From the category archives:

AFC Goes To Bushwick

Recommended Bushwick Open Studio: MaryKate Maher

by Paddy Johnson on May 31, 2012
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MaryKate Maher’s work is a little like a Matthew Ronay sculpture minus the steroids. She’s got the hand-made abstract sculptures and the discrete arrangements of objects, but skips the cum finish lines and hanging anal cupcake beads. Instead, Maher opts for scary. In one piece, a lamb—covered in what appears to be human flesh—has had one leg transformed into gold. In another, what appears to be a witch’s broom is coated repeatedly with black resin. When Maher tells us there’s no intended narrative, it seems like the spookiest answer possible.

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Recommended Bushwick Open Studio: Max Razdow

by Paddy Johnson and Whitney Kimball on May 31, 2012
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Gatherings of expressionistic figures communing in mythical settings define Max Razdow’s paintings and drawings. While some of his pen and ink drawings verge on storybook as in the “Future Myths” series, others are weirder, and more open to interpretation. “Man Speaking (to computer),” is one such a example, as we have no idea how to interprete a barrel-chested figure shooting blue mist out of his mouth into a black triangle. In addition to having exhibited multiple times in Belgium and Brooklyn, Max Razdow shows with Freight + Volume.

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Recommended Bushwick Open Studio: Eli Ping

by Paddy Johnson and Anthony Espino on May 30, 2012
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Do a search for Eli Ping on the Bushwick Open Studio website and his name will come back nine times. He’s in a lot of shows. None of these results though, bring back his studio, which will also be open during the event. There, an assortment of Ping’s work will be on display, many evoking a seemingly enormous number of vaginas.

We consider Ping an artist to watch. His practice is precise and deliberate, and his exploration of draped fabric, materiality, and forceful creativity, pointed. Ping shows at Susan Inglett Gallery in New York.

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Recommended Bushwick Open Studio: Max Warsh

by Whitney Kimball on May 30, 2012
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Max Warsh’s collages are so fluidly integrated that the result seems to be a liquid, or a fine mesh. Architectural grids and gates are often woven with torn chunks of stone walls, or cut shapes are dispersed on paper like a floating puzzle. Warsh brings that sensibility to architectural photographs, as well; a brick staircase, or a cropped photo of a tree trunk next to a wall, are almost indistinguishable from collage.

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Recommended Bushwick Open Studio: Björn Meyer-Ebrecht

by Paddy Johnson and Whitney Kimball on May 30, 2012
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The sheer volume of architectural references in Bjorn Meyer-Ebrecht’s work borders on obsessive. He tapes together ink renderings of institutional structures, he collages stacked chairs as though building blocks, and he builds maquettes of buildings. Even his bookshelves look more like vertical floor plans than furniture.

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Recommended Bushwick Open Studio: Ginny Casey

by Paddy Johnson and Whitney Kimball on May 30, 2012
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There are customary systems for composing an image which become clear after a long day of trolling artists’ websites— central shapes, which fit comfortably inside the edges of the picture plane, and room for the eye to move back in space. Ginny Casey’s paintings defy that mold, producing the same clunky, sentimental quality that Susan Rothenberg and Phillip Guston do so well. It’s a quality that only happens in painting.

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Recommended Bushwick Open Studio: Allie Pisarro-Grant

by Paddy Johnson and Whitney Kimball on May 30, 2012
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Allie completed her BFA in 2009 at RISD and moved to Bushwick almost immediately upon graduation. Her work takes many forms; in one series she paints within a triangle shape on mylar, exploring different modes of painting, in another, she uses cold water dye with acrylic polymer on canvas create a raw, sharp-and-blurred effect.

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Recommended Bushwick Open Studio: Danielle Mysliwiec & Elsie Kagan

by Paddy Johnson on May 29, 2012
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Elsie Kagan makes luscious paintings of falling cherubs and bright skys. Danielle Mysliwiec makes paintings by weaving paint together. They share a studio and have been painting for years. We’ve discussed both artists work on the blog, and we wanted to catch up with the two of them to see how their work has evolved. This is what they told us.

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Recommended Bushwick Open Studio: Aaron Williams

by Paddy Johnson and Whitney Kimball on May 29, 2012
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It looks like Aaron Williams focuses on material but he doesn’t. He’s a master with a can of spray paint, and his surfaces always seem carefully considered, even when working with garbage. This is the natural bias of Williams hand, which is deft even when removed from the process. In his recent work, Williams crumples up landscape posters and swimsuit models pin ups and coats the surfaces with paint. These pieces are defined both by his economic manipulation of paint and the photographic scraps Williams decides to leave untouched. Here and in earlier work, Williams mixes atmosphere, melodrama, and illustrative sci-fi balls of light to create a genuine sense of ephemeral power.

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Hurry Up and Register for the 2012 Bushwick Open Studios!

by Corinna Kirsch on April 30, 2012
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Want to meet New York's best curators, writers, and gallerists in your studio? Of course you do! Register for the 2012 Bushwick Open Studios before their May 3rd deadline to make sure you don't miss that opportunity. Each year, the event attracts an increasing number of art world professionals out to discover the latest Bushwick talent. This year's event will be held the evening of Friday, June 1st through the evening of Sunday, June 3rd.

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