Experience the world through 800+ provocative works

"Night Crossing 2" by Arden Suydam

By Meredith Deliso

One of the most fundamental things that art strives to accomplish is to have you see the world in which you live in a new way.

With that as their jumping point, from July 11 to August 15, Brooklyn Waterfront Artist Coalition (BWAC) presents “Art in Changing Perspectives,” featuring more than 800 new works in every medium, many that interpret and reveal the world in novel and experimental ways.

Wondering how much art can fit into that space? The cavernous 25,000 square foot space on the Red Hook waterfront is large enough to hold the work of the more than 220 artists showing. It’s even big enough so that a third of its space is devoted to “Art to the Edge,” a show within this show that presents “a wonderful diversity of creative ideas,” says show chair Anna Annus Hagen, and “could be a real break through in exhibition presentations.”

Four local artists are featured in “Art to the Edge”: Audrey Anastasi, her husband, Joseph Anastasi (who together own the Sunset Park gallery Tabla Rasa), David DiPasquale, and Aren Suydam.


Known for her bold use of materials, masterful brushwork, and broad range of style and subject, Audrey’s paintings capture the soul and essence of their subjects.

In keeping with the show’s theme, Joseph debuts his dramatic, grand scale presentation of photographic images, which definitely offer an altered perspective. The selection of the two Anastasis represents opposite poles of artistic vision and approach.

“I work in a frenzy doing everything I can plow ahead on intuition. Joseph on the other hand, is cerebral, broadly conscious, and methodical,” says Audrey, who along with her husband, was awarded at the Brooklyn Arts Council’s “Alive with Art” fundraiser last fall or their pioneering work bringing the visual arts to Sunset Park, and for their dedication to supporting fellow artists. “Where our aesthetics merge is that we both have an aversion to art that feels trendy or depends on verbal hype. Although we have completely different manners of working, ultimately, we both believe in creating art that feels authentic. After all, art is almost always a work of fiction, but the best fiction rings true.”

DiPasquale will be exhibiting his seven-painting series, titled “The Octave Cycle” and based on the concept of the celestial octave or the “music of the spheres”: the harmonious relationship between ascending and descending levels or spheres of creation.

“In my works I create delicate, glowing passages that illuminate the paintings from within. I intend these works to be considered as worlds isolated in space and time, each creating a mood conducive to contemplation,” says the artist. “My paintings exist on the cusp of what is seen and what is felt.”

And though you have seen plenty of photographs of the Brooklyn Bridge, Suydam’s perspective is all his own.

“For me the Brooklyn Bridge at night enshrouded in fog, is awe-inspiring doorway to another time and place,” says Suydam, a self-taught photographer. “The soaring dark construction is a like a cathedral or a mighty tower, that soars up to darkened skies to the highest limit. Eerie light from below gives it the possibility of being a crossing to the nether world.”

In addition to art, BWAC’s “Art in Changing Perspectives” exhibit will also feature music, with its UnPlugged in Red Hook acoustic music series, featuring a series of solo piano jazz performances on most Sundays; film screenings on Saturdays, with programs of experimental films, documentaries, animation, and music videos; theater, with a production of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” on July 19; and anime, with an Anime Day on August 8, featuring anime cartoons, a Cosplay contest, and a fashion show.

A silent auction will also run throughout the show’s run, working as a benefit to help maintain the gallery space on the pier at 449 Van Brunt St. Opening bids can be as low as $35.

“For less than the price of a parking ticket, you can take home an original artwork and start your own collection,” says Auction Chair Tom Vega.

And maybe you’ll see the world in a new way, too.

“Art in Changing Perspectives” runs July 11 to August 15 at BWAC (499 Van Brunt St.) on weekends from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. There will be an artists’ opening reception on July 11, with music by The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn.

For more information, call 718-596-2506.