Evening for Educators Recap

As a follow-up to the Amplify Action exhibition opening and in an effort to extend the reach of the exhibition's message, an Evening for Educators was held last Thursday for over 30 Brooklyn-based arts educators. The goal of the evening was to provide these educators with strategies to incorporate themes of community sustainability, as emphasized in the Amplify Action exhibition, into their daily practice.

Amplify Action artists Aya Rodriguez-Izumi and Ryan Doberstein presented educators of all levels and content areas with useful tools to make meaningful curriculum connections to the exhibition. The artists began by sharing their work with the attendees and discussing their influences, inspirations, and practical tactics. With the guidance of these teaching artists, attendees then explored sustainable art materials and techniques.

It is our hope that the attendees of this workshop will take what they have learned and apply it to their individual classroom curricula, inspiring students throughout Brooklyn to engage critically in themes of community sustainability. 

Below are some photos from the event. View the full photo set on our Facebook page.  

Opening Reception Recap

What a fantastic event!

Artists, friends, and community members joined together at Skylight Gallery this past weekend to celebrate the opening of Amplify Action: Sustainability through the Arts. Attendance was incredible - over 300 guests throughout the evening - and there was a definite positive energy in the room.

Guests explored diverse works by 27 artists - everything from textile works to sculpture to mixed-media installations - and engaged in an exploration of the many meanings of community sustainability. We hope that this exhibition has inspired community dialogue on issues of sustainability and that all attendees were able to leave the event feeling enlivened and inspired.

The Amplify Action team would like to express our most sincere gratitude to all the amazing artists whose contributions made this exhibition possible, as well as the Rockefeller Cultural Innovation Fund for their generous support.

The exhibition will be on display at Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation's Skylight Gallery, 1368 Fulton Street in Brooklyn, through July 27th.

Below are some photos of the event, courtesy of Whitney Boyd. You can view the complete photo set on our Facebook page.

Amplify Action Opens TODAY

Today is the day! The exhibit Amplify Action: Sustainability through the Arts will open with a reception from 4-6pm at Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation's Skylight Gallery, 1368 Fulton Street in Brooklyn.

Artists, friends, and community members will gather to view works by 27 amazing artists, all focused on the ways in which art and media can inspire social change and community sustainability. Featured works by artists both local and abroad cover a multitude of topics related to sustainability and communicate these themes through a diversity of mediums.

This is sure to be an inspiring event, and we invite all to attend. You can RSVP to the Opening Reception here. Amplify Action: Sustainability through the Arts will be on display at Skylight Gallery through July 27th, 2012.

Opening Reception this Saturday!

The opening reception for Amplify Action: Sustainability through the Arts will be held this Saturday, April 21st from 4-6 PM. Artists and community members will gather at Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation's Skylight Gallery to celebrate this occasion and to view the complete exhibition for the first time.

Diverse work from 27 artists is included in the show, giving attendees the opportunity to view the works and engage in a dialogue on community sustainability. We have featured work by many of the participating artists on our blog as a preview to the exhibition. To see the full catalog, click on the 'Catalog' tab at the top of this page.

All are welcome to this free community event. RSVP online.

Exhibition Preview: Robert Stephenson's photos chronicle urban ag in NYC

As part of a Fellowship with the Design Trust for Public Space, NYC-based artist Robert Stephenson documented the landscapes and communities involved in urban agriculture projects in New York City. The intent of the photographic catalog is to demonstrate the diversity of urban agricultural approaches that are currently being employed in New York City today and to show how these various approaches all contribute to the common goal of supporting a more sustainable local food system. A number of his photographs will be part of the Amplify Action exhibition.

Robert Stephenson | Taqwa Community Farm , Bronx | 2011 | C-Print | 30" x 40"

Robert Stephenson | Coney Island, Brooklyn | 2011 | C-Print | 30" x 40"

Exhibition Preview: Elaine Angelopoulos collects neighborhood narratives

In the wake of the defeated community battle against the Atlantic Yards mega-project, Brooklyn-based artist Elaine Angelopoulos sought to highlight the continued struggle of the residents of Prospect Heights to sustain their neighborhood vitality. As the sports stadium construction continued, Angelopoulous spent months collecting objects and ephemera that symbolized the lives of the residents and chronicled the daily changes they endured to their neighborhood. These objects, along with personal stories of neighborhood change, informed the creation of "When the Ground Breaks".

Each object contained within the piece carries a strong individual story that contributes to the collective narrative of the ongoing struggle between residents and developers over who is to shape the neighborhood's future. By making visible the ongoing community battle to preserve a vibrant neighborhood facing drastic redevelopment, her work communicates hopefulness and cautions against the ongoing exploitation of communities by capital.

Elaine Angelopoulos | When the Ground Breaks | 2011 | mixed media | 114" x 114" x 84"

Elaine Angelopoulos | When the Ground Breaks | 2011 | mixed media | 114" x 114" x 84"

Exhibition Preview: Barbara Ekström's reimagined industrial objects

Swedish artist Barbara Ekström focuses on human perception in her art, exploring how and why the world appears and is understood differently by all. Her work employs alternative shapes and materials to explore objects of the industrial economy as art.

Ekström's piece in Amplify Action, entitled "Out of Order", is a 3D installation in which silk materials assume the form of traditional industrial objects that have since been replaced by more modern technologies. By employing silk as the medium, a material that suggests fragility and delicateness, the piece questions the future value and meaning of such objects when new technologies render them obsolete. But while the piece suggests the ephemeral nature and inevitable obsolescence of modern industrial technologies, the silk also communicates a sort of hopefulness for new life and growth, akin to the silk cocoon of a butterfly.

'Out of Order' will be featured in Amplify Action, opening April 21st.

Barbara Ekström | Out of Order | 2011 | silk

Barbara Ekström | Out of Order detail | 2011 | silk

Exhibition Preview: Vincent Romaniello's englarged ephemera

In creating enlarged replicas of everyday ephemera, artist Vincent Romaniello aims to heighten awareness of the sheer quantity of litter we produce as a society and the extent to which this waste impacts our natural environment. The artist's massive sculptures of ordinary household waste objects, intentionally distressed to so as to communicate 'waste' to the viewer, open public dialogue about individual and community responsibility with respect to waste production.

'Chip Bag', below, contains an element of humor in its size, dangling from above, but also invites the viewer to seriously consider his or her role in contributing to the ongoing production of such waste. 'Chip Bag', along with another piece entitled 'Pink Slip', will be featured in the Amplify Action exhibition.

Vincent Romaniello | Chip Bag | 2010 | acrylic, spray paint, plastic | 5.5' x 9'

Exhibition Preview: Kevin William Reed's work finds value in 'trash'

A fascination with the dead despite commonly-held acknowledgement of death as a taboo subject has inspired Kevin William Reed's creations. His pieces communicate a sense of awe and wonder in the presence of death, but also an understanding of the aesthetic and utilitarian value of "dead" things. By re-appropriating found materials - household waste, construction materials, and once-natural materials like wood - Reed's creations allow these "dead things" to experience new life. Reed's work is not explicitly tied to the modern theme of sustainability, but rather a necessity for reuse in order to communicate both the history and new future of "dead things".

Two of Kevin William Reed's pieces will be featured in Amplify Action, including 'Vertebraic', below.

Materials:

Kevin William Reed | Vertebraic | 2011 | acrylic and pleather on found wood | 24" x 67"

Exhibition Preview: Michael Konrad's functional reuse sculptures

Michael Konrad's work reflects a hope for a possible future in which raw materials are sourced from existing man-made objects and structures, rather from nature. This focus on reuse is evidenced in Konrad's transformation of household waste into fully functional sculptural pieces. In Sleeping Bag, Konrad refashions plastic bags and shredded newspaper into a highly warm and waterproof sleeping bag, highlighting themes of waste diversion, reuse, and sustainable material sourcing.

Sleeping Bag communicates feelings of warmth and shelter amidst a struggling world. It alludes to the fleeting impermanence of our human-made environment and the desperate need for collective environmental action.

Michael Konrad | Sleeping Bag detail | 2010 | heat-fused plastic bags, shredded newspaper fill, zipper, shockcord, wood pallets, convoluted foam, dim | 13" x 42" x 94"

Michael Konrad | Sleeping Bag in use | 2010 | heat-fused plastic bags, shredded newspaper fill, zipper, shockcord | 8" x 30" x 78"

Exhibition Preview: Michael 'TTK' Harris' bright, bold canvases

Drawing inspiration from comic books, graffiti, and hip-hop music and culture, Michael 'TTK' Harris creates bright, bold pieces with a pop art aesthetic and a politically-charged message.

Beginning his artistic career as a sneaker customizer, TTK developed his incredible ability to produce vivid, imaginative, and eye-catching artwork at an early age. Now working in 2D on canvas, TTK's work is at once playful and pensive, inviting the viewer to engage with TTK's unique brand of social commentary.

Two of TTK's canvases will be featured in the Amplify Action Exhibition, opening at Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation's Skylight Gallery on April 21st. RSVP to the opening reception here.

Michael 'TTK' Harris | "Bush's War on Terrorism" | 18" x 24" | canvas

Exhibition Preview: Carrie Grubb's haunting Appalachian landscapes

Carrie Grubb's work uses representation as a means through which to allow the viewer to experience the daily life of another. In these representations, Grubb focuses on the historical and ongoing destruction of the Appalachian Mountains - the destruction of both the natural landscape and the communities that exist within it. Through eerily beautiful and often emotionally jarring landscape paintings, Grubb aims to raise awareness of the harm inflicted by coal mining operations on the mountains of West Virginia.

Grubb's work begins with photographic images and develops into large representation paintings, employing various materials that are deeply connected to the sites she depicts: coal from mining sites and slurry from acid mine drainage found in on-site creek beds. In this way, the finished piece is even more deeply connected to its subject matter.

Carrie Grubb | Ghost Town | 2010 | oil on canvas | 3' x 4'

Exhibition Preview: YK Hong's woodblocks at a cultural crossroads

Having lived and worked in Bed-Stuy for the past 8 years, Brooklyn-based artist YK Hong strives for neighborhood betterment through community organizing efforts as well as through art. The artist's work explicitly addresses race and culture so as to inspire dialogue and discussion on these topics in the public realm. Hong’s work also centers on the concept of “mindfulness” as it applies to both personal and neighborhood growth and stability, inspiring personal introspection and broader social change.

Using traditional Korean techniques of woodblock carving and depicting scenes and topics from daily life in America, Hong's work exists at an intersection of diverse cultures. The Amplify Action exhibition will feature sixteen painted woodblock carvings by YK Hong, each with a distinct implicit message (preview below).

YK Hong | Give 4 | 2011 | wood and paint | 10" x 10"

YK Hong | Always Already | 2010 | wood and paint | 10" x 10"

Exhibition Preview: Wolfgang Ryan's Lamps From Recycled Materials

Artist Ryan Doberstein (Wolfgang Ryan) proclaims "Recycle or Die!" as his motto. His work draws on a family compulsion to reduce waste by imbuing new life into old objects, producing sculptural pieces that are beautiful and often humorous.

Collecting refuse from NYC dumpsters, junk shops, and discount stores, Wolfgang Ryan re-purposes these pieces and gives them functionality while retaining remnants of their former values and aesthetics. His pieces explore the ways in which "high" and "low" cultural references can be simultaneously present in one object.

In Cafe Bustelo, shown below, Wolfgang ryan uses an old coffee can to allude to greater issues related to the historical coffee trade and present-day globalization.

Wolfgang Ryan | Cafe Bustelo | 2007 | Coffee can, metal, lamp parts | 7" x 5.5"

See more of Wolfgang Ryan's work at the Amplify Action exhibition, opening April 21st at Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation's Skylight Gallery.

Exhibition Preview: Roberto DeJesus' "Green Guardian"

Inspired by the costume armor worn by the heroes of Japanese anime, artist Roberto DeJesus created "The Armor of the Green Guardian" to reference the "Green" movement and to communicate concern with issues of ecological conservation. Crafted out of recycled detergent bottles and standing tall at six feet, the playful piece invites viewers to discuss recycling and upcycling.

Roberto DeJesus | Armor of the Green Guardian | 2011 | detergent bottles | 6'

Exhibition Opening Reception - April 21st

The second event of the Amplify Action series will be the Opening Reception on April 21st. Artists, community members, and friends will join in celebrating the official opening of the Amplify Action: Sustainability through the Arts exhibition at Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation's Skylight Gallery. All are welcome to view the works, engage with the themes of the exhibition, and to be part of a positive moment for community sustainability in Central Brooklyn.

Amplify Action: Sustainability through the Arts Opening Reception
Saturday, April 21st | 4-6 PM
Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation | Skylight Gallery
1368 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY 11216

This is a free event. Please RSVP here.