Every second Saturday of the month in the shadow of the Staten Island Ferry, Staten Island's north shore hosts Second Saturday Staten Island Art Walk, a free art tour which includes galleries, community centers, studios and a book store/cafe featuring the works of local artists.
On a recent Second Saturday, I ventured around the area to see among other exhibits, the Femme Fatale exhibit at the SIABC Gallery (73 Wave Street) described as an exhibition "celebrating the temptress." The exhibition included mixed media (paintings and photographs), which were an interpretation of the theme by each artist, including Fern Metcalf's "Mujer del Puro," a vivid photograph of a woman taking part in Cuba's Fiesta del Fuego festival wearing an electric blue headdress and smoking a big cigar. Metcalf took the photograph on a recent artists' tour of art studios in Cuba and it is part of a larger solo exhibit on Cuba that she is working on. Another interesting work, "Elle V Jean" 2010, an acrylic on canvas by Erica DiNiso of an African-American woman surrounded by colorful figures that seemed to be falling around her head, which recalls the animated figures in Keith Haring's work. Also, at the SIABC Gallery is a solo exhibition called Guns and Flying Machines From the Steam-Powered Art Factory of large and small sculptures.
The Staten Island LGBT Community Center (25 Victory Boulevard) presents Four Friends, an exhibition of paintings by the artists Lorenzo Hail, Liz Marotti, Earl Horton and J. Montana. One painting that stood out for me was City View, a colorful, impressionistic interpretation of the New York City landscape by Earl Horton.
Other galleries taking part in Second Saturday include SICC, Art Lab, The Fishing Pier, CPG Gallery, Deep Tanks and Everything Goes Book Café and Neighborhood Stage. All of the current exhibits will be on display until May 2nd. In addition to the art exhibitions, Second Saturday Staten Island also includes poetry readings, a community drumming circle (celebrating the full moon on April 12th at Everything Goes Book Café), a dance work (Deep Tanks) and coming in June, Art By The Ferry, Gallery @139 Bay Street.
Now that the weather is nicer, take a picturesque trip on the Staten Island Ferry to the next Second Saturday Staten Island Art Walk and wear comfortable shoes.
Further information for upcoming events can be found at:
http://www.secondsaturdaystatenisland.org/
Sandra Kwesi Cameron is a writer who lives in New York City. She has reviewed The New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC) for nytheatre.com.
Below is Mujer de puro by Fern Metcalf, a photograph in the Femme Fatale exhibit at SIABC Gallery.
