If Chelsea is the showroom, where art goes to be put on display and sold off, then the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick is something like the assembly line. An exceptionally dense concentration of New York City’s artists live and work here, from household names like Fred Tomaselli, Ursula von Rydingsvard, and Jules de Balincourt, to hundreds of lesser-knowns and recent MFA earners. Every year, during Bushwick Open Studios (BOS), the doors to this sprawling art factory are thrown open, offering you the opportunity to meet artists, visit their spaces, and see and discuss their work up close.
True to form, BOS’s eighth edition, running May 30–June 1, is impossibly huge, with more than 600 open studios, gallery shows, pop-up exhibitions, performances, special events, and other assorted art happenings due to take place across a vast swath of land stretching from East Williamsburg deep into Ridgewood, Queens. To help you make sense of it all, we’ve compiled a 20-stop guide to BOS 2014 based on some familiar art world figures and art historical precedents.
The Ernesto Neto-esque Web Installation: Leeza Meksin at AIRPLANE Gallery (70 Jefferson Street).
Leeza Meksin, Splayed Rack (2008) installation in progress.
Photo: Courtesy the artist.
The Maya Lin–like Environmentalist–Neo-Traditionalist: Ellie Irons at the Center for Strategic Art and Agriculture, Silent Barn (603 Bushwick Avenue).
Ellie Irons, work in progress.
Photo: Courtesy the artist.
The George Condo–like Grotesques: Rachel Phillips (791 Bushwick Avenue, second floor).
Rachel Phillips, Bunny (2014).
Courtesy the artist.
The Ruin Porn Photographer: Phil Buehler (304 Boerum Street, ground floor).
Phil Buehler, Observation Tower (from “1964/65 NY World’s Fair” series).
Courtesy the artist.
The Julie Mehretu–like Postmodern Architectural Mashups: Ben Boothby (55 Meadow Street, #206).
Ben Boothby, Rope-burns & Heinekens (2013).
Courtesy the artist.
The Wayne White–like 3D Text Additions: JF Lynch (41 Varick Avenue, #202).
JF Lynch, Untitled (2013).
Courtesy the artist.
The Matthew Day Jacksonian Racing-as-Art Stunt: Matt Town at Microscope Gallery (4 Charles Place).
Matt Town, SOAP (speed) (2014).
Courtesy the artist.
The Andrea Zittel–esque Artist-Architect-Utopian Designer: Merav Ezer (274 Morgan Avenue, Studio G).
Merav Ezer, still from 5 Min Home.
Courtesy the artist.
The Kadar Brockian Canvas Abuser: Jamie Sneider (56 Bogart Street, #225).
Jamie Sneider installation view.
Courtesy the artist, Thierry Goldberg Gallery.
The Carrie Moyer–like Biomorphic Abstractionist: Patricia Satterlee (117 Grattan Street, #302).
Patricia Satterlee, Gloria 07 (2012).
Courtesy the artist.
The Ashley Bickertonian Tropical Mystic: Trish Tillman (117 Grattan Street, #414).
Trish Tillman, Tomahawks.
Courtesy the artist.
The I-Ain’t-No–Dale Chihuly Glass Sculptor: Dave Hardy (1828 Troutman Street).
Inside Dave Hardy’s studio during Bushwick Open Studios 2013.
Photo: Benjamin Sutton.
The Neo–James Ensor Ominous Eccentric: Akira Horikawa (949 Willoughby Avenue, #203).
Akira Horikawa, Sentimental Journey (2013).
Courtesy the artist.
The Betty Tompkinsian Porn Paintings: Alexandra Rubinstein (910 Grand Street, second floor).
Alexandra Rubinstein, Still #11 (from “Looking for Mr.Goodsex,” 2013–).
Courtesy the artist.
The Whimsical Cat Painter: Jessica Hargreaves (1013 Grand Street, #6).
Jessica Hargreaves, Poor Pepe #2 (2013).
Courtesy the artist.
The Rauschenbergian Combines in Fauve Hues: Sasha Cohen (1013 Grand Street, #20).
Sasha Cohen, Untitled.
Courtesy the artist.
The 1960s Psychedelia Throwback: Peter Fox (1013 Grand Street, #26).
Peter Fox, Visage (2014).
Courtesy the artist.
The Damien Hirst-with-a-Conscience Conceptualist: J. Robert Feld (1013 Grand Street, #28).
J. Robert Feld, Stimulus and Depressants (2013) detail.
Courtesy the artist.
The Dali-Meets–Donkey Kong Geek Surrealist: Ryan Michael Ford (513 Johnson Avenue, #2).
Ryan Michael Ford, Working at the Pyramids (2013).
Courtesy the artist.
The Art Fair: The NEWD Art Show at the 1896 (592 Johnson Avenue).
The 1896, the venue for the NEWD Art Show.
Photo: Courtesy the NEWD Art Show.
Bushwick Open Studios 2014 runs May 30–June 1; a full directory of all 600+ events can be found here.
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