istanbul and more

Black and White exhibition

2012-02-20T09:53:00.001-08:00

otherlandscape #14

Black & White Gallery   

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO 

March 10 - April 15, 2012  

Opening reception:  Saturday, March 10th, 6-9pm

Black & White Gallery / Project Space, Brooklyn, NY is delighted to launch the second half of its tenth season with “The World According To Roberley Bell, Isidro Blasco, Julian Montague, Alejandro Moreno, Santiago Taccetti, Amy Talluto, Michael Van den Besselaar and Eric White”.

The exhibition will showcase the diversity of the gallery program. The 8 artists included with works representing a variety of media (paintings, installations, sculpture, photography and design) reveal the sharp awareness they have of today’s circumstances

483 Driggs Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11211 // t. 718-599-8775 // f. 718-599-8798

GALLERY HOURS: Friday, Saturday, Sunday 12 noon - 6 pm and by appointment

Pulse Miami

2011-11-09T13:18:00.001-08:00

other landscape 14

Pulse Miami

Dec 1-4 2011

Black & White Gallery Booth C 105

483 Driggs Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11211

USA

718-599-8775

718-599-8798

Artists

Roberley Bell

Michael Van den Besselaar

Santiago Taccetti

2011-11-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

Desk Project
Gallery 5533
Istanbul, Turkey
September 2011

paradise readymade revisited is both a sculpture and a participatory artwork that becomes a field, spreading out across the city of Istanbul like a landscape. It moves away from the object crafted by the artist and becomes whole only through the desire of the participants.

Participants are invited to take a flowering plant from the desk at Gallery 5533. They are asked to relocate the plant within the public realm of the city of Istanbul. They are asked to consider how they can make a contribution to the urban environment by depositing their gifted plant as if leaving behind a personal memento. In return I ask the participants to share documentation of where it is they take their plant. Where might they deposit it; the heavily trafficked Taksim square, a sheltered bus stop along the Halic, a tea garden with a view of the Bosporus or perhaps they will re gift the plant passing it on to yet another.

flower with view of camii
young girl with her flower

flower at tea stall

secret garden Denise Bibro Gallery

2011-09-04T08:03:00.000-07:00

Denise Bibro Fine Art presents Secret Garden, on view September 8th through October 8th, 2011. Nature plays the perpetual muse for six contemporary artists in this exhibition. Featuring work by Roberley Bell, Peter Bynum, Sara Crisp, Erica-Lynn Huberty, Ysabel Le May, and Christopher Reiger, each artist offers their own innovative, distinctive response to the sublime wonder of the landscape, flora, and fauna, inviting the viewer into their own secret garden.

Roberley Bell's ebullient sculptural works conjure fanciful, Technicolor topiaries bursting with blossoms. Utilizing cast foam and plastic forms adorned with artificial flowers, fruit, and birds, Bell explores the relationship between the man-made and the natural in landscape focusing on the artifice of nature.

Peter Bynum celebrates the connection unifying all life forms. Illuminated by LED light boxes, multiple layers of painted glass depict elegant capillary patterns evocative of delicate ferns, coral formations, or oscillating seaweed. Myriad imagery and shadow weave an intoxicating three-dimensional space.

Incorporating meditative, mandala-like designs and botanical elements such as flower petals, stems, and seed pods, Sara Crisp's delicate mixed-media encaustic works are a quiet spiritual homage to plants as the embodiment of the life force.

Erica-Lynn Huberty's intimate narratives are fashioned from vintage textiles embellished with embroidery, needlepoint, and paint. Figures frolic among elegant toile de jouy foliage, birds and butterflies. The utopian veneer is subverted by menacing creatures threatening the peaceful idyll.

For Ysabel Le May, the landscape is a divinely ordered universe. Combining hundreds of individual photographs, edited and meticulously restaged in the digital arena, she creates elegant, fantastical tableaux and ornamental rosettes, home to humming birds, lilies, and heavenly light.

Contemplating man's mutable conception of nature and our place in it, Christopher Reiger's works on paper incorporate scientific and mathematical symbols, hieroglyphs, animals, and plant life. Mysterious equations are drawn, creatures peer out from unlikely vegetation, and the garden becomes curiouser and curiouser...

The exhibition is curated by Denise Bibro and Almitra Stanley. For more information, or to request images, contact us at 212.647.7030, info@denisebibrofineart.com or visit www.denisebibrofineart.com. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11AM to 6PM.

Denise Bibro Fine Art  529 West
20th Street, #4W
New York, NY 10011

 212-647-7030

Flowers, Follies, and Other Rites of Spring

2011-03-03T05:19:00.000-08:00

flower blob #82

Flowers, Follies, and Other Rites of Spring is a collection of installations, sculpture, and paintings that explore botanical art in the context of the contemporary art world. Curated by Kenise Barnes and featuring artists artists Roberley Bell, Cristina De Gennaro, Amy Gross, Joanne Howard, Rachel Kohn, Margaret Lanzetta, Leigh Taylor Mickelson, Margie Neuhaus, Jill Parisi, and Annie Varnot, the exhibition is a stirring interpretation of the fervor of spring. Exhibition opens March 6 and runs through April 27.

Rockland Center for the Arts | 27 South Greenbush Road | West Nyack, New York

Figuration and its Disconnects

2011-02-04T08:29:00.000-08:00

room with a view 2009

UB Art Gallery, Center for the Arts presents an exhibition of

contemporary still life and figuration February 17–May 14, 2011

Buffalo, NY –

The exhibition title “Figuration and its Disconnects” is a play on Sigmund

Freud’s canonical book Civilization and Its Discontents (1929), which examines the interplay between society and the individual, whose instinctual desires for aggression and sex threaten to destabilize societal relations.

The twentieth century bore witness to the upheavals of continuous war, the Space Age, the Civil Rights’ and Women’s movements, decolonization, ecological devastation, and the rise of mass media. “Figuration and its Disconnects” explores how we relate to each other, and even inanimate objects, in such a world. The exhibition pairs work from the university’s permanent collection with work by Western New York-based artists work includes drawings,

paintings, and an immersive installation. These artists’ representations of people and things comment on the authority, seduction, miscommunication, powerlessness, happiness, whimsy, and alienation that arguably define our communal existence.

and adventures

2010-04-21T10:24:00.001-07:00

This needs a short story,

I am working on a project and in need of inner tubes, (the bright color one I use

From the dollar store.) I had been looking, no luck, and then I remembered I had taken a photo from Rustem Pasa Camii down to the market below and hanging in a stall was a tube.

So I went there yesterday.

The man would not sell the tube I need 3 anyway.

I left walking out of the market a way I had not taken prior

I saw some toys inside what I thought was a Han

I walked in

It was a former hamam

So how wonderful I can show you what the ceiling looks like, as you cannot take a photo in the bath…

In the bath you are laying on the warm marble below the ceiling it is like looking to the sky.

and yes in the bath in the mist in is more special.

And I purchase 3 blue neon made in china inner tubes…

the weeks are running together

2010-04-21T10:13:00.001-07:00

My days are filled with some of those everyday things in life

As well as teaching and the surprise adventure.

The tulips are still in bloom, quiet a long season

And lovely.

These are at the square near to the spice market in front of Yeni Camii

These guys I bump into a lot waiting for the bus, sadly I have also seen the results, massacred tress.

Tea is always better on the other side of the fence, having tea with a faculty at Mimar Sinan art school . Prime real estate right on the Bosphorus

Getting milk with a friend, her new baby drinks only goat’s milk.

When she asked if I wanted to come along I did not think I would actually confront a goat in Istanbul…

gule gule bursa

2010-04-20T13:11:00.000-07:00

Oh yes the reason I came to Bursa, to speak at the architecture university

The trip back to Istanbul on the ferry, my flowers, a gift from the students,

Saying good-bye to Bursa.

Tractors

2010-04-20T12:03:00.000-07:00

For jimbo and john

You would love it.

This man rolled the tractor down hill to start

Backed up, picked up his bucket then went back down the hill.

Innovation at its best.

Cumalikzik more

2010-04-20T11:55:00.000-07:00

Mt Uludag in the distance famous for skiing

Ladies from a village near Ankara( about 4 hr away) on a “field trip” sponsored by the government

They seem to be checking out the competition in the lace market.

And yes the restaurant where I had 3 glasses of raspberry juice

Bursa

2010-04-20T11:50:00.001-07:00

I traveled to Bursa by fast ferry

Wonderful form of transportation that runs on German time (so the say here) hence quite efficient.

My day in Bursa was spent mostly in the historic village of Cumalikizik

Located beneath Mt. Uludag and near the city of Bursa. The town was established by Ottoman Turks in 14th century to provide logistic just before the conquer Bursa from Byzantine. The town has preserved not only its architecture but also the traditional lifestyle. The village of Cumalikizik is one of the best examples of early Ottoman civilization.

Cumalikzik is famous for raspberries and its natural raspberry juice. Which I had many glasses of for lunch!

Tourist

2010-04-20T11:47:00.000-07:00

The season has begun

And Japanese seem to be the majority at the moment

Though I hear by late May Europeans will flood the streets.

tulips

2010-04-04T12:32:00.001-07:00

Today was Easter, in Istanbul the start of the tulip festival.

One million tulips, so they say, planted in Emigran Park

15 million people (the current population of Istanbul).

Yes, everyone in Istanbul was at the park, or on the road to the park.

Istiklal caddesi

2010-04-04T12:28:00.000-07:00

Istiklal caddesi

Is a main street, a pedestrian way

Full of people night and day.

You never know what you will find happening on Istiklal Caddesi.

On Tuesday morning I confronted balloons, pink and thousands of them

Istanbul is smiling…(the translation)

Later the same day a demonstration by a workers party…

to asia

2010-04-04T00:47:00.000-07:00

Sunday I traveled by ferry to the Asian side to visit a colleague.

The Bosporus is like the streets of Istanbul chaotic and crowded yet somehow it is navigated. Forever full of ships, of all sizes.

Looking back to Istanbul, reminds me of the circle line, you see the city all up hill from the sea, the skyscrapers against the old city.

I have become interested in the trees of Istanbul.

In a city of 15 million there is not a lot of room for trees, yet they are protected, as best can be.

I had heard on the Asian side that I would find trees in the middle of the streets.

And yes my colleague lives on top of a hill, the view to the bridge, which connects the two continents over the Bosporus, and the view back to the European side of Istanbul

The city of tulips

2010-04-04T00:37:00.000-07:00

As this was taken last weekend 27 march

You can see they are already in bloom,

(today 3 April I am headed to the official tulip festival)

I found a park ,yildiz park, wandering paths and teahouses amongst trees!

And again one must walk straight up hill and the view out to the seaside. The cargo ships hundreds a day, are enormous even from here.

My favorite mosque

2010-03-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

Rustem Pasa Camii

I have visited this mosque on each trip to Istanbul and often many times.

I remember the first time, when Jim and I tired to find the entrance.

As this tiny mosque, is hidden amongst the shops and street vendors of the Egyptian Bazaar.

It is in fact above them you enter, if you can find it through the street stalls and up the stairs you come to a courtyard. There the noise, the crowd, the chaos of the Bazaar disappears.

The mosque is special. It s completely tiled floor to ceiling. The tiles are quiet extraordinary they represent the finest period of Iznik tile production.

Lunch

2010-03-27T10:50:00.000-07:00

Along with tulips and cherry blossoms spring has brought some most interesting lunch venues as well,

Durum, made of spicy bulgur with fresh tomatoes, lettuce, mint and a squeeze of lemon rolled up tight. For 3 lira

The following day I had to part with 5 liras for a very fresh smoked fish sandwich right off the boat.

The golden horn park is across from the university.

So now that it is spring it is the perfect spot for lunch.

Blossom

2010-03-27T10:47:00.000-07:00

Over night the city bloomed

Tulips and cherry trees abound.

The church, St Stephen of Bulgars, in the background is an oddity a neo gothic structure built entirely of cast iron.

everywhere a view

2010-03-26T01:27:00.000-07:00

From everywhere in Istanbul there is a view to the seaside, as it is called.

Of course this means that to go anywhere in Istanbul you must walk straight up hill.

I will have to pay more attention once I am back state side, but I do not recall that we fly so many flags so large and stately.

preparing for spring in istanbul

2010-03-26T01:21:00.000-07:00

I have to make a note about the dogs and cats of Istanbul

They navigate the city of 15 million as strays; perhaps not really, as they are well taken carry of my everyone. You see businessmen come out of offices with bags of pet food and fresh water. They sleep with out fear. It is really sociologically a very interesting cultural tradition.

And expresses the deep sense of humanity with in this increasingly crowed urban landscape.

The parks are being spruced up.

In a city of 15 million green space is in short supply and precious.

Bikes , you do not see often, perhaps a sign of spring.

And yes the cafés are getting ready too, love that astro turf!

santra istanbul

2010-03-26T01:18:00.000-07:00

Santra Istanbul about 25 minutes from the center ( taksim sg) by bus up the golden horn to the very tip.

The museum opened one year ago it is called the TATE modern of Istanbul, it was a former power station and it is a wonderful exhibition space.

I went the last day of Yuksel Arslan’s exhibition he is considered the most important artist of Turkey. Five floors of work and quite interesting…

This little painting I of course love, I have been missing mine in the backyard and having been thinking about an essay by Tom Friedman “birds don’t fly here”.

Note the title of the painting…

I have the past week explored quite a lot of the contemporary art scene there are a hand full of galleries showing interesting work. And more I am certain to be found.

gunaydin

2010-03-17T13:57:00.000-07:00

I began Turkish classes today.

I am talking them in the Sultanahmet area, where both Aya Sofia and the Sultanahmet mosque (blue mosque) are.

This is the major tourist area and I avoided going over there till this morning.

The photos speak for themselves there is little one can say of the majestic scale and massiveness of these extraordinary structures.

Gule gule

A typical morning

2010-03-17T13:49:00.000-07:00

waiting for the bus.

For the average office worker it begins not with latte but yes, fresh squeezed juice, orange or pomegranate and that for 1 lira!

Okay not such a typical morning for this car right in front of my building!

friends new and old

2010-03-17T13:45:00.001-07:00

Nur, my office mate and her family

And Yeshim a former student from RIT.

These bright faces have made me very much at home

With their endless generosity, warm laughter

greek chruch

2010-03-15T14:27:00.000-07:00

The next day I took my students from the university on a walk, and I took them through Fener. None of the 16 students had ever been to this area just north of the university.

I took them as well to the Greek Church; I told them it was the only place in Istanbul I knew to be silent. They loved the church, the scent of the candles, and the darkness.

Quiet fun to take an Istanbuler to some place they do not know.

fener

2010-03-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

It was a rainy afternoon when I took a walk through Fener, a district just to the north of the university running up the golden horn.

Four-years ago I stayed in a small guesthouse across the street from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, a small church surrounded by mosque and a quite conservative Muslim neighborhood. The church is in fact the worldwide headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Church. Note the wire and high walls

Fener is a very old part of the city once a wealthy Greek settlement

It has in the past decades fallen to decay, though lovely architecture.

I learned after my walk and seeing the changes since my visit four years earlier. That the renovations happening have now slowed; the government has stopped the sale of any of these structures to foreigners.

silver lining

2010-03-15T12:03:00.001-07:00

Then of course the bright side to the trip to the noter, a new material,

a fluffy web like thick plastic

And it even comes in purple

excuses

2010-03-15T11:57:00.000-07:00

14 march

I have been in Istanbul two full weeks now, and yes I have been slow at posting

But here’s an excuse.

The mountain of paper work needed for the educational ministry

And then too the residency police required a trip to a noter?

So, my trip to the noter see the sign in the corner next to the largest scarf store in Istanbul I am told.

The noter,

He seems to have one million stamps and enjoys using them all.

Sorry for the blur, I was told not to take a photo but I could not resist.

I counted 18 stamps; this is a translation of my passport!

Yes for the ministry of education

Galata tower

2010-03-06T23:48:00.000-08:00

I live near to the tower.

A Five-minute walk.

I was told that after sunset it was magical to look up

To see the orange stone of the tower against the evening sky

Luminous

the university

2010-03-06T23:40:00.001-08:00

The building was a tobacco factory the main buildings of the university are beautiful renovations of the factory buildings with open spaces and yes interior gardens, with birds!

I teach on the fourth floor this is the view from my classroom window looking back to the Galata tower. ( and my neighborhood)

My walk home, I took the Galata bridge, the underside is a pedestrian walk way with restaurants, as I look back at Suleymaniye mosque at sunset, you see the fishing lines from hanging down from the deck above.

A walk across Ataturk Bridge to the university

2010-03-02T08:12:00.001-08:00

2 March, my first day.

The bridge is lively in the morning with fisherman and traffic.

The university is the row of beige buildings across the golden horn.

About a 15-minute walk from my apartment.

Suleymaniye mosque on the hill above the mouth of the golden horn, a view of the

aqueduct in the background.

The view back towards the Galata tower (the opposite shore from the university).

My apartment building is just beneath the tower about 4 blocks and two blocks down the hill to the golden horn. Sadly not much of a view, though a wonderful apartment.

here /there

2010-03-02T08:04:00.000-08:00

The view as I left on Sunday from home

The view from my window 24 hours later.

Yes 60 degrees and sunny.

preparing to leave

2010-02-21T10:47:00.000-08:00

21 feb

here in Batavia,

still snow.

one week till I leave, today

brilliant sunshine and blue sky

And of course happy birds!

2010-02-06T10:56:00.000-08:00

http://www.khas.edu.tr/en/university-tour/virtualtur/virtual-tour.html

here is the link for a tour of the university.