THE MYSTERIES OF LIFE

It has been a weird month. For one thing, getting used to juggling being a photographer with working a desk job a few days a week. Getting used to having less time to make work---requiring that much more organization.


Had some exciting things happen---interviews, possible sales---and some sad things happen---a show I was spending hours on to curate was cancelled at the 9th hour, effectively deeming void all of the hard work I and 14 artists had been putting in to make the deadline.


Even though I do get tired of hearing, sometimes, about the balance necessary to maintain life as an artist, it really is so very true. And this is a challenge I find myself in now: how do I fit in exercise, shoots, applying to shows, on top of working 4 days a week... There is no easy answer of course, and this week I struggle to figure it out.

ONE NEW PICTURE

OPEN STUDIOS FOLLOW UP

I'm sure you're wondering, 'what happened at the open studios'?
Well.....I wasn't sure what to expect seeing as Red Hook has gotten much trendier than its heyday of drugs and violence, but it still more of a trek than say---a studio building right by the subway. Nonetheless, around 86 people came and looked at my and Lambert's work. Most of them were really lovely art enthusiasts, and overall, it was wonderful to explain my projects and photographs to so many people who had never been exposed to it. It was kind of like a 14 hour artist talk that went in circles.

CALL FOR ENTRIES

After a rather dark break-up with the Broadway Gallery in Soho (after curating 10 shows for the space) I am back in the curatorial circuit! I have started working with a great new gallery in Red Hook, Brooklyn, Space 414. Below is the call for entries for the first show I am helping to put together:


LOYALTY TO WHOM

In celebration of Bastille Day, Space 414 provides an opportunity to ruminate on the idea of 'nationalistic identity.' Bastille Day helped to create modern France, abolishing feudalism and forming the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

What defines a nation has become more and more ambiguous in modern times. Is it the language one speaks? The religion one follows? The boundaries on a map? The food one eats? Or is it as simple as living under the same government? Or is it the 'brand of a nation,' the image the government imposes upon the rest of the world as to what a country stands for?

The artists in 'Loyalty to Whom' examine the concept of what national identity can---or does---mean in 2009, be that a French truffle, a national monument, or the geographical or philosophical understanding of a nation.

This is a photography and video show.

If you have work related to these ideas, please submit 5 jpegs at 72 dpi to jade.doskow@gmail.com


© Jade Doskow

Nervous Anticipation

I nervously await and attempt to stop 'doing stuff'.... I set 10 p.m. as the stop working in the studio time but that has come and gone. Tomorrow are the Red Hook open studios, and this is the first time I will be publicly sharing my work space to local art-ivores. Fingers crossed for beautiful weather and a great turn-out!

RED HOOK / CARROLL GARDENS OPEN STUDIOS

When: May 30-31st, Sat-Sun
Time: 12-5
What is it: Open studios! I will have on display new and old photographs from my World's Fair and Red Hook bodies of work.
Directions and list of participating artists here

My studio:
14 Verona Street #203
Brooklyn NY 11231

BRIAN ULRICH at JULIE SAUL GALLERY

Brian Ulrich's new show at Julie Saul was a wonderfully timely exhibition considering the current in-the-trenches state of big box stores such as Circuit City and the financial crisis. Following on the heels of his work examining the remnants of material goods when they finally are dumped off in thrift stores and flea markets, the newer work was complimentary and beautiful. Carefully photographed large-format, the once easily-recognizable big box stores remained as closed and silent as tombs, and the small, pristine prints helped to highlight their ultimate anonymity.

© Brian Ulrich

Where to Begin, This is the Beginning, Again

I have moved back to Red Hook, my beloved old muse. Already I can feel the inspiration flowing.

A colleague of mine said artists see the world how they want to see it, as if they have special filters over their brains and eyeballs. I love this neighborhood because it is easy to see things in a crystalline, perfect light.

BEDEL TISCARENO at the Broadway Gallery, Friday, April 17th, 2009

A dear friend and colleague of mine, Bedel Tiscareno, will be having an opening this Friday at the Broadway Gallery, where I curated this past year. It will be an assortment of old and new work, paintings and sculpture. It is dynamic, colorful, frenzied, and nightmarish---in a word, not to be missed.


BEDEL TISCARENO

SCULPTURE & PAINTINGS


Opening Reception: Friday, April 17th, 2009 6-8 p.m.

Where: Broadway Gallery, 473 Broadway, 7th Floor (between Grand & Broome)
Contact: 212-274-8993

An 'Oops' Hiatus

My apologies to my readers for the interruption in service. Had to take some time for some art-career soul searching, and seeking out both a new job and an apartment. Found both, so onwards and upwards!


Back to Red Hook.