Made it to Open Studios yesterday—the annual event’s opening weekend, at Erector Square Studios—late in the afternoon. The gazing and schmoozing was still full-force however. I was in a rush to see the best stuff, so I asked a lot of advice. Suzan Shutan, an artist and curator I invariably run into at this affair, shouted at me from a moving car, then had the driver pull over so she could point me in the direction of big, bright pop artist Kevin Daly.
Saw some excellent print works—artists standing up to technological printing with old-school presses and bleeding inks. But as ever, it was the community feeling which swelled up that day. Erector Square is on the higher elitist end of Open Studios, as these are the folks who can afford to rent outside studios. The distinction of New Haven’s Open Studios is that it offers a separate weekend to artists who don’t have their own studios to open—this year the Alternate Space is once again the deserted storefronts on College Street across from Co-op High School.
But the Erector bunch couldn’t have been more welcoming or friendly. Open Studios is never just another art opening. It’s looser, grander, rangier. The future of art is debated. The present of art is everywhere.
The aesthetic festivities continue at Erector Square today (sunday 16th) from noon to 5 p.m. Two weekends elsewhere yet to flourish. Details here.