Erin Cassin – Brooklyn Bugle

A Feast for the Senses at TASTE Williamsburg Greenpoint

September 23, 2011

A strip of Williamsburg waterfront was transformed into a smorgasbord for the senses on Sunday, as
some 2,000 visitors from Brooklyn and beyond streamed into the CitiStorage lot at 5 North 11th Street to sample tantalizing dishes and drinks, dance to live music, and watch a butcher demonstration-cum-performance piece at the 2nd annual TASTE Williamsburg Greenpoint benefit that raised approximately $75,000 for the Northside Town Hall Community and Cultural Center.

“There is a really good variety – I love it,” said Greenpoint resident Erin Lee. “It’s like I’ve been all over the world.”

Switching the venue from last year’s block-long spot on Williamsburg’s public streets to this year’s location on CitiStorage’s private property gave event organizers the ability to feature an expanded lineup of restaurants and bands, as well as the addition of alcoholic beverages and the culinary performance piece.

“Being in a private location as opposed to being on a city street allowed us a little more freedom to do what we had envisioned for year one – that big block party feel,” said TASTE co-chair Melissa Estro.

Armed with festival maps and tickets (day-of prices ranged from $40 for 10 tastes to $90 for unlimited samples), attendees navigated their way around the event’s food stands and beverage tents manned by nearly 60 local restaurants, bars and businesses that doled out everything from wild boar ribs to absinthe milkshakes. With food and drink in hand, festivalgoers snagged seats at picnic tables with a waterfront view, while others stood in front of the music stage or gathered around the butcher demo/performance piece.

“There is a diversity of food… and everybody has been really nice,” said DUMBO resident Jack Berkowitz. “And the (butcher) demonstration has been spectacular.”

The inclusion of the culinary performance piece gave event attendees an up-close look at the “farm to table” process during a fascinating two-hour demonstration/discussion that involved anatomy lessons, proper butchering techniques, cooking tips and audience participation. While butcher Andrew Dorsey from Williamsburg-based Marlow & Daughters meticulously carved up a 110-pound half pig and described the various ways each cut could be prepared and served, performance artist Carrie Ahern discussed the animal’s anatomy in an interactive lesson that quickly attracted a small crowd.

“I’m hoping to get people a little more connected to where their food comes from,” Ahern explained. “The process of how we get our food is so slow and complicated, while our experience with it is one of convenience.”

“It is something greater than just a cellophane-wrapped Styrofoam tray in a supermarket fridge,” Dorsey added. “I hope (the performance) will bring more of an appreciation for the similarities between us and the animals that we raise for our nutrition.”

The pair led their audience on a sensorial journey through the butchering process, with Ahern using former dancer Rebecca Smith and volunteers from the crowd to draw comparisons between the anatomies of pigs and humans. As Dorsey cut into each part of the animal, Ahern touched related spots on her human models and discussed the functions of various muscle groups for both pigs and people.

Spectators were also given the option of participating in a tactile exercise when Ahern passed out disposable gloves and invited them to probe the glistening cuts – exposed muscles and all – that Dorsey piled onto platters.

“I thought it felt really slimy and kinda gross, but when you cook it into bacon, it tastes really delicious,” said one of the youngest audience members, 10-year-old Adrian Korin from Greenpoint.

“I like the fact that we are trying to connect the animal to what is on our plate, so from the standpoint of agriculture, we’ll hopefully have a little more respect for how we handle and treat animals before we serve them up as food,” added the youth’s father, George Korin.

Some curious passersby paused to watch and then quickly walked away in disgust, while others were impressed by the knowledge imparted by Ahern and Dorsey.

“I thought it was fascinating,” said Manhattan resident Sarah Chiapetta. “I think it is really important for people to see where their food comes from and not just see a piece of bacon on a plate. I think it is fine to eat meat as long as you have that understanding.”

The culinary performance piece also gave festivalgoers a glimpse into the range of cultural programming offered by the Northside Town Hall non-profit that benefited from the TASTE fundraiser. Proceeds will be used to redevelop Williamsburg’s shuttered firehouse at 134 Wythe Avenue into a community center focused on art and activism. Formed by local advocacy groups Neighbors Allied for Good Growth and The People’s Firehouse, Inc. who are heading up the renovation project, the non-profit has already staged performances at the site, which will be reborn as the Northside Town Hall Community and Cultural Center once the proposed $2-million revamp is complete.

“We have this Northside Town Hall Arts Happening Series that is now in its second year… and when we were looking for artists, we started talking with Carrie Ahern and the TASTE was coming up,” said Northside Town Hall board member and art committee chair Jaclyn Moynahan. “Since it is all about food, what better place to present her work? It became this perfect pairing.”

Ahern will premiere her Borrowed Prey show, which incorporates elements of her TASTE performance, at Manhattan’s LAB Gallery in April 2012.

Photos by Lori Singlar for the Brooklyn Bugle

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Urban Folk Art Gallery Showcases Local Graffiti Legends

August 9, 2011

The Urban Folk Art Gallery buzzed with a frenetic energy as intense as the vibrant artwork adorning the walls during the opening party for “The Usual Suspects 2” graffiti exhibition on Friday night.

Friendly shouts of greeting filled the air as visitors eagerly lined up to draw their own graffiti art alongside some of the local legends featured in this group show. Such is the notoriety of these “old school” graffiti artists that the NYPD Vandal Squad appeared outside the opening of their first exhibition together last summer, according to Urban Folk Art Gallery co-owner/co-curator Adam Suerte.

“The first “Usual Suspects” show we did was at the Last Exit and that went over really well, so this is just an expansion of that one,” said Suerte, whose gallery opened this past January. “We added more guys who were writing graffiti a little earlier, but I’d say 95% were based in Brooklyn when they started.”

The exhibition is comprised of 29 works by Suerte and 13 other artists, who are all over the age of 40 and started out in New York City’s graffiti scene during the 1970s and 80s.

“At the time I was doing it, we were inventing all these styles that they’re using now,” said artist Kenneth Durant (aka SLAVE), who was part of the infamous Fab 5 crew that covered entire subway trains with graffiti in the 1970s. “I get a lot of respect from these newer guys because I was doing it for real on the trains,” Durant noted.

Past and present collide in Durant’s untitled painting on display in the exhibition. His tag or graffiti signature looms large on the canvas, with just a glimpse of a train car in the background. Painted when Durant first returned to New York City in 2009 after a 30-year absence from the scene, it is actually a reproduction of a SLAVE graffiti piece from 1977, when “bombing” No. 5 subway trains with his work was a regular habit.

Times have changed for Durant, who now only leaves his mark on canvases and public spaces where graffiti art is permitted. “Legal stuff only,” he explained. “I don’t have time to go to jail.”

“The Usual Suspects 2” co-curator/artist Anthony Jehamy (aka DANCE) has also left the thrill of illegal art behind to work on commissioned murals, smaller canvases and photography. “I started taking it to another level,” Jehamy said. “It’s not only graffiti that I’m into… I like all forms of art.”

When Jehamy was painting “A Piece in the Sun,” which is one of his three works included in the show, he was reminded of the days when he would go out alone to write graffiti. “I was in my house without any of my friends and when I started blending the colors, it made me think of the molten surface of the sun,” he noted. His tag seems to burst forth from the canvas, set against fiery swirls looping in the background. “I wanted it to be almost like charred lava inside the sun… it’s like the sun is giving me my shine,” Jehamy explained.

Seeing his work showcased in a gallery gives Jehamy “a different type of rush,” then the adrenaline surge he felt when spotting his tag on subway trains. “Seeing it on a canvas in a gallery, it’s a good feeling. It makes me feel like I’ve upped my game and that personally, I’ve taken it to another place.”

“Back then, it was an adventure,” added artist Eric Molina (aka KC), who has three pieces on exhibit in the show. “Right now, it’s trying to keep up a legacy.”

“Graffiti is in my blood,” explained Molina, as he made his way through the throng of visitors to leave his mark alongside their tags on a sheet of paper tacked up by the gallery entrance. “I’m an old man writing graffiti, but the youngster in me keeps me doing it.”

“The Usual Suspects 2” Art Show will be up until the end of August at the Urban Folk Art Gallery located on 101 Smith Street. The exhibition showcases the work of graffiti artists ALIVE, BASIC, CHIEF, DANCE, JAMES TOP, KC, KEO, MOS ONE, POET, REBEL, REK, SLAVE, SNATCH and SUERTE.

Photos by Lori Singlar for the Brooklyn Bugle