Bay Ridge’s new gallery seeks to challenge perceptions

October 13, 2017 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

A sign on the gate outside 414 78th St. in Bay Ridge announces the arrival of Stand4, a new art gallery. Eagle photo by Paula Katinas

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Bay Ridge’s burgeoning art scene has entered a new era with the opening of a new gallery that is presenting an exhibition aimed at challenging viewers’ longstanding beliefs on the environment and ecology.

“Reconceived Notions,” an exhibit that includes the work of artists and writers who are exploring and questioning existing systems, opened Oct. 12 at Stand4, a gallery that recently opened at 414 78th St.

Sponsored by Owl’s Head Wine Bar, “Reconceived Notions,” features artists and writers who dare to question and evaluate systems of society and their interactions with the environment.

The idea behind the exhibition is to “challenge our belief system in order to explore new structures,” according to a pres release issued by the owners of Stand4.

Jeannine Bardo, the owner of Stand4, and Mollie Flanagan, a local artist, are the curators of “Reconceived Notions.”

The artists whose work is featured in the exhibition include Glenn Albrecht, Tatiana Arocha, Jaynie Crimmins, Magali Duzant, Katarina Jerinic, Celine Semaan and Katie Shima.

John Avelluto, an artist and the owner of the Owl’s Head Wine Bar, said he wanted to sponsor the art show in order to bring the work of emerging talent, as well as established artists, to Bay Ridge.

“As an extension of my personal advocacy for the arts, I feel as though the Owl’s Head has an agency with our artistic community. We have co-founded The Bay Ridge Poets Society, implemented an annual mural program and held numerous lectures and talks by scholars about local history so we looked with camaraderie and admiration on the Stand4 project and wanted to contribute,” he told the Brooklyn Eagle via email.

“Above all, it is part of my own personal drive as an artist to contribute to the community in which I live,” Avelluto added.

Avelluto is well known in Brooklyn’s artistic circles as the co-founder of the Fifth Avenue Storefront Art Walk (SAW), an interactive exhibition in which the work of painters, photographers and sculptors is put on display in store windows along the Bay Ridge Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District (BID).

SAW takes place every spring. The exhibition was created in 2010 by Avelluto and Heather Hamilton, owner of Long’s Wine and Liquors, with the goal of showcasing the diverse community of Bay Ridge and to allow the neighborhood to become a platform for engagement and dialogue centering on the arts.

As part of SAW, artists whose works are accepted by a panel of judges are assigned to stores along the BID route. One of the unique aspects of the show is that the artists collaborate with merchants to create artworks unique to that storefront.

Avelluto told the Eagle that the presenting SAW also gives advocates the chance to shed light on what he claimed are the inequities in government funding for the arts in Brooklyn.

“I attribute the success and growth of the Storefront Art Walk to the continued support and hard work of those in Bay Ridge that value art within the fleeting presence of artistic outlets in our community. As I have said in the past, the average Brooklynite receives $3.43 in arts redistribution, whereas Community District 10 receives only $0.31 per person,” Avelluto said, referring to statistics from a 2012 City University of New York study.

SAW, which marked its eighth anniversary this year, is “the only organization that commissions the creation of new artworks while providing foot traffic to our local mom and pop shops,” Avelluto said.

Bardo played a key role in SAW 2017. For the first time, the exhibition featured the work of student artist Lauren Silverman, who was attending Fontbonne Hall Academy at the time. Bardo served as the coordinator of the student art program for SAW.

“Each participating artist produced a portfolio-ready piece that was thoughtful and of a high caliber,” Bardo said.

Stand4, the new art gallery, seeks to open up opportunities for social, political and cultural connections in Brooklyn’s art scenes, according to the owner.

“Reconceived Notions” runs until Nov. 19. The gallery hours are Fridays from 6 to 9 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m.

For more information, visit facebook.com/Stand-1464180007237125/.