Now you see him. Now you don't.

The Mystical Art of Harry Houdini Materializes at the Jewish Museum.

At age 12 the escape artist and showman extraordinaire, Harry Houdini -- son of a Budapest rabbi, ran away from home to join the circus. He eventually became one of the 20th century's most famous performers captivating the world with his astonishing feats and using the power of film, photography and the mass media.

Just in time for the anniversary of his death on Halloween night 1926, New York's Jewish Museum presents "Houdini: Art and Magic" an exhibition showcasing 163 stunning period posters, unusual theater ephemera, and dramatic historic photographs of Houdini's performances.

These are complemented by contemporary art works by artists inspired by Houdini such as Matthew Barney and Vick Muniz, the Korean photographer Tim Lee, video artist Sara Greenberger Rafferty, Allen Ruppersberg, and also features pen and ink drawings by Raymond Pettibone.

To celebrate the man who could untie knots with his toes, we don't need to attend the annual séance held in his honor at the Machpelah Cemetery in Queens, where he is buried. Instead, all we need to do is to make it uptown to the Jewish Museum 1109 Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street.

The exhibit opens Friday -- here's a sneak preview, but like Houdini, you didn't see it here.




This Is Not A Love Song by
Public Image Ltd. (vinyl rip from the album Comercial Zone - 1983)

Category:

Narrative

This is another clip from Oliver Herring: Areas for Action - Day 6 Narrative at New York's Meulensteen Gallery.

Mista Oh!: Oliver Herring: Areas for Action - Teens with Masks

Mista Oh!: Oliver Herring: Areas for Action - Teens with Masks

Oliver Herring: Areas for Action - Teens with Masks

This is a clip of the Gallery Club performing Oliver Herring's "Teens with Masks" at New York's Meulensteen Gallery on October 23, 2010.

In this installment of Herring's month-long series of live actions, 5 Brooklyn teenagers, in advance of the performance, purchased costumes at the Salvation Army.

They then wrote down topics of conversation of interest to them and placed them in a box. On the day of the performance they each constructed an aluminum foil mask to conceal their identity and further adorned themselves and each other. As visitors entered the gallery space, a question was randomly selected from the box and the conversation took off from there. Visitors were encouraged to add new topics.

Watch as the Gallery Club considers "When is a wrong right?" and other subjects, including not wanting to grow up, the meaning of love, life, art, and the aesthetics of their favorite cartoons.

The performers are Crystal Miranda, Chris Serrano, Moise J, Joey Asterisk, and Taz Sunshine.



A million thanks to Oliver Herring and his studio staff (Cody Evans and Matthew Newton), and The Meulensteen Gallery.

How Much Are They?
by Jah Wobble with Holger Czukay & Jaki Liebezeit

In the Gallery / The Black Superheros Exhibit

This is the first in a series of long overdue posts of all the pics and clips of the SPARK Bklyn_Arts events during the 2009/2010 school year. 

 

Working backwards, I'll start with this clip of SPARK with Mr. Hyde and the Freshman Academy at the Black Superheros Exhibit at the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute.

*SOFIA*: CONCRETE JUNGLE DIVAS: press release for solo show

*SOFIA*: CONCRETE JUNGLE DIVAS: press release for solo show

What is the title of your latest artwork?

Tell me.
Signed,
Curious

Start your week with some MANGAAAAA!

Some pix to whet your appetite for the Manga show at the Japan society! Magic monsters and more!

If you don't know where you are headed, any road will take you there...

Click if you are into fabuloooooosity

Amazing artwork, amazing Web site by Chitra Ganesh

I wonder what could they be up to...

Click here! to check out this short clip of the gallery club chillin' with artists Molly Dilworth and Sofia Maldonado in the Spark_BklynArts office on Friday after-school.

A little birdie told me that they were plotting an adventure so huge, that it might even be seen from space.

What do you think they're up to??

Read this if you have a passion for fashion

The Fashion Institute of Technology is, you guessed it, a school for students who want to go into fashion careers. It's near Penn Station and has a cool museum. It also has a Web site that posts lots of objects in its collection that could be useful for inspiration: crazy shapes, colors, forms, mad old styles, etc. Here's a page from the exoticism online gallery, you will see there are lots of other ones to click on too. Check it out and let me know if you have any faves!

Happy Vacation!

Here's a Web site to browse at in your spare time, hahaha. Escape into Life has all kinds of cool art: drawings, pictures, and photos. You might find some inspiration, or at least some amusement!

See you at Camp Nibor!

Guess why I posted this great Surrealist photo by Man Ray

Le Violon d'Ingres

From Sarah -- Unknown Danger

This one's for Chris

Ed Pashke

Check out his weird eyecandy paintings. He has a show up now, we should check it out!

Guess why I thought of this spider monkey vessel?

Check out this Maya cup

studio visits!

The alternative space P.S. 1 in Long Island City has some great exhibitions, like this crazy swimming pool that will blow your mind. (It's called P.S. 1 because it used to be a school.) They also have a cool program called Studio Visit. It's a Web site where artists can post their work and something about themselves. So it's a way to browse through the work of 835 artists without leaving your computer. Check it out and let me know what you like.

Do not view unless you are into comix or sci fi

How cool are these?

'One Hundred Lavish Months of Bushwhack'

Click Here

hide-n-seek: the objective?

It is much easier to call oneself an environmentalist or an activist than it is to actually make some sort of sacrifice to reduce one’s carbon footprint or to declare and act upon one’s dissent about an important political or social issue.

Mind and body. Intentions and actions. Trying to live a life that brings these together is like an adventure with unexpected challenges and obstacles. And, even when things go right for us -- they can still seem to go wrong.

If you are used to telling the story of never getting what you want, then actually getting what you want might be a lot more complicated that it might seem.

I am curious about your experiences in the SPARK BrooklynArts SAT, Community Service, and Gallery Clubs. What is it like for you to be working with adults on your academic goals, involved in the community, recognized as growing young adults and, of course, as the faboo artists that you are.

In a very short time, we have already seen and done some mind-blowing things and also made some amazing friends. It's been exciting and different for me. What's it been like for you? I'd like you sign in and add your comments below.

Okay, this is kind of a writing assignment (in case any of you were wondering), but I think your thoughts are important. Write them down. It’s the only way anyone will ever find them read them.

In the game of hide and seek, the objective is not to hide (as one might initially think).

Instead, isn’t the fun of the game to be found?

Don’t hide instead seek and let the world find you – maybe you’ll find something you’ve been looking for.

Peace

If you like cars! (and I know who you are)

Check out these pix of exploded cars (yup, they're art!)
http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/stand-back-for-the-exploded-view

“Life is OK Except for the Clowns”

Just a few doors in from the heart of hipster Williamsburg, we stepped into a crazy scene in Pierogi gallery. In the front room we met Jim Torok, who was just finished hanging his incredible hyper-detailed portraits of his friends and neighbors, which were mind-blowing enough even before we found out that he also made the pictures in the back, of primitive clowns from someone’s dream. Then a film crew from Conde Nast Traveler arrived, and that’s how we ended up upstairs, in the apartment that gallery director Joe Amrhein shares with his wife, Susan Swenson, looking at their personal collection that starts rights over their bed with his own giant painting of a phrase by poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge translated into many languages. I loved how he explained that a lot of translations came from artists in the gallery, who come from so many parts of the world. I also loved when he described the one quality that unites all the work as “obsessive”!

I’m curious what you think about the stuff we saw-- the Dewantron, those butterfly hair clips, the fungus among us. And what about that crazy landscape behind the glass?

It started with a twig

How Nick Cave made his first soundsuits

Welcome to the SPARK BklynArts Blog

Welcome to the the SPARK BklynArts blogI

Published in our offices at the Brooklyn High School for the Arts, we are located at the center of the cultural and creative universe that is Downtown Brooklyn.

With the help of lots of our friends, SPARK BklynArts has lined up some pretty exciting and interesting and exciting things to do during and after-school.

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter (links will be up soon) to get the 411 on the SPARK BklynArts SAT Achievement Club, Community Service Club, and of course our already famous Gallery Club. Maybe you will find something that interests you and join us real soon.

Here's a word from Nibor about the Gallery Club.

Hi Everyone! Just this month we’ve visited an art fair, a museum, a studio, and a bunch of galleries, talking to artists, curators, and dealers about everything from the practical—like what computer programs work best—to the magical quality that transforms an everyday object like a hat or a bottlecap into eye- and mind-bending art. We’ve jumped in Olafur Eliasson’s light sculpture and chatted with Nari Ward about why he put cut-up sneakers in this painting. We’ve seen old-school Chinese scroll painting made contemporary, a Korean artist’s fork sculpture, the incredible metal tapestries of El Anatsui, and a bunch of other things made from Photoshop, junk, and other stuff we never knew you could call art. In between we’re learning about different neighborhoods and foreign places and the many ways that creative people build themselves careers doing what they love. Also, we’ve learned how to use the word reference as a verb.

On Thursday March 18, we’re going to visit a cool Williamsburg gallery, Pierogi. See you there!