Group art exhibit examines death and grieving
miniature shrines, basing each
on photographs she took of their
real-life counterparts. She uses
materials like gouache paint,
polymer clay, wire, and cloth to
make tiny beer cans, toys, clothes,
flowers, cards, and other objects
left at the memorials by the
victims’ loved ones.
Memorials like these have
become all too common around
the borough, said Grobstein, but
she says that shrinking the shrines
down into works of art brings them
renewed attention.
“Once I started paying attention
they’re everywhere, which is
kind of sad,” she said. “I think a
miniature is a good way of drawing
attention to something that often
gets overlooked.”
The artist will show six of her
pieces at the Bric show, which
will turn its usually cheery
open-air gallery into a tomb-like
environment, with atmospheric
Photo spread
Giant mural of New Yorkers on display in W’burg park
By Kevin Duggan This show is to die for!
A new group art exhibit
digs deep into the way that
women deal with the grave topics
of death and grieving. “Death
Becomes Her,” opening at Bric
House on Feb. 19, features work by
10 female artists, each exploring
the end of life in her own way. One
artist will showcase tiny versions of
the street shrines she encountered
while living in Bushwick, which
both commemorate bikers and
pedestrians killed by cars, and
provide a warning about street
safety.
“These memorials and shines
are increasingly being used as calls
to action,” said Rachel Grobstein,
who now lives in Philadelphia.
“The ghost bike is a really
important sign for people to slow
down — especially in New York
City, where you have all these bike
deaths.”
Among Grobstein’s creations is
a 5-inch-long ghost bike, based
on an actual white-painted bicycle
near her former Bushwick studio
that honors 23-year-old cyclist
Timothy “TJ” Campbell, who was
fatally struck by a garbage truck
there in 2010.
The artist has made almost 30
In the loop A bridge too close: The new mural stands right in front of the Williamsburg Bridge that it depicts.
COURIER L 24 IFE, FEBRUARY 14-20, 2020
By Amalia Arms Talk about the big city!
An enormous mural depicting New
York City residents is now on display in
Domino Park in Williamsburg. The artwork,
titled “The Chronicles of New York City,”
is part of a series of works by famed French
artist JR, whose “JR: Chronicles” exhibition is
currently on display at the Brooklyn Museum.
The massive mural, 21 feet tall and 32
feet wide, is plastered to the side of a
tower of shipping containers. It features a
photo of the Williamsburg bridge and images
of more than 1,000 New Yorkers from all
five boroughs, whom JR photographed and
digitally edited into a single crowded street
scene.
JR’s exhibition debuted at the Brooklyn
Museum on Oct. 3, 2019, and since then,
cropped versions of “The Chronicles of New
York City” have been installed on the outside
wall of the Kings Theatre in Flatbush and at
the Brooklyn Academy of Global Finance in
Bedford Stuyvesant, but the Domino Park
mural is the first to feature the image in its
entirety.
The Museum has plans for a fourth mural
installation Downtown, said a spokeswoman,
but no date or location has been announced
yet.
“The Chronicles of New York City” at
Domino Park (River Street at S. Third Street
in Williamsburg, www.dominopark.com). On
display until May 3, daily, 6 am–1 am. Free.
BBy Meg Capone rooklyn’s Front Yard has gone
full circle!
An enormous metal art
installation popped up on the edge
of Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 3 last
week. The piece, titled “New York
Clearing,” is made up of 11 miles of
aluminum tubing, coiled into gigantic
shining loops that stretch up to 50
feet high against the Manhattan
skyline. Those tightly-coiled rings are
an “energy field” that stands in sharp
contrast to the rectangular shapes of
that distant isle, said its creator.
“I am enormously excited about the
opportunity of making this energy field
in conversation with Manhattan across
the waters of the East River,” said artist
Antony Gormley. “It can be seen as
an evocation of human connectivity,
a materialization of the energy of the
people that view it and the people that
made it.”
Gormley has created similar
“Clearing” projects in the past, but this
is the largest, the first to be displayed
outdoors, and the first to be built
without architectural support, he said.
“New York Clearing” at Brooklyn
Bridge Park, Pier 3 (enter at Furman
Street and Old Fulton Street in Dumbo,
www.connect-bts.com). On display until
March 27. Free.
Photo by Caroline Ourso
Wired, inspired: The art installation “New York Clearing” features 11 miles of metal tubing.
Photo by Christopher Burke
lighting and a more intimate
enclosure.
The Downtown arts
organization has partnered
with Green-Wood Cemetery to
produce the exhibit, and several
death-themed events will take
place in the graveyard over the
next few months. Performance
artist McKendree Key will lead
“5 x 10 @ The Catacombs,”
three discussions about death,
dying, and the hereafter at
the Cemetery’s underground
Catacombs in March. And the
immersive performance “Only
Remains Remain” by Freya
Powell on April 11 will draw on
the Greek tragedy “Antigone” to
create an elegy for the hundreds
of unidentified migrants buried
in mass graves in Texas.
“Death Becomes Her” at Bric
House 647 Fulton St. at Rockwell
Place in Fort Greene, (718) 855–
7882, bricartsmedia.org. Opening
reception on Feb. 19, 7–9 pm. On
display through April 19. Free.
REMAINS TO BE SEEN
Mini memorial: Rachel Grobstein will
display a half-dozen of her small shrines.
Photo by Rachel Grobstein
Wheel small: Rachel Grobstein created miniature memorials including this ghost
bike based on a shrine in Bushwick. Photo by Rachel Grobstein
/www.dominopark.com)
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/bricartsmedia.org