On Saturday, June 1, the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition launches four of new shows, the second series of exhibitions in its current spring season:
- Works on Paper
- The Cardinal Compass: A Collection of North Carolina Artists
- The Creative Process
- Shirley Kaplan: The Creative Process
Works on Paper, a national juried show, displays the creative potential artists find working with paper in a diverse range of media — from drawing, printmaking, painting, collage, and beyond. The juror for the exhibit is Charlotta Kotik, a former chairman of Contemporary Art at the Brooklyn Museum. She was the U.S. Commissioner of the Venice Biennale in 1993 and has organized over 100 museum exhibitions including the first museum exhibit of graffiti art.
The Cardinal Compass: A Collection of North Carolina Artists is a national juried show curated by photographer and BWAC member Robbie Bailey, who also serves as Head of the Visual Arts Department of the Raleigh Film and Art Festival in her home state of North Carolina. The show gathers artists currently working in, or with significant connections to, the state of North Carolina. The work addresses themes of direction and navigation, physical and philosophical.
The Creative Process is the theme of 2024’s second BWAC members exhibition. We have asked our artists to unveil more of their practice by showing preliminary stages, sketches, and other images that have inspired and fostered a finished work of art. In addition to the work on display in the gallery, some artists will be presenting talks on their process. These in-depth discussions will happen in BWAC’s brand new Education Center, located in the first floor gallery space. Visit the BWAC website for Artist Talk dates and times.
Shirley Kaplan takes over BWAC’s featured artist area for a survey of her paintings and drawings. From her early years in Paris to today, Shirley Kaplan’s work has been a visual diary of lived experience showing aspects of the worlds of the circus, cabaret, theatre, and festivals. Kaplan articulates these theatrical and circus themes in a variety of media, primarily oil painting, and over the years has created paintings, wooden
cities, masks, drawings, portraits, set designs, and projections sometimes using a combination of other materials.
All four shows open Saturday, June 1, and will remain on display through Sunday, June 23, each weekend between the hours of 1 to 6pm, at the BWAC Gallery, housed in the historic Beard and Robinson Stores at 481 Van Brunt St. in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
About BWAC
The Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (BWAC) is an artist-run organization and an incorporated 501(c)(3) nonprofit, operating the BWAC Gallery. For 46 years, BWAC has been exhibiting the artwork of local and national artists with seasonal exhibits that include national juried and local member shows. These exhibitions present a wide variety of contemporary visual arts from the traditional to the experimental cutting edge. The gallery is housed in a massive Civil War-era warehouse on the Red Hook waterfront and boasts the best view of the Statue of Liberty in Brooklyn! The BWAC Gallery, 481 Van Brunt St., Red Hook, Brooklyn 11231, receives generous support from the O’Connell Organization, grants, and its many members and friends. Visit bwac.org for more information on membership and exhibits, or to donate, and follow us on Facebook or Instagram.