UPDATE: Due to newly announced COVID restrictions limiting the size of gatherings, Gowanus Night Heron has been canceled. The team hope to hold the pop-up art event once health officials say it is safe to do so.
For alternate plans this weekend, check out the closing reception for Natale Adgnot's Chromaticism at Established Gallery on Saturday (more here) or the Park Slope Windsor Terrace Artists Open Studios: Redux exhibtions (more here).
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Mark your calendars! Gowanus Night Heron, a free pop-up art event, will swoop down alongside the banks of the Gowanus Canal on Saturday. The one-night-only event will feature work by 17 Brooklyn-based artists exhibited outdoors at the Rabbit Movers parking lot.
The brainchild of artist Bonnie Ralston, Gowanus Night Heron will “bring people together safely for a night of art, community, and connection,” she says. “I had passed by the Rabbit Movers lot often on my way to and from Third Avenue Clay, and was always curious about what went on there,” Ralston explains. Searching on the internet she discovered it is “this very cool moving company that supports the arts community by employing artists as movers and offering artists an affordable and unique exhibition service.” Rabbit Movers rents trucks to artists for temporary mobile exhibitions through its Art Attacks program. Ralston “fell in love with the idea...and then COVID hit.”
She finally went to visit Rabbit Movers in late September to learn more and the owners agreed to let her host her own Art Attack event right on their lot overlooking the Gowanus Canal. “The canal and its environs are a major influence on my art,” said Ralston. She often incorporates objects found on Gowanus streets into her artwork.
After securing the site, Ralston reached out to studio mate and fellow BWAC member Kasia Zurek-Doule and photographer Miska Draskoczy for help organizing the event. “I thought it was a great idea and loved the old school Gowanus DIY down-and-dirty aspect of it," Draskoczy said. “Especially in a year where we didn’t have Gowanus Open Studios and much fewer art events in the neighborhood because of COVID, it seemed like a great thing to do for the local arts community, especially being outdoors as well.”
“I love the community oriented can-do spirit of the local Gowanus arts scene,” Draskoczy continued. “Anything that gets people outside exploring funky spaces and seeing art is a great goal to me. It feels rewarding to try and help keep the offbeat spirit of arts and culture in Gowanus alive.”
While Ralston initially planned for a small event featuring six to ten artists, the response has been overwhelming, with 17 artists currently lined up. “We all just reached out to artists who we knew and thought would be comfortable with the space, the timing, and the installation,” Ralston said, noting that the site is “pretty raw.” Artwork will be displayed in wooden moving pods or trucks, she said, “the antithesis of the white cube of a traditional gallery space.”
Gowanus Night Heron will feature a selection of photography, collage, drawing, and spoken word, as well as light, video, and sound installations. Beloved Gowanus watering hole Lavender Lake will be on hand selling food and drink. “These last eight months have been hell, and having something positive to put all of that anxious energy towards has been really wonderful,” Ralston notes.
Regarding the event’s namesake, she says many Gowanus residents have never seen a night heron or even know that they exist since these native birds tend to be active at dusk. Ralston often spots black-crowned night herons fishing along the canal in the evening. “The ephemeral nature of the event aligns well with that of a heron sighting. Both are reminders that even in these uncertain times, life and art continue to flourish around us. We just need to keep our eyes and hearts open.”
Draskoczy—author of Gowanus Wild, a photo book exploring the natural side of the neighborhood—had surprisingly never seen a night heron himself until just a few weeks ago. He had just started working on the event when he had his first sighting during a movie night hosted by the Gowanus Dredgers on the canal. “Right in the middle of the climactic scene of Creature From the Black Lagoon, a beautiful night heron flew in under the screen and started yanking fish out of the canal,” he recalls. “I took it as a good omen and it doesn’t get any more Gowanus than that!”
Gowanus Night Heron
Rabbit Movers (lot), 426 President Street (at Bond), Gowanus, Brooklyn
Saturday, Nov. 14, 6pm to 9pm (rain or shine)
Masks and social-distancing are required.
Follow @gowanusnightheron for more info.
Maybe, I could see the rescheduled show, Spring or Summer? I'm so proud of you, Bonnie Ralston. This is a "moving " concept.
Love you and learning about the NIGHT HERON,
Nancy Ralston, Mom
Posted by: Nancy Ralston | 11/12/2020 at 08:37 PM