Art In a Barber Shop

It is impossible to walk two blocks without stumbling upon an art gallery in Williamsburg. In fact, a quick search in Yelp.com for “art galleries” in the north side of Williamsburg alone brings up over 700 relevant matches. An art gallery with a twist however, is a rare find. Manetamed, which combines a hair salon, an art gallery, and a bookstore, first opened its doors last June at North Seventh and Havemeyer streets. According to its website, it aims to be a setting for “art viewing, hair cutting, and live discussion.”

Manetamed is owned by Magdalena Ryczko, who is originally from Poland and immigrated to the United States 20 years ago. Things just seemed to have fallen into place for Ryczko with her career in hair; her current business was initially based upon suggestions from friends, which she built upon and brought to fruition. “For some reason, I didn’t really think twice,” says Ryczko of her entry into the field, which began when she pursued professional studies in hair cutting and styling. With regard to the art gallery part of her business, it began when another friend “suggested using the space to show art, and I thought, ‘why not?’ so she curated the first show―so she got the ball rolling on that end and it’s been working out.” The bookstore called The Bookmark@Manetamed was also an unplanned addition, beginning after Mario Morales responded to Ryczko’s advertisement for her basement space. “I love the current set-up,” says Morales, who runs the bookstore, “we get great traffic from Magdalena’s customers who would come downstairs to browse as they wait for their turn.”

Ryczko’s clientele consists mainly of male professionals with a handful of female customers. She prefers it that way as she feels she works better with shorter hair. “I love the way she does my hair, and I am very particular,” says Chuck Haberl, who has been a loyal customer of Ryczko since her store opened. “I was attracted by her gallery as I walked by one day and decided to give her a try, and I was pleasantly surprised,” Haberl says, “she has an awesome place with an amazing vibe, and I really enjoy coming here every time. The art really adds to the experience.”

One of the artists with a significant number of works displayed at Manetamed is Jamie McCarty. McCarty went to school at Parsons in New York, and does paintings in addition to designing clothing. A few photographs of her women’s clothing collection, her Williamsburg inspired t-shirt prints, and canvas paintings adorn the walls, windows, and shelves of Manetamed. “My art is tongue and cheek, and there is not a profound explanation for each piece of my art. They express who I am and what I am inspired by,” says McCarty about her art. She explains that she decided to showcase her art at Manetamed because “nothing here clashes with my works, and it also has a great atmosphere where you can just come hang and feel really comfortable.”

Ryczko charges 30 percent commission for any art pieces sold and 50 percent for any art pieces curated by anyone else other than herself. A big plus for artists showing their art at Manetamed is that the venue does not charge a display fee, as do most other galleries. On top of that, artists also like “showing their art at random places,” Ryczko says.

Moving forward, Ryczko wants to open up more stores. Next in line will be a second store in Bushwick, but she also has her sights set for San Francisco and possibly even Paris. Before all that can happen, however, she has to overcome some huge obstacles, and one of the toughest challenges is finding great hairstylists for men. “There’s a lot of good hair cutters that do women…but people who cut stylish men’s hair is really hard to find,” Ryczko says. Williamsburg’s crowd is very diverse, and although men have different hair lengths, Ryczko quips that most barbers tend to do hair in a “standard way.” When she cuts a man’s hair, she thinks about whether she would “want to date that person” or “would want to talk to that person at a bar.” Once she can find talented and reliable employees, however, she can begin working on her plans for expansion.

Audio Clip:

Please click here to listen to an audio clip of an interview with owner of Manetamed, Magdalena Ryczko.

Photographs:

Store front of Manetamed at North Seventh and Havemeyer streets. Manetamed opened last June and is both a barber and an art gallery. It also houses a bookstore, The Bookmark@Manetamed, in its basement. Photograph taken on April 15, 2012.

Owner Magdalena Ryczko giving customer Chuck Haberl a haircut. Artwork from various artists adorn the walls of her barber shop.

Located in the basement of Manetamed is The Bookmark@Manetamed, owned by Mario Morales.

Owner Magdalena Ryczko poses with her pet dog, Dolce.

Manetamed features artwork from a variety of artists and in different media, including canvas paintings and t-shirts from local artist Jamie McCarty.

Jamie McCarty’s canvas paintings of skulls at Manetamed. McCarty says her art is “tongue and cheek,” and expresses who she is and what she is inspired by. She says that she has no pretensions of profound explanations for her artwork.

Williamsburg inspired unisex t-shirts and tank tops designed by Jamie McCarty for sale at Manetamed. Prices range from $45 to $65.

Monsters in The Cotton Candy Machine

Art gallery Cotton Candy Machine, located at South First and Roebling streets in Williamsburg, NY, launches artist “Skinner’s” solo art show called “The Undermining Satanic Energies of an Incongruent Suburban Sickness” show on April 13, 2012. The works of Skinner, whose real name is Warren Davis, are featured in the form of original paintings, t-shirts, cushion covers, and other metal works. The event also marks the official New York release of his book “Every Man is My Enemy,” a compilation of all his works from 2008 to 2011.

The main theme of the show is monsters and demons, who Skinner says are significant to our lives because they are “very symbolic … they’re in myths” but at the same time “they are the embodiment of uncertainty … we’re totally fascinated by the fear of the unknown. Nothing’s really more powerful than that.” Monsters, Skinner continues, “are all around us,” drawing comparisons to them with everyday “entities like the IRS, or emotional instability, or being jealous or insecure.”

Sean Leonard, co-owner of the gallery and a self-proclaimed fan of monsters, wanted to feature Skinner’s works because he feels that he paints the best monsters he has ever seen. “The level of detail and sophistication in his works are simply mind-boggling and truly showcases his imagination.” Beyond “celebrating Skinner,” Leonard continues, tonight’s show is also to “commemorate the gallery’s first year anniversary, which actually falls on Monday (April 9, 2012), but Mondays are never a good day for throwing a party.”

At certain points of the night, the show had close to a hundred visitors from all over the city and even a handful of international visitors. Dominic Phua, a photographer from Singapore here in New York for a two week assignment says he found out about the show online and decided to check it out because he found the idea of a monster-themed art show intriguing. “This is truly unique,” says Phua of Skinner’s works, “I wish there were more shows with such levels of imagination in my country.”

The show closes on May 6, 2012, after which the Cotton Candy Machine will feature “Tender Times: the works of Scott C.” from May 11 to June 3, 2012, according to Cotton Candy Machine’s website.

Photographs from Event:

Artist “Skinner” (Warren Davis), whose works are being displayed at Cotton Candy Machine from April 13 to May 6, 2012, poses in front of the gallery holding a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Outside Cotton Candy Machine, an employee serves cotton candy to passers-by during the launch of Skinner’s new solo art show on April 13, 2012.

The cover of Skinner’s book “Every Man is My Enemy,” a compilation of all his works from 2008 to 2011, which was released in New York on April 13, 2012 at his solo art show at the Cotton Candy Machine art gallery.

“The Undermining Satanic Energies of an Incongruent Suburban Sickness” will be on display at Cotton Candy Machine until May 6, 2012.

Please click here to listen to my interview with artist Skinner.

Photos of The Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra at Salsa Sundays in Brooklyn Bowl

Brooklyn Bowl, one of the major music venues in Williamsburg, NY, is located at 61 Wythe Ave. Its 23,000 square feet space contains 16 bowling alleys and a 600 capacity performance venue. It opened for business on July 9, 2009, according to its website. Photo taken on March 11, 2012.

An iconic wall of dolls made from bowling pins in the foyer of Brooklyn Bowl greets customers as they enter the venue.

Approximately 200 guests showed up for the Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra (WSO)’s performance at Brooklyn Bowl on Sunday (WSO appears in the upper right background). The 11 piece band performs at the venue once a month at an event called “Salsa Sundays.”

Lead vocalist for the WSO, Solange Prat, performs during their first set of the night. According to Mano, Prat was a musical theatre star in her native Buenos Aires and has been with the band since they were formed in 2010.

Percussionist and arranger Gianni Mano, who is a native New Yorker, is the leader of the WSO. Mano is of Italian and Russian Jewish descent, and said that salsa music is “one of the most spiritually and historically rich, yet danceable music” he has ever come across.

The crowd on the dance floor watches and learns how to dance salsa from veteran dance trainer Joey Corsica, who demonstrates his moves from the stage during a 30 minute break between sets. The goal, according to Corsica, is to get the audience members “more familiar with the moves so they can dance to the tunes in later sets.”

Dance instructor Joey Corsica gives audience members a lesson on salsa dancing from the stage between sets. Corsica, who has been salsa dancing for 20 years, was discovered by Mano while giving lessons at another gig a year ago. Mano invited him to orchestrate these salsa lessons during Salsa Sundays at Brooklyn Bowl.

 

Tonight’s special guests (right three in the foreground) included three cast members from the hit Broadway show Fela!, who performed on stage with the WSO during its second set.

Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra at Salsa Sundays in Brooklyn Bowl

March’s Salsa Sunday saw local band the Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra (WSO) perform at Brooklyn Bowl, located at Wythe Avenue and North 11^th Street in Williamsburg.  From 8.30 until 11 pm, the WSO performed for a crowd of nearly 200 guests. Regular performers at Brooklyn Bowl, the group is led by percussionist and arranger Gianni Mano, and counts among its members Argentinean vocalist Solange Prat, Angela Ortiz on the piano, Andy Cotton on the bass, Jhohan Hernandez on the congas, Geraldo Flores on the bongo, and James Hall, Alex Asher, Jason Prover, and Mark Morgan on the horns, according to salseek.com. Normally an 11 piece band, WSO was joined Sunday by special guest Richie Viruet. Viruet, who plays the horns, brought his experience performing with Latin music luminaries like Tito Puente to the WSO.

The band gave two sets of performances consisting of seven of the band’s numbers, with each set lasting between 30 and 45 minutes.  These included salsa renditions of indie pop and rock anthems, such as TV on the Radio’s “Wolf Like Me,” Peter Bjorne and John’s “Young Folks,” Yeasayer’s “Ambling Alp,” and F*cked Up’s “Black Albino Bones,” as well as original compositions like their number entitled simply “WSO.” Between sets, 20 year veteran dance instructor Joey Corsica took the stage, teaching the crowd to salsa dance and firing them up for the second set.

Mano, who is a New York native, described Salsa Sundays as their “monthly party at Brooklyn Bowl.” According to him, the band started playing at Brooklyn Bowl, one of the largest music venues in Williamsburg, about a year and a half ago. Their most successful performance thus far has been at that very venue, when they launched their eponymous debut album, “The Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra,” and performed to a crowd of 500 to 600 people. “The crowd was simply amazing and was dancing all night as we belted out song after song,” he said. When asked what makes WSO stand out, Mano said “our band is very different from other salsa bands who tend to be more traditional, because we play more indie rock anthems, which resonates especially well with the crowd here in Williamsburg.” He also said they perform regularly at other major New York music venues, like the BB King Blues Club and Grill and Sounds of Brazil (SOBS).

Also present that night was special guest DJ Walter Baez who goes by his stage name, Walter B. Nice. Baez was described by Mano as a “salsa connoisseur,” and credited him as instrumental in helping the WSO acquire this regular gig at Brooklyn Bowl.  “He has quite a pull here, and I’m grateful to have made his acquaintance.”  When interviewed, DJ Walter B. Nice confirmed that he helped to organize the event, and added that “they bring together two favorite local music genres—salsa and indie rock—which is a great combination for a neighborhood like Williamsburg.”

Keith Hamilton, who has been a manager with Brooklyn Bowl since it opened its doors in 2009, said “The WSO has been a great draw for Brooklyn Bowl since they started performing here. They usually draw between 100-200 people whenever they perform, and people come from all over the five boroughs to watch them. Tonight is especially crowded, maybe because of the change to better weather.”

            The WSO will perform again for Salsa Sunday at Brooklyn Bowl on April 29, 2012.

All the Indifferent Children of the Earth at Brick Theater

"All the Indifferent Children of the Earth" premiered at the Brick Theater of Williamsburg, Brooklyn and ran from February 16 to March 3, 2012. Billed as "a play about existing now," the play consists of 11 scenes and ran for 90 minutes without intermission.

Museum Illustrates New York’s Past Through Pop Cultural Artifacts

The City Reliquary Museum in Williamsburg, Brooklyn is a not-for-profit community museum and civic organization located at 370 Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It moved to its present location in January of 2006.  According to its website, “through permanent display of New York City artifacts, rotating exhibits of community collections, and annual cultural events, The City Reliquary connects visitors to both the past and present of New York.”

An antique cash register greets visitors in the foyer of the Museum. According to its label, this National Cash Register was produced in Dayton, Ohio on October 14, 1914 and was donated to the museum by Frank E. Silverman.

Among the displays is a collection of seltzer bottles from New York manufacturers. According to Wikipedia, such bottles were popular in the 1920s and 1930s for dispensing soda water.

The museum features an exhibit of vintage beer cans and bottles. According to Wikipedia, Piels Beer was brewed in the East New York section of Brooklyn, NY from the establishment of the original Piels Brothers Brewery in 1883 until its closing on September 20, 1973. 

Nik Sokol, the resident geologist to the museum has amassed a collection of rock and mineral samples characteristic of New York City and its surrounding region. According to Sokol, these materials were extensively used in early New York architecture and can still be seen in older buildings.

A Second Multiplex Theatre to Open in Williamsburg

Joining Nitehawk Theatre, which opened at Metropolitan Avenue and Berry Street last year, new multiplex movie theatre Williamsburg Cinemas will open its doors at Driggs Avenue and Grand Street by June, said owner Harvey Elgart.

The new multiplex will have seven screens, with almost 1,000 seats. According to Elgart, who has been planning this project for over six years and has worked as a projectionist mainly in Brooklyn cinemas for over two decades, “all the screens [in this new multiplex] will be equipped with the latest state-of-the-art digital sound and screens.” Each auditorium will have stadium seating and will range in capacity from 90 to 250 seats.

Asked why the neighborhood needs two movie multiplexes, Elgart replied, “my theatre is much larger compared to Nitehawk, who has only three screens, and their largest auditorium holds only 90 seats, and that is what our smallest room will hold.” In addition, while the Nitehawk screens mostly art-house and other indie films, Elgart plans to screen films ranging from art house indie types to mainstream blockbusters.  Currently, if Williamsburgers want to catch more mainstream films, they must trek to Union Square in Manhattan.

Several area residents and business owners agreed that the new venue will become an asset to the neighborhood. For example, Margaret Kozlowska, who owns Margo’s Patisserie Café at Driggs Avenue and Fillmore Street, welcomed the additional foot traffic it will bring to her café. As she is also a resident of the area, she also welcomed the new multiplex on a personal level, stating that “it is much more convenient than [Regal Union Square Stadium 14 in] Union Square, and I really like the fact it will bring more variety to the neighborhood.”

Not everyone, however, is as excited about the idea. Song Ly, one of the managers of the Japanese restaurant Samurai Mama next to the Williamsburg Cinemas site, said that while the benefits the multiplex will bring to local businesses are clear, she is not a fan of the process of gentrification that she says is ruining the “spirit of Williamsburg at a break-neck pace.” She is concerned that the introduction of a new multiplex of this scale will add to the pace of the gentrification of the neighborhood.

Some residents along the area are also concerned about the noise and crowd the new venue will could bring. “I'm concerned that it will add a lot of noise to the street,” said James DiGiovanna, a resident of Fillmore Street, which runs perpendicular to Driggs Avenue and is currently one of the quieter streets in Williamsburg. “Fillmore was pretty quiet when I first moved here…I don't see the theater helping that.”