Brooklyn's Latest Brush With Art
Bushwick Area Is Winning Street Cred With Its Offbeat Venues and Daring Displays
By Andrea Sachs
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Things change in New York City's art world in a matter of moments. Bushwick's moment is coming.
"It's happening fast. There is a whole slew of emerging artists moving to Bushwick," said Sara DeRose, marketing communications director of the Brooklyn Arts Council. "It's the next big place."
Over the past few years, the two-square-mile Brooklyn neighborhood has been attracting visionaries outpriced by neighboring Williamsburg or disillusioned by Chelsea's artiste scene. Studios, galleries and spaces that defy categorization are appearing in former bodegas, 99-cent stores and other non-glamorous structures. The pieces on exhibit are daring, a tad risque and sometimes befuddling. (A mountain of melted plastic? Hmmm.) The art spills outdoors as well, with multi-story murals electrifying drab exteriors and graffiti adorning surfaces that can't defend themselves.
"There is a lot more experimental art here, partially because people don't have the structural constraints where they are trying to keep up with the galleries," says Laura Braslow, an organizer with Arts in Bushwick, a volunteer group that supports local artists and plans community projects. "The Bushwick art scene is not about sipping wine and looking at white walls."
