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Drape nuts: Dancers move among the hanging fabrics of “On
the Backs of Fireflies,” part of the exhibit “Grand Installations:
Spatial Relations” at the Red Hook gallery Brooklyn Waterfront
Artists Coalition. Sam Joseph
Give ‘em space
Giant exhibits take over Red Hook gallery
COURIER LIFE, SEPT. 27-OCT. 3, 2019 43
By Elissa Esher Space is the place!
A Red Hook gallery has
launched an exhibit of enormous
three-dimensional art pieces, inviting
audiences to lose themselves among the
artwork. The Brooklyn Waterfront Artists
Coalition exhibit “Grand Installations:
Spatial Relations,” on display Saturdays
and Sundays through Oct. 27, spotlights
work by eight artists from around the
country in an effort to make visitors think
about their own physical presence, said
the show’s curator.
“We want our audience to experience
this art, not just see it,” said Fritz Weiss.
“We have huge installations here that
force you to think about how you inhabit
negative space, videos complementing
the work, and visitors are even doing yoga
as part of one of the pieces. It’s different.
It’s exciting.”
One notable installation, a 20-foothigh,
50-foot-long sculpture titled “On
the Backs of Fireflies,” uses recycled
metal objects and colorful fabric to create
a playful object. The artist said that she
was inpired by the rusting metal that
surrounded her home, growing up in rural
Vermont.
“I work a lot with chain-link fencing
in ‘On the Backs of Fireflies’ because
I’m fascinated by the way it transforms
when you put some paint and fabric over
it,” said Victoria Cowles, who now lives
in Washington, DC. “It was one of the
cheapest and ugliest things you could buy
where I’m from, but take it out of context
and juxtapose it with color and texture and
somehow it becomes a dignified, beautiful
shape. In my art, I like to take the raw and
gritty things in life and see joy.”
During the gallery opening on Sept.
21, Cowles brought in two dance teams
to perform around her piece, while
oscillating fans caused the fabric to move
and seem alive. After the performances,
said the artist, ordinary visitors also
began interacting with her piece.
“Adults and kids were dancing
together and they even wore some of the
pieces I had set out there like clothes,” she
said. “It was heartwarming. Art is sort of
magically transformed when people get
involved in it.”
Visitors will find their own way
to react to each piece in the “Spatial
Relations” show, said its curator.
“Each of the artists we chose has
created an entirely different experience,
both for the audience and for themselves
personally,” said Weiss. “We’ve only
provided them with the space to do it.”
The Artists Coalition also has two
other fall exhibits on the display in its
warehouse space in Red Hook: “Color,”
a juried exhibition exploring the meaning
of pigments, and “Fall in/Fall out,”
an exhibit of work by the Coalition’s
members.
“Grand Installations: Spatial
Relations” at Brooklyn Waterfront Artists
Coalition Gallery 481 Van Brunt St.
between Reed Street and the water in Red
Hook, (718) 596–2506, www.bwac.org.
Sat–Sun through Oct. 27; 1–6 pm. Free.
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