We are proud to unveil our new permanent exhibit Old Stone House: Witness to War. This exhibit explores the Battle of Brooklyn, as well as family life in Brooklyn during the Revolution and Occupation.
Come celebrate with us! View the exhibit and sample colonial cocktails and snacks from our wood-fired oven.
No More Water brings together emerging artists Tahir Carl Karmali and Justin Sterling to respond to the Old Stone House’s unique space. Both artists use reclaimed and abstracted vernacular materials––including used cell phone batteries and broken windows––to symbolize local and global policies that contribute to inequality and displacement. The title No More Water also implies our current climate emergency (characterized by increased floods, wildfires, and water contamination) and an urgent call for action.
The artists chose No More Water to reference James Baldwin’s 1963 publication The Fire Next Time, which begins and ends with the line, “God gave Noah the rainbow sign, no more water, the fire next time!”, quoting the spiritual Mary Don’t you Weep and alluding to the Old Testament story of God flooding a corrupt earth. The Fire Next Time is considered a galvanizing text for the American Civil Rights movement in its examination of racial injustice and its call for all people of “consciousness” to “change the history of the world.” Situated at OSH in a reconstructed colonial farmhouse and Revolutionary War battleground, Karmali and Sterling’s work helps confront uncomfortable truths of the past and present while also suggesting possibilities for transformation.
Both artists explore the potential and limitations of art’s role in addressing injustice. Karmali describes his installations as “deceptively beautiful or attractive, as an art form, allowing the viewer to savor them as primary material before a layer of trauma (of migration, of displacement, of labor) slowly reveals itself.” He presents new and site-specific work from his ongoing STRATA series, which consists of layered raffia dyed with cobalt extracted from cell phone batteries, referencing traditional Congolese kuba cloth and the exploitation of cobalt miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Sterling’s sculptures made of broken windows and other urban detritus, by contrast, retain more of their original, sometimes jarring forms, alluding to the controversial policing policy of the same name as well as other forces that contribute to displacement, gentrification, and mass incarceration. Yet they offer myriad “attempts to fix, recycle, or archive” as an alternative to discarding. Both artists metaphorically push back against the destruction of both local communities and our larger environment, while simultaneously placing the viewer in close physical proximity with the impact of this destruction, challenging a “culture of indifference.”
At the August 15 opening at 7pm, Justin Sterling’s opening performance will combine trumpet and movement improvisation to respond to the work on view, also alluding to his roots in New Orleans, an area with a history of natural disasters and rebuilding.
Funding for No More Water is made possible, in part, by the Puffin Foundation and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
This is an open call for submissions for artwork to be considered for our Brooklyn Utopias: 2020 exhibition curated by Katherine Gressel.
Submission Deadline: March 9, 2020
Exhibition Dates: August 20 – October 18, 2020
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION –
Utopia: An ideal place or state, usually imaginary; any visionary system of political, social, environmental, or moral perfection
Brooklyn Utopias: 2020 will address Brooklyn’s past, present and future by inviting artists to consider differing visions of an ideal Brooklyn, or imagine their own. It corresponds with the 10-year anniversary of the original Brooklyn Utopias? exhibitions series developed by curator Katherine Gressel and presented at both OSH and Brooklyn Historical Society in 2009-2010 (see more info below). At a time of reflection on the past decade, OSH invites artists to explore how Brooklyn has continued to change over the past 10 years, and if/how it can serve as a model for urban and American living on a national scale, especially in the months leading up to the 2020 election. Brooklyn Utopias also addresses the possibilities (or limitations) of art in creating a better world. We encourage past Brooklyn Utopias artists to revisit their 2009 projects or propose new ones, and welcome submissions from artists based in or exploring issues in our surrounding Gowanus/Park Slope/Sunset Park area, as well as a range of diverse Brooklyn neighborhoods. In addition to an August opening reception, we plan to host a closing event during the annual Gowanus Open Studios, October 15, 16 or 17, focused on the future of the arts in this neighborhood.
As with all our exhibitions, we also encourage projects that engage with our unique history and space. OSH is a reconstructed Dutch colonial farmhouse located in Park Slope’s Washington Park/J.J. Byrne Playground. The playground and house restoration were first developed by Robert Moses in the 1930s, but the land surrounding the house made history long before then as the site of the 1776 Revolutionary War Battle of Brooklyn, and as a 19th Century Brooklyn Dodgers practice field. Today, OSH hosts history and environmental education programs as well as cultural and family events. This exhibition will be featured in our annual Battle Week events calendar celebrating the Battle of Brooklyn’s anniversary.
BACKGROUND ON BROOKLYN UTOPIAS –
From colonial religious settlements to western frontiers to urban renewal efforts to planned suburban enclaves, the United States has historically been obsessed with utopian communities. Brooklyn is no exception to this, with its history as a home for Dutch colonial and subsequent racially and culturally diverse settlers, 19th Century social reformers like Alfred P. White, influential artists and writers from Walt Whitman to Spike Lee; and distinctive neighborhoods from Coney Island to Brooklyn Heights.
The original Brooklyn Utopias? series was inspired by Brooklyn’s resurging popularity in the first decade of the 21st Century, and often competing and controversial attempts to re-plan and rebuild the borough––from luxury high rises to new sports and entertainment complexes to affordable housing, bike shares, and “green” architecture initiatives.
The 2010s saw many of these nascent developments come to fruition as Brooklyn “became a globally recognized brand” but also increasingly unaffordable and segregated, according to Curbed, with small businesses and artist studios shuttering, and formerly working class and immigrant neighborhoods like Williamsburg “transformed from quirky hipster locales into havens accessible only to the very wealthy.” New parks, ferries and commercial/residential developments have reinvented and increased access to Brooklyn’s waterfront, while reckoning with its disappearing industrial landmarks and a growing climate threat made tangible by 2012’s Hurricane Sandy.
Brooklyn has also continued to nurture grassroots organizations like community arts centers, urban farms and advocacy groups. The blog Brooklyn Based argues that during the later 2010s, Brooklyn went from “hipster to woke” especially after the 2016 presidential election and heightened awareness of racism, anti-seminism, and hate crimes. Brooklyn emerged as an incubator for political resistance groups like GetOrganizedBK and Indivisible Nation who have also worked towards passing progressive local policies.
Brooklyn Utopias: 2020 asks, how effective are all these efforts to continue to develop Brooklyn (and, arguably, influence the rest of the world)? Who benefits and who is left behind? What additional innovations are possible? And how should artists continue to both responsibly shape the growth of the borough and envision a more hopeful future in the face of recent economic, social and environmental crises?
See the blog https://brooklynutopias.wordpress.com/ for information about subsequent Brooklyn Utopias shows presented at OSH from 2012-2015, addressing the sub-topics of urban farming, parks/public space, transportation, and income inequality. OSH also hosted a Being Well: In Search of Utopia? exhibition on health & wellness in 2017. All these potential themes could be revisited in our 2020 show.
Brooklyn Utopias: 2020 is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Image credit: Rebecca Hackemann.
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS –
Projects in all media are welcome (though see “exhibit specifications” section below for specific requirements). As in the past, we are also interested in commissioning public art for the surrounding Washington Park, and artwork created with the participation of local community groups or schools–please contact OSH in advance if you’d like us to help try to match you with a community partner organization. We are also open to temporary indoor or outdoor event proposals that engage with this theme, from both artists and community organizations. Artists are especially encouraged to propose community workshops that complement artwork on view in the gallery (as opposed to stand-alone events). Due to OSH’s busy event calendar, public programs will be arranged at mutually convenient times, based on OSH’s availability.
TO SUBMIT –
Please email the following to Katherine Gressel, curator at katherinegressel@gmail.com, by 11:59 PST on March 1, 2020 with the email subject line with “Brooklyn Utopias Submission”
** If you are a returning artist proposing an update to a previous Brooklyn Utopias project, please address how it will be modified to reflect more recent events.
** Artists/organizations are encouraged to contact the curator in advance to discuss ideas or to arrange a studio visit, and to visit the OSH exhibition space (see below) **
EXHIBIT SPECIFICATIONS –
Artists are highly encouraged to view the OSH floor plan, and visit http://theoldstonehouse.org/exhibitions/ and http://brooklynutopias.wordpress.com to see past exhibition images. You are welcome to contact Kim Maier, OSH Executive Director, directly at kmaier@theoldstonehouse.org and Katherine Gressel, curator at katherinegressel@gmail.com to make an appointment to visit the house or discuss specific installation needs.
Join our friend and former OSH curator Katie Fuller for a virtual tour of the latest installment in the Race and Revolution series, Home/Land; hosted by the Lewis Latimer House Museum, one of our Historic House Trust sister sites.
Home/Land is an exhibition of contemporary art that looks at the influence of the Fugitive Slave Act on Lewis Latimer’s family and the tactics used to detain, deport, and re-enslave with current practices used by Immigration Customs Enforcement to control the influx of immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.
This is a free event, but please RSVP here.
Our latest contemporary art exhibition Brooklyn Utopias: 2020 will open with an Instagram Live @oldstonehousebklyn reception.
Details for our in-person reception and gallery hours are coming soon.
Utopia: An ideal place or state, usually imaginary; any visionary system of political, social, environmental, or moral perfection
Brooklyn Utopias: 2020 will address Brooklyn’s past, present and future by inviting artists to consider differing visions of an ideal Brooklyn, or imagine their own. Participating artists also explore how Brooklyn has continued to change over the past 10 years, and if/how it can serve as a model for urban and American living on a national scale as we navigate a global pandemic in a time of unprecedented social, political and environmental turmoil. Brooklyn Utopias also addresses the possibilities (or limitations) of art in creating a better world.
Brooklyn Utopias: 2020 corresponds with the 10-year anniversary of the original Brooklyn Utopias? exhibitions series developed by curator Katherine Gressel and presented at both OSH and Brooklyn Historical Society in 2009-2010.
Participating Artists: Asha Boston, Elan Cadiz, Fontaine Capel, Nate Dorr and Nathan Kensinger, Diane Exavier, Tamara Gayer, Amir Hariri, Anna Lise Jensen, David Kutz, Robin Michals and Lynn Neuman, Jan Mun, Iviva Olenick, Rochelle Shicoff, Jody Wood, Ezra Wube, Betty Yu.
Artist Selection Committee: Heather Bhandari, independent curator and co-founder of the Remix Project and the Art World Conference; Desiree Gordon, Director of Programs and Strategy, Brooklyn Arts Council; Katherine Gressel, Contemporary Curator, Old Stone House & Washington Park; Kim Maier, Executive Director, Old Stone House & Washington Park; Maggie Weber, Director of Education, Old Stone House & Washington Park; and Harry Weil, Director of Public Programs & Special Projects, Green-Wood.
Brooklyn Utopias: 2020 is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Image credit: Ezra Wube.
Inspired by our Brooklyn Utopias: 2020 exhibition, Brooklyn Waterfront Research Center will host an online discussion among several of the participating artists from the exhibition as well as our Contemporary Curator Katherine Gressel, and OSH Executive Director Kim Maier.
This exhibit shows aspects of Brooklyn’s past, present and future through the eyes of artists who consider differing visions of an ideal Brooklyn, or imagine their own.
Register for the Zoom webinar here.
See the online exhibition here or book an appointment to visit the gallery in person until October 18.
Against Doom TV, our latest contemporary art exhibition by Amy Khoshbin and Macon Reed will include a series of videos begin with a virtual opening event on Zoom.
In Episode 1 Against Doom TV: Abolition + Electoral Politics, airing on October 22, the artists tackle abolitionism and electoral politics as harm reduction. What does abolitionism mean? How can we use art, direct action, and policy making to create a world without prisons, punishment, and other forms of control? And how do we use abolitionist artmaking and direct action to bring people to the polls and help us imagine a world beyond the current electoral systems we live in?
Creators Amy Khoshbin and Macon Reed will be speaking with City Council candidate Whitney Hu and Abolitionist organizers Derecka Purnell, Sophia Gurulé, Mon Mohapatra, and Ngozi Alston. Macon and Amy will uncover answers with a live online audience through different segments on the show, including a dating show called Love Triangle.
Register for free on Eventbrite.
Join artists Amy Khoshbin and Macon Reed, the creators of our contemporary art exhibition Against Doom TV in person outdoors on October 25 for an unusual Get Out the Vote program!
Get loosened up and prepared for early voting, stick around for a performative Q&A with the artists, and experience the film as well as the sets and objects from the show in the gallery at OSH.
In partnership with BioBAT Art Space, the Old Stone House will host a series of bilingual listening sessions created by some of the artists that are part of Common Frequencies, a new contemporary art exhibition opening in May at the BioBAT Art Space.
The exhibition, curated by Elisa Gutiérrez, features cross-disciplinary Mexican artists Lorena Mal, Marcela Armas, Gilberto Esparza, Tanai Candiani, and Interspecifics whose work meets at the intersection of art and science.
These programs are free and open to the public.
Join us on February 6 from Noon – 4 pm in the North Garden to hear Synchrony by Lorena Mal @lorenamal.
Synchrony (un día a todas las veces / one day at all times) is a 24 hour online stream, featuring a sound work for piano by artist Lorena Mal (Mexico City). In the work, the polyrhythmic relations are based on the pulse rhythms of different living organisms, human and non-human, setting unexpected encounters and silent intervals, while crossing the states of sleep, hibernation, calm and activity of different bodies through the passing hours of a whole day.
Synchrony explores various notions of ‘living’ time through the meeting between systems that measure its passing, where rhythm is both biological and musical, and tempo, pace or heartbeats are all counted as beats per minute.
This work is a preamble for the upcoming exhibition Common Frequencies at BioBAT Art Space, as part of her long research project Synchrony (2015-2021) that comprise archival objects, modified metronomes, scores and a performance for 2 pianos and multiple interpreters.
En colaboración con BioBAT Art Space, Old Stone House albergará una serie de sesiones de escucha creadas por algunos de los artistas que forman parte de Common Frequencies. El programa será gratuito y abierto al público.
Common Frequencies es un proyecto binacional que se presentará en BioBAT Art Space el 1 de mayo, curado por Elisa Gutiérrez Eriksen, con obras de Lorena Mal, Marcela Armas, Tania Candiani, Gilberto Esparza e Interspecifics.
Sincronía (un día a todas las veces) es una transmisión en línea de 24 horas, que presenta una obra sonora para piano de la artista Lorena Mal (Ciudad de México) cuyas relaciones polirrítmicas se basan en los ritmos del pulso de diferentes organismos vivos, humanos y no humanos, en un entorno inesperado de encuentros e intervalos de silencio, mientras atraviesa los estados de sueño, hibernación, calma y actividad de diferentes cuerpos a través del paso de las horas de un día entero.
Sincronía explora nociones sobre el tiempo ‘vivo’ a partir del encuentro entre dos sistemas que miden su transcurrir, donde el ritmo es tanto biológico como musical, y el tempo, paso o pulso cardíaco son medidos por igual como golpes por minuto.
Este trabajo es un una extensión de la pieza para Common Frequencies en BioBAT Art Space, como parte de su largo proyecto de investigación Synchrony (2015-2021) que se compone de objetos de archivo, metrónomos modificados, partituras y una performance para 2 pianos y múltiples intérpretes.
In partnership with BioBAT Art Space, the Old Stone House will host a series of bilingual listening sessions created by some of the artists that are part of Common Frequencies, a new contemporary art exhibition opening in May at the BioBAT Art Space.
The exhibition, curated by Elisa Gutiérrez, features cross-disciplinary Mexican artists Lorena Mal, Marcela Armas, Gilberto Esparza, Tanai Candiani, and Interspecifics whose work meets at the intersection of art and science.
Join us on February 20 when will be connecting with Gilberto Esparza @gilbertoesparzaglez on Zoom to engage in a listening session with BioSoNot, a hybrid bio-sound instrument that translates biological activity into sound as it cleans contaminated water samples.
During the performance, BioSoNot 1.2 will generate music and noise from the biological activity of living microorganisms inhabiting a Yucatan Cenote, and other rivers in Mexico.
The 30 minute listening session will be pre-recorded and will be followed by a live Q&A with the artist, who will be connecting from San Miguel de Allende, México.
This program is free, please make sure to register on Zoom.
En colaboración con BioBAT Art Space, Old Stone House albergará una serie de sesiones de escucha creadas por algunos de los artistas que forman parte de Common Frequencies. El programa será gratuito y abierto al público.
Common Frequencies es un proyecto binacional que se presentará en BioBAT Art Space el 1 de mayo, curado por Elisa Gutiérrez Eriksen, con obras de Lorena Mal, Marcela Armas, Tania Candiani, Gilberto Esparza e Interspecifics.
The Old Stone House en Brooklyn albergará una sesión de escucha donde nos conectaremos de forma remota con Gilberto Esparza para participar en una sesión de escucha con BioSoNot, un instrumento híbrido de bio-sonido que traduce la actividad biológica en sonido mientras limpia muestras de agua contaminada.
Durante la actuación, BioSoNot 1.2 generará música y ruido a partir de la actividad biológica de microorganismos vivos que habitan un Cenote de Yucatán y otros ríos de México.
La sesión de escucha de 30 minutos será pregrabada y será seguida por una sesión de preguntas y respuestas en vivo con el artista, quien se conectará desde San Miguel de Allende, México
