WC Gallery
WC GALLERY
Words by Benjamin Trager We may not notice how important stories are to us. Sometimes we come home from a day of work and tell our loved ones about our daily grind. Some of us sit in dark bars and spew our sorrows to our best friends – or whichever stranger will listen. Or maybe we live inside of our heads, playing out what see and feel on pieces of paper. Sharing ourselves is an integral part of the human experience. Everyone tells stories. Ryan Metke, the Greenpoint-based artist, takes [...]
WC Gallery: A Fine Black Line
Words by Michael Fensom I've known Amit Greenberg for nearly two years, and at no point in that span have I not been impressed with what struck me as his relentless enthusiasm, the steam that powers his lithe frame. Between the two of us, he is older by three years, but almost always seemed, outwardly at least, the more boyish. I never knew him as boy — he grew up in Haifa, Israel, far from my home in New Jersey — but stories about his childhood, such as diving to the bottom of a [...]
WC Gallery: Jen Mann
Words by Kristy Ann Muniz Spirit animals and cosmic powers are just a couple of the concepts dissected in the dreamy, nature-filled universe created by Canadian artist Jen Mann. While studying printmaking at Ontario College of Art & Design, Mann spent her time concocting reality-based images using copper plated etchings. In the mere three years since graduating Mann has moved to a quiet area outside of Toronto where she has constructed this dreamscape in several collections of oil [...]
WC Gallery: Brandon Friend
Words by Ryan Michael Commins I’ve known artist Brandon Friend for years, so the idea of having an exploratory conversation with him seemed only natural. You see, it’s nearly impossible to speak with Brandon without it leading to some form of discovery. He frequently stares off as he is making his points, disconnecting enough to find the right words without letting my reaction to them influence his choices. However serious he is while making these points he usually ends with a smile that [...]
WC Gallery: Javier Piñon
Words by Michael Fensom The artist Javier Piñon grew up in Kingwood, Texas, a suburban enclave of Houston that, in the 1970s, billed itself "The Livable Forest" to attract families fanning from the oil-fueled metropolis. Kingwood had the trappings of a “suburban hell,” Piñon remembers -- escape from which etched a migration to Austin, Providence, New Orleans and eventually Williamsburg, where he has resided for 17 years. But, in the woods beyond the backyard fence that hemmed his [...]
WC Gallery: Kevin Cyr
Words by Olivia Sholler With an interest in observing and documenting the American landscape, Kevin Cyr has – like all artists – done so in his own, unique language. Crumbling consumer culture and structures that were once an active part of society, form the basis of his works. Coupled with his childhood obsession of drawing trucks, one can see how the beaten-up vehicles that define his body of work have come to exist. Before entering his Greenpoint studio, my ignorant self [...]
WC Gallery Burton Machen
Words by Katie Stolowitz Although I somewhat cliché-ly expected to encounter a professional snowboarder when meeting Burton Machen, my personal growth is very thankful that the man's actually an artist. While an inverted 180 is always cool to look at...I don't think a jump, no matter how long the rotation, has the power to inspire me in any profound way—perhaps because I just like my limbs too much. The same cannot be said about the work of Burton Machen. Although I readily admit that I [...]
WC Gallery Jen Stark
Words by Harry Smith Armed with a steady hand, an X-acto knife and a stack of colored cards, Miami-based artist Jen Stark creates paper sculptures that your first grade crafts teacher could only dream about. Drawing inspiration from nature, science and the cosmos Stark's sculptures ooze and explode with color creating a series of meticulously psychedelic patterns. Since graduating in 2005 from the Maryland Institute College of Art, the artist has exhibited her work in galleries all over [...]
WC Gallery: Andrew M. Casey
Words by Megan Cahn An eerily telling quality draws you into Andrew Michael Casey's photos, but still leaves so much to wonder. When I first saw his black and white portraits, I felt these childlike tendencies of mine creep back into my behavior. Not because his images are innocent or light-hearted in any way - in fact they all have a dark seriousness to them - but because they triggered something I don't use too often anymore. As I gazed at each distinctively different character shot from a [...]
WC Gallery: Crackerfarm
Words by Marcel Dagenais The standard of beauty has reached a new pinnacle in society. With the advent of technology in both photographs and reality – the truism of a picture is only as true as the skilled hand of the photo-shopper. Skin turns to porcelain, fat turns to bone, and what once was a human is now an alien life force – an expectation, a pressure to become something we can’t be. It’s exactly what Crackerfarm is against. The farm, like many, is producing something of [...]
WC Gallery: Tara McPherson
Words by Megan Martin It’s an all too familiar leap – from a California girl to a New York City one. Something seems to call those creative types from the Golden Coast out to the darker side, but to many aspiring artists, it just seems like an obvious next step. Tara McPherson made the move from Los Angeles to New York about four years ago, shortly after receiving her BFA from Art Center in Pasadena, and though she is all grown up and becoming an established artist in one of the most [...]
WC Gallery: Shag
Words by Megan Martin New York could very well be one of the most voyeuristic places on the planet. It’s also a wonderland for exhibitionists. Nothing is private. Our phone conversations, our commutes to work, our interactions with lovers and friends, are all played out on the sidewalks of the city. It’s a community of glass houses, and we’re all throwing stones. However unique New Yorkers are, it seems voyeurism is a universal feeling. Traveling from that little West Coastal [...]
WC Gallery: Tod Seelie
Words by Megan Martin I first came across Tod Seelie when I was browsing the internet and found a photograph of a car lit on fire. The title above it read Slow Dancing to Slayer. It was a simple flyer for a small show at an even smaller gallery in Williamsburg, but its message was loud and clear. Wedged between a great Polish grocery store and the hipster hangout “The Lodge” was Seelie’s solo photo show at Cinder’s Gallery. His photographs need no introductions or explanations, [...]