Bushwick Open Studios, Now with Zones

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One of the must-see shows at this year's Bushwick Open Studios: "Sculpture on Rock Street," an open-air group exhibit on a block inside the Boar's Head plant. Photo via DNAinfo/Meredith Hoffman.

One of the must-see shows at this year’s Bushwick Open Studios: “Sculpture on Rock Street,” an open-air group exhibit on a block inside the Boar’s Head plant. Photo via DNAinfo/Meredith Hoffman.

Ready for some serious art-crawling? Bushwick Open Studios is back with over 600 participating spaces and multiple concerts, tours, and screenings to keep you overstimulated this weekend.

From morning ‘till night on June 1st and 2nd, practically all studio doors in Bushwick will be open. There will be late gallery hours and temporary installation spaces, all popping up exclusively for the weekend. And also like years past—revelers beware—there will be many, many parties to distract you along the way.

Now celebrating its seventh birthday, each year BOS is greatly anticipated as a chance to peek inside the minds and easels of the neighborhood’s community of artists. Totally free and accessible to both the art-newbie and hardened critic, it’s a perfect occasion to stroll about town, gathering up some new visual culture.

To start things off, there are three opening parties to help you get your bearings. Thursday night, Bushwick Daily unveils its first foray into print with a curated guide to the weekend called NO BS BOS, highlighting the top 50 shows to see and three walking tours to take based upon your personality. The free launch party at 299 Meserole starts at 9pm and includes a DJ set by the band, The Drums. Friday May 31st, the Official BOS Launch Party kicks off at Shea Stadium (20 Meadow St., 8pm onward). What better way to start off your weekend than with a Brooklyn Brewery-sponsored open bar, and the music of local bands Eula, Lodro, and Darlings? The next morning, head over to Norte Maar for their annual Maps-n-Mimosas event (83 Wyckoff Ave., 11am to 2pm). With your bubbly in hand, check out the gallery’s special exhibition, “Portraits of Fern,” featuring over 42 artworks inspired by the beloved gallery dog. And don’t leave without a map—with over four square miles of art sprawl, you’ll need it.

Arts in Bushwick (AIB), the team behind BOS, did some impressive work with the map this year—breaking the neighborhood down into six scalable zones, and plotting the location of all 600+ studios, galleries and alternative spaces. Each listing carries a brief description of what to expect inside, usually written by the artists themselves.

Some shamefully brief highlights: “Sculpture on Rock Street,” curated by Deborah Brown and Lesley Heller on the corporate block sandwiched between two Boar’s Head warehouses (Rock St btwn. Bogart St. and Morgan Ave., zone 2); Moore Street Farm Mural Project (110 Moore St., zone 3); Hotel, featuring two floors and six artists (796 Broadway, zone 3); Parallel Art Space’s “What I Like About You” (1717 Troutman St., zone 5); “Enlightenment” at Outlet Fine Art (253 Wilson Ave., zone 6); and at Momenta Art, “The Bureau of Self-Recognition” by one of the founders of Arts in Bushwick, Chloë Bass. Hyperallergic has even more picks.

In addition to the thousands of paintings, sculptures and other 2D objects on view, this year AIB has made a special effort to include time-based work, such as performance and video art. “Hybrid: A Performance Arts Showcase” at Brooklyn Fireproof (119 Ingraham St., June 1st, 6pm to 9pm) will feature a series of performance pieces by 11 different Bushwick artists. The following day, AIB will host CinemaSunday at Bat Haus (279 Starr St., June 2nd, 6pm to 1am), the first official film event of BOS. Numerous shorts, loosely based around the dual concepts of “Concrete and Flux,” will debut on the big screen, followed by Q&A sessions with the artists.

So grab a map, pick a zone, and make it a weekend of Bushwick wanderlust.

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