by Larry Walczak

On Friday the 13th  of October gallery goers will be treated to a different kind of exhibition/installation titled "We Are Our Own Art History" by artist/writer Loren Munk.  Munk, a Brooklyn resident of nearly thirty years, has created an installation of documentation, participation and a kind of performance that focuses on the evolution & workings of the visual art community of Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  The installation can be found at Dam Stuhltrager Gallery at 38 Marcy Ave. in Williamsburg & will run through November 13.



WE ARE OUR OWN ART HISTORY (work-in-progress), Loren Munk

     Some know Munk as "the guy on the bike that takes pictures at all the openings".

And he has been doing just that for some eight years now, socializing, looking and documenting openings and exhibitions through a collection of invites, press releases and snapshots. He was one of the first to regularly review the so-called second wave of Williamsburg galleries under his pen name James Kalm for publications like NY Arts and later The Brooklyn Rail.  Munk admits that this installation is a culmination of a "twelve year process of observing the evolution of this community of artists". First and for-most, he sees this as an " educational installation with historical implications, a snapshot of a neighborhood now & recent past". Although he initially was interested in the (personal) business aspects of the Williamsburg art scene he became fascinated with the notion of an art scene or movement as a kind of organism that he wishes to dissect and examine. As a writer and artist he relishes delving into the history of the New York City art scene. He is interested in each  " major epic of artistic innovation-modernism, abstract expressionism, pop, the east village, etc.".  He enjoys the process of "tracing back to the neighborhoods of artists". This has manifested itself in his upcoming installation that promises to be a hodge-podge of finished layouts on board (see above reproduction)  that resemble a cross between a diagram and a circus poster with anticipated attachments of local paper ephemera and photographs. The final presentation will list names and studio address’ of hundreds of visual artists among other things.

     Before Munk’s fascination with the neighborhood,  New York magazine, in June of 1992, had pronounced Williamsburg "The New Bohemia" in a cover story by Brad Gooch that featured color photographs & articles in a splashy spread showcasing the underground scene as well as Annie Herron’e Test-Site, located on North 1st St., the first commercial gallery to open in Williamsburg.

     In 1998 UTNE magazine, a monthly collection of the best of alternative reporting, declared Williamsburg, Brooklyn as one of the "hippest neighborhoods in the United States". UTNE with editorial offices in Brooklyn also reported that Williamsburg "had the greatest concentration of (visual) artists per square mile(s) than anywhere in the world". It’s unsure how anyone can make such a statement but the quote quickly made the rounds in the neighborhood and seemed to empower artists and gallery folks alike. Sometime thereafter, however, Time Out New York magazine came out with their infamous "Williamsburg Party" issue showcasing a cover of young generic models whooping it up in some lounge. For many artists this spelled the end of life as they knew it on the Northside and the Southside.

WILLIAMSBURG TIMELINE-Ward Shelley 2002

      Munk’s focus on this neighborhood may call to mind artist Ward Shelley’s "Williamsburg Timeline" print completed in 2002. In fact, Munk credits himself with the first major review of it for NY Arts magazine in 2002. He goes on to say this print was one of the inspirations for his upcoming project. Shelley’s TIMELINE started as a drawing at eyewash gallery during the ELSEWHERE weekend of September 23-24, 2000. This was a highly successful two-day event featuring lectures, openings, performances etc. organized by the then consortium of 28 local galleries. An event that makes the current Williamsburg Gallery Association’s AFTERHOURS evenings pale by comparison. In any event, Shelley would construct his timeline listing galleries, performance venues, happenings, etc. and carry on a dialogue with on-looking local artists and make notes and notations as he constructed his large composition. Folks videotaped and photographed the artist as he pushed himself at the drawing table, talking and drawing & talking and drawing. Shelley set-up shop once again later at Perry Hoberman’s so-called "cranky space" on North 9th St.  This served as an open call for last chances for artist/resident input.  "Last chance to kibbutz" stated an invite Shelley sent out in hopes of enlisting final notations and future sales of the then proposed print.  Although my attempts to get Brooklyn Museum of Art to purchase the drawing for their permanent collection failed (Charlotta Kotik, curator of contemporary art came and perused it carefully) they did eventually buy a print as did many local art personalities as it became something of an official document for the Williamsburg art scene ending its timeline at the year 2000.  
 

     It’s years later from the ELSEWHERE weekend, Angela Wyman’s Williamsburg Art Guide, Roberta Smith’s  1998 New York Times article "Brooklyn Haven for Artists"(the one that brought stretch limo’s waiting in tow in front of humble Williamsburg galleries) and the steady attention of the New York art press & collectors but Loren Munk continues to carry a keen optimism  about the future of  contemporary visual art in Williamsburg and Brooklyn in general. He sees the Brooklyn scene as "larger...more dynamic with increased professionalism across the board".  He declares that "Brooklyn has found a place in the food chain of the New York contemporary art world".  He further states "parts of it remain widely risky and edgy...it’s growth has provided a wider gambit for different types of visual art".

detail of WILLIAMS'BURG MEMORIAL 2002-2006-William Powhida

     William Powhida, another artist & writer, presented a very different view of the future of the Williamsburg art scene. This summer as part of an exhibition of large installations in an eyewash gallery exhibition titled "Big Stuff" that appeared at the Supreme Trading Project Space he created a huge tombstone as a send-off to the "dead art scene" of Williamsburg that among other things cited the directors of Roebling Hall Gallery as "dicks" (They have since deserted their Wythe Ave. exhibition space.) In an evening of performance that accompanied a busy opening reception that included no less than 15 local gallery directors he delivered his verbal eulogy to the neighborhood.  In his heart-of-hearts Powhida sees this art scene as out-of-steam & very "over". In all fairness one should keep in mind Powhida arrived in Brooklyn four years ago and never really experienced the Williamsburg art neighborhood in its more bustling times.

THE WILLIAM'SBURG MEMORIAL 2002-2006 -William Powhida, 2006

     Months ago ArtNet editor Walter Robinson insisted that writer Stephen Maine write a article on the state of Williamsburg art scene. Maine reluctantly solicited comments from various neighborhood art personalities in a column he titled "Whither Williamsburg?".  Many of the responses were predictable with current gallery directors defending their turf despite drop-offs in gallery attendance, L-Train nightmares, continued real estate dilemmas and ongoing defections to Chelsea. We may also have seen the end of Maine’s infrequent "Dateline: Brooklyn" column as it is rumored that Robinson feels that Brooklyn, Williamsburg in particular, is simply not that newsworthy these days.

     In the October issue of MODERN PAINTERS New York City art critic Jerry Saltz discuss’ in an article titled "No Next Chelsea" the very real future of not having a "one-stop art district" like Soho or, of course, Chelsea. He further goes on to discuss alternatives to this such as non-Manhattan neighborhoods but is quick to add "I’m not talking about Williamsburg, which is already too expensive for real growth".

INVASION OF THE ART SCHOOL GRADUATES-Nelson Bradley 2002

     Will Munk’s project be of interest to the ‘johnny-come-latelys’ (post 2000) of the Williamsburg art scene? Munk feels "..younger artists have no memory" & he maintains " you don’t know where you are going if you don’t know where you’ve been.  Memory = tools"that help solve some of the mysteries of contemporary culture".  Hopefully, many will go look at Munk’s installation out of pure curiosity. A larger question may be ‘will the pioneers of the neighborhood and the "old-guard" that regularly fill Pierogi Gallery’s openings check it out, or even care?’  When I mentioned Munk’s upcoming installation to an artist who wishes to remain anonomous, a resident of twenty years on the northside, she seemed apathetic and apparently never even heard of Dam Stuhltrager Gallery, the venue for Munk’s installation. Reviews and more importantly good old word-of-mouth can solve these problems and it will be revealing to learn of how Munk’s efforts are finally received.

detail-INVASION OF THE ART SCHOOL GRADUATES-Nelson Bradley

     Will Munk’s "We Are Our Own Art History" be seen as a kind of  FINAL TIMELINE and a last wave to an art neighborhood that may never be thought of as "special" again? Will viewers go visit as a kind of exercise purely in nostalgia?  A younger, untouched and innocent Williamsburg is remembered. Artist Fred Tomaselli a resident since 1985, says "It might have been a bit more special when it was being ignored by the art world. Marginal places are good for experimentation."  Artist Mary Ziegler agrees, she moved to the southside  with Greg Barsamian twenty years and says "It was a wider and freer place than the East Village or Soho and because of this it was fertile ground in many ways. The large abandoned spaces lent themselves well to overt and covert experimentation".  Artist and performer David Kramer set-up his studio in 1990 in Williamsburg & remembers "It was exciting when galleries like Ledis-Flam, Test-Site & Pierogi started doing shows & taking notice of everything going on around us...it gave me hope that I wasn’t entirely in a vacuum." He adds "I moved to Williamsburg to be an outsider from Manhattan & when I got here I found a whole bunch of outsiders who wanted to be with each other."  Artist David Brody also moved here in 1990 recalls "Yes, it was a special time here because it was non-competitive yet ambitious".  Ziegler adds "It might have been the largest concentration of artists anywhere but it was still a tight knit community". Artist & Musician Ken Butler, a resident of the neighborhood for some twenty years says "A genuine spirit of collaborative cooperation was the focus, and it was very stimulating to be a part of". Finally, Artist Daniel Rosenbaum, a sixteen year resident of the southside comments "Everyone knew everyone and acknowledged each other & the ego’s weren’t as pronounced because hey, you were in an edgy, possibly dangerous fairly unpopulated spot, so it behooved you to get real. There was some real talent around, and people had the time & place to develop it".

     Loren Munk’s "We Make Our Own Art History" begins October 13, 2006 with an opening reception between 7 & 9pm.  For additional information on dates & gallery hours go to www.damstuhltrager.com