The RIVAA Post - The Holocaust Exhibition

In what is hoped to be a continuing "column" on this blog, I have invited the Roosevelt Island Visual Art Association to publish here regarding each current exhibition with the goal of increasing direct contact within our community and to enable further promotion of that exhibition.

The following post is written by Anca Pedvis, a current member of RIVAA, and an accomplished writer and poet. You can learn more about Ms. Pedvis HERE. My apologies to RIVAA for the delay in publishing this post:

"In what is going to be roughly a month from the Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting, On June 10, 2009, in Washington D.C., RIVAA gallery will host a show entitled, “Holocaust – Never Forget, Never Again” starting on July 11th.

In the show, artist Dana Baldwin Nauman will present 17 lead sculptures commemorating the horors that took place in Auschwitz on of many German camps death camps during Hitler’s reign of terror. The sculptures, each accompanied by a narrative poem by the artist, are humbly and lovingly dedicated to the life of his friend, and Auschwitz survivor, Sigmund Strochlitz (1916-2006).

Recommended by his friend, the Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, Mr. Strochlitz was a member of President Jimmy Carter’s Commission on the Holocaust. In this capacity he worked with Mr. Wiesel to create the National Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C.

By strongly affirming his creative kind of remembering Dana Baldwin Nauman’s show seems to be endowed with a powerful message: that the grief and sorrow associated with the horrors of the death camps are not Jewish only – they are supremely and ultimately human, and as long as they belong to the realm of human consciousness, they will be partaken by anyone possessing this quality, be it in relationship to Auschwitz, Bosnia, or Rwanda."

Anca Pedvis

HOLOCAUST – NEVER FORGET, NEVER AGAIN

Gallery RIVAA, 527 Main Street, Roosevelt Island, New York City
July 11 to August 7, 2009 / Opening Reception Saturday, July 11, 2009
6:00 – 9:00 PM

Improv Everywhere: Subway Art Gallery

On the same day Improv Everywhere ran their MP3 experiment here on Roosevelt Island, Agents of IE also set up an underground art gallery on the subway platform giving residents and visitors a taste of an earlier event they ran at another "platform gallery". As opposed to that earlier experiment we did not get the full black tie treatment (see linked post & video) but the photos and "art descriptions" of the local installations were still fun to read and see today.

Thanks to fleepy_99 from Flickr for permission to use her photos and text. To see her complete photo set of the show link here.

"This piece, inspired by the "The Treachery of Images" pipe painting by René Magritte, mirrors that famous work with the suggestion that although the sign claims the availability of assistance through the mediation of an intercom, the assistance which is described will not be forthcoming, just as the pipe in the painting was not, in fact, a pipe: just an emotionally unsatisfying painting of a pipe."

"This surrealist piece plays on the idea that the mystery of what is inside sparks the imagination more than the reality of what is inside. Perhaps concealing an electrical panel, or labyrinthine underground passageways, this locked space nevertheless fascinates us, introducing the possibility that the unseen space contains hidden wonders"

"These speakers, eerily silent, engage the viewer in a peculiar non-discourse as a commentary on the ineffable nature of technologically-mediated communication within the quasi-unreal space of commuting.
"

"Intended to be purely ornamental in contrast to the escalators, these antiquated sequentially raised steps draw the viewer to inescapable conclusions about the mechanically-mediated nature of movement in technological society."

What Does It Take to Start a Subway Mural Project?

Yesterday I read a great article about murals which were installed at the 86th Street subway station on Manhatan's West Side. I wonder if we could get permission to install similiar murals on the platforms and escalator passages at the Roosevelt Island subway station. It would brighten up a dreary station and add some additional pride to the island.

Now who can we call?

Church Takes Flight after First Snow

Within the imagination of artist Tony Vita, the Church of the Good Shepherd takes flight and seems to float above Roosevelt Island's main plaza while a child plays by the church bell now a fixture on the plaza itself.

The painting is one of several whimsical paintings by Vita that are being shown and rotated through the Rivercross Window Gallery. Link here for a Slide show for earlier and current paintings being shown.

Main Street Showcase: Fantasy Paintings

The above photos, taken via cell phone today Nov. 5, 2008, don't do justice to the paintings currently on display in the showcase along Main Street just South of the hair salon at 523 Main Street. I am not sure who the artist is but I would love to see a giant apple up at Lighthouse Park.

Fall Arts Festival Oct 4th - Oct 26th

The complete published schedule for the 2008 Roosevelt Island Fall for Arts Festival is listed below. The event is sponsored by the Roosevelt Island Visual Arts Association in cooperation with the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation.

The Art Festival kick off on October 4th should make for a very busy October here on Roosevelt Island as the Roosevelt Island KidFest event series is starting that same day and also running through the end of October.

The below image was modified from its original format to fit this medium.

A Prayer Before You Take the Tram?

While the Roosevelt Island Tram is scheduled to be replaced next year no one has publicly stated that safety is such an issue that a prayer is required before the Tram begins its trip across the East River but someone apparently did not want to take any chances.

The above pictured prayer booth was permanently affixed and anchored into the ground within Manhattan's Tramway Plaza, a NYC designated public park. The non-denominational prayer booth offers a fold down knealing pad. The instructions, especially the warning, are the best part.

"Warning:

This device exists to facilitate and control prayer in
public space. Improper use may result in penalty or fine.

Please avoid the booth if you are sensitive to or feel
threatened by actions that are religious in nature."

The over/even is the ACLU wil have the City Parks Department remove it by midday tomorrow so get your prayers in now while you can.

Note: It appears that the prayer booth is actually an art installation created by artist Dylan Mortimer and has traveled across the country according to these 2007 newspaper articles. It would be nice if some sort of "art card' was placed nearby. Amusing. Over the years the Manhattan Tramway Plaza has hosted numerous art installations.

UPDATE 935am - Supposedly a member of Community Board 8 saw the TWO prayer booths at the plaza and is contacting Parks to have them removed. Apparently by bolting the booths to the ground it is a violation etc etc.

UPDATE 9/18 1130am - The story continues as apparently Parks did not notify CB8 that they were installing the booths as "public art".

The Last Straphanger

In this City we use the term "Straphanger" to refer to bus and subway riders but in truth the City's buses and subways stopped using real straps many years ago. The last place to see real straps in place today are on the Roosevelt Island Tram.

Jason Polan, an artist captured the above image as part of a project to draw "Every Person in New York". Check out his blog to see other images of individuals from around the City.

In the meantime for all you Roosevelt Island residents was this you?

Mystery Love Message on Queensboro Bridge?

Can you decypher the message left on the Queensboro Bridge in this mystery Valentines Day greeting? Love something? Love Mania ? Double-click the picture to enlarge it.

This "valentine" appeared mysteriously Thursday morning greeting morning commuters lucky enough to see it from the Tram or FDR Highway.

Apparently the artist snuck behind Bridge construction barriers to get to the bridge anchor. Unless he approached the structure from the River.

If you could paint a valentine message anywhere in NYC where would you leave it and what would you say?

Love Tag on Queensboro Bridge

One of the four base supports of the Queensboro bridge has been tagged I believe with the words"I Love Elena" for Valentines Day. I may have gotten the text wrong as the sun was pretty strong this morning. The Valentines message is painted on the anchor sitting on Roosevelt island at the base facing Manhattan. Sorry no picture yet as I forgot the camera today. The size, I am guesssing here, of the artwork painted must be about 10 to 15 feet high by at least 30 feet wide.

It is unknown when the artist came onto the Rocks or how he / they eluded detection as the location faces Manhattan and is in full view of the Trams coming and going as well as the East River.

I doubt the City will let this grafitti valentine stay on the Bridge but at least for today Elena's love has sent his card.

Cow Happy? Roosevelt Island’s Last Cow…

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I don’t really know if the last cow on Roosevelt Island is truly happy. We pass her every week and see her standing there in the window at PS / IS 217 and we wonder if she longs for the days when she was outside standing among the City she was created for. If she does, she is being teased as she stands by her window day in and day out facing the East River watching life go by.

She may or may not be comforted by the students of the school within which she is kept. Students in the K-8 school do look at her as their own. I am sure the kindergartners show her much more love than the eighth graders but I am sure there are many older kids that love her too. I know my own kids love her and we always must say hello as we pass her.

"Under Island” The Beast That is Roosevelt Island

How the beast below Roosevelt Island or rather that is Roosevelt Island came to life.

The below Under Island video is from the 2004 art and performance art project of the same name.

Direct YouTube Link by Carrieda

Link HERE to the original press release. Text below:

“Island of the insane exposes unknown animal!

Crew of three discover the secret of Roosevelt Island, a Utopian city built on a living, breathing mass of land.

Roosevelt Island, NYC.

Sightings of otherworldly beings are not uncommon in New York City's East River.

Foggy images appear regularly in aerial photographs of the region but substantiated evidence has yet to be found.

October 5 th we spoke with crew member, Carrie Dashow who says "the sonar readings are straight up and down!" as she reads from an antiquated tremor transfer device. She is crouched down between the stove and dinette table, covered with piles of historical documents, in her 1976 dodge camper van affectionately referred to as "USM" (Unseen Machine).

Spilling out of the van a knotted mass of wires and cords leads us to Dashow's colleagues, Jesse Bercowetz and Matt Bua , as they work from a makeshift raft, dredging the river bed for clues.

The adventurous threesome met while working on the island. Dashow, a self-proclaimed intellectual explorer is investigating the islands extrasensory influences as well as turbulent history. Bercowetz and Bua, surveyors of the underworld, have excavated bits and pieces of living matter, unidentifiable sludge as well as things residents of the island have discovered missing.

After months of patient watching and persistent digging they find themselves knee deep in the age-old mystery of the island. Although skepticism builds a tumbling case against their findings, nothing will stop these enthusiastic adventurers as they dare to prove that the creature does exist - even if their latest proof leads them head first into the unknown without a paddle.

Come see the findings of Under Island on exhibit as part of Romantic Detachment at PS1/MoMA . Oct 16th - Nov 7th 2004 “

"Cool Focus" Exhibition Opens at RIVAA

This weekend RIVAA opened its newest exhibition "Cool Focus". For more information you can visit either of the active RIVAA websites, the current site and the new site.

Double click the above image to see the authorized exhibition card. The above image is an edited version of the official card formatted to fit this space.

Los Angeles Art Show to Include Video Featuring Roosevelt Island

According to the blog The Saatchi Gallery, the Los Angeles art gallery Blum & Poe will be featuring through December 22nd an art show by Slater Bradley titled “Hope from a Dark Place.”

As per Saatchi, Mr. Bradley’s video pieces are titled "Blackwells Island" and "The Abandonments."

“The former features archival black and white film footage taken by Thomas Edison, which Bradley has re-hashed and re-interpreted. Blackwells, a spit of land in New York's East River that's now known as Roosevelt Island, once housed The New York City Insane Asylum, a penitentiary and a charity hospital. Pitch perfect subject matter for an artist known for his fascination with mentally anguished suicidal rock stars, including Ian Curtis and Kurt Cobain”

Just what we need more images of Roosevelt Island as one commenter, dblock, recently phrased “a set for horror movies”.

Aluminum “Anable” Tree Spotted Floating East of Roosevelt Island

In case you were wondering what that silver tree was floating off of Long Island City just East of Southpoint Park you can read all about it at The Gothamist. In short the floating aluminum tree referred to as the Anable Tree is an art installation which evokes Anable Basin’s historical interplay between industrial and ecological activity. Anable Basin—a 500-ft-long notch in the East River—was carved from tidal wetlands in 1868 to serve as loading slip for oil tankers and other cargo ships.

RIVAA: New Exhibit and Newly Redesigned Web Page

This past weekend the Roosevelt Island Visual Arts Association opened a new show featuring the works of Ioan Popoiu and Beatrice Popoiu. The show will last just under a month until November 11, 2007.

According to a newly designed (in progress) web page on the RIVAA website:

“Ioan Popoiu’s artworks are playful abstractions employing pastels and whites, the mood of which represents his worldview. His works brim with positivity search of eternal beauty, instantly disarming the viewer. Indeed, there is a timeless, organic quality to Popoiu's art as streaks of white haze flow downward or across muted pastel backgrounds.

The RIVAA home page is apparently going from this current web page to this new design. The new site appears to be much more interactive allowing the viewer to interact with some of the images enlarging those from the home page they wish to see in a larger format as well as presenting greater samples of the artists in residence.

RI Tram & 59th Bridge as Art

As I was returning to the Tram this afternoon I saw the above gentlemen painting the 59th Street Bridge and the Tram.

In my haste to take his picture and get on the Tram I neglected to ask his name. If anyone sees him again please let him know I would like to appropriately credit him for the use of his artwork here.

It was a gorgeous day and comfortably cool. Walking around on the East Side is always amusing as we get glimpses of Roosevelt Island looking East as we walk up or down Second and First Avenues. One day I will have to photograph these glimpses.

10044 - A Cool Code - Fall for Arts Festival

I have always loved the cable show "Cool in Your Code" and seeing the "10044" mural in front of Blackwell House on Saturday was well ... cool. There are very few neighborhoods in the City that are totally distinguishable from those sharing 4 of the 5 digits in their codes but Roosevelt Island is one of them.

As part of this year's Second Annual Fall for Arts Festival there were murals and painting galore. These three murals were among those "professionally" painted but the kids were not to bne left out even if that meant unfortunately painting over someone else's work by the time they got there.

In the Paper "The Wire" - September 22, 2007

The September 22, 2007 issue of the Main Street Wire is now available on-line. The headlines presented on page one are:

1) Considering Tramway’s Future, RIOC Sets Community Meetting
2) In Two Weeks, It’s a Saturday to Fall for Arts
3) Speaking of the Arts… It’s Year-Round Enthusiasm at Main Street Theatre

Additional articles include a Punch List for RIOC, a slated Orphans International event at the home of Peter Yarrow, and a listing of RIOC employees honored at an awards ceremony.

Dick Lutz’s editorial and a full page ad focus on island wide elections on February 5th for individuals interested in being appointed to the RIOC Board of Directors.

The advertisements / announcements include many of the usual vendors. There is another version of the Ready New York poster I presented earlier about emergency preparedness, advertising the 9/27 event. The Pastor, the Reverend Lewis C. Johnson, of the Church of the Good Shepherd is also welcomed back to the Church by his congregation after recovering from an extended illness.

The Lurie Art Remnant at Southpoint Park

What now looks like a multi-colored tarp that washed ashore on Roosevelt Island's Southern tip is actually the last remnant of a large scale art event by Ranan Lurie that began within the halls of the United Nations. Think "The Gates" but with flowing banners working their way across the steps and lawns of the UN gardens and then stretching across the waters of the East River culminating on Roosevelt Island.

Unconfirmed rumors have it that the City wants this remnant now removed. Perhaps with "The Encampment" scheduled to be pitched at Southpoint this October it is time to remove the last vestage of the "Uniting Painting".

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The following excerpts are from UN Press Release 5978 issued Oct. 28, 2005:

“Connecting the world by art and goodwill is one of the missions of the “Uniting Painting”, a fine art creation by Ranan Lurie, which will open in the United Nations Headquarters Visitors' lobby on 1 November at 6 p.m.

Conceived by Mr Lurie in 1968, it unites an expanding group of countries in one large international exhibit spanning continents. “Mr. Lurie’s epic painting is a glorious attempt to illustrate the human desire for, and our need for, mutual understanding and togetherness, using the common language of art to -- quite literally -- connect people around the globe”, says United Nations Under-Secretary-General Shashi Tharoor, Chairman of the United Nations Exhibits Committee.

At the United Nations, where it can be viewed until the beginning of 2007, the art starts as a motif painted on canvas panels, descending from the ceiling in the Headquarters main Visitors’ Lobby. The same motif glides onto a carpet specially designed by the artist for the large ceremonial stairs. It then reaches the outdoors, via the Canadian doors, continues across the public plaza down the stairs to the promenade, and "flows" into the East River. The “Uniting Painting” then resurfaces at the southern tip of Roosevelt Island, before commencing its journey to connect with the rest of the world.”

To see pictures of the Uniting Painting's creator Ranan Lurie and the project as it unfurled follow this LINK.