Art At Alphabeta

I have been incredibly remiss in writing this post. I had planned to do so this weekend but life (a birthday party, losing my cell phone and antics of the feline kind) intervened. At long last, here it goes.

Jason Maas (the creator of the above mural) writes:

I am a williamsburg artist (just moved from greenpoint a few months ago) who just recently began doing murals on the streets, doing my best to keep the “art” in “street art.” I recently painted a mural at Alphabeta… (I’ve attached the a pic of the mural, 20’x20′ house paint and spray paint)… The concept behind these paintings is that these are the colors I see when I close my eyes, all the paintings are photos of friends, so the idea is that I look at a photograph and close my eyes and this is what i see.. kind of like conceptualized nostalgia.

Unfortunately by the time I finally made it Alphabeta to see Jason’s work in situ (Alphabeta’s courtyard) they had already commenced covering it up with another mural. However, you can see more of his work at his web site. Do give it a look-see, some of it is quite lovely. The previous having been said I did not walk away disappointed; there was plenty of other nifty artwork for the delectation.

This bald eagle tickled my fancy.

My friend across the creek will be interested to know the above-depicted gentleman is a big, big fan of his blog.

But without argument the most stunning work to be found was in the gallery. The show was entitled “La Santa Lucha” by an artist whose nom de plume is “El Hose”.

Simply put “La Santa Lucha” is a mixed media installation featuring approximately twenty images of saints. But the individual works of art are anything but simple.

El Hose’s work is absolutely beautiful —albeit in a grotesque way. But given the subject matter he is working with (the lives of the saints are hardly Walt Disney material after all) the style is completely appropriate. I would strongly recommend that you, dear readers, swing by and see this show in person. Photography does not do this work justice.

La Santa Lucha
Alphabeta
60 Greenpoint Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11222

Miss Heather

UPDATE 12/10/08: This show has been taken down. 🙁