Word on the Street

Some old friends of ours are participating in the Olympics this year! Not as athletes, but even better, the Big Nazo puppet troupe is in Vancouver adding to the festivities on a daily basis with their strange blend of costumes, puppets, and music. Elwa has always been a big fan of these guys and the artistic director Erminio Pinque works tirelessly to bring great humor and art to our streets.

Around Town: #class

#class
Organized by Jennifer Dalton and William Powhida

This project seems like a timely event at Winkleman Gallery towards the end of this month. The details are still a little sketchy, but so far the topics up for discussion could be very insightful and worth the visit. Some more details below:

#class
Feb 19 - Mar 20, 2010
Opening: SUNDAY, Feb 21, 4 -7 PM

#class Hours:
Wed. - Sun. 2-8 PM

Sampling of #class Events and Table Discussions

PLANNED PROJECTS

Hyperallergic has prepared $ECRET$ OF THE NEW YORK ART WORLD, which invites visitors to reveal who in the city's art industry owes them money. Will the pyramid scheme that is the art world collapse when the secrets come out? Hyperallergic hopes so.

Magda Sawon of Postmasters Gallery will host "Ask the Art Dealer," vowing to truthfully answer any and every question posed to her. We're starting to collect questions now, if you post one in the comments here it will get asked!

Sarah Smizz will give away free posters featuring her "Maps of the Art System."

PLANNED TABLE DISCUSSIONS

Collecting with Your Eye, Not Your Ears
• What motivates collectors to acquire work? Is it what you hear about an artist or is it the work itself?

Nocation, Nocation, Nocation
• How does not having a traditional brick and mortar space affect the roles of independent curators, pop-up galleries, roving spaces, independent dealers?

The Critic's Panel
• What will happen when some of New York's most prominent critics come to the table at #class?

Access

• One of the defining issues at the heart of #class. Is open access for all artists even a possibility in the broadest sense of the art experience? Is it the wisdom of the crowd, a lottery drawing, or the discerning 'eye' of the curator, dealer, or tastemaker that should shape we see?

Bolshevik!
•An open invitation to Marxists (and sympathizers!) to have a special dialog about the aging alternative to Capitalism.

Success?
• Another open invitation to discuss how the easy and plentiful money of the art boom fueled perceptions that this one was different and that it would last forever. How does the influx of money change artists, dealers, collectors, and is it a trap that promotes a defensive, cautious position?

For more info and updates on the schedule, check here:
http://hashtagclass.blogspot.com/

BYOA - X-Initiative

If you missed it, this past Wednesday the space called the X-Initiative had a final curtain call with a 24 hour art party. Artists were encouraged to bring artwork and have the run of the 3 floors. It was a fun event with a great energy and countless artists displaying their works.

Elwa was happy to participate and brought over a couple of prints from Shawn Gilheeney and Devin Powers. As we don't have a permanent space, we enjoy opportunities to participate in events like this to get our artists and editions out and about.

Check out some photos below:

Shawn Gilheeney and Devin Powers with a couple of Elwa releases.





Thought this was funny...

The X-Iniative was a great project and it will be missed. Over the year of existence they had some of the most engaging programming in the city.