Art Weekend I

September 9, 2023

Over a hundred artists and galleries are represented at two big shows downtown this weekend, namely The Independent 20th Century at Casa Cipriani and Art on Paper at Pier 36. No matter what you’re into, you’ll find some of it at these two venues. They both opened their doors to the public yesterday and drew big crowds, especially so the one on the Pier.

(l-r) Winfred Rembert; Andy Warhol; Alexander Calder & Vanuatu Totems.

The Independent offers a wide selection at Casa Cipriani located right next to the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. The space feels intimate yet not claustrophobic and the layout has an engaging maze-like feel to it. Without resorting to reading the show’s program, you never know what surprise lies around the next corner. There are some celebrity names here including Calder and Warhol, as well as some less famous artists whose work also hits with a powerful impact.

Winfred Rembert

One of them, Winfred Rembert, made his art on leather, carefully carving and painting it into something unique and compelling. As a young Black man growing up in the Jim Crow era South, he survived a near lynching and toiled for five years on a prison chain gang. He learned how to craft leather during his time inside and, many years later, used the skill to recreate vivid scenes from his life including from his time spent on the chain gang.

Gesti Tipici

Sergio Lombardi is represented by two walls of jumbo black and white silhouettes titled Gesti Tipici. Even without knowing a lick of Italian, these powerful portraits clearly express typical gestures of some famous people including legendary Cold Warriors JFK and Nikita Khrushchev. For one viewer, they also evoked the opening credits of James Bond movies from that era.

Purusha I and Purusha II

Brazilian artist Miguel dos Santos created stylized paintings and ceramic figures that evoke his country’s African and Indigenous traditions along with its European influences to convey a spiritual, almost religious, vibe. A pair of massive paintings, Purusha I & II, tower above the ceramic figures.

Coffee Seeks Its Own Level

Allan Wexler (3rd from Left above) reprised a 1990 performance art called Coffee Seeks Its Own Level. Four humans sat around a table, coffee cups in hand, the cups themselves connected to one another with rubber tubing. As they raised or lowered their cups, coffee flowed in or out depending on a cup’s position relative to the others. It was a silent, almost meditative performance with a couple dozen people looking on intently. At times the cups nearly ranneth over, but the operators were pretty good at keeping it mostly inside the cups. Some spilled onto the white tablecloth creating a physical artifact of the performance.

Emilio Cruz