THE WEEK: Dec 5-9.

MONDAY:

Photographing the Dead: The History of Postmortem Photography from The Burns Collection and Archive
Postmortem photography, photographing a deceased person, was a common practice in the 19th and early 20th centuries. These photographs, from the beginning of the practice until now, are special mementos that hold deep meaning for mourners through visually “embalming” the dead. Although postmortem photographs make up the largest group of nineteenth-century American genre photographs, until recent years they were largely unseen and unknown. Dr. Burns recognized the importance of this phenomenon in his early collecting when he bought his first postmortem photographs in 1976. Since that time he has amassed the most comprehensive collection of postmortem photography in the world and has curated several exhibits and published three books on the subject: the Sleeping Beauty series. Tonight, Dr. Burns will speak about the practice of postmortem photography from the 19th century until today and share hundreds of images from his collection.

FIRST BOOK BROOKLYN HOLIDAY PARTY & FUNDRAISER
first book–brooklyn is a nonprofit organization dedicated to getting new books to children in need.  join us tonight for their first annual holiday party and fundraiser.

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THE WEEKEND: Nov 4-6.

FRIDAY:

Editions|Artists’ Book Fair
The 2011 Editions|Artists’ Book Fair will take place Friday, 4 November to Sunday, 6 November.
Founded in 1998 by Susan Inglett of I.C. Editions and Brooke Alexander Editions, the Editions|Artists’ Book Fair has grown in size and stature to become the premier showcase for contemporary publishers and dealers, presenting the latest and greatest in prints, multiples and artists’ books. The Editions|Artists’ Book Fair is well known for its vibrant energy and innovation, thanks to over sixty exhibitors, presenting hundreds of artists representing New York, Johannesburg, Amsterdam, London, Paris and points in between. The Editions|Artists’ Book Fair was the first fair to offer FREE admission, initiated with the intent of introducing a broader public to the medium of prints, multiples, and artists’ books. Fourteen years later the Fair continues to do just that.


ZEN MONSTER LAUNCH PARTY
The launch event at the Brooklyn zen center, 505 Carroll Street, on friday night nov. 4 for zen monster magazine marks our 3rd issue– an unusually strong and clear statement of buddhist, non-buddhist, and trans-buddhist art, poetry, and subversive political statement — our strongest endorsement yet of gary snyder’s landmark essay “Buddhism and the Coming Revolution,” which we printed in ZM#1 back in 2008. our zen buddhist praxis here in Brooklyn and n.j. is edgy, overtly political, and aesthetically liberated from any particular form or artistic ideology. we back the Occupy Wall Street movement 100%; our art editor noah fischer has been in Zuccotti Park since day one, even demonstrating as an artist there on wall street before day one with a small group dressed up as currency, as money, and he is there today and every day.

(HESS IS MORE) GLASSLANDS, EARLY SHOW/LATE SHOW:Laser Sword, Mike Slott, Rl Grime:
Hess is More Record Release Partty! with Xenia Rubinos, and Bow Ribbons HESSTORY “If you think of a piece of music as a rubberband – I like to try and stretch it. Let’s say melancholy in one end, and humor in the other, and see how far you can take it. Bringing oppositions together. ” Welcome to the playfull world of Mikkel Hess aka HESS IS MORE.

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The Week: OCT 11-14th.

MARTIN WITTFOOTH: The Passions
October 13 – November 12, 2011
Artist’s Reception Thursday, October 13th 6-8PM

The Passions, Martin Wittfooth’s first solo show in New York, is a contemporary exploration of sainthood, martyrdom, and religiosity that still dominates the ideological landscape of the modern world, and displays the prerequisite acts most often performed to attain such states of veneration such as violence, self-sacrifice, and suffering. In Western philosophy, “The Passions” refer to strong biologically driven emotional states that seduce one away from reason. Yet the term’s origin is to be found in the Latin word, “passio”, which means, simply, “suffering”. Consequently, the term is connected to the most famous act of martyrdom: the crucifixion of Christ.

 COLLECTIVE BRIGHTNESS READING
Thursday, October 13 · 6:30pm – 9:30pm

Join editor Kevin Simmonds & 10 contributors for the NY launch of this groundbreaking anthology!

Andrew Salgado-Anxious
 Reception:Thursday October 13th, 6-9pm
Exhibition October 13th – November 18th, 2011

Doug Jeck: “Early Works”
Thursday, October 13th – Saturday, November 12th, 2011

Opening Reception: Thursday, October 13, 2011 6 – 8pm

Klemens Gasser and Tanja Grunert are pleased to present “Early Works”, the first solo exhibition of Doug Jeck at Gasser Grunert gallery. Doug Jeck is a Seattle, Washington based artist whose sculptures are influenced by static physicality and historicity, with the human object at the center. His life-like sculptures are an amalgamation of clay, hair, concrete, fur and wood that explore Jeck’s perception of various early historical periods and figures.

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THE WEEK: Sept 14-16.

 ARIAS WITH A TWIST @ABRONS ART CENTER.
September 14-October 16
Wednesday-Saturday | 8 pm
Saturday Late Show | 10:30 pm
Sunday | 7 pm

This updated version of the original deliriously madcap fantasy once again features the soaring song stylings of demented diva Joey Arias surrounded by an eye-popping theatrical extravaganza conjured by a team of puppeteers under the direction of Basil Twist. Channeling lurid celluloid dreams, macabre nightmares and bizarre premonitions, the adventure begins with an alien abduction and concludes with a stupendous Busby Berkeley-esque finale. Along the way, the throaty chanteuse belts out pop, rock and jazz standards in addition to some original tunes by Alex Gifford as Twist and company work their magic with vintage marionettes, anatomically correct puppets and fantastical scenic elements.

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THE WEEK: SEPT 6-9.

WHITE SWALLOW READING SERIES: B.C. EDWARDS LL BEN FAMA LL ELY SHIPLEY @ CORNELIA.
Tuesday, September 6 · 6:00pm – 7:30pm

B.C. EDWARDS lives in Brooklyn. He is the recipient of the 2011 Hudson Prize put out by Black Lawrence Press which will be publishing his collection of short fiction, The Aversive Clause in 2012 and his collection of poetry From the Standard Cyclopedia of Recipes in 2013. His work can be found in Red Line Blues, The Sink Review, Food-i-Corp, Hobart and others. His short story “Illfit” is being adapted into a piece by the Royal Ballet of Flanders. BEN FAMA is the author of the chapbook Aquarius Rising (UDP 2009) and NEW WAVES (Minutes Books). He is the founding editor of Supermachine Poetry Journal. His work has been featured in GlitterPony, notnostrums, LIT, Poor Claudia, and on the Best American Poetry Blog, among others. He has contributed tips to gawker, words to urban dictionary, and has an ongoing correspondence with Lady Gaga. ELY SHIPLEY’s first book, Boy with Flowers, won the 2007 Barrow Street Press book prize judged by Carl Phillips, the 2009 Thom Gunn Award, and was a Lambda Literary Award finalist. His writing appears in the Western Humanities Review, Prairie Schooner, Diagram, Gulf Coast, and elsewhere. He holds a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Utah and currently teaches at Baruch College, CUNY. Hosted by Angelo Nikolopoulos $7 cover includes a house drink.

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THE WEEK: AUGUST 22-26.

SVA Women Alumni Invite Artists Who Have Shaped Their Work

August 26 – September 21, 2011
Reception: Thursday, September 8, 6 – 8pm
Visual Arts Gallery

Panel Discussion Moderated by Lindsay Pollock
Tuesday, September 13, 7pm
SVA Theatre

School of Visual Arts (SVA) presents “The Influentials,” an exhibition featuring distinguished female alumni of the College and the diverse group of artists who have influenced their practice. “The Influentials” is both an investigation into the creative lineage between contemporary artists and a dialogue between mentors and mentees that crosses generations, gender and media. The exhibition is co-curated by independent curatorAmy Smith-Stewart and SVA Director of Development and Alumni Affairs Carrie Lincourt.

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THE (LONG) WEEKEND MAY 27-29.

FRIDAY: MAY 27th

(TOP video, Song: The Surface of the Ocean
Matt Lavelle: composition and alto clarinet
Jason Kao Hwang: viola
Lola Danza: vocals
Francois Grillot: bass
Recorded,mixed,and mastered by Francois Grillot
http://www.myspace.com/mattlavelle

(BOTTOM video:The Local 269)

Friday May 27th, 8pm: François Grillot Contraband
Catherine Sikora – reeds
Roy Campbell – trumpet
Anders Nilsson – guitar
Daniel Levin – cello
François Grillot – bass and compositions
Jay Rosen – drums
Rhythm in the Kitchen Music Festival @
The Church of All Nations 410 West 57th Street, $10

PAINT IT NOW @FOWLER ARTS COLLECTIVE.
MAY 27 – JULY 6, 2011

OPENING RECEPTION: FRIDAY, MAY 27 FROM 7 TO 10PM

Paint it Now curated by participating artists Thomas Buildmore and Scott Chasse

The ever-changing arena of contemporary art presents endless challenges for those who find themselves caught in its currents. From white cube gallery exhibits to brick wall paste-ups and graffiti, the push and pull of what is important, relevant, or dismissible can be both distracting and empowering. (READ MORE.)

READ OR LISTEN TO AN INTERVIEW WITH THE 22. 

SUPERCODA PRESENTS:
Show 1 (Friday, 5/27. 9-midnight) : Mamie Minch, Eliza Rickman (LA), Anomylos @CAFE ORWELL.

http://www.myspace.com/mamieminch –
As devilishly funny, irrepressible and irreverent as the former Roulette Sisters frontwoman is live, a lot of this album is rivetingly dark. Minch’s solo debut is a sparse, terse collection of both original and classic acoustic blues songs, several of them imbued with Minch’s signature wit, but it also shows off an altogether different side of her writing. As any good blueswoman knows, the blues can pack a mighty emotional wallop, and Minch sings with an unflinching honesty, even anguish in places. Minch’s soulful, passionate alto voice resounds over old-school instrumentation.

http://www.myspace.com/elizarickman = Toy Pianist Extraordinaire

http://anomylos.com/

Annual End-of-the-Season Poets’ Potluck

FRIDAY MAY 27 / 10PM

Come celebrate the end of another season at the Poetry Project!  The Poets’ Potluck is an opportunity for New York City’s poetry community(ies) to come together for an evening of readings, performances, and delicious food.  An array of writers from the Poetry Project series as well as other local reading series will read/perform their work.  Any one interested in bringing a dish for the potluck will contribute to an amazing feast.  If you’re interested in bringing food, please email Brett Price at fridaynightseriesp@gmail.com.

VIDEOROVER: Season II
Curated by: Rachel Steinberg
May 27 – Dec 17, 2011
Opening Reception: Friday, May 27, 7-9 PM
Screening begins at 8 PM
910 Grand St
Brooklyn, NY

NURTUREart Non-Profit is pleased to present VIDEOROVER: Season II, the second installment of its semi-annual video series. VIDEOROVER: Season II is curated by Rachel Steinberg and features artists: Fatima Al Qadiri and Lyndsy Welgos, Cecilia Bonilla, Juan Pablo Echeverri, Derek Larson, Dana Levy, Pernille With Madsen, Colin Snapp, and JULIACKS.

VIDEOROVER seeks to present a wide range of works from artists locally and internationally who are all working to expand the perceptual limitations of video. This season’s selection aims to disorient viewers by removing an essential reality context, only to redeposit them into seemingly familiar settings.

Dana Levy, Fatima Al Qadiri and Lyndsy Welgos explore the pluralism of eastern and western conventions by looking at traditions through a contemporary perspective. Cecilia Bonilla examines our relationships to the seductive nature of commercial images of women through minimal manipulation, while Juan Pablo Echeverri shows us a self-projected fantasy of mass-produced femininity. Colin Snapp acts as a ‘journalist’ of sorts, documenting moments of real-time, but relieving the viewer of imposed intentions. Pernille With Madsen dizzies and disorients us with a vision of how to imagine architectural surroundings. Derek Larson’s playful experimentations extend through other worldly humor while JULIACKS’ narrative pulls back and forth between a character’s inner psyche and external world. (READ MORE.)


Photo Courtesy of Paper Magazine

CLOSING PARTY! OLEK’s Knitting is for Pus****
Friday May 27 6-9pm

Christopher Henry Gallery

127 Elizabeth Street
New York, NY

See “Knitting is for Pus****” for the last time (in NYC) and like never before… with a **SPECIAL BLACK LIGHT PRESENTATION!**

On Friday May 27th, 2011 Christopher Henry Gallery NYC will host a Closing Party for Celebrity Artist OLEK. Olek’s acclaimed installation “Knitting is for Pus****” has created a total sensation since it 1st opened back in September 2010. It traveled to SCOPE MIAMI, and was extended repeatedly due to pop…ular demand and endless press requests… next it will be highlighted in a traveling museum show called “40 Under 40″ opening at The SMITHSONIAN Museum in 2012!

SHOW! 

Two terrific improvisers are on tour and will be performing one night in NYC , Joe Burgio and Andrew Eisenberg, two of Boston’s most creative and strongest performers.

Carol Liebowitz (pno)
Adam Caine (gtr)
Claire DeBrunner (bsn)
Ratzo Harris (bs)

Joe Burgio (movement/dance)
Andrew Eisenberg (percussion/found objects)
Chris Welcome (gtr)
Shayna Dulberger (b)

Elliot Levin (sx)
Tom Zlabinger (b)
John Wagner (dr)

Take the 61 bus to Ryerson from jay street the AC and F trains transfer at jay street. The 54 bus is also a good option. You would take it to the bus stop b/t ryerson and grand. the subways that transfer are the 2 and 3 at Hoyt St as Well as the BMQR at Dekalb ave. Also the L train takes you to the 61 bus at N 6 and Driggs. You Could also take the G Train to Classon.

We’ll have cheap beer! Shayna might make Baklava!

SATURDAY: MAY 28th


Return of the Mini Zine Fest @ PETE’S CANDY STORE

Join Marguerite Dabaie and tons of rad zinesters at Pete’s Candy Store for the upcoming Mini Zine Fest!
Saturday, May 28th
3PM – 7PM
More info

Pub(l)ic Identities: Reading Medical Representations of Sex

woman1

An illustrated lecture with medical artist Shelley Wall
Date: Saturday, May 28th
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $5
Presented by Morbid Anatomy

“It’s a girl!” “It’s a boy!”… The genitals, those body parts conventionally expected to remain most hidden, are also the first and most powerful shapers of our public identity. In this illustrated talk, medical artist Shelley Wall considers how sexual anatomy, gendered bodies, and dimorphic sex have been represented in the visual discourse of medicine. From early anatomical atlases through to present-day clinical illustrations and the Visible Human datasets, medical imagery has influenced ideas about sexual identity and what it means to be “normal”.

Ashley Bickerton
Through 25 June 2011

540 W. 26th Street, Chelsea
In Nocturnes, Bickerton’s third solo exhibition at Lehmann Maupin, the artist revisits mankind’s antithetical attraction and repulsion to the grotesque, exotic, and sexual. Whereas previous works depicted abundant worlds of health, happiness, family, and cohesion, Bickerton has become disillusioned with the brilliance and wholesomeness that colored these preceding works, now drawing inspiration from the phrase ‘twisting and flapping in the neon wilderness’. For more information and to view images from the the exhibition,Click here
Show 2 (Saturday, May 28th 9-midnight): Nick Lyons Trio, Yoni Kretzmer Double Bass Quartet (Yoni Kretzmer/Ruben Radding/Sean Conly/Mike Pride), Jessie Nelson Trio (Jessie Nelson/Todd Martino/Conner Martinez)

http://www.reverbnation.com/nicklyons
http://www.yonikretzmer.com/
http://jessiemnelson.com/

JIM GAYLORD: SPOILERS @JEFF BAILEY GALLERY.

May 25 – July 1, 2011
Opening Reception:
Thursday, May 26

THE FITTING ROOM
25 MAY – 25 JUNE, 2011

DAVID BRODYMERNET LARSENNICOLE WITTENBERG
CURATED BY DAVID COHEN

PRESS RELEASE download
PARTICIPANTS download

(READ MORE.)

OBSTACLE @INVISIBLE DOG ARTS CENTER

MAY 14 – JULY 10

Curated by Steven and William. This exhibition is part of PLUS ONE CURATION SERIES

Works by: Chris Astley, Carlton DeWoody, Ethan Long, Steven and William, Suzanne Sattler, Chris Dunbar, Antonia Wright, Ruben Millares, Wayne Adams, Paul Bloodgood, Sally French, Allyn Bromley, Stephen Freedman, Deborah Nehmad, Evan Ryer, Michael Joaquin Grey, Project Lab @ PS58, Aaron Padilla, John Silvis, Anne Pearce, Andrew Zuckerman, Jennifer Mills, Robin Kang, Ian Trask. Artists Bios here

OPENING PARTY SLIDESHOW HERE


Through The Warp @REGINA REX
5/28/2011 – 6/19/2011 

Through a variety of processes connected to the act of weaving, Through The Warp presents seven different approaches to the same overarching structure—material building upon material via linear repetition and overlap. From woven fibers and pigments to language and pixels, artistsJoell Baxter, Karl Erickson, John Houck, Beryl Korot, Jamisen Ogg, Mike Paré and Lawrence Weiner engage with this ancient framework in ways that warp prior perceptions of familiar structures, or even put forth a new language altogether. (READ MORE.)

SUNDAY: MAY 29th

Class: Mummification @OBSERVATORY
Date: Sunday, May 29th (sold out, but see newly added class info here)
Time: 1-4 PM
Admission: $60
*** Must RSVP to morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com in order to attend this class; Class size limited to 15 people
In today’s class, learn the mummification process as described in the “Egyptian Book of the Dead” (Book of Coming Forth By Day). Instructor Sorceress Cagliastro will guide students in the use of the traditional materials–such as natron salts, canopic jars, oils and herbs, dried flowers and linen or gauze wraps–and traditional ritual–such as ritual of the opening of the mouth–in the creation of an authentic and perfectly respected animal mummy. Each student will leave class with an animal mummy of their own making. (READ MORE.)

Super Coda Soundproofing Benefit Wonderful Show Time Vegetarian Potluck

Sunday, May 29th, from 6-1030, Papacookie Hosts a Special Super Coda Soundproofing Benefit Wonderful Show Time Vegetarian Potluck, Festively. Featuring:

The Red Light New Music Collective – http://www.redlightnewmusic.org/

Sxip Shirey – http://www.sxipshirey.com/

Dream Zoo (Valerie Kuehne/Lucio Menegon/Jeff Young/Sean Ali)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8W01gC1Mik

Jonathan Wood Vincent – http://www.reverbnation.com/jonathanwoodvincent

Papacookie is a private residence apartment fantasy world atop the Upper West Side. Here’s the address:
201 W. 86th st. The Belnord
Apt. 806 (tell the doorman you are here to see Jonathan Vincent)
Non-flesh potluck at 6
Exquisite Music to begin at 7.
We will be asking everyone for donations. This show is a fundraiser to soundproof Cafe Orwell so the Super Coda may continue.
Here’s the Kickstarter campaign we’ve been running so you know what I am talking about –http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/827158541/keep-the-super-coda-living-through-creative-soundp

Jim Sullivan at Nancy Hoffman Gallery
May 26-July 1, 2011
The next exhibition at Nancy Hoffman Gallery will be new graphite drawings of trees by Jim Sullivan, opening on May 26th and continuing through July 1st.  This is the artist’s
first solo show in six years, and reveals a new vista onto nature. His last show included a series of horizontal landscapes, wide cinematic views into invented
detailed oriented oils.  The artist delighted in painting myriad details.  These were obsessive paintings,
and as the artist says: “The new drawings, the work of the past five years, present the same viewing issues
as the long landscapes, in that they have normal viewing distance but offer a close scrutinizing experience
(of infinite detail) on closer examination.”


LAST CALL: DEBBIE GROSSMAN, MY PIE TOWN.

Jessie Evans-Whinery, homesteader, with her wife..

Debbie Grossman
My Pie Town

April 14- May 21, 2011
JULIE SAUL GALLERY
MAP

My Pie Town is a project by Debbie Grossman in which she reworks and re-imagines a body of images originally photographed by Russell Lee for the United States Farm Security Administration in 1940. Using Photoshop to modify Lee’s pictures, she created an imaginary, parallel world – a Pie Town populated exclusively by women. The images are revised in subtle ways, making the reading of them very complicated and compelling. The sixteen images in the series are both color and black and white, and are all based on Lee’s unpublished series on Pietown, a homesteaded community in New Mexico.
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