Fran Levy's text, Donna Morton was a bully and a Nazi and she had a mustache by the time she was 11. She and some other kids would chase us on their bikes yelling "Jesus Killers" cause we were Jewish, painted and glazed on ceramic tile in BWAC's Fall 2009 Show: The Words of Color. I apologize for the flash reflection.

 

In  previous articles last May and July I discussed Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition's (BWAC) Spring and Summer exhibits noting the mixed but generally quite good quality of the art, its affordability, the diversity of styles and backgrounds of the artists, and that Jewish artists are somewhat overrepresented. All of which is also true of BWAC's Fall 2009 Show: The Words of Color that opens on Saturday and which I previewed on Sunday. As was the case in the earlier BWAC shows my wife Shoshana Cooper is one of the BWAC artists whose work is exhibited, and as a tie-in to the textual theme of this show, one of my poems is exhibited on Shoshana's panel.

 

In the 1980s many artists incorporated texts into their visual art in ways that were sometimes self-indulgent, often polemical, and sometimes both. In this exhibit some artists integrate texts into the work  and others place the text on the side as a kind of commentary reminiscent of our sacred texts. Newton Meyers does both:

Stewart Nachmias' "Coney Island"

 

is accompanied by the following text: 

 

Jo Grossman wrote a poem

 to accompany her photographs on canvas (an increasingly popular way of presenting photographs that gives them a painterly effect):

 

Not all artists in the exhibit chose to follow the Words of Color theme. Shoshana Danziger-Dolizki's panel includes no text apart from the labels identifying the paintings, the painter, and instructing that no sales of her work occur on Shabbat.

 

Middle class art collectors should be able to find art work here that fits their budgets. Some of the photographs are quite affordable indeed. Bill Storoniak is offering small mounted photos for $15 each:

 

Warren Alexander's unframed photos are similarly priced:

 

There will also be a charity auction where small works will have a starting bid of $35.

 

BWAC's Fall 2009 Group Pier Show: The Words of Color opens Saturday September 12th and continues through October 25th 2009 on weekends from 1:00 - 6:00 PM at their exhibit space at 499 Van Brunt Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn across the street from Fairway Supermarket. From Manhattan either take the Water Taxi directly to the pier or take the F train to Jay Street and then take the B61 bus to the end of Van Brunt Street. Admission is free, but expect to be asked for a modest ($3 or $5) donation. In addition to the visual art musicians will perform this Saturday and every Sunday of the exhibit, films will be shown on Saturdays from September 19th-October 17th, an Intro to Photoshop class will be taught on October 24th, and poetry readings will take place on October 18th and 25th.