Time Out New York / Painting the town

Offers & Competitions

Time Out New York / Issue 545: March 9–15, 2006

Painting the town

Loren Munk in “Fountain”

Fair play If all goes well, Williamsburg will roll out the red carpet for Manhattan’s international art fair, the Armory Show (Fri 10 to Mon 13). The four-block-long carpet that begins at the Bedford Street L-train stop will be part of a performance piece by 26-year-old Indian artist Nikhil Chopra, sponsored by neighborhood gallery Jack the Pelican Presents as one of several events organized by members of the Williamsburg Gallery Association (WGA). (At press time, the logistics of Chopra’s piece were still being ironed out—not with the carpet, mind you, but with the artist’s visa.) On Saturday 11, more than 40 members of the WGA will keep their doors open until 11pm; following are a few of the one-time-only performances and parties that are also in the works.—Sarah Schmerler

Thursday 9
Tonight, while VIPs are sipping champagne at the Armory Show’s opening party (the cheapest ticket is $250, but proceeds benefit MoMA), Billyburg is staging its first party—not in Brooklyn, but right across the street from Pier 90 in a 5,000-square-foot space at 660 Twelfth Avenue. Three galleries (McCaig-Welles, Capla Kesting, and The Front Room) will host their own salon des refusés, titled “Fountain,” after the infamous urinal Marcel Duchamp entered in the Armory Show of 1913. The show opens at 5pm and DJs will spin from 9pm on. Look for Loren Munk’s eight-foot paintings documenting the Brooklyn and Manhattan art scenes in the front windows. (“Fountain” runs through Sunday 12. See www.fountainexhibit.com for details.)

Saturday 11
Don Carroll of Jack the Pelican Presents has invited Northern Irish artist Rodney Dickson to transform his space, for one night only, into an “authentic” Saigon bar circa 1975, called The Queen Snake Bar and Tea Room, which opens at 7pm. “My kitchen’s already pretty seedy,” concedes Carroll. The smell of Vietnamese cooking will hang in the air and beer will be available. (See Brooklyn Gallery listings for address and phone number.)

After 11pm on Saturday 11, the WGA will host a rare, off-site edition of the Four Walls Film Club at cavernous local bar/gallery Supreme Trading. Artists, inlcuding Perry Hoberman and David Wells, have been invited to project Super-8 films, slides and DVDs on the bar’s walls. The three-piece Film Club Band will be on hand to accompany the visuals. “It’s this hybrid clubhouse/laboratory thing,” says artist Mike Ballou, who has been organizing the event in a garage space on Bayard Street for 13 years. When will the party end? Says Ballou, “when it’s time to go to bed.” (Supreme Trading, 213 North 8th St between Driggs Ave and Roebling St, 718-599-4224.)

Sunday 12
There’s a fine line between performance and parody, and Roebling Hall artist Guy Richard Smit’s five-piece band Maxi Geil! & Playcolt draws it, playing songs about overblown egos, ambitions and other art-scene goings-on. They perform tonight at Northsix at 11pm; two other bands open at 9pm. (Northsix, 66 North 6th St between Kent and Wythe Aves, 718-599-5103. $10 Cover.)

See http://www.williamsburgcelebrates.com/ for more details.