Art show asks you to get in 'line'

"Dots" by Anujan Ezhikode

By Adam Warner

You name it, you’ll see it at the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition pier show this month.

So promises John Strohbeen, president of the coalition, which is presenting its fall group show, “Lineage,” now until the end of the month.

More than 300 artists are exhibiting some 1,200 works in every medium as they look back on their past and interpret what “lines” mean to them.

“The idea is to enlighten the viewer about an artist’s development, path and history,” said Strohbeen.

Featured artist Anujan Ezhikode of Park Slope offers one piece, “Water: A Global Perspective,” in which he arranges 300 cups filled with colored water for a vibrant mosaic.

More than just fun experiments, Ezhikode’s body of work examines memory and personal history and how both influence one’s perception of the world.

“I grew up in one place and am living in another,” said Ezhikode, who was born in India. “When you go back to a place you have been removed from, what you thought was true might not be true. Your memory changes and alters things, but the place stays the same.”

Also on hand is Boerum Hill urban folk painter Russell Mehlman, whose new piece, “The Street Entertainers,” was inspired by a photo he took in the early 1980s of two buskers, Tex and Jean. For the painting, Mehlman reversed the original image, giving the viewer a look at the audience.

“It emerged from something that I did in the past,” said Mehlman. “It owes its existence to that little black and white photo.”

In addition to the artists, the space will present a number of musicians, performing without the aid of electronics, and covering such genres as ragas, blues, piano, indie, rock, folk, progressive, and jazz, during its UnPlugged in Red Hook series. There will also be poetry readings and an international short film added for good measure.

“The music, events, and poetry readings are going to take your classic museum exhibition and put it on another level,” said Strohbeen. 

“Lineage” at Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition [499 Van Brunt St. near Reed Street, (718) 569–2506], now through Oct. 31 on Saturdays and Sundays from 1-6 pm. Free. For info, visit www.bwac.org.