Armory Arts night in Queens reveals Long Island City’s thriving art scene

Vanessa Beecroft at Deitch Studios, Armory Arts Week, Long Island City

On Friday, liQcity checked out the art studios and galleries in Long Island City participating in the Armory Arts Week. There was so much happening at once, it was hard to catch it all. Despite skipping legacies like Noguchi, PS1, Sculpture Center, the studios and galleries visited revealed a remarkably wide spectrum of contemporary art available in the hood, from the internationally acclaimed to the local and underground. All of it within walking distance of each other and inside the elusive boundaries of LIC.

At the Deitch Studios, interspersing white nude female sculptures with live nude models painted white, international sensation Vanessa Beecroft brought some high-concept art to the table with her performance and sculpture exhibit ‘VB64′. The viewing scene was just as interesting as the exhibition: against the night skyline backdrop, hundreds of people walking back and forth on 44th Drive, and hovering poker faced around the performance. The live models resembled the static statues interspersed among them, and would move occasionally, giving the visual effect of sculpture in motion.

Beecroft frequently collaborates with Kanye West, who was also rumored to have been in attendance. The sculpture exhibit is still on display, with video of the live performance from Friday.

RoCoCoPop at the Dean Project, Long Island City

Another highlight of the show was ‘RoCoCoPop’ at Dean Project. Mark Dean always draws strong artists to the gallery walls, not to mention a lively scene at his crowded receptions. ‘RoCoCoPoP’ revealed a certain depth beyond the shiny surface of the Pop art frequently on display. Bridging, as he puts it, between the 18th Century Rococo Aesthetic and contemporary Pop, this exhibit showed off quite a bit of detail and craft — exactly what is prevalent in Rococo, and sometimes absent from Pop. An interesting piece was a computer driven drawing machine built by artist Chad Curtis, which was busily completing a work on one of the walls of the gallery during the reception.

Local Project Gallery, Long Island City

The Local Project, located inside the 5Pointz graffiti building, is one of the hotbeds of the emerging arts scene in Long Island City. The gallery is a collective of local artists headed by Carolina Penafiel and Renzo Ortega, both of whom had work on display, and there is always something interesting hanging on the walls. Especially humorous were some small dwarf self-portraits on wood blocks.

Crane Street Studios, also located in the 5pointz building, held open studios as part of the show, and there was an abundance of interesting work, from intricately drawn maps of imaginary landscapes, to portraits of people made from film stock, to all kinds of other painting and sculpture. Really nice vibe in there too, with tons of people leisurely milling about the studios and talking with the artists.

Crane Street Studios, Long Island City

The final count? Too much to tally. The good news is that while real estate development pauses for station identification, local LIC art is flourishing and keeping alive some very thriving art communities.

–posted by Sami Shumays