Art Exhibit: How Much Do I Owe You?

Clocktower Building 'No Longer Empty' in LIC

January 7, 2013 / Long Island City LIC Neighborhood / Art Exhibits in LIC / Queens Buzz. I went to a workshop in December sponsored by Materials For The Arts at the Clocktower Building in LIC. The workshop was an adjunct program done in tandem with an arts organization called No Longer Empty.

No Longer Empty is hosting an art exhibit entitled How Much Do I Owe You in the abandoned Clocktower Building in LIC through March 13th. The exhibit includes a number of workshops and programs throughout the exhibit period, which may be of interest to those who have a curiosity or fascination with modern art and our ongoing social / economic crisis.

As I approached the Clocktower Building I noticed figures moving across the face of the Clock … click here to read our report on the arts organization No Longer Empty, which is hosting the exhibit How Much Do I Owe You, at the Clocktower Building in LIC; and about the Collaborative Drawing Workshop sponsored by Materials For The Arts in LIC.

Art in Queens News

News Briefs About Art Events in Queens Neighborhoods

February 24, 2013 / LIC & Sunnyside / Queens Buzz.  This is a collection of art news briefs from Queens nieghborhoods.

Click here for more Art in Queens News briefs.

M55 Art Gallery In LIC

Relationships Undressed

August 19, 2012 / Long Island City / Art Galleries in Queens / Queens Buzz. It had poured all day Wednesday, but began to let up as I decided to brave the rain to attend the M55 Art Gallery opening of Relationships Undressed in Long Island City. I arrived early to meet with artist Emily Stedman who I had been communicating with for the past couple of weeks. This was her first solo exhibit in LIC, and it appeared to be an intriguing exhibit which she’d entitled Relationships Undressed.

The lead art piece she used to advertise the exhibit was a water color painting she’d done showing beautifully sculpted naked bodies swirling around in a variety of poses on the canvass. The art exhibit opening was by rsvp [& posted in our events calendar] and I was informed that the wine servers would be scantily clad.

Click here for our review and a slide show of the art exhibit at M55 in LIC entitled Relationships Undressed.

Persona Performa - Ming Wong At MOMI

Museum of the Moving Image Steps Out In Astoria

January 21, 2012 / Astoria / Film in Queens / Queens Buzz. People were lined up outside of the Museum of the Moving Image [MOMI] on both Thursday and Friday nights. They were waiting to see Ming Wong’s performance art production entitled Persona Performa. The production title tidily summed up its essence – an art performance based on an Ingmar Bergman film entitled Persona, which was being performed for Performa 11, the fourth biennial visual arts festival in NYC.

Artistic director, Ming Wong, developed the piece during his residency at MOMI in 2011. He told us that the inspiration for the production came from the minimalist architecture of the museum and an Ingmar Bergman film, Persona, which is generally believed to be one of the ten best works of cinematic art.

Click here to read our report of Ming Wong Persona Performa at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria.

Tony Vaccaro WTC Photos In Astoria

September 30, 2011 / Astoria Neighborhood / Art Galleries In Queens / Queens Buzz. Tony Vaccaro, Life Magazine photographer, has a photography exhibit covering the birth, the life and the death of the twin towers of the World Trade Center on display at the Buzzeo Building in Astoria. I went to the opening and this is what I heard.

Tony got his start photographing the action of World War II as a young lad. His photos landed him a job at Life Magazine, providing him with opportunities to photograph famous people and places out of reach to most photographers. Tony photographed famous artists, such as Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollack, as well as famous architects, such as Frank Lloyd Wright and La Corbusier. His interest and work photographing people, art and architecture lead him more deeply into that world.

Click here to read the rest of our story about the exhibit and story as told by Tony Vaccaro through his photos of the twin towers of the World Trade Center covering the period from 1957 - 2001.

Public & Private Lives Converge in Urbanity

December 12, 2011 / Flushing / Art Exhibits in Queens / Queens Buzz. I visited the Crossing Art Gallery in Flushing Saturday for their opening of Personal.Spaces. The exhibit theme is about personal space in public places. An example of such is shown in the artwork to your right, where countless people are sharing public space, close enough to touch one another, but all living very separate lives. Living within their Personal.Spaces.

The Flushing art gallery did a nice job of dimensionalizing the theme through a number of different works from a multitude of artists, many of whom either work or live within the NYC area. Click here to view a brief report, including photos of the Personal.Spaces art exhibit at the Crossing Art Gallery in Flushing.

Queens International Art Exhibit 2009

Flushing / Queens Buzz. This a report and review of the fourth bi-annual Queens International Art Exhibit which opened at the Queens Museum Of Art in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in the Flushing / Corona neighborhoods of Queens NY.

Queens Museum Of Art

Reasons Clue

The Reason's Clue Art Exhibit opened at the Queens Museum Of Art in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in the Flushing / Corona neighborhoods in Queens NY. The exhibit features eight Chinese and Taiwanese artists who explore their own culture in today's world.

Queens Museum Of Art

Indian Arts Of The Diaspora

Flushing / Queens Buzz. This is a review of the Indian Arts Of The Diaspora Art Exhibit at the Queens Museum Of Art in the Flushing Meadows Corona Park in the Flushing / Corona neighborhoods of Queens NY. This exhibit is includes some forty Indian emigrant artists who delve into and express the influences of their multi-cultural lives.

Experiential Literature - Stillspotting

An Intimate Journey Into The Jackson Heights Neighborhood

April 15, 2012 / Art in Queens / Jackson Heights / Queens Buzz. I rode my bike through the backstreets of Woodside on a warm spring Sunday of 2012. The sun was glistening, the air was fresh and warm. People were working in their yards, conversing in the streets, and heading to or from somewhere. And I was on my way to the Stillspotting kiosk in Jackson Heights.

A few weeks ago the Guggenheim Museum had contacted me about the Stillspotting program they were to launch in Queens starting April 14th. After a few brief conversations with the publicists, I thought I had a sense of it, but my understanding - like the concept itself - was fluid. I wasn’t sure whether or not it would be interesting, but I decided to check it out anyway.

Click here to read more about Stillspotting Queens in Jackson Heights.

Bulova Corporate Center

Queens Was Once On Bulova Time

The Bulova Watch Company & Building

Jackson Heights / Queens Buzz. We had occasion to visit the Bulova Corporate Center recently. The art deco Bulova Corporate Center building caught our interest because of its interesting architecture. And the history of the Bulova Watch Company, which has been a Queens mainstay since the 1950's, is as interesting as the building that was once home to an American icon.

Currently the building is occupied by the offices of a number of organizations including the Queens Chamber Of Commerce and American Airlines. The following piece is a history of the J. Bulova Watch Company and the building they once occupied: the Bulova Corporate Center. Click here to view our report on the Bulova Corporate Center in Jackson Heights. The photo at right was from one of the original murals of the Bulova Watch Company.

Jamaica JAMS - Queens Largest Street Festival

Jamaica JAMS Satiates Visitors' Thirst For Music, Food & Things

August 2012 / Jamaica NY / Shopping in Queens / Queens Buzz. I headed down to Jamaica this afternoon, Jamaica New York that is. I was on my way to attend the largest street music festival and street fair in Queens. The JAMS event attracts upwards of 10,000 visitors by offering a mix of musical and dance performances, a wide array of street vendor foods and numerous vendor booths selling everything but houses, autos and the kitchen sink.

Click here to read our report and view photos of the Jamaica JAMS music festival and street fair in Jamaica NY.

Fashionable Clothing in Queens

Come To Fashion Show Features Local Designers & Models

April 30, 2012 / Jamaica NY / Fashion in Jamaica Queens / Queens Buzz. On April 21st the first annual Come To Fashion show stepped out into the fashion world in the Jamaica section of Queens. The fashion show featured local fashion designers, models and retailers doing business in Jamaica Queens.

When I arrived at the Jamaica Performing Arts Center, I was pleasantly surprised by unique set design for the show. Jamaica Center, the Jamaica BID, had hired a designer to create an original venue through which to present the models and the designers' clothing.

Click here to view photos and read our report about the Come To Fashion show - fashionable clothing & fashions in Jamaica Queens.

Space Womb Births New Talent

Color & Gray Exhibit Open Through Friday

July 16, 2011 / Long Island City Neighborhood / Art Galleries / Queens Buzz. I attended the opening reception of a new photography exhibit at the Space Womb gallery in Long Island City. Space Womb opened a couple of years ago on Jackson Avenue on the street level of the 5 Pointz building located across from PS1 Moma.

The exhibit featured nine artists, seven of whom immigrated from Korea. This lent an Asian accent to the opening and provided a different lens through which one could experience NYC through art photography, as many of the photos shown in the exhibit were taken in the NYC metro area.

The exhibit was entitled Color & Gray and was curated by Ung-Jib Park. I had opportunity to meet and converse with Ung-Jib, as well as Jongwang Lee the Space Womb gallery manager, and eight of the nine photographic artists, about their works.

Click here this weekend to read our report and view photos of the Color & Gray photography exhibit at Space Womb in LIC.

2007 Sea Odyssey Returns Home

New Age Love Seafarers Contemplating Next Mission

July 1, 2011 / Long Island City LIC Neighborhood / Art Exhibits / Queens Buzz. I just returned from one of the more interesting evenings I’ve had in quite a long while. The Flux Factory kicked off a summer long exploration of NYC waterways with an interactive slide show presentation by Sonanya Ahmed of Queens and Reid Stowe, who according to the Ripley's Believe It Or Not, holds the record for being the longest voyager to remain at sea without interruption.

Sonanya was at sea for 306 days and Reid stayed out upon the high seas for another 846 days [Reid was at sea a total of 1152 days]. They sailed the Atlantic, the Pacific and bodies of water in between, charting their journey via a GPS satellite, creating journey path art and other artworks along the way.

The journey bears similarity to the sort of isolated endurance and self sufficiency required to travel to and from the planet Mars. So imagine packing for a trip where you’re not going to go anywhere near land for three years, and you’re going to have to survive with what you bring and nature’s bounty.

Click here to read the rest of our story about the kick off event to the Flux Factory’s Sea Worthy summer in Queens NYC.

Free Things To Do In Queens I

Free Movies & Foreign Films In Queens

Queens NY / Updated August 8, 2012. This report includes a list of some of the free things to do in Queens this summer. 

Click here to view a listing of the dates and times of free movies & foreign films free things to do in Queens Parks.

Queens Art Museums & Galleries

Art Exhibits In Queens Museums

This story provides information regarding Queens art exhibits, art events, art galleries and museums in the Queens neighborhoods of Long Island City, Flushing, Astoria and Jamaica. All for the summer season of 2009.

Queens Art Express 2009

This story contains information about the Queens Art Express which is a program sponsored by the Queens Council Of The Arts. Queens Art Express events have been planned in Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside, Jackson Heights, Flushing, Corona.

New Cultural Center in Sunnyside

Bliss on Bliss Studio Begins to Take Root

February 20, 2012 / Sunnyside / Art in Queens / Queens Buzz. I attended the February exhibit opening reception and musical performances of Bliss on Bliss Studio in Sunnyside. It was my first visit to the studio which opened in October of 2011.

Ged Merino and Carolina Morales are the husband and wife team that run the studio. They met while working at the Metropolitan Museum, married, and are now sharing their bliss with the rest of us who live near Blissville.

The moniker of Blissville predates Sunnyside, and comes from the name of an early 19th century farm owned by Neziah Bliss. The farm was located along the southern edge of the neighborhood. But I digress.

At the February opening reception for its new exihibit, Bliss on Bliss was featuring ten photographers and two groups of musicians. Click here to read more about Bliss on Bliss Studio in Sunnyside.

Queen Of Angels Art Fair

Sunnyside Fair Becoming Established Art Sales Venue

June 18, 2011 / Sunnyside / Art Exhibits / Queens Buzz. It was a warm sunny afternoon in Sunnyside as I made my way down to the Queen Of Angels Church to view the work of about 30 artists. I went late in the afternoon, as last year there was a large crowd at the opening [after Sunday mass], and the numbers didn’t taper off until the end of the afternoon.

This art fair, like a fine wine, continues to evolve. The fair includes exhibitors from the Sunnyside, Woodside and other Queens neighborhoods, as well as from Brooklyn. The artwork on display is for sale, making it interactive so-to-speak, and it seemed like there was a fair amount of sales this year, although I can’t tell whether it’s because I know the artists better [and they feel more comfortable telling me such things] or because they sold more. In any case it’s for a good cause, as some of the proceeds also go toward the Queen of Angels Church. The eye shown in the photo to your left is the work of Casey Concelmo.

Later today click here to read more about and view photos of the Queen Of Angels Art Fair in Sunnyside.