gallery is pleased to have Stephanie Homa as an artist in residence. She joins Lucky Gallery resident artists Maria Baraybar and Kathleen Murray.

Homa will be partipating in the upcoming Brooklyn Studio Tour and will be a featured artists in the upcoming Lucky Gallery “Artist in Residence Exhibition” in June.

We welcome Homa from London and look forward to her work and hope the volcano will permit her to get to New York.

To celebrate Brooklyn Studio Tour, Lucky Gallery’s one year anniversary, and the “Made in Red Hook” exhibition, we are selling a limited edition “Get Lucky in Red Hook” t-shirts at Lucky Gallery this weekend, designed by Greek artist Giorgos Maraziotis and made by local screen printing company Fleaheart.

There is a limited amount of t-shirts available. Shirts come in slate and ash-white striped on American Apparel t-shirts and are $15 and come in size medium, large and xtra-large. Email laura@luckygallery to purchase your t-shirt today and help support Lucky Gallery!

Buy online http://lorarena.etsy.com – it is that easy!