Eastward Bound: Art in an Unlikely Place
Christina Vassallo
growing constantly. The escalating
commercialization of the Manhattan gallery industry spawned an eastward
movement beyond the institutionalized districts of 57th Street,
Chelsea, and SoHo into the sprawling gallery communities of Williamsburg and
DUMBO. During the early 90s, the
necessary frugality of artists and art dealers pushed them out to the
undeveloped artistic terrain of Brooklyn, but today this migration has led to
skyrocketing rents in those very communities that used to be affordable havens
for working artists. Again,
artists and art dealers must seek out inexpensive spaces in which to foster
epicenters of artistic expression, dialogue, and commerce.
King fisher projects is an
artist-run informal art space founded by Matthew Fisher in his Ridgewood,
Queens apartment during the winter of 2003. This ethnic German-American neighborhood would seem an
unlikely place to become an oasis of creative energy, but Mr. Fisher plans to
show over fifty artists in seven group shows during 2004.
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> He also plans to maintain a website
which will promote each artist that he shows, represented by images of their
work, installation shots, and resumes.
Taking his cue from projects in
nearby Bushwick like Collision Machine’s monthly salon events and the artist
collective/art house Combustive Motor Corporation, Fisher’s goal is to help
foster an art community in a new neighborhood. Fisher says Ridgewood is the perfect location for his
project because of its accessibility to Manhattan (9 stops east of Manhattan on
the L train) and the low overheads which allow him to “live, work as a painter,
and showcase new talent or established artists all in the same space.”
The opening for the King fisher
project’s inaugural show is scheduled for February 20, 2004.
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Wagons East
style=’font-style:normal’>, a one-night group exhibition, explores the themes
of death, camp, and the idealized notions of the American West.
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Wagons East
style=’font-style:normal’> will feature the work of Melissa Brown, Holly
Coulis, Garth Freeman, Johnston Foster, John Jodzio, Chris Kasper, Rob
Matthews, and Joel Stoehr. The
title of the show, taken from John Candy’s last feature-length film in which
settlers of the legendary West embark on an eastward journey back home,
perfectly describes the decentralization of the New York City art scene and the
need for galleries to expand to new neighborhoods like Ridgewood.
style="mso-spacerun: yes">
king fisher projects is located at
17-17 Woodbine Street, #3R, Ridgewood, Queens. For further information please visit the king fisher
projects website: www.kingfisherprojects.com.
