Tom Sanford's Motherless Brooklyn Mural / No Longer Empty Opening OCT 3rd.
Sent on the go from my Peek
-------------------------------------
From: Tom Sanford
To: tomsanford75@gmail.com
Subject: My Motherless Brooklyn Mural / No Longer Empty Opening OCT 3rd.
Date: Sep 28, 6:17 AM
I wanted to let you know that over the last 2 weeks I have been extremely busy making a MASSIVE MURAL for "No Longer Empty" in Brooklyn. All the details and back story on the mural are below in the press release as well as more info about the exhibition itself. I am really excited about this show, I think this one is really worth making the trip to see as all of the art is super ambitious and mainly site specific. I encourage you to come to theOPENING PARTY: SATURDAY OCTOBER 3RD 6-9PM @ The Invisible Dog (51 Bergen Street @Smith street, Brooklyn USA). It will be a huge party with lots of fun to be had. I hope to see you there.
“Motherless Brooklyn” comes alive at the Invisible Dog
Tom Sanford painting “L&L Taxi (Motherless Brooklyn)”BROOKLYN, SEPTEMBER 28, 2009 -- The Invisible Dog, a former belt factory in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn and the much loved home of the novelty gag of the 70s, the “INVISIBLE DOG,” will re-open on October 3 with an exhibition organized by NO LONGER EMPTY.NLE is a not for profit whose mission is to revive the numerous vacated storefronts and empty spaces throughout New York City. Many of the works presented in the exhibition reflect both the history of the space and the oxymoronic construct of the Invisible Dog: a fantasy, a legend, something born out of nothing. Artists have also been given the opportunity to work with the many trimmings, reels of fabric, leather and other materials left behind at the factory at the request of director, Lucien Zayan, who understood their future artistic value.
One of the featured artists, Tom Sanford, has created a site-specific (both location and subject matter) mural for the exhibition, called “L&L Taxi (Motherless Brooklyn)” based on Jonathan Lethem's novel “Motherless Brooklyn” (1999). Sanford chose this subject matter because the Invisible Dog is located on the same block as the fictional L&L taxi / detective agency in Lethem's novel (Bergen & Smith). The 12 x 22 ft mural imagines L&L in the present day, ten years after the story ends in the novel, with characters Lionel Essrog, Gilbert Coney, Loomis & Danny Fantl (left to right in the painting) still on Bergen street operating the L&L taxi service (no longer a detective agency) with a portrait of the departed Frank Minna on the wall in remembrance. The mural celebrates the history (albeit fictional) of Smith & Bergen, and honors one of Brooklyn's many important contemporary authors.
Sanford claims that he “also decided to make the mural because I understand that actor Edward Norton in producing a film adaptation of “Motherless Brooklyn”. Norton will play Lionel Essrog, the orphan detective with a poetic case of Tourette syndrome from whose prospective Motherless Brooklyn is written. While Norton is a fine actor, he is nothing like how I imagine Lionel, and I thought I would take this opportunity to put my two cents in with regards to making the visual version of the characters of the book. A sort of one man insurgence against the Hollywood, the dominant force of visual imagination in our culture.”
Other artists in the exhibition include:Thomas Bell, Ryan Brennan, Amanda Browder, Gina Czarneck, Jeanette Doyle, Richard Garet, Monika Grzymala, Guerra de la Paz (Alain Guerra & Neraldo de la Paz), Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Kaarina Kaikkonen, Sarah Modiano, Miguel Palma, José Parlá, Rey Parlá, Ian Rawlinson & Nick Crowe, Tom Sanford, Keith Schweitzer, Francesco Simeti, Alfred Steiner, Giuseppe Stampone, Giles Lyon, Steve deFrank.
NO LONGER EMPTY was conceived as a meeting point between art and the economic crisis. The organization seeks to provide a challenging platform to artists whose opportunities have been similarly curtailed by the economic ravages and to revitalize empty commercial spaces by creating more traffic, showing the sites filled with positive energy instead of bordered up shells. The organization also hopes to encourage the local business community of each area through the increased flow of visitors that these exhibitions will bring. A supporting program of events has been planned that will include band nights and performances. Please check www.nolongerempty.com for a full schedule of events.
The Invisible Dog51 Bergen St.Brooklyn, NY
Press Preview: October 1, noon–2pm General Opening: October 3, 6–9pm
For more information, press kit and images, please go to www.nolongerempty.com.
Contact:Manon Slome 917-916-9580manon@nolongerempty.comHours of operation:October 3-31, 2009Thursday-Friday, 2-8pmSaturday-Sunday, noon-8pmand by appointment
Bergen Street Station, F and G linesHi Folks. I wanted to let you know that over the last 2 weeks I have been extremely busy making a MASSIVE MURAL for "No Longer Empty" in Brooklyn. All the details and back story on the mural are below in the press release as well as more info about the exhibition itself. I am really excited about this show, I think this one is really worth making the trip to see as all of the art is super ambitious and mainly site specific. I encourage you to come to the OPENING PARTY: SATURDAY OCTOBER 3RD 6-9PM @ The Invisible Dog (51 Bergen Street @Smith street, Brooklyn USA). It will be a huge party with lots of fun to be had. I hope to see you there.
 “Motherless Brooklyn” comes alive at the Invisible Dog  Tom Sanford painting “L&L Taxi (Motherless Brooklyn)” BROOKLYN, SEPTEMBER 28, 2009 -- The Invisible Dog, a former belt factory in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn and the much loved home of the novelty gag of the 70s, the “INVISIBLE DOG,” will re- open on October 3 with an exhibition organized by NO LONGER EMPTY. NLE is a not for profit whose mission is to revive the numerous vacated storefronts and empty spaces throughout New York City. Many of the works presented in the exhibition reflect both the history of the space and the oxymoronic construct of the Invisible Dog: a fantasy, a legend, something born out of nothing. Artists have also been given the opportunity to work with the many trimmings, reels of fabric, leather and other materials left behind at the factory at the request of director, Lucien Zayan, who understood their future artistic value. One of the featured artists, Tom Sanford, has created a site-specific (both location and subject matter) mural for the exhibition, called “L&L Taxi (Motherless Brooklyn)” based on Jonathan Lethem’s novel “Motherless Brooklyn” (1999). Sanford chose this subject matter because the Invisible Dog is located on the same block as the fictional L&L taxi / detective agency in Lethem’s novel (Bergen & Smith). The 12 x 22 ft mural imagines L&L in the present day, ten years after the story ends in the novel, with characters Lionel Essrog, Gilbert Coney, Loomis & Danny Fantl (left to right in the painting) still on Bergen street operating the L&L taxi service (no longer a detective agency) with a portrait of the departed Frank Minna on the wall in remembrance. The mural celebrates the history (albeit fictional) of Smith & Bergen, and honors one of Brooklyn’s many important contemporary authors. Sanford claims that he “also decided to make the mural because I understand that actor Edward Norton in producing a film adaptation of “Motherless Brooklyn”. Norton will play Lionel Essrog, the orphan detective with a poetic case of Tourette syndrome from whose prospective Motherless Brooklyn is written. While Norton is a fine actor, he is nothing like how I imagine Lionel, and I thought I would take this opportunity to put my two cents in with regards to making the visual version of the characters of the book. A sort of one man insurgence against the Hollywood, the dominant force of visual imagination in our culture.” Other artists in the exhibition include:
Thomas Bell, Ryan Brennan, Amanda Browder, Gina Czarneck, Jeanette Doyle, Richard Garet, Monika Grzymala, Guerra de la Paz (Alain Guerra & Neraldo de la Paz), Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Kaarina Kaikkonen, Sarah Modiano, Miguel Palma, José Parlá, Rey Parlá, Ian Rawlinson & Nick Crowe, Tom Sanford, Keith Schweitzer, Francesco Simeti, Alfred Steiner, Giuseppe Stampone, Giles Lyon, Steve deFrank. NO LONGER EMPTY was conceived as a meeting point between art and the economic crisis. The organization seeks to provide a challenging platform to artists whose opportunities have been similarly curtailed by the economic ravages and to revitalize empty commercial spaces by creating more traffic, showing the sites filled with positive energy instead of bordered up shells. The organization also hopes to encourage the local business community of each area through the increased flow of visitors that these exhibitions will bring. A supporting program of events has been planned that will include band nights and performances. Please check www.nolongerempty.com for a full schedule of events. The Invisible Dog
51 Bergen St.
Brooklyn, NY Press Preview: October 1, noon–2pm
General Opening: October 3, 6–9pm For more information, press kit and images, please go to www.nolongerempty.com. Contact:
Manon Slome
917-916-9580
manon@nolongerempty.com Hours of operation:
October 3-31, 2009
Thursday-Friday, 2-8pm
Saturday-Sunday, noon-8pm
and by appointment Bergen Street Station, F and G lines
Posted by Amol Sarva
