![Katie Hall, "Untitled [Brooklyn Ride I]]"](http://thumbnails.cdn.otherpeoplespixels.com/brooklynutopias.com/thumbnails/2PxUOgym.jpg)
Sample work from both Brooklyn Utopias? group shows
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS AT BOTH SITES:
Ellie Balk . Grace Graupe-Pillard . Katherine Gressel . Katie Hall . Susan Hamburger . Nathaniel G. Kassel . Jacob Mann . Eduardo Alexander Rabel . Paul Raphaelson . Bryony Romer . Triada Samaras . Elinore Schnurr . Joshua Schwartz and Sarah Simon . Michael Sherman . Duane Smith . Adam Taye . Julia Whitney Barnes
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS AT BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY ONLY
Lara Allen . Lindsay Blatt . Sonya Blesofsky . Steven Cogle Tracy Collins . Eric Corriel . Jill Corson . Amanda Curreri .Miranda Hellman . Jess Levey . Jake Messing . Robert Minervini . Michael Rippens . Nicole Schulman . Eugenie Tung . Vargas-Suarez Universal . Marina Zamalin
PARTICIPATING TEEN ARTISTS (WINNERS OF THE SUMMER 2009 BROOKLYN UTOPIAS? TEEN ART COMPETITION):
Malissa Williams (Old Stone House) . Mark Gonsalves (Brooklyn Historical Society)
ABOUT THE ARTWORK
The participating artists at both exhibits bring diverse approaches to the Utopias theme. Triada Samaras’s photos of her “Democracy Wall,”—an interactive mural protesting large-scale development in Carroll Gardens—suggest a temporary political Utopia where “all the voices of a neighborhood can be heard and respected” via public art. A second category of artworks, including Jess Levey’s guerrilla projections on new condos and Tracy Collins’ photos of Atlantic Yards construction, looks critically at the changing built environment and the “Utopian” attempts of developers and city planners. Artists in a third group, including Bryony Romer, Winnie Tom, and Duane Smith, act as visionary urban designers, researching and fabricating new models for a sustainable Brooklyn: community gardens on rooftops and elevated train stations; restored colonial farmland; expanded bike lanes and public transportation hubs. A fourth group of artists, including Elinore Schnurr, Lindsay Blatt, and Susan Hamburger, documents and preserves existing icons of community and place: Coney Island’s Astroland; neighborhood stoops, rec. centers and cafes; and the backyards and businesses of various immigrant groups that once sought out Brooklyn as a Utopia of opportunity. In contrast, the violent photo “interventions” of Grace Graupe-Pillard, and the half-built, decaying streetscapes of Jake Messing and Sonya Blesofsky, suggest dangerous “dystopias” that can result from flawed Utopian endeavors.
Ellie Balk . Grace Graupe-Pillard . Katherine Gressel . Katie Hall . Susan Hamburger . Nathaniel G. Kassel . Jacob Mann . Eduardo Alexander Rabel . Paul Raphaelson . Bryony Romer . Triada Samaras . Elinore Schnurr . Joshua Schwartz and Sarah Simon . Michael Sherman . Duane Smith . Adam Taye . Julia Whitney Barnes
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS AT BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY ONLY
Lara Allen . Lindsay Blatt . Sonya Blesofsky . Steven Cogle Tracy Collins . Eric Corriel . Jill Corson . Amanda Curreri .Miranda Hellman . Jess Levey . Jake Messing . Robert Minervini . Michael Rippens . Nicole Schulman . Eugenie Tung . Vargas-Suarez Universal . Marina Zamalin
PARTICIPATING TEEN ARTISTS (WINNERS OF THE SUMMER 2009 BROOKLYN UTOPIAS? TEEN ART COMPETITION):
Malissa Williams (Old Stone House) . Mark Gonsalves (Brooklyn Historical Society)
ABOUT THE ARTWORK
The participating artists at both exhibits bring diverse approaches to the Utopias theme. Triada Samaras’s photos of her “Democracy Wall,”—an interactive mural protesting large-scale development in Carroll Gardens—suggest a temporary political Utopia where “all the voices of a neighborhood can be heard and respected” via public art. A second category of artworks, including Jess Levey’s guerrilla projections on new condos and Tracy Collins’ photos of Atlantic Yards construction, looks critically at the changing built environment and the “Utopian” attempts of developers and city planners. Artists in a third group, including Bryony Romer, Winnie Tom, and Duane Smith, act as visionary urban designers, researching and fabricating new models for a sustainable Brooklyn: community gardens on rooftops and elevated train stations; restored colonial farmland; expanded bike lanes and public transportation hubs. A fourth group of artists, including Elinore Schnurr, Lindsay Blatt, and Susan Hamburger, documents and preserves existing icons of community and place: Coney Island’s Astroland; neighborhood stoops, rec. centers and cafes; and the backyards and businesses of various immigrant groups that once sought out Brooklyn as a Utopia of opportunity. In contrast, the violent photo “interventions” of Grace Graupe-Pillard, and the half-built, decaying streetscapes of Jake Messing and Sonya Blesofsky, suggest dangerous “dystopias” that can result from flawed Utopian endeavors.
