The Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (BWAC) presents “Art in Free Fall,” their fall group art show, September 13-October 26, weekends from 1-6 p.m. Brooklyn’s largest exhibition of contemporary art will be shown in the historic Red Hook warehouse that has housed the shows since 1992.
The show is titled “Art in Free Fall,” to “emphasize that there are no boundaries in art,” said Anna Hagan, chairwoman. “It is an uncontrolled, uninhibited spiral of exuberance, ascending or descending; it is unperturbed and untouched, unbound free-thinking, but it speaks for us.”
More than 300 painters, sculptors, printmakers, and photographers, both emerging and established, will show more than 1,200 works on two floors of a Civil War-era red-brick warehouse with views of the harbor and of the Statue of Liberty. Almost all of the works will be for sale, and buyers will be able to carry their purchases away with them. Prices range from $25 to $30,000.
Free Fall will feature the work of four artists. One set is a working studio collaboration between two artists, partners Ellie Winberg and Mauricio Morillas. Titled Elements/Elementos, it combines contrasting textures of wood, metal, paper, canvas and pigment.
The other two featured artists are married couple Thomas Julian Hagen and Anna Annus Hagen. Their installation “spans a fascinating creative journey of more than 50 years,” said Thomas Hagen. More than 3,000 slides have been woven into 16’ by 8’ wall hangings, culminating in a sculptural sphere made from a multitude of images “showing the life path of the artists’ souls,” said Anna Hagen.
A series of live acoustic musical performances of all genres, “UnPlugged in Red Hook,” will take place during the run of the show. Fourteen are scheduled, including classical, jazz, blue grass, and big-band music. And, for the opening on September 13, the joint will be jumping with the New Orleans street band The Loose Marbles, replete with swing dancers.
On Saturdays, visitors can also enjoy BWAC’s screening room and view the works of contemporary film and video artists, including the two-day Red Hook International Film Festival. Additional programs include the New Vision Cinema series, Psych Recut, the comedy-in-progress Love Simple, The Red Hook Cine Soiree, and an assortment of Thai filmmakers in New York.
The exhibition and all programs are free.
The Brooklyn Craft Festival, co-sponsored by NY Creates, will adjoin the Free Fall show on the nearby waterfront esplanade. This juried show will include welded bowls, ceramics, jewelry, dolls, one-of-a-kind designer clothes, and many more unique items.
Another feature of the show is What’s the Hook?, a neighborhood photography project designed to document a single week in the life of Red Hook, one of New York City’s unique and rapidly changing neighborhoods. In seven ordinary days more than 120 people produced 1,000 extraordinary photos of what Red Hook means to them.
The exhibition is located at 499 Van Brunt Street. For more, visit 718-596-2506 or visit www.bwac.org.
