Friday, August 6th, 2010 – From 7pm to 10pm (One Night Event)
Engine 212 Firehouse. Williamsburg, 134 Wythe Ave, Brooklyn, New York, 11211 (on Wythe between North 8th & North 9th Streets)
See Full Gallery <--
On the evening of Friday August 6th, 2010, from 7 to 10pm, a new life spilled out of the shuttered Engine 212 Firehouse onto the sidewalk. A 10-foot mural provided the backdrop to a group, mixed-media portraiture exhibition, an administrative office, and a sidewalk lounge with board games, delicious snacks, ice-cold thirst quenching beverages, live music, film projections, and good company.
The on-street reception was followed by a rooftop (across the street) bring your own BBQ, with lots of beer and film projections carrying on until well into the early hours of the morning!
The Site: Closest public transportation located at the Bedford stop on the L train. 134 Wythe Ave, Brooklyn, New York, 11211 - See Map
The visual artists, collectives and bands who made 'LIVING with Other People' possible:
Michael Alan - www.michaelalanart.com
Michael Alan was born in the summer of 1977, during the New York City blackout. His work has been featured in 4 New York solo shows and over 200 group shows. His work has been discussed in over 200 publications, books and media sources, including the New York Times, NBC’s Today Show, Marie Claire Italia, the New York Post, Fox Channel 5, the Village Voice, Time Out New York, and the New York Press. In addition to his work as a solo artist, Michael is the founder and director of The Living Installation, and the Drawathon Theater. Since the summer of 2009, Alan teaches in the International Students Program at the School of Visual Arts.
Band Antenna
Three idyllic minstrels who draw from the psychedelic waters of days passed and those yet to come, harmonize the sonic soundscapes of vocals, mandolin, keys, & drums.
Mari—ëtte Bergh - www.mariettebergh.com
Mari—ëtte Bergh is a painter from South Africa who currently lives in Johannesburg. Fascinated by people, she incorporates them in her paintings to personify a mood, emotion or attitude that originate from her. "I love how splodges of paint look like eyes that are alive and how they captivate, haunt and follow you around."
El Celso - www.elcelso.com
Artist El Celso has been described in a recent issue of ARTnews as a “conceptualist” regarding his latest group show at The Winkleman Gallery in Chelsea. The Art Newspaper described his previous show, “Art Burn,” an International contemporary art expo & immolation, as a “bonfire of the art vanities” and the Miami Herald declared it “a funky Basel sideshow.” The New York Times described his 2008 exhibition, “Post No Bills,” a street art gallery installation in Long Island City as “audacious.” His colorful, figurative works are also featured in numerous publications, books, and web sites.
Ian Couch - www.flickr.com/iancouch
Ian Couch is a New York born artist who operates under the guise of a traditional film and motion picture photographer. When Ian is not hiding from ringwraiths or driving his old reliable civic far, far away...he is working on a conceptual book of portraits and stories of NYC artists from the 60's to today, that includes some of the original Warhol stars, and within which all of the portraits are photographed by only the light of the full moon. His latest body of work was included in the Paris Photo Expo. Recently, Ian came back into the fold as a keyboardist, playing for the sonic dream-pop band, Band Antenna.
Sam Feather-Garner
Sam Feather-Garner is a traveller and yes-man who knows how to relax. Founding member of La Funederia art collective, the National Gentlemen's Trust, proud citizen of Zaqistan, and owner of Smokin Sammy's bbq stand, he can be found in New York City when the temperature is above 55 F. He is always looking to improve his lifestyle, fall in love, or enjoy some leisure.
Jacob Goble - www.jacobgoble.blogspot.com
Jacob Goble was born in 1981 in Maine, New York. He recently formed an artist collective called Operation Enduring Artists that “only deals with things that matter."
Johan Kritzinger - www.johankritzinger.com
Johan Kritzinger is a multi-disciplinary visual artist & curator from Johannesburg, South Africa, who currently works and lives in Brooklyn, New York. Since arriving in New York in 2006, Johan has been involved in developing FIGMENT, a major participatory art event on Governors Island, starting and aiding in the development of the Pure Project Art-space, an underground multi-purpose art space in NoLita, curating and exhibiting as an artist in various personal, commercial and public spaces, as well as indulging in the darker arts. Johan is an official experiential representative of the emerging LIVING company.
Eric Mavko - www.ericmavko.com
Eric Mavko is an artist based in Bushwick, Brooklyn, whose paintings and multi-media work deal with the distorted narratives of memory and self-identity. He graduated from the New York Academy of Art in 2005, and has been exhibiting work throughout the New York area.
Ian McGillivray - www.popmortem.com
Ian considers himself to be a Graphic Designer by profession and a Painter by compulsion. Heavily influenced by skate culture, Pop Art, 1970's exploitation film posters, as well as 1950's and 1960's illustrations, he has developed a unique style of art that he calls “Pop Mortem”©. These graphically illustrative paintings have been shown throughout the New York City area over the past 5 years.
Monica M?ºller - www.monicamuller.com
Monica M?ºller is a photographer based in Brooklyn, NY. She was born in Paris and grew up in Basel, Switzerland, also spending much time in Japan, her mother's native country. Monica graduated with a BFA in Photography from Parsons New York, in May 2003. Her first solo-show was in New York in August 2007 at the Pure Project, showing three different styles of portraits. One of those being travel portraits that she shot while visiting countries including Japan, China, Korea, South Africa, Indonesia, Dubai, Colombia and many more. In 2008, Monica was also included in a group show on Governors Island, titled ‚ÄòEmergence‚Äô, and at the Grand Society Gallery, titled 'Mark It Up'.
Negotiationofspace - www.negotiationofspace.net
negotiationofspace is the exploration of the nature of twins from the inside out. We are hannah and amy Buckley, individual yet always intertwined. For this project, we collaborated with Anatomy Projects to produce a photo with a 100 year old camera.
Gimberg Nerf - www.facebook.com/gimberg.nerf
Gimberg Nerf was born in Johannesburg in 1977 and is currently based in Cape Town, South Africa. Known in some circles as the translator of Anton Szandor La Vey’s Satanic Bible into Afrikaans and in others as the instigator of Walk for Good. Exhibitions, events, interventions and intercessions, such as planting an apple tree in Paradise and creating a Gadget that allows the user to lie honestly form part of Gimberg Nerf’s praxis.
NOSM & HOW - www.hownosm.org
The twin brothers HOW and NOSM are graffiti artists and professional muralists residing in New York .Born in the Basque country of San Sebastian, Spain, the Perre brothers grew up in Duesseldorf, Germany practicing the Bronx born artform of graffiti. During a visit to New York in ’97 HOW and NOSM were asked to become members of the legendary TATS CRU,and permanently relocated to New York shortly thereafter in ’99 – a move that marked their transition from painting on trains, and even the Berlin Wall – to creating elaborate murals for a number of known commercial clients such as SONY.
Christina Rintoul
Christina Rintoul hails from Steamboat Springs, Colorado and has been living in Booklyn for the past 15 years. Upon first landing in New York, her chance encounter with a praying mantis in a taxi cab left a tattoo on her mind. Laden with thick oil paint on canvas, her work is inspired by the vibrant colors and bold lines of Expressionism combined with a lifelong obsession with the insect world.
The Rompers - www.myspace.com/therumpers
The Rompers are a rock band from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, popular in the mid-1980s but still releasing material for a cult following until 2012. Jamaican singer-songwriter Napalm Rex recorded the dance track "Baby Do You Wanna Bump" in December 1974. Weaver sang the repeated line "Angel of Death, Monarch to the kingdom of the dead, Infamous butcher, Angel of Death" in a deep voice (entirely studio created). The Katja Wolfe booking agency found model-turned-singer Cynthia Yardley (originally from Montserrat), along with an exotic male dancer known only as "Tomasz" to complete the line up.
Eugenia Yu - www.eugeniayu.com
Eugenia Yu was trained in Fashion Design, of which her earlier work extends. Fabric was used to create objects with obscured identities. Her current work follows the same question, in another form. Using mimicry practiced in ancient china -- when artists would produce almost exact copies of masterpieces in the spirit of learning, she is currently working on a series of paintings -- 'Yu Family, after Takashi Murakami, after Zhang Xiaogang, after Wang Hui...'
Dax van Aalten - www.thepaintingsite.com
Dax van Aalten makes paintings when he’s not busy working to pay for a place to sleep in between working.
Jesse Walker - www.jdwalk.com
Jesse Walker grew up in Flagstaff, AZ. He went to college at Pacific University in Forest Grove, OR where he studied art and creative writing. Finishing his MFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art brought on a fascination with motorcycles concluding in a trans-North American journey. He is currently attempting to avoid the end of the world by dreaming of wide open spaces.
Curated and Produced by:
LIVING company - www.alivingcompany.com
"With the fall of the economic empire and the shockwaves of the global recession, a new entity emerged from the dust and ashes. A company born with the mission of propagating free will and the realization of dreams. Unlike companies before it that failed in their pursuit of capital wealth, LIVING was driven by the intent to generate a wealth of experiences. So begins our story, that only the continuum of time and space may see unfold..."
Co-Producer:
About NTHCCC - www.nthccc.org
The Northside Town Hall Community and Cultural Center, Inc. (NTHCCC) is a joint project of two longtime North Brooklyn neighborhood groups, Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG) and The People's Firehouse, Inc (PFI.) Located on the site of the former Engine Company 212 firehouse in Williamsburg, the Town Hall will serve as a home for these organizations to continue to serve, organize, and advocate for the community. The building will also feature a flexible cultural exhibition and community meeting space on the ground floor.