this week in art

JOHN BOTTE: THE 9/11 PHOTOGRAPHS

John Botte, “Sept. 12, 2001, 8:00 am” (© John Botte)

Gallery at Calumet
22 West 22nd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves., second floor
Daily through September 24; artist reception September 11, 3:00 – 7:00
www.cvent.com
www.morrisonhotelgallery.com

Deep, dark, and intense, John Botte stares ahead with eyes that have seen and experienced too much, belying his otherwise youthful appearance. On September 11, 2001, Botte was an NYPD detective assigned to Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik’s inner circle. When they got the call about the attacks on the World Trade Center, they rushed to Ground Zero, among the many heroic first responders who risked their lives to help save others during that unimaginable tragedy. Botte, who has been snapping photographs since he was a small boy, was authorized by Kerik to document what was happening, so he took out his ever-present Leica Rangefinder and spent the next few days and months taking remarkable black-and-white photographs, twenty of which are currently on view at the Gallery at Calumet on West 22nd St. through September 24. Being shown to the public for the first time at this size — smaller prints were previously exhibited only once before, in Germany, and have appeared in two books, 2006’s Aftermath and the brand-new collection The 9/11 Photographs, but Botte insisted that this time “they have to be big” — the stunning large-scale works capture poignant, emotional, intimate moments that will flood viewers with memories, inviting them to step inside and remember. “There was no time for grief,” Botte recalled after being dispatched by Kerik, a collector of his work, to take pictures of the scene. “You’re just a machine with the camera.”

John Botte’s 9/11 photographs invite visitors to step inside and remember (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

The exhibit, curated by Timothy White and organized by Peter Blachley and the Morrison Hotel Gallery, consists of beautifully composed photos that depict such powerful sights as a distraught cop leaning on a blue police barricade, his head hung in horror; three workers raising the American flag, recalling the famous Iwo Jima image; a group of men in white protective outfits sweeping through endless debris; and Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen, Kerik, Senator Charles Schumer, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, President George W. Bush, Congressman Jerry Nadler, and Governor George Pataki surveying the damage. One of the most compelling of the photos, and the one that resonates the most with Botte, shows the smoking, twisted metal atop the pile, taken three hundred feet up. Although Botte is proud that his photographs are part of the tenth-anniversary commemoration of 9/11, it’s been a particularly rough decade for him. “I’m a dead man walking,” he said, alluding to the lung disease he developed after working at Ground Zero and that is slowly killing him. He retired from the force in 2003, his wife left him and took their daughter, and he now spends more than half of his pension on health care. As he walks around the exhibit another time, he is almost like a ghost, but his inner strength and spirit still survives in the unforgettable photos he took ten years ago. On September 11, Botte will be at the Gallery at Calumet for a special opening reception from 3:00 to 7:00; prints of his photographs are available in several sizes, with all proceeds going to the DEA Widows’ and Children’s Fund.

THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE 1967-1975

Angela Davis speaks out about the Black Power movement in compelling documentary

THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE 1967-1975 (Göran Hugo Olsson, 2011)
IFC Center, 323 Sixth Ave. at Third St., 212-924-7771
Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, 1886 Broadway at 63rd St., 212-757-2280
Opens Friday, September 9
www.blackpowermixtape.com

From 1967 to 1975, a group of more than two dozen Swedish journalists came to America to document the civil rights movement. More than thirty years later, director and cinematographer Göran Hugo Olsson discovered hours and hours of unused 16mm footage — the material was turned into a program shown only once in Sweden and seen nowhere else — and developed it into The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, a remarkable visual and aural collage that focuses on the Black Panthers and the Black Power movement, a critical part of American history that has been swept under the rug. Olsson and Hanna Lejonqvist have seamlessly edited together startlingly intimate footage of such seminal figures as Eldridge Cleaver, Bobby Seale, Huey P. Newton, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Stokely Carmichael, including a wonderfully personal scene in which Carmichael interviews his mother on her couch. But the star of the film is the controversial political activist Angela Davis, who allowed the journalists remarkable access, particularly in a jailhouse interview shot in color. (Most of the footage is in black and white.) Davis also adds contemporary audio commentary, sharing poignant insight about that tumultuous period, along with Abiodun Oyewole of the Last Poets, singer Erykah Badu, professor, poet, and playwright Sonia Sanchez, Roots drummer Ahmir Questlove Thompson (who also composed the film’s score with Om’Mas Keith), and rapper Talib Kweli, who discusses specific scenes in the film with a thoughtful grace and intelligence. The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 is an extraordinary look back at a crucial moment in time that has long been misunderstood, if not completely forgotten. The filmmakers will be at the IFC Center for the 8:15 and 10:20 shows on Friday and Saturday night to talk about the work. In conjunction with the film’s opening, Third Streaming at 10 Greene St. is hosting an art exhibition through October 15 featuring film stills and additional footage from The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975. And for more on the Black Power movement, the Maysles Institute in Harlem will be holding the third annual Black Panther Party Film Festival from September 30 through October 8; this year’s theme is “Remembering Our Political Prisoners,” celebrating the forty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the party.

OTHERWORLDLY: OPTICAL DELUSIONS AND SMALL REALITIES

David Lawrey and Jaki Middleton, “Consolidated Life,” timber, paint, aluminum, glass, polyurethane, polymer clay, felt, cardboard, velvet, light-emitting diodes, gatorboard, motor, wire, and electronics, 2010 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Museum of Arts & Design
2 Columbus Circle at 58th St. & Broadway
Tuesday – Sunday through September 18, $15 (pay-what-you-wish Thursdays & Fridays 6:00 – 9:00)
212-299-7777
www.madmuseum.org

It’s a small world, after all, at the Museum of Arts & Design, where the charming multifloor exhibition “Otherworldly: Optical Delusions and Small Realities” continues through September 18. Divided into such sections as “Unnatural Nature,” “Apocalyptic Archaeology,” “Dreams and Memories,” and “Voyeur/Provocateur,” the show, which brings huge smiles to visitors both big and small, focuses on two types of miniature art: works that are self-contained and models that are designed in order to make photographs that mimic life-size reality in fascinating ways. Joe Fig goes inside the art world itself, re-creating in marvelous detail Chuck Close’s studio, Jackson Pollock throwing paint on a floor canvas, and his own studio, in which he can be seen constructing the very piece he is in. Amy Bennett’s impossibly tiny doctor’s office includes a waiting room, an examination room, and a diagnosis room, all populated by patients and physicians going about their business. Walter Martin creates wintry scenes inside snow globes. David Lawrey and Jaki Middleton offer a delightful peak inside an empty insurance office in “Consolidated Life.” And Charles Matton projects ghostly images inside “Bibliotheque avec un souvenir d’Anna.” One of the most compelling works is Liliana Porter’s “Man with Axe,” in which the titular character has smashed up a wide variety of items, including porcelain figures, ladders, and clocks, essentially stopping time, a kind of microcosm for the exhibit as a whole. While those works stand on their own, other installations question the nature of art and reality in that they were created primarily to be turned into reality-defying photographs and videos. In many cases, if you look at the pictures first, you would not be able to tell that they are photos of miniatures, from Lori Nix’s “Beauty Shop” and Matton’s “Rhinoceros: Homage to Eugene Ionesco” to Peter Feigenbaum’s “187.1” and Oliver Boberg’s “Slum 1.” In addition, Chris Levine’s “My Deep SEE Adventure” and Mat Collishaw’s “Garden of Unearthly Delights” incorporate light and motion into the equation in dizzying ways. “Otherworldly” is a lot more than just a collection of cute, interesting dollhouses; it is a well-curated survey of genre-defining and –defying multimedia works and site-specific installations that challenge viewers to reconsider what they see and how they process that information, all while offering a whole lot of fun. (Also on view at MAD now is “Stephen Burks | Are You a Hybrid?” through October 2 and “Flora and Fauna, MAD About Nature” through November 6.)

MUSEUMS ON US

The Bronx Zoo is one of several New York City institutions offering free admission to Bank of America / Merrill Lynch cardholders today

Bank of America, which received tens of billions of dollars from the federal government (er, taxpayers) in the bailout and its acquisition of Merrill Lynch, is the sponsor of the Museums on Us program, which offers free admission the first full weekend (Saturday and Sunday) of every month to Bank of America / Merrill Lynch cardholders. Just present a photo ID and a valid BofA/ML debit or credit card for one free general admission to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Bronx Zoo, the New York Aquarium, El Museo del Barrio, the International Center of Photography, the Museum of the City of New York, the New York Hall of Science, and the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. Just be sure to double check with the individual institutions to confirm the deal is in place (and that the museums are indeed open) before you go.

XU BING: THE LIVING WORD

Chinese characters morph into birds in Xu Bing’s site-specific installation at the Morgan (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Morgan Library & Museum
225 Madison Ave. at 36th St.
Tuesday – Sunday through October 2, $10-$15 (free Friday 7:00 – 9:00)
212-685-0008
www.themorgan.org
the living word slideshow

Language, politics, history, and the journey toward enlightenment come together in delightful, meaningful ways in Xu Bing’s “The Living Word 3,” on view in Renzo Piano’s bright, modern Gilbert Court atrium in the Morgan Library through October 2. The third iteration of the work, previously shown in slightly different versions at the Smithsonian in 2001 and at the seminal 1989 Chinese Avant-Garde exhibition at the National Art Gallery in Beijing, was designed specifically for this space, as accompanying preparatory drawings attest. On a white board on the gallery floor, contemporary Chinese characters spell out the dictionary definition of “bird” (niao): “vertebrate animal, warm-blooded, oviparous, lung breather, body covered in feathers, bipedal, forelimbs modified as wings, usually able to fly.” The letters then begin to fly off from the upper-left-hand corner, reaching toward the sky. As they continue up, they go backward in time, morphing from Mao’s simplified text into older, standardized Chinese writing and eventually into ancient pictographs representing the word “bird” (鸟) while also changing colors, resulting in a rainbow effect that is heightened when seen against the green leaves of the trees in the atrium. As Xu, who is based in New York and Beijing, explains, “Buddhists believe that ‘if you look for harmony in the living word, then you will be able to reach Buddha; if you look for harmony in lifeless sentences, you will be unable to save yourself.’ . . . My work and my method of thinking have been my search for the living word.” As the words take flight, they celebrate freedom while evoking the censorship so prevalent in modern China, as evidenced by the recent arrest of one of Xu’s contemporaries, Ai Weiwei. And the Morgan is a fitting place for the work, an institution devoted to writing, filled with so many classic texts, original musical scores, and historical documents that honor language. Among the other exhibitions on view at the Morgan right now are the excellent “Jim Dine: The Glyptotek Drawings” (through September 4), the fun “Lists: To-dos, Illustrated Inventories, Collected Thoughts, and Other Artists’ Enumerations from the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art” (October 2), and “Illuminating Fashion: Dress in the Art of Medieval France and the Netherlands” (September 4).

STEINUNN THÓRARINSDÓTTIR: BORDERS

Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir’s life-size sculptures fill Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza
47th St. between First & Second Aves.
Through September 30, free
www.nycgovparks.org
borders slideshow

Despite warnings to evacuate or at least stay inside during Hurricane Irene’s attack on the tristate area, more than two dozen figures continued to fill Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza all weekend long — and don’t plan on moving till the end of September. For “Borders,” Icelandic artist Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir has created twenty-six site-specific life-size sculptures of androgynous beings, thirteen silver aluminum statues facing thirteen rust-colored cast-iron replicas, standing, sitting on benches, and kneeling throughout the park. Thórarinsdóttir, who has installed such public works as “Horfur (Prospect)” and “Rætur” in her native Reykjavik and the expansive “Horizons” at Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park in Illinois, breathes unique life into each pair, with the figures crossing their arms as if concerned about something, walking toward each other in potential conversation, kneeling in supplication, or covering their nether regions, which are empty anyway. The works recall Antony Gormley’s “Event Horizon,” which took over Madison Square Park and surrounding Flatiron District buildings last year, thirty-one representations of Gormley himself, but whereas those were all identical (and mostly on rooftops), each pair of Thórarinsdóttir’s figures are different, fraught with emotion that makes visitors want to approach them, sit next to them, and help them with their problems. The opposing figures also provide a kind of guarded path that goes past the Japan Society and alongside the Katharine Hepburn Garden as it leads toward the United Nations at the east end. “Borders” is an engaging, welcoming exhibition that is well worth making a special trip for.

CANCELED: AFRO-PUNK FESTIVAL 2011

Das Racist was supposed close Saturday’s Afro-Punk Festival on the Bites&Beats Stage, but the two-day festival has now been canceled because of the hurricane

Commodore Barry Park
Park Ave., Navy St., Flushing Ave. & North Eliot Pl., Brooklyn
Saturday, August 27, and Sunday, August 28, free, 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
www.afropunk.com
www.nycgovparks.org

[ed note: We have just gotten word on Friday at 11:00 am that both days of the Afro-Punk Festival have been canceled, with further information on possible rescheduling to come.]

With the approach of Hurricane Irene, most outdoor events in the city taking place on Sunday have been canceled in advance, but as of this writing the seventh annual Afro-Punk Festival is on for both days this weekend, with an amazing lineup of acts and special activities. Held in Commodore Barry Park in Brooklyn, the free festivities include live performances on Saturday by Ninjasonik, Bad Rabbits, Reggie Watts, Gordon Voidwell, Toro y Moi, Gym Class Heroes, Das Racist, and Santigold, with Sunday’s roster highlighted by Cerebral Ballzy, Kenna, Fishbone, Res, Janelle Monae, Joi, Tamar-kali, Toshi Reagon and BIGLovely, and Cee Lo Green as well as lots of the city’s hottest DJs. There will be a market with booths from the Brooklyn Circus, Coup D’etat, Harriet’s Alter Ego, Freedom Star, Nakimul, Daf.Nei, Montgomery, Metal Taboo, Hot Trash Vintage, Noir A-Go Go, and more, and the Bites & Beats Food Trucks will feature noshes from such mobile eateries as Joyride, Mexicue, Cookies n Cream, Frites ‘n’ Meats, Desi, Two Pitas in a Pod, Rickshaw Dumpling, Kelvin Natural Slush, Taim, Eddie’s Pizza, Bian Dang, Green Pirate Juice, Schnitzel & Things, and Wooly’s Ice. And hotshots will fight it out in the Nike Battle for the Streets Skate and BMX Competition, with Nigel Sylvester and P-Rod on hand. Meanwhile, artists such as Coby Kennedy, Alice Mizrachi, Toofly, Rimx, Rob Fokused, Rip Josama, Baja Uk Weli, Lichiban, and See One will contribute to a wall mural over a large-scale photograph of Afro-punk kids taken by Barron Claiborne, and the Afro-Punk Denim & Chrome Custom Bike Show & Calendar Shoot will collect some awesome rides.