As I toured Bushwick Open Studios last month, many artists I spoke to were moving out, heading to a different neighborhood or converting a spare room in their apartment. A few weeks later in Gowanus, another set of artists told me about the abundance of new studio spaces opening, as real estate developers abandoned their usual startup/co-working offices. From these informal yet informative discussions, Brooklyn’s Sunset Park emerged as an interesting newcomer to the “it” neighborhood conversation. This past weekend was the second iteration of Sunset Park Wide Open, co-presented by NARS Foundation and various other local venues, which opened hundreds of artist studios to the public.
While it was clear that participants are still figuring out how to work with both each other and the local community, the overall vibe from visitors was one of friendly curiosity, even as each studio seemed to be operating on its own schedule and many of the galleries had intentionally unmarked entryways. The artists highlighted below were united by a collective need to challenge assumptions — from materiality to concept — and pushed their work to depths we don’t see often enough during open studios.
