This past weekend, March 4, 5 and 6, Frere Independent was pleased to present the Eighth Edition of the PooL Art Fair New York, at the Gershwin Hotel on East 27^th Street between Fifth Avenue and Madison. The Vernissage on March 4, featured performances by DJ Alkamine + a Live Concert by Nico’s Gun as well as a performance piece by special guest artist and PooL exhibitor Clarina Bezzola.  We would like to thank DJ Alkamine, Nico’s Gun, and party host Joe Grazi for a great evening. Furthermore we wuld like to extend our gratitude to special guest artists for an engaging performance. And we would also like to thank artist Steven Gagnon’s for his installation “Border Cruiser” out front of the hotel during the Vernissage, as well as his Gallerist Kathleen Vance of Front Room Gallery.

PooL Art Fair takes place concurrently with The Armory Show, the art world’s annual premier showcase in the New York City. Unlike other fairs, which privilege gallery representation, PooL represents a unique format where artists interact directly with the public, press and art world insiders, as well as each others during a three day fair. Each artist or group of artists use a hotel room to present their work directly to visitors.

Frere Independent would like to extend our thanks to Sammi and the Thompson Hotel for assisting with and hosting a special trailer screening an panel discussion of the documentary ‘Ink Black’ by Zulema Griffin on Saturday March 5, at the Thompson Hotel.  As always we want to thank our own General Counsel, Thomas Bark and Christine Jenkins for her work with VIP Relations.

A most special thanks to all of the participating artists: William Pittman Andrews, Matt Bahen, Amanda Nedham, Claudie Bastide, Clarina Bezzola, Deborah Brown, Liz-N-Val, Adam John Taye, Taleen Berberian, Bernard J. Klevickas, Jeffrey Allen Price, Cigdem Tankut, Gulsen Calik, Bob Clyatt, Rori DuBoff, Tracey Kessler, Ellen Hackl Fagan, James Edwin Hall, dirquo nyc / ++ (Jay Paavonpera), Xanda McCagg, George Pappas, Michael Piergrossi, Yadir Quintana, Sara Conca, Aiva, Thierry Alet, Maria-Gracia Donoso, Dan Pottick, Lola Morishita, Marina Reiter, Birgit Sandoval, Elizabeth Sowell-Zak, Judy Rifka, John D. Monteith, Max Langhurst, BTA, Chambliss Giobbi, Sadie Weis, Christopher Lee, Tara Misenheimer, Agni Zotis, Robert Strati, Ruben Talberg, Benito, Heather  Van Uxem, Jason Swift, Borinquen Gallo, Erol Gunduz, Sossie Vanek, Fernando Velazquez, Nina Yankowitz, Andrew Vomhof, Donald Weiss, Gulay Alpay, Cesar Arechinga, Ramadam Karim, Jeanette Uldall. A special thanks also to participating Curator Savannah Spirit and Gallerist Alison Pierz, as well of all of our international artists who traveled to New York from overseas.

All of the artists presented engaging pieces creating a stimulating environment incorporating a variety of media ranging from photography and painting, three dimensional interactive installations, to sculpture.

We are pleased with the positive press and testimonials from our participating artists and congratulate those who sold work during the fair.

We look forward to seeing you all at the upcoming PooL Art Fair Guadeloupe this coming June.

Before 2011, Color Giclee print back mounted, framed in white, acrylic front.

Who Can I Be Now?
Exhibition Statement:
“The genesis of this self-portrait series is the David Bowie song, Who Can I Be Now? recorded in 1975 but not available until a later version of the Young Americans CD was released in 1991. With the idea being to extrapolate a personal visual journey with lyrics from the song as signifiers, images formed around the conundrum of gender identity and feminism coupled with the theatrics of personal history and meaning. I explored the phenomenon of memetics that identifies the “meme” as the mental equivalent of the “gene” suggesting that cultural transfers of information are just as influential as DNA on persona. My grandmother’s girdle, my father’s football helmet and even my own daughter are in conversation with the past, present and future in a singular moment; allowing me to explore particularly a self that I both imagine and recognize at once.”
Contemporary American photographer Leslie Lyons (b. 1966) uses a unique sensibility to create dynamic portraits that are inspired by and reflect pop culture imagery and the phenomenon of celebrity. Lyons earned a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and has photographed for such publications as The New York Times, Vibe, and Life Magazine. Her work was recently featured in the coffee table book, ‘NERVE: The New Nude,’ published by Chronicle Books. Her work has also been included in exhibitions at Land of Tomorrow Gallery, Louisville, KY (2011-12); Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, New Orleans, LA (2011); and the Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery at the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA (2011). In 2009, Art Directors Club in New York City held a solo show of her photographs.

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The simple, modest approach of the PooL Art Fair offers an exciting alternative to the “Art Fair” experience for dealers and collectors as well as the general public. PooL’s purpose is to create a meeting ground for outstanding artists, primarily those who do not yet have gallery representation. Contemporary art dealers, artist agents, emerging galleries, artists’ collectives, and non-profit organizations are also invited to apply to participate as exhibitors. The fair serves as an invaluable resource for the artistic community and the general public.

Our organization is committed to present to the world, talented artists that either do not yet have representation or are unrepresented at any of the events during The Armory Show week. Frère Independent offers artists the opportunity to be a part of the unique and important cultural environment that manifests during that week in March. It is also an opportunity for gallery owners, curators and other art enthusiasts to discover artists that are not shown in the other art fairs. Finally, artists are able to sell works while expanding their network as well as receiving invitations to exhibit or create site-specific works.

We select artists whose works are original, and challenging. Exhibiting artists use hotel guest rooms to display their work creating a unique and personal setting. We ask that they share with the public their most recent works.

Deadline for application to PooL Art Fair is FEBRUARY 5th, 2012.
Contact:
Frere Independent
NYC : + 1 (646) 827 9205
Paris Fixe: +33 (0) 1 48 07 22 92
Guadeloupe Fixe: +590 590 98 66 79
Guadeloupe Mobile: +590 690 41 86 80

PooL Art Fair is organized by Frère Independent, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation.  149 West 24th Street, suite 3A, New York NY 10011, Tel: (212) 604-0519

BEFORE by Leslie Lyons

The work of Austrian psychiatrist, Wilhelm Reich, is at the foundation of my investigation as a contemporary artist with the extraction of a singular theme from Reich’s research; Individualism is the means by which to free ourselves not only from the perils of a tyrannical societal construct but also from our own emotional pain. Specifically Reich’s phrase, ‘Your depths are your great future,’ propel me forward toward the exploration and presentation of those depths.

Believing that individualism can be achieved and maintained within an overwhelming social mosaic I use fashion, song lyrics and other culturally experiential data to contextualize persona and identity. My photographs and works in video employ direct concepts from both Reich’s clinical work as a psychiatrist and his teachings as an activist, funneling Reichian notions such as “body language” and “character structure” through pop culture to arrive at an awareness of self and place within modern society.

Moving in two distinct directions, I am producing projects that involve collaborations with the general public to present a calculated, collective perspective while, at the same time and through a specific self-portrait series, investigating the use of my own body and personal history. Reich’s celebration of the “little man” (all of us, the people) speaks to my work with the public, specifically strangers to me, skewing the notion of “public art” as something people help create rather than simply observe. Conversely, the self-portrait series challenges me to address those depths Reich points to within myself to continuously rediscover who I am.

Time Traveling with Lyrics

Exhibition Statement

The genesis of this self-portrait series is the David Bowie song, Who Can I Be Now? recorded in 1975 but not available until a later version of the Young Americans CD was released in 1991. With the idea being to extrapolate a personal visual journey with lyrics from the song as signifiers, images formed around the conundrum of gender identity and feminism coupled with the theatrics of personal history and meaning. I explored the phenomenon of memetics that identifies the “meme” as the mental equivalent of the “gene” suggesting that cultural transfers of information are just as influential as DNA on persona. My grandmother’s girdle, my father’s football helmet and even my own daughter are in conversation with the past, present and future in a singular moment; allowing me to explore particularly a self that I both imagine and recognize at once.

Copyright Lambert Fine Arts New York

Lambert Fine Arts is pleased to announce the opening reception of Identity Crisis, a collaborative exhibition of mixed media craftsmen Brandon Friend and Jason Douglas Griffin on Friday, November 11th from 7-10pm.

Identity Crisis is an internal conflict of and search for identity. In their coming exhibition, Brandon Friend and Jason Douglas Griffin explore this conflict through individual and collaborative portraits of social uprising and self-determination.

Friend and Griffin use mediated pop culture imagery as the foundation for their iconic characters – depersonalized representations of authority in situations of conflict. Friend’s Defenders and Griffin’s Ninjas question traditional social power structures using familiar characters that challenge viewers to position themselves on multiple sides of an implied conflict. The loosely narrative images offer no conclusions as to which parties actually are the defenders or those being defended, which are batting down and which are unleashed to stealthily fight on the side of truth. However, the reality of a larger cause is essential to this work which asks the public to question the sources, content, and fallout of the barrage of mediated information, and in turn to collectively rise above the desire for immediate satisfaction of individual needs for the good of the collective. Ultimately, the work poses the challenge of the Ninja/Defender – the viewer can choose whether they will collaborate.

This call to collaboration is at the center of the Identity Crisis addressed by both the Ninjas and Defenders Series, which use anonymity as a vehicle for collective engagement. The Defenders present images of concrete moments of faceless opponents in ambiguous conflict, asking the viewers to decide which side is which, and which side they would stand on. The Ninjas are composites, oppressors or the oppressed, created with and determined by viewers who have submitted images of themselves via social media outlets to be used discriminately as subject matter – to be ‘Ninjafied’. Both series converge on the moment of action, when decision is necessary, and ask the viewer to rise in response.

A Gentleman’s Game, a large-scale joint piece showing a Ninja and Defender playing a game of chess, seizes the window of Lambert Fine Arts and extends onto the walls, inviting public engagement with Identity Crisis. Inside are Friend’s Defenders, images of riot police created through collage of myriad layers of imprinted material on canvas and board, that reference topography, archaeology, and sculpture as much as traditional painting and drawing. Standing shoulder to shoulder with the Defenders are Griffin’s Ninjas, mixed-media works that bring transfers, stencils, line drawing, gestural and flat areas of abstraction into a spatial face-off. On hand will be an arsenal of collaborative pieces, combining the stratospheric, dream-like intensity of the defenders with the decisive, graphic and linear humor of the ninjas. These collaborations, in dialogue with the individual series, present the Ninjas and Defenders as icons of a cinematic scope in an epic narrative of opposition.

-Text by Rachel Meuler

About the Gallery:

Lambert Fine Arts occupies the unique and quirky landmark Fusion Arts Museum, beautifully reflecting the funky, innovative, and provocative nature of contemporary Urban Arts. With multi-cultural artists using a multi-media approach, the artists and performers at Lambert Fine Arts demonstrate a contemporary sophistication in their use of new media, modern technology, and complex symbolic imagery to engage viewers in a progressive and compelling social critique.

Lambert Fine Arts Presents:

Brandon Friend & Jason Douglas Griffin – Identity Crisis

November 11 – December 6th, 2011

Opening Reception: Friday November 11, 7-10pm

57 Stanton Street (at Eldridge) NY, NY 10002

212-353-2788/ info@lambertfinearts.com

F to 2nd Ave | JMZ to Essex St | D to Grand

Gallery Hours: Tues – Sun 1-8pm

Alison Pierz, last photo on west 25th street

Alison Pierz is the founder and director of StandPipe Gallery and Projects. StandPipe opened it’s West 25^th Street, Chelsea location in December, 2010 with a program dedicated to contemporary abstract painting.

Pierz’s association with Frère Independent began as a public relations assistant to Director. Her diverse background in the arts includes a degree in design from Pratt Institute as well as several years in the decorative arts field where she worked alongside numerous talented fine art painters developing relationships with artists that would translate into future StandPipe collaborations.

Throughout 2011 StandPipe Gallery has showcased a series of solo painting exhibitions with a forays into other areas including conceptual work and Thierry Alet’s Amistad installation in April. Alison also invited guest curators to collaborate on two group shows, notably this past summer’s  Fresh Paint From Bushwick, curated by painter and Bushwick neighborhood champion, Deborah Brown which resulted in tremendous attention from both the public and press.

StandPipe has exhibited other Frère Independent alumni including, Olivié Ponce (Open Portfolio, New York, 2010) and Xanda McCagg (PooL Art Fair Miami, 2010 and New York ,2011). Alison also curated a group show of artists for the 2011 PooL Art Fair in New York .

StandPipe closed it’s 25^th Street doors at the end of October as Alison takes StandPipe Projects in a new direction. She will be stepping up the gallery’s online presence and available flat file inventory and is most excited about a series of planned exhibitions where she will be acting as guest curator under the StandPipe banner. Several group exhibitions are in the works, as well as an installation collaboration with StandPipe artist Taney Roniger. Working outside the limitations of a specific site will allow experimentation and diversity and a chance to expand the program into different media, a process begun in the group show, Taking Shape, which featured sculpture and photography as well as painting.

The “Projects” are a step in the growing process as Alison and her partner and husband Michael Bowen, seek and future brick and mortar home for StandPipe and it’s roster of talented artists.

Map of the fairs in Miami Beach

We are very excited to announce that PooL Art Fair Miami Beach is now the closest Exhibition to the Convention Center.  We have moved the show to The Sadigo Court, 334 20^th Street at Park Ave.  Here are some of the advantages of our new location:

-       Lower participation fee for artists – to as low as 500.00 USD

-       Offer suites of 600SF+ instead of room of 187SF

-       1 block from Art Basel

-       In main area of activities (Other fairs, Bass Museum, Sagamore Art Hotel)

We are very excited with the location, this year’s selection of artists and our program.

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PooL Art Fair Miami Beach

2, 3 & 4 December 2011

Daily 3PM to 10PM

NOW THE CLOSEST SHOW TO THE MAIN FAIR

Vernissage by Invitation only

Friday December 2^nd

5pm to 10:30pm

Thierry Alet, Artist & Founder Frere Independent

Frere Independent is proud to present its new website.Please visit www.frereindependent.com at your convenience.

As our presence in the art world evolved over the years we wanted a website that better reflects the variety of ways we bring art to the people. We have also greatly participated in artists careers as some of them go from PooL Art Fair hotel rooms to the MoMA. Frere Independent is an international organization with specific goals in the US and in the French Caribbean. In the US office based in New York our organization’s primary goal is to promote artists in the market place. We implement this with the acclaimed PooL Art fair in New York, Miami and Guadeloupe. We also strategically produce unique events such as Open Portfolio at the Chelsea Art Museum in New York and at Slick Art Fair in Paris.

In the French Caribbean, the office of Guadeloupe plays a critical role in the upbringing of Contemporary Art that Mr. Alet presents as “Post Colonial” art. PooL Art Fair Guadeloupe, T&T Art Contemporain gallery, and Prix Michel Rovélas are some of the ways to implement this mission.

We wanted a site that also echoes the vibrant energy and talent of the artists and associates we served throughout the years. The blog format allows us to quickly publish articles and news and make them known via subscription and facebook instantly. The option for readers to leave comments will extend, on occasion, the discussion beyond a simple post.

While the US blog (Frereindependentus.wordpress) features articles on artists and associates we worked with, The French Caribbean blog also features articles that engage post colonial contemporary art. There, we welcome all articles that engage the place of Caribbean in the international art world dominated by western culture. The use of the words “post colonial” is not  to be read as an opposition between the Caribbean and the West. It is the expression of a geopolitical environment inherited from history and inextricable from the discourse of art practice in these regions.

We count on all of you to make this website a success and to extend the influence of Frère Independent. You are all invited to leave comments and submit  articles to be published.

FRANÇAIS

Frère Independent est fier de présenter son nouveau site web. Vous pouvez d’ores et déjà le visiter à www.frereindependent.com

Au fil des ans, notre présence  dans le monde de l’art a évolué et nous voulons maintenant un site qui reflète mieux la diversité et l’impact de nos actions. Nous rapprochons l’art des gens et participons au développement de carrière d’artistes. Dans ce but nous avons créé la PooL Art Fair un salon d’artiste annuel lancé en 2004 à New York. Certains de nos exposants ont maintenant leurs oeuvres accrochées au MoMA (Museum of Modern Art New York).

Frère Independent est une organisation internationale avec des objectifs sensiblement différents aux États-Unis et dans la Caraïbe. Aux États-Unis, l’objectif des bureaux de New York est de promouvoir les artistes internationaux sur le marché de l’art principalement avec PooL Art Fair. Le salon se tient avec succès aussi à Miami. Nous produisons aussi des expositions ciblées telles que Open Portfolio au Musée d’Art de Chelsea, et à Slick Art Fair Paris.

Dans la Caraïbes, le bureau de la Guadeloupe joue un rôle essentiel dans le développement de ce que  Mr. Alet, Fondateur de Frère Independent, présente comme  l’art contemporain post colonial; PooL Art Fair Guadeloupe, la galerie T&T Art Contemporain, le Prix Michel Rovélas font partie des outils de développement  créés  par Frère Independent.

Nous voulons un site qui fasse aussi écho à l’énergie vibrante et au talent des artistes et exposants que nous avons rencontrés lors de  nos missions à New York, Miami, Paris ou Guadeloupe… Nous avons choisi le format de blog pour ce site parce qu’il nous permet de diffuser instantanément les articles et les informations via Facebook et emails aux abonnés. D’autre part. la possibilité pour le lecteur de laisser des commentaires permet d’élargir le débat au-delà de la simple publication.

Frereindependent.com vous dirige vers 2 sites distincts; Le blog US (Frereindependentus.wordpress) est consacré aux artistes et alliés de frère Independent.

Le blog FR (Frereindependent.wordpress) présente des articles qui interrogent l’art contemporain post colonial. Il n’est pas question ici de lier l’art aux rapports de puissance mais d’interroger la voix et la place à l’art de nos régions. Où est la Caraïbe dans le monde de l’art international dominé par les pays occidentaux? L’utilisation du terme «post colonial» n’est pas  une opposition entre la Caraïbe et l’Occident. C’est l’expression d’un environnement géopolitique hérité de l’histoire, indissociable du discours de la pratique artistique dans cette région.

Nous comptons sur vous pour contribuer au succès du site et de nos entreprises grâce a vos interventions. Nous vous invitons à laisser des commentaires et à nous soumettre des articles à publier.

StandPipe Gallery, 150 W. 25^th St., Manhattan, presents Fresh Paint from Bushwick, a group show of new work by emerging painters centered around the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. Highlighting a wide range of abstract and figurative approaches, featured artists are Gina Beavers, Holly Coulis, Halsey Hathaway, Rachel LaBine, Kerry Law, Adam Simon and Josette Urso. The exhibition, curated by Deborah Brown, will run from Friday, August 12^th to Friday, September 2. An opening reception will take place at the gallery on Thursday, August 11, from 6-8PM.  All are invited.

Adam Simons

The Corrosive Effect of Scrutiny

Acrylic on Aluminum

Halsey Hathaway

Antibodies

Acrylic on Canvas

Josette Urso

So Through

Oil on Panel

Rachel LaBine

Untitled  

Acrylic and Oil on Masonite

Kerry Law

Sea 1, Coney Island

Oil on Canvas

Holly Coulis

Onions 

Oil on Linen