This Saturday I stopped by the DUMBO Arts Festival, to see the recent work of my friend Diana Jensen. Her newest work is entitled “Blue Screen Series” and here's how she describes it:
These paintings reference photos I found on the wall of a Miami pizzeria—shots of the workers after hours. The vivid ultramarine blue of the paintings suggests the blue screens of film making, where figures are shot and extracted from an environments pictorially. In this series I investigate the role of the individual with in a group—studying how, in life, people come together randomly, interact and become close knit community.
I love the boldness of colors and shiny expressions on people's faces that Diana is clearly enthralled with. There's an entire wall full of small painted faces next to the one pictured above! I'm interested in the idea of painting found photos to make them "art" while also retaining their essential rawness and humanity. I wonder what the subjects of the photos themselves would think of them?
The rest of the festival was really amazing, actually. Thousands of New Yorkers were jammed into the narrow streets of DUMBO, cruising from gallery to gallery, snapping up tacos and slices from the local joints, and hanging out in the gorgeous fall weather.
There was a lot of cool experimental art to experience. I meandered through a maze made of Fresh Direct boxes, swayed before giant video projections of a sea voyage, and shook hands with an artist in a full-body knitted body stocking.
Don't know if it created much business for the hundreds of local artists profiled, but it was definitely a lot of fun.