Mott Haven Exhibit Highlights Work of 4 Bronx Artists

Ray Lopez's 8 and a 1/2 was on display this summer at BronxArtSpace.

The work of four artists who met each other while working at The Point CDC in Hunts Point was on display at Mott Haven's BronxArtSpace Gallery in August. The Mott Haven Herald has the story.

Street Sculpture Goes Up on Fordham Road

Bronxites ponder a new art sculpture that's on display at Fordham Road and Grand Concourse.
(All photos by David Greene)

By DAVID GREENE

Locals passing the Grand Concourse at East Fordham Road have been scratching their heads recently at the sight of a newly-erected piece of public art.

The ten-foot metal sculpture titled, "Silver," by Bronx artist Christian Marche was created from recycled materials found on the streets of the city. The work depicts a woman in a cage and a cat sitting on top of a street sign, among other unusual details. The project is sponsored by the Fordham Road Business Improvement District (BID) in partnership with the New York City Department of Transportation's Urban Art Program and the Al Johnson Art Studio.

Additional funding came from the Bronx Council on the Arts, through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Greater New York Arts Development Fund Re-grants Program. The official unveiling is expected to take place next week, and the sculpture will be on display until the end of the year.

'Gun Hill Road', Not Your Typical Bronx Tale

Editor's note: A version of this story appears in the latest issue of the Norwood News, out on streets now.

By Alex Kratz

One of the great pleasures of watching “Gun Hill Road,” a new independent film by Bronx native Rashaad Ernesto Green that debuted in front of a New York audience during the first-ever Bronx Week Film Festival in mid-May, is its familiarity.

Look, there’s New Capitol diner on Kingsbridge Road and Jerome! Is he getting on the 2 train or the 4 train? Wait, isn’t that the bodega on Gun Hill Road in Norwood?

“The Bronx itself is a character,” Green said during a question-and-answer session after the screening.

While the setting, characters and dialogue all feel like the Bronx, the storyline deals with difficult topics — most notably, transgender lifestyle choices and how they play out in Latino families — that are only now starting to be discussed openly in the borough.

The history of Bronx-based film is filled with crime stories and gangster tales (think: “A Bronx Tale,” “Fort Apache, The Bronx,” or “The Wanderers”). And “Gun Hill Road,” shot entirely in the Bronx, contains some of those elements. It begins with a prison cafeteria stabbing carried out by the main character, a father played by Bronx-native Esai Morales, who has lived a life of crime.

But the heart of the story centers around how Morales’ character, having just been released from prison, deals with the discovery that his teenage son is transgender. Green, whose family has long hailed from the area around Gun Hill Road and Burke Avenue, says the story is based on a family member who dealt with issues similar to those Morales’ character deals with in the film. Although it’s not your usual Bronx “shoot-em-up” flick, one audience member said, “This is a film we in the Bronx need to see.”

Bronx Arts: Melrose Mania

Yesterday marked the kickoff of the “From the Bronx” Pop-Up Shop Museum, and cultural showcase. The four-day event features the work of Bronx photographers, musicians and visual artists.

The showcase, hosted by Mainland Media, is being held in a landmark Melrose home on 614 Cortlandt Ave. and will continue through Sunday May 22.

The showcase features a photography exhibit from the 1970s and 1980s by photojournalists Michael Kamber, Rickly Flores and David Gonzalez. Bronx landscape painter Daniel Hauben, Bronx sculptor Sean Paul Gallegos and graffiti artists TATS Cru are also featured. In addition, an exhibit by the Bronx County Historical Society will highlight the history of the Melrose area.

The showcase also includes musical performances, as well as a food tasting, which will feature food samples from various restaurants in the area. The tasting, called “The Taste of Melrose,” will be held on Saturday, May 21.

Bronx Arts: Aluminum (Slide) Show at Lehman Center

Here's Adi Talwar's photo slide show from The Aluminum Show, which made its New York City debut at Lehman Center on Feb. 6. Lehman Center is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary season. The New York Times' David Gonzalez wrote about the Bronx's premier performing arts center and its executive director, Eva Bornstein, in Sunday's Metropolitan section. (Special shout out to Adi and fellow Norwood photographer Joe Conzo for having their photos appear in the Times.)

BronxTalk: Music for the holidays... and the Vacca show...





This Monday evening BronxTalk will present a special holiday show featuring the music of Jann Klose,a multi-cultural artist, who's lived all over the world (Kenya, South Africa, Germany) and tours all over the world, but calls the Bronx his home. Beginning at 9:00pm, host Gary Axelbank will interview Klose and he will also perform original music, present music videos, and ring in the season with some holiday music. Here's his web site: Jann Klose.

This past Monday night Councilman James Vacca was the guest on BronxTalk. He talked extensively about transportation issues, education, housing, and more. You can view the show here: BronxTalk - December 13, 2010.

One of New York City's longest running TV talk shows now in its 17th year, BronxTalk is seen live each Monday night at 9:00pm on Bronxnet's Cablevision channel 67. It's also on Verizon Fios channel 33 and streamed live at bronxnet.org. Hosted by Gary Axelbank and produced by Jane Folloro, BronxTalk is repeated each day at 9:30am, 3:30pm, and 9:00pm. Archives are available here: BronxTalk Archives

BxNN Story of the Day: Mural Project Brightens Hunts Point

Bright, colorful  murals are lighting the way from some of Hunts Point's most industrial blocks to other parts of the community. The Point CDC is overseeing the project, called a "Village of Murals" to "brighten the route from residential Hunts Point to the South Bronx Greenway and Barretto Point Park."  (Photo by Alejandra Delfin)

Read more here in the Hunts Point Express.

Bronx Culture Trolley & Other Events

(Photo by Bronx Council on the Arts)

The Bronx Culture Trolley returns tonight, as it does the first Wednesday of every month, to take riders on a tour of the borough's top arts and cultural destinations. The tour is free, and departs from Hostos Community College's Longwood Art Gallery, at 450 Grand Concourse, at 5:30 p.m. The trolley, and many of the venues along the way, are wheelchair acessible.

Tonight's route includes stops at Hostos' Las Casitas Revisited exhibit and a free Latin jazz concert. More details are at the Bronx Council on the Arts' website, here. Check out this and other Bronx events in our community calendar, below.

Editor's note: What did we miss? Send details to bronxnewsnetwork[at]gmail.com.

Photography Exhibit 'The Mexican Portfolio' Coming to the Bronx Museum

Photo courtesy of The Mexican Portfolio

A new exhibit, "The Mexican Portfolio," opens at the Bronx Museum of the Arts next Thursday. It features a series of photogravures (images created using photographic and etching techniques) of people, architecture and landscape, captured by Paul Strand, an acclaimed photographer and filmmaker, on a visit to Mexico in the 1930s.

A larger Strand exhibit, "Paul Strand in Mexico," opens at Aperture Gallery in Chelsea on the same day.

This year is the 200th anniversary of Mexico's independence from Spain, and the 100th anniversary of the start of its revolution. Both Strand exhibits celebrate these key moments in the country's history.

The Bronx Museum of the Arts is located at 1040 Grand Concourse near 165th Street.  For opening times and additional information, visit its website.

Youth Theater Director Carlos Laboy Passes Away

Carlos Laboy loved the theater. He also loved teaching everything about the theater -- from acting to stage production -- to the youth of the northwest Bronx where he founded the StageKids program that is run out of Mosholu Montefiore Community Center. It was his great passion in life.

Laboy (pictured, center) passed away yesterday at the age of 59 after a months-long battle with an aggressive form of cancer.

"Carlos will be greatly missed and will live on in our hearts," his family wrote in a statement announcing his death.

On Wednesday afternoon, from 3 to 9 p.m., there will be a wake for Laboy at Ortiz Funeral Home, 2580 Grand Concourse (just north of Fordham Road).

In lieu of flowers, the family is asking people to donate to the Teen Program at Mosholu Montefiore Community Center. Contributions can be sent to MMCC at 3450 DeKalb Ave., Bronx, NY, 10467. Just write: "Re: MMCC Teen Program."

Fore more on Laboy's work in the community, click here, here and here. Here's the StageKids website.

(Photo by Adi Talwar)

Percussion Group at Poe Park

Take the kids over to Poe Park this morning for a show by percussion group Mundos Ninos. It starts at 10:30 next to the park's bandstand, at East 192nd Street and the Grand Concourse. The show is one of several children's events sponsored by the CityParks Foundation.