women artists

Bushwick Open Studios 2012

This past weekend I had the chance to stop by the 2012 Bushwick Open Studios in Brooklyn, New York.  If you are unfamiliar with the concept of an open studio event, it’s basically an opportunity for both emerging and established artists to exhibit and share their work with the public, their studio neighbors, curators, critics, dealers and any other individuals involved in the local art scene.  I’d compare it to E.A.S.T. in Austin or the Hardy and Nancy open studio nights in Houston.  Usually there is a certain amount of free booze and food available at each artist studio, but you have to get there early if you want to partake in said booze and food.  It’s enjoyable for me personally (and maybe these are the reasons why it’s enjoyable for others as well) because it’s an extremely laid back atmosphere and you can come and go as you please from studio to studio.  Plus, there is the excitement of stumbling upon something truly great while navigating through an unfamiliar territory of countless artistic spaces.

Over the weekend of June 1-3, 2012 more than 4,500 individuals in over 450 separate activities participated in the Bushwick Open Studios.  Bushwick, or Boswijck, literally means “little town in the woods” or “heavy woods.”  Directly from a slick and handy map/publication designed by Collective Assembly specifically created for this year’s event, the B.O.S. “is a self-organized collaborative festival produced by Arts in Bushwick, an all-volunteer community organization.  Now in its sixth year, Bushwick Open Studios is an exciting opportunity for artists to experiment outside the standard context of sales and space competition.  In addition, it provides a space for artists and community members to come together to collaboratively produce an event that showcases a wide range of what their neighborhood has to offer.”

After lunch at Momo Sushi Shack, which I highly recommend if you are ever in the Bushwick area, I set out to explore the space called No Name (referred to as Hub C on the map) located at 56 Bogart Street.  Starting from the ground floor was NURTUREart, a non-profit organization that provides unique opportunities and resources for emerging artists, curators, and local public school students.  Their current show, Videorover, is a group show featuring various video works curated by Rachel Steinberg.  (On a side note, the juror for this year’s Big Show at Lawndale Art Center is Marco Antonini, Gallery Director at NURTUREart!)  I then went on to check out the artist studios on the upper floors of No Name, of which there were a TON.  Among all of the artist studios I saw that day at 56 Bogart Street, the work of Italian artist Cristiana Depedrini in particular caught my eye.

Cristiana Depedrini, born in Milan in 1976, now lives and works between her hometown and Brooklyn.  I was drawn to a small catalogue of her work for a 2011 show at the Brooklyn Workshop Gallery called Invisible Cities/le mie, named after Italo Calvino’s book of the same name.  As a long time admirer of Calvino’s writing, I was intrigued by what Depedrini’s pieces would look like in reference to his text.  The tiny, unassuming catalogue did not disappoint.  Inside, I gazed upon thumbnails and full page spreads of fantastical ink on paper drawings of imagined cities in New York.  In Come Giraffe, the red, blue, yellow and green of a skyscraper island converges and stacks on one another.  The entire structure sits atop an inky black pond and while looking at the drawing as a whole, I can’t be sure if the city is rising from the murkiness or being sucked to the bottom.  By contrast, in UFO, on the left side of the drawing there is a dark, ominous purple and black cloud definitively gobbling up a smaller spindly formation, which could signify Depedrini’s “city.”  Looking at each drawing’s composition separately conjures up different feelings and thoughts, but the series in its entirety creates a network of connected imaginary spaces similar to the cities in Calvino’s book.

Cristiana Depedrini, Come Giraffe, Ink on paper, 21 x 29.7 cm

Cristiana Depedrini, UFO, Ink on paper, 21 x 29.7 cm

Depedrini states that, “Originally inspired by a reading of Italo Calvino’s ‘Invisible Cities’ I began working on a project loosely based on it.  I consider these drawings as its first chapter.  What mostly intrigued me was Calvino’s ability to evoke powerful and poetic images combining words with his imagination.  Soon the book became for me an object of study and aesthetic interest, since it opened up an infinite range of creative choices in terms of how to interpret and translate it through the language of visual art.  Trying to blend Calvino’s imaginary cities and my personal vision of New York, I started looking for signs of the ‘Invisible Cities’ around me, particularly in Brooklyn.  And the more I looked, the more I found: visions of contrasts and ruins, architectural relics, darkness and light, hidden dreams and fears, desires and memories.  All these images helped me creating drawings that reveal the ‘invisible’ into material specificity.”

My experience with the B.O.S. was a pleasant one, but I can’t help but think about an important point that Hyperallergic writer Susan Silas brings up in her article about the Open Studio event.  She mentions that not only is the Bushwick neighborhood composed of various artistic communities, but other inhabitants who do not participate in the art world as well.  Further, she asks, “What does it mean to have these communities converge on the same real estate, in a neighborhood where, unlike other formerly gentrified ones, the housing stock is mediocre and industrial activity is still significant?”  It is definitely something to think about now that gallery spaces such as the mainstream Chelsea gallery Luhring Augustine are establishing a satellite location in Bushwick, making the situation even more complicated.  There is no doubt though that Bushwick will be a place to watch in the next few years as artists continue to move out to Brooklyn and make work to share with the rest of the community through events such as these.

Places in Bushwick 

NURTUREart: 56 Bogart Street, Brooklyn, NY 11206

No Name: 56 Bogart Street, Brooklyn, NY 11206

Momo Sushi Shack: 43 Bogart Street, Brooklyn, NY 11206

Luhring Augustine: 25 Knickerbocker Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11237