THE BALLERINA PROJECT

One of my favorite NYC sights is seeing dancers warming up in the subway…have you experienced it? You’re waiting for the train and all of a sudden the person standing next to you starts to do a plie. There’s just something about that kind of beauty against a urban backdrop.

Which is why I’m equally fascinated with a photo series that’s been around for sometime now, The Ballerina Project. It’s an ongoing  project by Dane Shitagi that depicts ballerinas amongst organic backdrops.

The project has been going steady for 10+ years in New York and now it’s trying to move on to a new phase – mini documentaries to compliment the photographs. Dane hopes these will give new audiences a more complete and accurate representation of ballet to help sustain it’s future.

*Unfortunately, Dane’s Kickstarter for this new phase ended 6 days ago without being funded. Here’s hoping he can get it rev’d up again.

**STORY was originally written for ARTNERDNY - where you can check out my weekly artnerd obsessions.

NICK CAVE HORSES AT GRAND CENTRAL STATION

Well this past Sunday the horses stopped prancing and dancing but we’ll remember this performance for a long time. Nothing beats being there for a live performance - but we thought perhaps these pictures would give you the gist. 

Once the harp came to life and the drums starting beating, the Alvin Ailey Dancers appeared and got into those larger than life sound suits of Nick Cave’s and proceeded to wow and charm the audience for the next 20 minutes. 

The performance spurred conversations within the crowd; about how inspired everyone was feeling. The couple standing next to me, who didn’t want to lose the vibe, went home immediately to start creating. There were giggles from the children crowded around the sides of the space and babies reaching out their hands to touch the swirls of color dancing by. Needless to say, when the performance ended there was an eruption of applause. 

All in all - it was one magical day.

NOSEGO TAKES NY

There’s still time to go see this!

yisgoodwin:

“Daily Spontaneous Excursions”                                                                                          @ Woodward Gallery Project Space.                                                                                    On view Oct - Nov, 2012.                                                                                                     132 Eldridge Street, New York, NY

HAHA MAG PICK OF THE DAY: 

We love these minimalist CITY TRANSIT LINE POSTERS designed by the graphics team of Cayla & John. It’s a great way to show some love for your city and still maintain your cool art decor. They have a great selection of international cities and Line T-shirts as well over at their Etsy Shop.

Source: lineposters.com

INNER COURSE - KNOWING ME, KNOWING YOU

During the Pulse Art Fair I had a ball participating in the performance art piece Inner Course with the lovely ladies Rya Kleinpeter + Tora Lopez. These two artistically raw, scantily clad cabaret runaways invited me in their booth to open up and create a tangible artistic discourse with them.

I’m pretty shy, so thank god someone else wanted to ‘double up’ on this experience. So ‘Flash’ (that was her name) and I collaborated on a piece. So with seven minutes in a glass room full of art supplies we talked…we created and then we decided what to give our hosts in exchange for our experience; in exchange for our art.

And yeah, we walked away with video and some pics, so you can vicariously join in as well. As usual, I hate being in pictures - so i’m present in none - except for that shot of my fingers…

 

Can we talk about these full on window installations at Barneys New York? The artist behind the installations is Brooklyn dweller & block printer, Dennis McNett. Over-sized wolf, owl, and skull masks adorn the mannequins highlighting themes from nature, folklore, mythology, and storytelling mixed with McNett’s graphic woodcut blocks, prints, masks, and paper mache sculptures.

I gotta say, I didn’t know Barneys had it in them to go this innovative.

Head on over to see the display which will run from June 23 through July 12. The window installation covers over 50 feet of windows on Madison and one small window on 61st. Professionally lit, it is best viewed at night.

Dennis McNett’s website
via fecal face