I’ve penned a review of NURTUREart’s inaugural Bushwick Biennial for BushwickBK, check it out:
Curator Benjamin Evans understands the irony that half a world away in Venice, the art world cognoscenti gathered for the world’s foremost biennial mating ritual known as the Venice Biennale, while here in Bushwick the neighborhood has launched it’s own homegrown version with more Tecate than truffles. But Evans doesn’t dwell on it and has curated a serious show from NURTUREart’s own flatfiles which pulls together over a dozen artists that are as different as they are similar.
While four spaces are participating in the first Bushwick Biennial, it is rather obvious that the show at NURTUREart is the only one to consciously resemble anything like a biennial. The other venues, English Kills, Pocket Utopia and Grace Exhibition Space, created shows that are typical of their programming and don’t seem to have gone out of their way to partake. Evans explained that part of the reason for the inclusion of so many spaces was to demonstrate the diversity of gallery models in Bushwick, which was a great point to make but was probably lost on most Biennial goers.
The new Bushwick Biennial is a welcome addition to the Bushwick Open Studios (BOS) festival, even if its host NURTUREart doesn’t register on anyone’s radar as within the boundaries of the burgeoning Brooklyn neighborhood. For years Arts in Bushwick’s flagship event seemed to lack focus; the Biennial may be what’s needed to focus people’s attention.
Whole thing here. The Bushwick Biennial closes July 19.
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