Summer is here, and Brooklynites are celebrating the season at the beach, in the park, and at two new exhibits at the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition in Red Hook.
The shows, titled “The Art of Coney Island 3” and “In the Neighborhood,” are set to open on Saturday, July 13 at the BWAC gallery at 481 Van Brunt St.
“The Art of Coney Island 3” is the latest edition of a popular BWAC series inspired by the People’s Playground. Coney Island — with its sunny beaches, rollicking amusement district, and myriad sideshows — has always been a haven and an inspiration for artists.
The exhibit sprawls across two floors of BWAC’s expansive galleries. Featured works include sideshow banners hand-painted by “Coney Island royalty” Marie Roberts and 3-D dioramas by Luis “Inca” Ramos and Erin Mathewson, as well as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures by more than 90 different artists.
On opening day, the exhibit may even welcome special guests — like one of Coney Island’s famous mermaids and Jelly Boy the Clown.
The second exhibit opening on July 13, “In the Neighborhood,” features works by BWAC member artists. In their pieces, artists work to explore their own personal perspectives on their surroundings.
Some pieces might explore the physical environment of the neighborhood, while others might go deeper, exploring the “inner architecture of human interaction or emotion,” according to BWAC.
In one painting, artist Lin Melissa Yang captured a neighbor sitting on the stoop with a book and his dog. A striking photograph by Jessica Schulman captures a bolt of lightning hitting the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge.
“Each piece illustrates the attachments human beings create for the places they spend their lives,” the gallery said in a statement.
“The Art of Coney Island 3” and “In the Neighborhood” open at on Saturday, July 13 at 1 p.m., and will remain on view on weekends from 1-6 p.m. through Aug. 11. Gallery admission is free.
