60 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • APRIL 10, 2014 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com voices on 5POINTZ ARTISTS SHARE THEIR ‘WHITEWASH’ FLEX SPENDING Use it or lose it! SPRING INTO SAVINGS ONSITE DOCTORS • EYE EXAMS • CONTACTS • 1 HOUR SERVICE • VISION PLANS ACCEPTED • SUNGLASSES • LOWEST PRICES 2 PAIR OF EYEGLASSES QC QC QC $99 Includes: EYE EXAM, Frames & Lenses Select frames with clear plastic, single vision lenses+/- 4 sph., 2 cyl. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only. Offer ends: 5/7/14 NO-LINE BIFOCAL EYEGLASSES $99 Includes: EYE EXAM, No-Line Bifocal Lenses & Frame Select frame with select clear plastic no-line bifocal lenses +/- 4 sph., 2 cyl up to 2.50 add. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only. Offer ends: 5/7/14 BAY TERRACE SHOPPING CENTER 211-51 26 AVENUE • BAYSIDE, NY 11360 718.631.3699 *FREE with the purchase of glasses. Contact Lens Exam and EYE EXAM tting add’l. *See store for details. QC DISPOSABLE CONTACTS $99 Includes: •EYE EXAM •2 Boxes of Lenses Contact Lens Fitting additional. Clear Soft contacts brand clear spherical lenses.Not Valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer ends: 5/7/14 DESIGNER SUNGLASSES st STARTING AT $99 Place of the 2013 THE QUEENS QueensCourier.com Some Restrictions Apply. See Store For Details. In Stock Items Only. Not Valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. QC Must present prior to purchase. Offer expires: 5/7/14 buzz BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO [email protected] A group of 5Pointz artists have put their emotions and experiences on canvas, refl ecting the day they found their graffi ti mecca hidden behind white paint. The artists, including 5Pointz curator and CEO Jonathan “Meres One” Cohen, have come together for an exhibition called “Whitewash” at the Jeffrey Leder Gallery, located at 21-37 45th Rd., just one block away from where 5Pointz once existed. The show, which began April 5, features eight 5Pointz artists, who had major pieces on the building before it was covered in white paint, and two photographers, for a total of 58 pieces. Each artwork dives deep into the emotions and experiences each individual faced on November 19, when the owners of the property on Jackson Avenue and Davis Street, the Wolkoff family, ordered the building to be painted white overnight. Gallery owner and 10-year Long Island City resident Jeffrey Leder said that although many people question why he decided to showcase an exhibit featuring aerosol art, he wanted the artists to be recognized and to show visitors that their works are considered art. “It surprised me how much I was affected by the whitewash,” Leder said. “It was a sad end to an era here in Long Island City and I think the story needed to be told and the best way to tell the story is to create artwork.” Along with Cohen, the other artists included are Auks, Cortes, Jerms, Just One, Shiro, See TF, Topaz, Zimad and photographers Orestes Gonzalez and Hans Van Rittern. Marie-Cecile Flageul, curator of the exhibit and 5Pointz spokeswoman, said they had wanted to do a “whitewash” show and that keeping it Long Island City was important. Flageul said that people were impacted by viewing the gallery and then seeing the whitewashed building upon exiting. The show served as a method of healing and letting go of pain and looking ahead to the future, she added. “It is about what really happened at 5Pointz. It’s about our feelings, our frustration and our refl ection on what’s being done in New York City,” Flageul said. “My hope is that the audience is going to be able to relate to some of the pieces and some of the messages.” Cohen, who dealt with the whitewashing of 5Pointz and the loss of his mother all within one month, said that although some of his pieces express the anger and frustration he felt when he woke up on November 19, the process of creating the pieces for the show was also therapeutic. “The exhibit to me was a good closure and way to vent,” Cohen said. “Art is the best way to get your point across. Everyone could interpret it in their own kind of way but it is easily understood.” He took his signature light bulbs, which are normally yellow, and made them white for the show to depict the “ghoulish” tone of the whitewash. One of the last pieces he fi nished for the exhibit was a colorful collaboration between him and artist Shiro, which shows one of her iconic characters blowing light bulb bubbles, expressing hope and a happy look into the future. “This is how we communicate best,” he said. “Over there the walls were what helped tie us together and here are the canvases that are tying us together. The building was beautiful but it was the artwork that defi ned the building.” Each piece in the show is on sale, including wine bottles, donated by Gianna Cerbone-Teoli of Manducatis Rustica, featuring labels designed by Cohen. “Whitewash” will run through June 8. “5Pointz was kind of the heart of Long Island City,” Flageul said. “It was not just a building; these were truly pages of a diary.” 5Pointz curator and CEO Jonathan “Meres One” Cohen Photo by Orestes Gonzalez canvas FLEX EXPERIENCE THROUGH ARTWORK
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