2003 Holiday Newletter
Dear Friends
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
We opened our New Year 2003 with our "6th Annual Williamsburg Salon" show (organized by Carol Quint) with over 60 members. For our ongoing international shows, curator Enrico Pedrini (acclaimed art critic and publisher) brought Maurizio Bolognini’s "Infoinstallations " from Italy. Maurizio Bolognini being well known in Europe as a cutting edge conceptual artist, introduced a fresh philo- sophical inquiry on computer technology. We also had the "Williamsburg Bridges Vietnam" show with 5 avant garde Vietnamese artists from Vietnam and 5 Vietnamese-American artists, made possible by a grant from the Asian Cultural Council. Both shows revealed a new international outlook on contemporary art, east and west, which has seldom been seen here.
"Characterism," a show of 67 artists in collaboration with LunarBase Art Gallery, CWC International, and Sozo-Shoten, featured a global phenomenon in the contemporary art world initiated by a new generation of artists who are absorbed by pop cultures in the USA and Japan (cartoons, comics, manga, Japanime). This show was juried by Charlotta Kotik, Curator and Chair, Department of Con-temporary Art at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Five artists received "artistic achievement awards," and we will be having their show in February 2004 to honor them. At the same time we had a comic and cartoon show in collabor-ation with David J. Gabriel of the New York Comic Book Museum and David Bernstein of Grand Design Communications.
In May, as in the past, we had the "Pratt Institute MFA Thesis" show organized by Donna Moran, Chair, Fine Arts Dept., MFA and BFA Program at Pratt Institute. And In June we had the "Sixth Annual Mermaid Show" curated by Carrie Skoczek to celebrate the traditional Coney Island Mermaid Parade.
In the Fall, a juried show, "Brave Destiny," organized by Terrance Lindall, opened in collaboration with the Society for Art of the Imagination in London — the largest show of living artists working in the area of surrealism with nearly 500 participants from all over the world. The opening "Grand Surrealist Costume Ball" had traffic outside the Center backed up to the off ramp of the Williamsburg Bridge as outrageously costumed party hoppers arrived from as far away as Rhodesia, Australia, Canada, Mexico, all across the United States and Europe just for that one night. It was covered by NY1 TV and some other TV stations and was written up in several publications. The ball had performances including a spectacular light/dance performance by Kathleen Lazizza of the Micro museum, Mystery Dance by Yuma, The Dollhaus Diva, dance by John Nguyen, and a living installation of Nicole Pillar and motion sculptures by Claire Barrat.
During the "Brave Destiny" show we had a Surrealist Film Festival in collaboration with Marco Ursino. Director of the Brooklyn International Film Festival, Surrealist Butoh Dance with Zack Fuller and Pamela Prather, and Surrealist Theater, "Marriage at the Statue of Liberty," a modern ballet with dialogue in collaboration with Jamie McKenna of EMIAJ and directed by Peter Dizozza, the WAH Center’s theater director.
Then came the Surrealist Fashion Show which was so crowded, many could not get up the stairs to see it. It was covered by MTV and several fashion video producers, and even generated some sales to fashion houses. Thanks Disney & Desiree' who produced it! Much art sold. Many prizes were given.
After the colossal Brave Destiny show we calmed down with the "Mercurial" show, mercury colored metal works by Gloria Kitsch, Tamiko Kawata, Daniel Rothbart, and "Tears," by Rie Hachiyanagi, both shows curated by Yuko Nii.
Mercurial |
|
Dag & Nancy Pfieffer |
|
December 6th we opened up with a new show "Textile and Glass." Textile art was organized by Eric Ramirez of F.I.T. and glass art organzed by Steve Durow of Urban Glass and Michiko Sakano of 160 Glass. We also opened the "2nd Annual Local Talent" and "Forms of Divinity," both curated by James Pinney. Despite the blizzard, to our surprise many people came to the opening and enjoyed the warmth and spirit of the holiday season.
In the performing arts, we had our 5th annual Williamsburg Dance Festival, and a poetry and music series. Also, a new play by Peter Dizozza "The Golf Wars" performed to an enthusiastic audience. Additionally, Spartan Theater of Greenpoint presented "Betty Smith in One Act," 3 short comedies by the author of "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn." The WAH Center was honored to have the daughter of Betty Smith, Nancy Pfeiffer, give a talk, which was the highlight of the evening. Before the play we took Nancy and her husband Dag around Williamsburg where her mother spent part of her life. The tour was guided by John Dereszewski, local historian, and Adam Liggio, local long time researcher on Betty Smith.
Exciting news of the year was our being awarded a $100,000 grant from the Depart. of Cultural Affairs of NYC to help restore the landmark building of the WAH Center. This grant was through the auspices of Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz with the help of City Council Woman Diana Reyna. This amount is not enough to do the exterior work, so we are initiating a special fundraising auction scheduled for May of 2004 to supplement the grant. We are looking for contributions of art and antiques to auction at this time.
Yuko Nii, Founder and Artistic Director, was given the "Betty Smith Arts Award" by Borough President Marty Markowitz for her outstanding achievements and contributions to the arts in Brooklyn. She also received the "Outstanding Citizen" award from City Council Woman Tracy Boyland.
It has indeed been another exciting year at the WAH Center. To summarize, we have held 9 one person shows and 16 group shows with a grand total of 828 fine artists, besides numerous performances. Special thanks to James Pinney for reaching out to the local talents and for curating shows with unique perspectives. So we have served the art community well and have fulfilled our committments.
To continue our mission, we need your kind help. Please contribute generously to support what has become one of the most important venues for both artists and the people of New York in this our 7th year.
Thank You!
All programs thanks in part to grants from:
Broken Borough President Marty Markowitz
The NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs
The Independence Community Foundation
Asian Cultural Council
Material for the Arts
Brooklyn Arts Council
Brooklyn International Film Festival
And many indivdual and business donors
And we want to thank the artists and volunteers who worked hard to put up new walls, clean up the space, hang the art, serve at the concession tables and do many other tasks to make the shows possible. And thanks Orin Buck for our great web-site and beautiful poster designs!
And thank you for the generous donations:
Steve Hindy of Brooklyn Brewery, Kashia’s, Giando on the Water, The Diner, Vera Cruz, Khao Sarn, 11211 Magazine , Block Magazine, The Society for Art of the Imagination