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October 3, 2006
Artists Respond to Atlantic Yards Battle With Exhibit
The NY Sun
By Annie Karni
Developer Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards redevelopment proposal is no longer just a hot political issue: It has become a matter of art.
With paintings, photos, drawings, videos, and collages, a new group show, “Footprints: Portraits of a Brooklyn Neighborhood,” spotlights individuals who live in condemned buildings on Dean Street, as well as the streets of Prospect Heights that are threatened by the redevelopment plan. The exhibit, subsidized by a small grant from the Brooklyn Arts Council, opens October 12 at Grand Space in Prospect Heights.
“Footprints” gives the 32 participating artists free license to illustrate the transformation of a neighborhood. Artist Donald O’Finn, the proprietor of Freddy’s Backroom & Bar — the central gathering place for anti-Ratner activism — uses mixed media to portray the proposed Brooklyn Nets stadium as a behemoth toilet planted in the middle of a neighborhood for sale.
Artist Sarah Sagarin used paint to portray the spokesman for Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, Daniel Goldstein, as stone-faced against a bloodred background.“I think she was trying to show that I’m just another human being — a guy who lives in the way of the arena,” Mr. Goldstein said.
Posted by lumi at October 3, 2006 7:21 AM