Salon des Refusés de las Bibliothèque de Brooklyn OPENING THURSDAY FEBRUARY 22, 2007 AT 5:30PM Freddy's Bar & Backroom 485 Dean Street (corner 6Ave and Dean) Brooklyn, NY 11217 (718) 622-7035
Faith Gabel	Donald O'Finn
Donald O'Finn	Margot Sindelman
Sarah Sagarin	Amy Greer
Deo
Feb 22nd to March 29th In the summer of 2006 a group of Brooklyn artists were asked to create work inspired by the section of Prospect Heights slated for demolition to make way for Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project. The curators of the show, Dan Sagarin and Belle Benefield, put out a call for portraits of the residents, images of the landscape, and conceptual interpretations of the buildings and sidewalks that many of these artists call home. The goal was not to take a stand on what has become a heated and divisive political issue, but to document the neighborhood as it is now and explore the issues surrounding development. The results were brought together in Footprints: Portrait of a Brooklyn Neighborhood. The show, comprised of paintings, drawings, photography, video, sculpture and installation, made it clear that what stood in the footprint of this massive development project was actually a dynamic, diverse, thriving neighborhood. After a well-attended November run at Grand Space in Prospect Heights, the show was picked up by the Brooklyn Public Library, and re-curated, excluding pieces that they deemed too "political" or "abstract", thereby altering Dan and Belle's original vision. Mr. Saragin said in response "I was hurt when I learned that, if we wanted to exhibit at the library, some of our artists, including my sister, would not be represented. I knew that I wanted to go ahead with it anyway, and that I would have to tell some of our strongest artists that they were out." The Brooklyn Paper reported last September that the library was trying to get Bruce Ratner to fund its new arts branch. When questioned about the show, the Library told the NY Observer "As a modern library, our mission is to provide free and open access to information for all library patrons through many resources..." "I think the Library's fear of addressing any real dialogue about the project, is a reflection of their own political stand in support of it, due to their own desires for financial support. I believe some of the strongest pieces in the original show were omitted because they questioned the plausibility of public good from the Ratner project and did not want to be associated with anything critical of a wealthy patron, it was not based on aesthetics. I invite anyone to come make your own decision." Donald O'Finn Rejected Artist. In the spirit of the Alternative Salon* and with the goal of displaying all the work from the original Footprints show at the same time, Donald O'Finn, artist and manager of Freddy's bar presents http://therealestate.observer.com/2007/02/atlantic-yards-without-the-controversy.html http://dddb.net/php/latestnews_Linked.php?id=526

Fred's Artists

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