STAY FROSTY
BravinLee programs
458 West 128th St. between Amsterdam & Convent Aves.
October 24-26, free
www.bravinlee.com
For thirty years, the Drilling Company has presented Shakespeare in the Parking Lot, staging Bard plays in a Lower East Side municipal parking lot. Troupe founder Hamilton Clancy has referred to it as “an urban wrinkle” compared to traditional productions in theaters.
Now Karin Bravin and John Post Lee of BravinLee programs are providing an urban wrinkle alternative to art fairs with “Stay Frosty,” what they call “part tailgate, part trunk show, part festival, and part site-specific exhibition.”
Taking place October 24-26, “Stay Frosty” will feature approximately sixteen galleries displaying their wares in cars within marked parking spaces; among the participants are Willie Cole (H20, Harlem Coupe, made from recycled water bottles), Traci Johnson (a van repurposed into an intimate sanctuary), Field Projects (Kate Corroon Skakel’s sports-related Baller [For Ray]), Debra Simon Consulting (Amy Rose Khoshbin’s Allan Kaprow–inspired Altars to Agency), and Amy Ritter (Mobile Home Archive). Another ten artists will have freestanding works along fences around the perimeter, including Ellie Murphy (Door Arch Gate. Colonnade for a parking lot.), Kate Dodd (Shared Air), and Kumasi J. Barnett (The Question).
“Visitors can anticipate a combination of interactive works, monumental car installations, and a trove of artworks installed in glove compartments, trunks, and dashboards,” Bravin told twi-ny about the show, which will travel to other locations in 2026.
BALONEY (Z Behl and Kim Moloney), Piggies Undo the World (courtesy of the artist and BravinLee programs)
Three early renderings point to how unique and cool “Stay Frosty” can be: Guy Richards Smit depicts a large boulder on a green auto, Laurie De Chiara’s ArtPort Kingston promises a stuffed yellow station wagon from Jeila Gueramian, and Z Behl & Kim Moloney of BALONEY have transformed a pickup into Piggies Undo the World.
Admission is free — for the public and the galleries and artists — and all the art is for sale. There will be several special events on Friday, with Gracie Mansion’s Buster Would Have Loved This offering visitors candy from a limo from 3:00 to 6:00, followed by a performance by Khoshbin, who will also be leading a participatory release ritual each day at noon.
“Let’s spit-the-bit and restore our mental health,” BravinLee advises.
Everyone is invited to come along for the ride for what should be a bevy of very cool cars.
[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]