Meryl Meisler is a Brooklyn based photographer who captured a very tumultuous, dangerous, and simultaneously glamorous era in NYC history – the 1970s and 80s. During that time, Manhattan was erupting with surreal characters and scenesters, gallivanting in iconic night clubs, while across the bridge in Bushwick, Brooklyn, there was destruction, arson, looting, the crack epidemic, and tensions between the disenfranchised communities that resided there. She taught in a Bushwick public school and with camera at the ready she bore firsthand witness to the opposing worlds, which existed just few subway stops apart.

Meryl carried a medium format camera nearly everywhere she went, and caught a glimpse into two very different social environments. One of those settings was the disco-era music and dance scene. She snapped photos of William Shatner, Andy Warhol, Grace Jones, and frequented  Studio 54. She went to places like the Paradise Garage, one of the most powerful House music venues of all time.

Meryl Meisler referred to the initial lines of A Tale of Two Cities when describing the then NYC dichotomy between extravagant Manhattan nightlife and the struggling nightmare of Bushwick, Brooklyn.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.” – Charles Dickens

I went on a walk with Meryl, and then she took me out to lunch. Her eyes glowed with compassion and warmth. She currently lives in Chelsea, and she supervises/teaches future art teachers at NYU. Her new exhibition highlights photos published in her new book by Bizarre Publishing, called A Tale of Two Cities & her work is displayed in Bushwick’s Black Box Gallery (12 Jefferson Street, Brooklyn, NY 11206). She sent me photos, some of which have never been released. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did:

The original Star Trek’s Captain Kirk, and later to become the Priceline spokesperson, William Shatner is seen above. Meryl didn’t seek these people out, they just showed up in her life without her going out of the way. They seemed to be bizarre characters that had found their place in the media.

I love this one, it’s almost as if there was a crossover with disco night life into the grime and neglect of Bushwick.  My guess is that this depicts the relics of the night a woman got drunk, and experienced that shaky, exciting time. The shoes are evidence of god-only-knows what kind of misfortune and tales of love and loss that accompanied this shoe’s original owner.

 Meryl described Grace Jones (follow the link to view Jones’ YouTube video, ‘Cannibal Corpse’) as a diva, and when she walked in, she looked fabulous and divine.

This photograph cracks me up, the overt abundance of pubic hair, and the benevolent yet devious grin of the man contorting his body. Not to mention the guy with the flamboyant hat, in a mesmerized daze.

I said, “why not ask her for a photo of herself?” This photograph exemplifies the sexy and exuberant energy that I witnessed Meisler to possess ( she is standing to the left).

Meryl talked about where these three amigos wound up – one in jail, one died, and one still lives in Brooklyn. This photo was the first one that caught my attention due to the presence of innocence that had the immanency of destruction and pain.

To see more of Meisler’s photos, check out the show in Bushwick.

Meryl Meisler’s
A TALE OF TWO CITIES:
DISCO ERA BUSHWICK
exhibition and book launch
Exhibit open through September 10, 2014
Gallery Hours: Daily, 11am – 4am
BIZARRE PUBLISHING
8.5 x 11 inches
180 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9910141-1-8
$40.00 USA/CAN

Written by Andrew Kaminski

The post Is This Bushwick’s First Hipster? Meryl Meisler Photographed The Neighborhood Before It Was Cool appeared first on Artiholics.

Bushwick, Brooklyn is becoming known for it’s amazing murals by world famous mural painters, and this one I find specifically awesome.  I had seen pictures of it online, but the other day I was down on Bogart Street on my bike and got to grab a few shots of this myself.

It’s an Orca which is presented in exploded view by artist Nychos.  On the side Tutu’s, it runs the length of the building, it is eye catching as fuck.  Just on the corner of Bogart and Varet Streets.

It’s amazing because it looks so super sharp, but when you get close you see that it’s all spray paint.  That is some crazy can control.  There is an article on Bedford & Bowery.com which has some more details, as well as pictures of the artist painting it in steps.  Cool shit.

Written and Photographed by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

The post Nychos’ Exploded Orca Mural in Bushwick is Intense appeared first on Artiholics.

New to Bushwick or Ridgewood and wondering where you can find a decent spoken word poetry and storytelling venue in the neighborhood?  Wonder no more, for I have found it for you.  The first Sunday of every month (today) at The Bodega wine bar at 24 Saint Nicholas Avenue (corner of Troutman St.) in Bushwick, which is right on the border of Ridgewood from 6-9pm.

The Bodega Monthly is a first Sunday Live Storytelling extravaganza hosted by humorist Robert Semple.  Come on down and check it!

Make friends with Robert to get on the line-up for future month’s readings, as these are not open mic.  You must be invited to read in advance, so checking out a night or two will give you an idea of the vibe and what sort of material works in this room.

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

The post First Sunday Storytelling & Poetics In Bushwick, Brooklyn appeared first on Artiholics.

During the Bushwick Open Studios I opened a door and found myself in a poem come to life.  Experimental performance group 3i performed an original piece titled “Story of Am” and will be performing it again today and tomorrow on Governors Island as part of FIGMENT NYC.  Figment NYC is free, and all weekend long at Governors Island.

Left to right: Yo-e Ryou, Chase Chualong, Harry Spencer (white shirt), Zoe Rappaport, Rebeca Huntt, Libby Mislan.  On the floor: Yurie Collins & Jen Chantrtanapichate.

They will be there from 10am to 6pm and will be performing it three times a day (both Saturday June 8 & Sunday June 9). The majority of the time when they aren’t performing, visitors will have the opportunity to engage in healing arts practices, individually and in community.

During the open studio they allowed me to do a photoshoot of them after the performance.  It was really hot in there, and climbing the ladder to a higher and hotter elevation just made it more interesting.

I had performer (and graphic designer) Yo-e Ryou climb a second ladder to add some cool foreground to the shot which worked out really well. After the shoot Chase Chualong offered me some dandelion tea which was delicious.

Jen Chantrtanapichate offered some aroma therapy.  This involved sliding a crystal over the flower I felt most connected with.  I chose the white one that was wilting.  This corresponded with a scent she dabbed on my wrists. Being that I have yet to evolve beyond bar soap, deodorant, and AXE body spray this was interesting to me.

I felt a little like Odysseus in the land of the Lotus eaters and had a hard time pulling myself away from this studio, but there was much more to see.

Five minutes later I was in another room a few doors over listening to poetry.  Nothing is commonplace during Bushwick Open Studios if you are open to anything.  I did find myself sniffing my wrists every so often throughout the rest of the day.  It was hot as hell out, so it was either that or smell my own sweat, and with that being the other option, the flower scent was a welcome relief.

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

The post ‘Story Of Am’ Bushwick Open Studios Performance Artists 3i Are @ Figment NYC This Weekend appeared first on Artiholics.

Over the weekend Bushwick, Brooklyn and it’s sister art community Ridgewood, Queens; artist studios, art galleries, and art collectives opened their spaces up to the public.  There were over 600 venues to visit, and being that I only was going to be spending one day crawling around Brooklyn in the baking summer heat, I tried to take in as many of those 600 as possible before melting into a stinky sweat stain.

One amazing place you wouldn’t know is there unless you stumbled upon it is the Secret Project Robot Institute For The Living Arts.  A not for profit art collective which used to be based in Williamsburg and has recently taken refuge at Melrose St. and Knickerbocker Ave. in Bushwick.

When you enter the building you walk directly into a gallery, with a stage.  The ceilings are massive so they are able to hold massive paintings.

These giant works belong to artist and musician David Shull.

I walked through the gallery to the bar in the back, which had a pinball table, a comic book collection, and a ceiling and walls covered in stuffed animals.

I introduced myself to Rachel Nelson, the co-founder and director of the place.  She was so sweet, and insisted on giving me the grand tour.

The building, aside from having an amazing gallery and bar, also housed multiple artist studios and an office.  Each studio looks out to the side yard and has great natural light.

This is the work of artist Raul De Nieves.

Here is a piece by Rachel herself.  The dayglow colored sandwich.

The side yard reminded me of Pee Wee’s Playhouse.

Giant bag of money, a metal hut, tables, chairs, sculptures, a little modern building, a bandshell, a tiki bar.

She took me over to these three giant metal storage freighter shipping containers.  She opened one up to show me.  They have each been converted into…

Soundproof practice rooms for bands.

Everyone was in the middle of setting up, as they were having a music act that night, and a bbq.

I met artist Dean Cercone unfurling a giant mural he had painted and rolled up.

He was getting ready to mount it to the cynder block wall behind him.  I climbed up onto a stack of planed wood to get these shots.

Dean in front of his pieces.

   Erik Zajaceskowski is a multimedia artists who creates the video art which plays on multiple screens around the space.

The outdoor tiki bar.

I ended up hanging out there for about 20 minutes, one of the longest stops I made on my day of art crawling.  Cool people, great vibes, and an awesome venue.  I will be back.  Be sure to like them on Facebook to see when they have upcoming shows and openings.

Written and Photographed by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

The post Secret Project Robot Art Experiment – Bushwick Open Studios 2013 appeared first on Artiholics.

New York, NY – Monday, April 22, 2013

One of NYC’s own living art legends, Kenny Scharf was arrested in Williamsburg / Bushwick, Brooklyn late Friday night for spray painting a black and white cartoon drawing of a snake in his signature style on private property (pictured above).  Kenny is a contemporary of Basquiat and Keith Haring.  One of the last of a dying breed of graffiti artist-cum-art stars of the 1980s.

Prior to this weekend, his most recent stint in a New York Prison for Graffiti charges was 30 years ago.  The now 55-year-old’s initial post on facebook after his his prison stay was of the image above with the caption:

“Just Spent 20 hours in 2 Brooklyn jails for this.”
-Kenny Scharf

I broke the story in this article on ArtSucks.com, and in the 9 hours since that posting the article has been read thousands of times by people in 44 countries, shared over 900 times, and liked over 335 times on Facebook.  It has been sourced in articles on Animal New York, Gothamist, Bushwick Daily, and Papermag and retweeted, forwarded, and stumbled hundreds of times.  Thanks for sharing everyone!

UPDATE: Day 2:

ArtSucks is becoming a 10-year-overnight-success, as the article is only a few clicks away from  500 likes.  The story is spreading, and a whole bunch of new sites have picked it up:  GalleristNY, Mass Appeal, Juxtapoz, Fecalface, Blouin ArtInfo and coolest of them all The Huffington Post because they gave us major love by just reprinting the title and first two paragraphs of the article and sending traffic directly to the site with a Read the whole story : Art Sucks.

Because they used my words verbatim, I can now add The Huffington Post to my writing credits.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE INITIAL ARTICLE ON ARTSUCKS.COM.

I spoke to Kenny Scharf recently and conducted an exclusive INTERVIEW WITH HIM this evening- read it here.

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

The post Kenny Scharf Arrested – The Scoop appeared first on Artiholics.