Pedro Pietri
mural at Nuyorican poetry club
Gil Scott-Heron
Mural by Chico at 12th and C
Author Archives: A Gathering Of The Tribes
Robert Mueller at NY Public Library by George Spencer
What you will see at the Morningside Heights New York Public Library at 2900 Broadway (at W. 113th St.) is the untitled visual work of Robert Mueller, a widely published poet and literary critic who is now dividing his time between literary pursuits and seeking innovation in the visual arts. Working with traditional materials, color, line and form, he is creating a personal mythology. And at the same time he is playing with verisimilitude. And abstraction. And with words and phrases interlaced through the colored marks and shapes that make up the work.
He calls these works color cards because they present a message, and they are colorful. Often the message will appear obscured or riddling. For Mueller therein lies the business of art, to create difference and estrangement, inviting a conveyance of messages of a different order. There is pleasure here, pleasure of a different kind.
He started the color cards in July of 2010, and most on display were done in November and December of 2011
In earlier works he used colored pencils from a Mattel box for children’s play. But most of the works on display feature better pencils and pastels aided by paper from white to cream to light grey, all carefully chosen.
Does all of this add up to meaning? Can these be understood? In the traditional sense the answer is no. However, if the viewer is willing to use the imagination, the answer is a very rewarding yes. The pictures are teeming with levels of meaning both at the conscious and unconscious level. For example there are landscapes. Or are they?
This is an audacious display for an artist new to this medium. If one understood Cocteau when he said in The Art of Cinema, I was trying to say what I said or as Mueller wrote in one of his poem, Yellow Peak, A Stole, A Bell:
All starting is collecting, all breaching
Of the sterling wall a growing
it becomes clear that the poet/painter practices art as a simultaneous gathering of resources and a journey of discovery for both artist and viewer.
Where does Robert Mueller go from here? Back to poetry exclusively? To further exploration of the visual arts? My guess is that the language scattered through the paintings will disappear as he finds ways with color, line and form to convey what language was conveying. Perhaps there will be titles.
There is great promise in the initial show. What comes next? Surprises? Most likely.
Tribes Street video
OCCUPY TRIBES NOW
OCCUPY TRIBES NOW
February 17 – March 4, 2012
1pm to 6pm daily
Closing Reception Saturday, March 3, 7-9pm
A Gathering of the Tribes
285 East 3rd Street, 2nd Floor (Between C & D)
New York, New York 10009
(212) 674-3778
Steve Cannon, the executive director of A Gathering of the Tribes, is a fighter, and right now he is battling to protect his home and the nonprofit 20-year-old multicultural arts organization that he and numerous other artists, writers, and musicians have spent building with him. Steve Cannon, who is blind and 76 years old, is being threatened with eviction from his apartment at 285 E. 3rd Street, 2nd Fl. New York City, New York, and as Steve and his lawyers fight his pending eviction, Tribes Gallery will maintain its position in the Lower East Side community showcasing visual art that is relevant and timely from established and emerging visual artists.
OCCUPY TRIBES NOW will present visual art that relates to housing and human rights issues.
The time is NOW because there are no guarantees that there will be a later for Steve Cannon or A Gathering of the Tribes.
Curator Ama Birch
Ideas
Hello all,
A friend of mine had an idea today about possibly purchasing a store front on 4th and Ave C, in a rent controlled building. As you all know, this isn’t possible due to me being blind, old and having been in this building for 40+ years.
Lucky for me, I have a hot shot lawyer and he thinks I’m going to “win,” but of course there are no guarantees. If any of you know judges in housing court that can help with this situation, or are more familiar with my rights (blind, elderly, etc), Please let us know.
Ultimately what we were told was Lorraine wants to get rid of the building, is there a possibility of any interest in investing/buying the building and making it all gathering of the tribes and getting someone to run it? Please pass this on and feel free to come to our upcoming events here at Tribes.
We thank you all for the support and hope that this gets resolved and Tribes can be around for another 40+ years.
With love,
Steve
2 Poems by Steve Cannon
Wiggle Room
Did you know
Don’t you know
This thing we call earth
Wobbles
As it revolves around the sun
And rotates on its axis
I wonder if it hums
Don’t you know
This thing we call earth
Wobbles
As it revolves around the sun
And rotates on its axis
I wonder if it hums
Never mind
No mean matter.
No mean matter?
No mean matter?
What does it matter
When nothing matters
When everything’s in tatters
Scattered
And disappears or vanishes
Like particles into the dark
2/10/2012
OCCUPY excerpt from Fool’s Gold by Steve Dalachinsky
“to every thing turn turn turn”
i saw them snatch the nets out of the hands
of the police
they liberated the nets i told her
& anyone else who’d listen
Ira Cohen
your death was so real
like being in a movie
you were buried today
& bobby said it was all very
jewish
& some little kid had ½ his body
½ his mouth blown off by a car bomb
in iraq
so they brought him here
to feed him ice cream for his birthday
Jazz Talmud : Steve Dalachinsky on Jake Marmer
Jazz & poetry go back to the Harlem Renaissance & to one of its creators the great
Langston Hughes. Judaism & poetry go even further back to the Song of Songs & the
Old Testament (at least in recorded history.) There have always been Jewish musicians,
Continue reading
Exquisite Poop : Blind Reproduction
Exquisite Poop: BLIND REPRODUCTION
March 10 – April 15, 2012
Opening Reception Saturday, March 10, 6-9pm
Live performance by Abacus Jones 8pm
Donation encouraged. Pizza donated by Two Boots.
A Gathering of the Tribes
285 East 3rd St. 2nd Floor (Between Ave C & D, near F at 2nd Ave or Delancey/Essex)
New York, NY 10009 (212) 674-3778
info@tribes.org / gatheringofthetribes@gmail.com
- Original: Carly Bodnar Description: Casey Plett Reproduction: Lorra Jackson
Inspired by the different descriptions Steve Cannon’s visitors would give of the art on the walls, and by taking the blind professor to art openings, curator Janet Bruesselbach organized an elaborate art and writing project between 13 artists and writers. It aims to consider the subjectivity of attentive visuality in art writing and the absurdity of symbolic imagery.
The artists were invited to contribute a small two-dimensional work, and commit to another. Images, titles, size and media information were then assigned to the writers, who were charged with describing the art as thoroughly and sincerely as possible. These descriptions were nearly randomly assigned to the contributing artists, who were tasked with recreating the artwork they thought the writer had described, without knowing the artist or seeing the original image.
The first stage of translation from visual to verbal varies hugely in style and focus, even given stylistic restrictions. The artist’s job is even harder and even more subject to the variations of personality and style. Not only was it hard to communicate the most basic aspects of artwork or even the rules of the game, the variations in series are indescribable. The resulting illustration of mis/communication varies from wondrous to farcical and demonstrates the impossibility of translation.
- Original acrylic painting by Alexis Duque, interpreted by BMIP in digital drawing collage from Allison Moore’s writing.
Participating artists:
Alexis Duque
Lorra Jackson
Brian Elig
Blair Kamage
Carly Bodnar
Robert Scott
Joseph Materkowski
Samuel Bjorgum
Lauren Kolesinskas
Jessica Daly
David Hollenbach
BMIP (Babyhead)
Nick Musaelian
Participating Writers:
Allison Moore
Maddie Drake
Joshua Crowley
Jenny Bhatt
Casey Plett
Kaitlin Heller
Adam Kavulic
Zane Hart
Matt Keeley
Jamie T. Clark
Jon Boulier
Ammon Ford
Chris Heffernan
Please contribute to our campaign before March 3 to pre-purchase works, prints, catalogs, and reception admission, and get involved. indiegogo.com/Blind-Reproduction
Contact the curator: janet@bruesselbach.com
Two Poems by Elisabeth Watson
Bread
It was bread that survived.
Motives undisclosed and
Holy insofar as it was silent.
All other furniture was lost to the war:
Ligament and password, loves
uncataloged and cataloged, the universe
as it was before Copernicus–
innocent as we left it, sleeping on the hearth.
OCCUPY TRIBES NOW
Dear Artists,
I would like to invite you to participate in the OCCUPY TRIBES NOW show at A Gathering of the Tribes gallery from February 17th to March 4th. A Gathering of the Tribes, a multi-cultural arts organization, was created in 1991 and has been a source of inspiration for a large and diverse group of young artists, musicians, and writers. Steve Cannon, the executive director who is blind, founded Tribes as a place to help emerging talents and display the diverse community of the Lower East Side. As some of you know, Steve Cannon is currently being threatened with eviction from his apartment at 285 E. 3rd Street, 2nd Fl. New York City, New York. As Steve and his lawyers fight to save Steve’s home and A Gathering of the Tribes, it is important that Tribes Gallery maintain its position in the community showcasing visual art in its gallery.
OCCUPY TRIBES NOW will present 2-D or 3-D work that relates to housing and human rights issues. All work should be priced to sell for between $50 and $100. The money from the sale of the work will be a donation made by the artist to help Steve Cannon and A Gathering of the Tribes with legal bills.
Note: There is no budget to cover shipping and handling costs at this time. Participating artists will be responsible for the delivery and pickup of their work.
Note: Participating artists will be asked to volunteer for gallery sitting hours.
The exhibition details are as follows:
Tribes Gallery
285 E. 3rd Street, 2nd Fl. (between Avenues C & D)
Delivery of work: Tuesday, February 14 10am to 6pm
Opening Reception: Friday, February 17 7 pm to 9 pm
Closing Reception: Saturday, March 3 7 pm to 9 pm
Show Dates and Hours: February 17 – March 3 daily from 12 pm to 6 pm
Work Pick-up: Tuesday, February 28 10am to 6pm
Submission Information
• Each artist may submit up to three works. Please send jpegs of your work including descriptions (title, date, medium, and size)
• Artists must be committed to participating as a volunteer, which includes gallery sitting hours, installing, deinstalling, preparing for the opening or closing.
• Artists must be able to deliver and pick-up work from the gallery at the time listed above.
• All art work should be ready to hang and install, so 2-D work should have hooks or wires on the back of it and any special instructions, hardware, and /or pedestals for 3-D work must be provided with the delivery of the artwork.
Deadline for submissions is Friday, February 10, 2012. Send your submissions and any inquiries to tribesphenomenologyshow@gmail.com
Curator Ama Birch