July 24, 2012

Soshu Covers "Amalgam" in Kathmandu

One of our artists, Alkemikal Soshu, made this video of the annual "Amalgam" show at Siddhartha art gallery in Kathmandu. There are 26 artists in the show, which positions established Nepalese artists along with recent graduates of art academies in Nepal and India.

Soshu's commentary in this video is most interesting. He converses easily with painting and is intimate with the art scene in Nepal. He mentions for example an initiative in the 1960s by the King of Nepal to boost the arts in the kingdom. And there are a number of pithy satires in the show on the monarchy (which was only recently deposed) and on Nepalese society and politics.


There are influences here from traditional religious and court painting, as well as from pop art, abstraction, and figurative art. Quite a diverse and compelling show that should be of interest to art communities around the world.


Arjun Khaling, detail. "A maze of natural tribal culture" says Sohsu 

Tikka Dutta Dahal, Yogis 
Soshu himself is not in this particular show, but he might as well be. Through his online videos and posts he has made himself a cultural ambassador from Kathmandu, where he enjoys perhaps more notoriety as a painter than he might care to admit.


Alkemikal Soshu, The Matador, oil on canvas 30 x 59.5 in. 2012


July 19, 2012

WAH Center Acquires Drawing by Eva Schicker

 
Floating on Clouds, Eva Schicker, 2011 
Yuko Ni, founder and director of the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center (WAH) has acquired a drawing by Eva Schicker, whose "Floating on Clouds" will go into the permanent collection of the center.

WAH has also been in possession for some 15 years of a complete set of all 8 issues of "The Nose", a poster-sized Williamsburg arts magazine that came out in the late 1980s and early 90s. The Nose was printed in limited editions in silkscreen, blueprint, and large photocopy. Since our gallery is a source of original editions of this and other early Williamsburg documents, we will also be verifying and documenting the WAH collection of the Nose.


This 1991 issue of "The Nose" is a blueprint based on arial photos
of Williamsburg and the East River

July 13, 2012

New Galleries Open in Bushwick

About six weeks into business as a gallery, with back to back stories in the Bushwick Daily about galleries closing and opening, and after a little poking around, it seems "displacement" is not the primary factor in galleries closing. Just running the place seems to be the sticking point. Many galleries in Bushwick are run by artists, and they are primarily about pulling new groups of artists together and having a place to show for as long as need be. And then eventually the founders move on to other creative projects, or return to making art full time. These kinds of galleries are the lifeblood of the art world, I think. And we always want them to last forever. And maybe some of them will! Bushwick Daily announces some new galleries. Check out Weldon Arts.