For 10 years now, Arts in Bushwick has hosted Bushwick Open Studios, New York City’s largest open studios event. This year, Arts in Bushwick wanted to go back to its roots, which includes changing the art festival from June to its original October date. But it’s also moving away from a more Art Basel Miami feel. Instead of letting parties overshadow the events, it’s focusing on the art and artists. According to Hyperallergic, BOS will be quieter. But that means you can more peacefully explore Bushwick’s art scene.
Here are five places to drop by this weekend:
Most studios are open between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. BOS is free and open to the public on October 1 and 2.
1
Se Habla Arte Mexicano
When: October 1 to October 2, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Where: 476 Jefferson Street
Méxtasis’s Se Habla Arte Mexicano showcases a collective of Mexican artists. The exhibition opens with a party from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, September 30. On October 1 from noon to 1 p.m., Méxtasis curators will speak to artist Cinthya Santos Briones about her photo series.
The works explore topics of gender identity, femicides, and desaparecidos. The exhibit will feature a total of 14 artists, including Frank Coronado, María Coutinho, Olivié Ponce, and Rosaura Lezama.
Learn more here.
2
Boundless in the City
When: October 1 to October 14, all day
Where: LDC Community Garden, Myrtle-Broadway
Mexican-born Andrea Arroyo’s Boundless in the City exhibition takes art outdoors. “This exhibition aims to reactive each garden with Arroyo’s lyrical works, taking art outside the museum realm and make it available to the public in unexpected locations,” according to the event description. “Each piece, executed in mixed media and repurposed materials, will be integrated within the natural environment of plants, grass, and other elements of each individual garden.”
Learn more here.
3
Carolina Arévalo Open Studio
When: September 30 to October 2, all day
Where: 44 Stewart Avenue
Inspired by her Amazonian roots, Peruvian artist Carolina Arévalo’s work observes how all living creatures are connected. “In my work, I emphasize how our reality functions under the rules of self-similarity, repetition, and interconnectivity,” according to her website.
Learn more here.
4
fxmoya MOVIMIENTO Current Work Paintings
When: September 30 to October 2, all day
Where: Rockwall Studios, 10-80 Wyckoff Avenue Ridgewood, NY 11385
Puerto Rican fxmoya’s art is influenced by poets, visual artists, and composers from Old San Juan. “His art is a sensual exploration of a compelling narrative – a story to tell,” the event’s description page reads. “He visually reinterprets familiar cultural and universal themes as contemporary subjects to give them relevancy and immediacy, integrating these into poignant compositions that bursts into individual sparks of color.”
Learn more here.
5
#BlueVelvetHumiliation #VirtualCold
When: September 30 to October 2, all day
Where: 1013 Grand Street
Jehdy Vargas is showcasing two different works. #BlueVelvetHumiliation highly references her grandmother’s religious practice. “My #BlueVelvetHumiliation series is my body of work connected to Santeria,” she said. “I am using Santeria in my installation of video, paintings, sculptures, and life-size voodoo dolls to tell narrative confessional stories about what I saw as a child but also as a way to connect others to my experiences of Santeria with love, estrangement, adversity, and loss. And most of all, incorporating the internet that everyone can relate to.”
Learn more here.