PUBLIC ART IN PROSPECT HEIGHTS

I live in Prospect Heights, in the shadow of the grand Brooklyn Museum, surrounded by tree-lined streets and a mix of coffeeshops and Caribbean restaurants.  The area has changed tremendously over the past few years, and it seems like there is a new construction zone on the corner every few blocks (thanks, Gentrification).  I love Mike Perry's project for Pacific Park Arts to bring 10 murals to the construction barricades on Dean Street, around the corner from my home.  Each by a different artist, the murals add so much color to what was a dull fenced-in area near Vanderbilt Avenue, and the one pictured above, by Hisham Akira Bharoocha, is my favorite.  Stay tuned for more!

Dress: Tracy Reese

Shoes: United Nude

Photos by Kathy Paciello.

SAVAGE/SACRED YOUNG MINDS

The Brooklyn Museum has been killing it lately!  So many of my favorite NYC exhibitions over the past few years have been within the walls of my neighborhood institution, including El Anatsui, Keith Haring, Kehinde Wiley, and Jean Paul Gaultier.

The new FAILE exhibition, Savage/Sacred Young Minds has already made my list of favorites.  Aside from including street art duo FAILE's infamous work Temple and a number of others, the standout piece is FAILE's collaboration with BÄST, the Deluxx Fluxx Arcade, pictured here.  The environment stuns with its neon-wallpapered interior featuring FAILE posters and prints, and showcases video games and pinball machines, as a throwback to punk culture. I felt like a teenager again while I was walking through the space, playing games and snapping photos.

The exhibition is on view until October 4th.

Tank: H&M

Skirt: Nanette Lepore

Belt: Vintage

Shoes: Steve Madden

Photos by William Sealy.

KEHINDE WILEY | BROOKLYN MUSEUM

Through the exhibition Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic, which just opened at the Brooklyn Museum, New York based artist Wiley proves that it is possible to create a place for African Americans within the canon of Art History, and that it can be done beautifully and poignantly, while still eliciting questions and inciting change.

The exhibition highlights various series of Wiley's works, including many paintings as well as a grouping of stained glass pieces.  For much of his work, Wiley appropriates poses from heroic portraiture, but replaces the subjects with African American youth, usually male (though he branched out into female subjects with the series An Economy of Grace).  Generally, the subjects themselves choose the portrait they would like to be fashioned after, which gives them a sense of control over the outcome. 

Viewing Wiley's body of work as a whole, he continues to challenge the role of the black individual within Art History, combining hip hop culture with high brow, traditionally white, male portraiture.  It is a thought-provoking commentary on the way that art, and society, have been and continue to be further democratized.

Dress: Tracy Reese

Blouse: Vintage

Tights: H&M

Shoes: United Nude

Necklace: Vintage

Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic is on view at the Brooklyn Museum through May 24, 2015.

Photos of me by Kathy Paciello; other photos by me.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Swoon's Submerged Motherlands at the Brooklyn Museum

A fresh pair from Nicholas Kirkwood

Ai Wei Wei's he xie at the Brooklyn Museum

More Ai Wei Wei; exhibition opens to the public today

The Big Egg Hunt on view at Rockefeller Center (Egg by Cope2)

Another egg, from Olivia Phillips-Falk

Studio visit with Case Jernigan for the Twitter Art Project

More paintings at Case's studio

Just a quick post looking back at what I saw this week.  For more, follow me on Twitter or Instagram.

JEAN PAUL GAULTIER

"I think the way people dress today is a form of artistic expression… Art lies in the way the whole outfit is put together.  Take Jean Paul Gaultier.  What he does is really art." --Andy Warhol, 1984

Today is your last chance to see The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk at the Brooklyn Museum.  It was one of the best fashion exhibitions I have ever seen, from the interactive mannequins to the gorgeous array of avant garde and ready-to-wear designs spanning Gaultier's illustrious career.  Did you have a chance to see the exhibition?  What did you think?

Dress: Jean Paul Gaultier

Boots: Dr. Martens

Necklace: Vintage

See my other Gaultier posts here and here.

Photo of me by Kathy Paciello; other photos by me.

EL ANATSUI

I am still reeling after experiencing one of the most beautiful and culturally relevant museum exhibitions I've seen in a very long time.

Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui is now on view at the Brooklyn Museum and is well worth a visit, even if you are not in New York.

El Anatsui (b. 1944) is a Ghanaian artist who is well known for his sculptural installations made using found materials such as aluminum cans, and the Brooklyn Museum exhibition boasts over 30 works.

The texture and painterly quality of the large-scale pieces is surprisingly reminiscent of Impressionism.  I was particularly reminded of Pointillism in the way that the large tapestry is made up of beautiful smaller elements that aren't necessarily salient but become noticeable upon closer inspection.  

The wall hangings are inspired by kente, a type of cloth created using an indigenous  weaving process that results in a silk/cotton blend and is native to the Ashanti and Akan people of the Ivory Coast and Ghana.

Referencing uli and nsibidi symbolism and drawing styles, Anatsui's stunning works also called to mind the tableaux of religious altarpieces, adorned with gold leaf.  However, the usage of found materials and nod to his Ghanaian heritage makes Anatsui's work more poignant than ever.

Dress: Aryn K. (very similar here, under $70)

Tights: H&M

Boots: Miista Val Tex

Handbag: Cynthia Rowley (some similar options here)

Photos of me by @kay_elle_pea and all other photos by me.