The Artists of 35 Claver Place

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"I'd Like to Try This Perfect Life" by Elisabeth Condon, a resident artist at 35 Claver Place

During the South Of the Navy Yard Artists stroll (SONYA) May 14th and 15th, the public will be invited to tour all of the artists’ studios of Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Bed-Stuy, including one special artists’ residence, 35 Claver Place.

Since 1985, when Anthony Chamberlain and Gina Inverso fashioned this unique artist’s live/work community out of the spacious lofts of the Inverso Warehousing Building in Bed-Stuy, it has become a creative hive for emerging and established artists from around the world, such as Grenada-born printmaker and painter Kennis Baptiste and photographer Anna Rose, originally from Berlin. This year, 14 artists at 35 Claver Place will open up their studios and galleries and offer an intimate glimpse at their art and creative process. The range in work–experimental, traditional, visual, film, performative–becomes apparent as you move through their lofts.

John Bjerklie–who broadcasts his painting, sculpture, installations, and performances via television screens–will be creating his latest body of work live. His wife, Poogy Bjerklie, meanwhile, works in a wholly different tradition. Her small-scale oil paintings, reminiscent of the Hudson River School, are serene, ethereal representations of New England landscapes.

Filmmaker Jen Lame, whose professional film credits include the Sidney Lumet film Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead and the Peter Jackson film, The Lovely Bones, will be talking about the project she, in collaboration with Anna Rose, is doing for the Metropolitan Museum of Art: a video and photography exhibit that accompany a dress showing in the current Alexander McQueen exhibit.

Experimental composer Joel Mellin uses instruments and computers to “realize the unheard”—be it a 30,000-plus-rain drop thunderstorm or a swarm of insects that follow a score. He’ll be showcasing new compositions for Dublin’s Rex Levitates Dance Company and recent audio installations. Like Jen Lame and a few others, his studio will only be open on Saturday, May 14th.

"Villarica, Chile, 1999," by Andrei Dmitrichev

The building is filled with multi-talented artists. Alex Waxman, also a writer and musician, will show recent collages and combines. Andrei Dmitrichev, a former diplomat and currently an interpreter, is also a self-taught photographer, who’ll be presenting a new book of photographs, Portraits of Space (including “Villarica, Chile, 1999,” above). And Beka Goedde, whose work spans printmaking, sculpture and apparel design for the brand E for Effort, will be showing work produced during her three-month residency at PS 122, where she recently had a solo show.

Some artists are taking a new direction, such as Melissa Gorman, who traditionally works in printmaking, drawing, and photography but is now also focusing on soft, sculptural installations from felt. And Peter Schroth will showcase his silhouettes of floral imagery as a vehicle for constructions involving shape, value, color and space while addressing issues of time in addition to his customarily dappled oil paintings which reflect the play of light and wind upon water.

Others are showing work they’ve been practicing throughout their careers, such as
Chris Sorenson’s portrait photography, and the colorful, invented landscapes that have become Elisabeth Condon’s signature paintings.

For a full list of 35 Claver Place participants in the SONYA stroll, and information on the individual artists, visit 35claver.com. And for up-to date information on upcoming exhibitions and events for all their artist residents, become a fan of their Facebook page, Artists of 35 Claver Place.

The event is free and open to the public.

Details:
May 14-15, Noon – 6:00 pm each day, rain or shine
35 Claver Place (between Fulton and Jefferson), Brooklyn
35claver.com

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