ARTIST MIKE PERRY LAUNCHES WONDERING AROUND WANDERING, A POP-UP EXHIBITION AND COMMUNITY SPACE FOR LIFELONG ART-MAKING
Artist and graphic designer Mike Perry presents Wondering Around Wandering (WAW), a three-month exhibition, open community event space, and working studio in Brooklyn’s emerging Crown Heights neighborhood. From September 15 through November 25, 2012, Perry and friends will take over a 7,000 square-foot warehouse space at 983 Dean Street, with funds raised on the online crowd-funding platformKickstarter — 766 backers contributed more than $30,000. There they will host a series of free educational workshops and idea-igniting opportunities for people of all ages to tap into their own creative potential, discover or become a mentor, or just have a mind-expandingly good time. Additional support from longtime creative partner Urban Outfitters will help to keep the space open and free to the community.
This occasion marks the release of Perry’s first monograph, also called Wondering Around Wandering (Rizzoli Books), and his first exhibition in New York City since 2008, featuring never-before-shown paintings, illustrations, screen prints, and sculptures. Perry, 31, has shown his work in Japan and has authored three books showcasing his love for enduring art-making techniques such as hand-drawn typography (2007’s Hand Job), pattern making (2008’s Over and Over), and screen printing (2011’s Pulled).
As much as the exhibition celebrates his own achievements, Perry designed the Wondering Around Wandering pop-up experience to be for and about others, especially his neighbors in Crown Heights, where he has lived and worked since 2006. Eager to give back to and engage with the community that has supported him, Perry will invite local classes to visit and make art. Another way that he is contributing to the vitality of the neighborhood is by helping to convert the previously raw, unused warehouse space where WAW is taking place into a property of value to his landlord.
Perry says, “Growing up in Kansas City I would hear people describe the communities of their small towns, but when I got to Brooklyn I learned what community really was. The rumors about New Yorkers being unfriendly are just surface. Once you actively join a neighborhood, people are so welcoming. I believe in Brooklyn and what it has done for me. So why not make something here?”
The Wondering Around Wandering space, at 983 Dean Street, between Classon and Franklin, is open Tuesdays through Sundays (closed Mondays) from 1:00–6:00 p.m., from September 16 through November 25, 2012. On October 6 and November 3, it will stay open until 11:00 p.m., coinciding with the Brooklyn Museum’s Target First Saturdays. On Thursday nights, open drawing sessions will take place from 8:00–10:00 p.m.
See wonderingaroundwandering.com for the complete, up-to-date schedule.
