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Thru Dec 31 at Coney Island Library: Artist Takeshi Yamada’s Cabinet of Curiosities

Posted in art, tagged Brooklyn, Cabinet of Curiosities, Coney Island, gaff art, Mummified Hand, oddities, rogue taxidermy, sideshow gaff, Takeshi Yamada, two headed baby on November 7, 2009| 5 Comments »

Mummified Six Fingered Witch Hand & Giant Stag Beetle by Takeshi Yamada. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

For the past three years the glass cabinets at the Coney Island branch of the Brooklyn Public Library have showcased a rotating display of artwork that befits Coney Island’s history as host to oddities and curiosities from around the world. If you haven’t seen Takeshi Yamada’s long-running “Museum of World Wonders: Cabinet of Curiosities” yet, the exhibition is on view through Dec. 31 at the Mermaid Avenue library. [Dec. 19 Update: we received an e-mail from Yamada with the good news that the Cabinet of Curiosities show has been extended for another year –through December 31, 2010— at the Coney Island Library.]

Skull of the Sea Dragon by Takeshi Yamada. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

When I stopped by during Halloween week, the curiosities included a mummified six-fingered witch’s hand, a cat frog (“There are about a dozen species of frogs with whiskers in this world”), samurai warrior horseshoe crab mask, three-eyed human skull, giant sea dragon’s skull (purportedly “discovered” by Yamada on the beach in 1790), a Nuclear Radiation Giant Stag Beetle of Bikini Atoll, and fancifully labeled cans of Coney Island brand King Tarantula and Coelacanth. “An Extra Fancy Living Fossil.” Oh, yum!…

T Rex Bone, NYC Giant Subway Bug & Coney Island Fancy Canned Goods by Takeshi Yamada. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Yamada, who has an MFA in fine art from the University of Michigan School of Art and is Grand Champion of the Minnesota Association of Rogue Taxidermists, considers his artwork “specimens” rather than examples of self expression. He uses a variety of natural materials to create his curiosities including some that might be considered controversial. The two-headed babies exhibited this summer in his “Baby Museum” at Coney Island’s Dreamland amusement area are rogue taxidermied artifacts made from his own skin, says Yamada. [Scroll down to “Comments” for details.]

Artist Takeshi Yamada's Freak Baby Show in Coney Island's Dreamland, Summer 2009. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

The Japanese-born artist and longtime Neptune Avenue resident is one of Coney Island’s most recognizable eccentrics. In the summer, you’re apt to find Yamada clad in a black tuxedo and Mardi Gras beads strolling the Boardwalk with his sea rabbit Seara, a taxidermied wonder with webbed feet and a mermaid’s tail. On November 15, he’ll be defending his Grand Master title at the 4th Annual Carnivorous Nights Taxidermy Contest at the Bell House in Gowanus. In the meantime, you can visit Yamada in his studio and get a peek at his Fiji mermaid, two headed baby, dog-headed spider and other sideshow gaff art via this video from Brooklyn Cable Access TV…

Takeshi Yamada’s “Museum of World Wonders: Cabinet of Curiosities”
Coney Island Library, 1901 Mermaid Ave (at W 19th St), Coney Island, Brooklyn, 718-265-3220. Through ~~December 31, 2010~~ June 28, 2011. The library is a five-minute walk from the Stillwell Avenue subway terminal. Check library hours here

This exhibition closed on June 28, 2011. Please visit Takeshi Yamada’s Museum of World Wonders flickr photostream to view his work.

Moments in Time: Artist Eric March’s Coney Island

Posted in art, tagged art, Astroland Rocket, Brooklyn, Coney Island, Eric March, etching, Park Slope Gallery, Save Coney Island on October 12, 2009| 1 Comment »

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Astroland Park, Watercolor by Eric March. From the exhibition “Moments in Time: Queens to Coney Island” at Park Slope Gallery, October 16 – December 31.

The roof of Gregory & Paul’s, now known as Paul’s Daughter, looked empty this summer without the iconic Astroland Rocket. I kept having to remind myself: The Rocket is safe in storage in Staten Island. It’s been saved! But things were not the same in so many ways: Astroland was gone. Closed on September 7, 2008. In Eric March‘s achingly lovely watercolor study from the summer of 2008, G & P’s original sign is intact, the “Astroland Park” Rocket is perched atop the Boardwalk food stand, and all is well in this part of the world.

The artist, whom ATZ got acquainted with in Coney, recently sent us a link to a preview of his upcoming exhibition “Moments in Time: Queens to Coney Island.” The oil paintings and charcoal drawings of Queens industrial landscape are impressive. Naturally we felt drawn to successive images of the Rocket– the black & white and hand-tinted etchings done in 2009. “For ‘Astroland’ I thought the fine detail you can achieve in etching lent itself well to depicting all the signage,” says Eric March. “‘Parachute Jump’ has a lot of precise line work but I also used different biting techniques to get a softer sense of atmosphere in the sky. In addition, an additional layer of yellow ink rolled over the entire plate helps gives ‘Parachute Jump’ that sunset glow.”

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Astroland, etching by Eric March, 2009

Whenever I ran into Eric in Coney Island he was busy gathering signatures for a petition to save the amusement zoning and move the proposed high rises north of Surf Avenue. How did all the Save Coney lobbying and events of the summer affect or inspire his work?

The show is actually about half Coney Island subjects and half Long Island City subjects. I moved to LIC in 2006 from Brooklyn and was attracted to all the industrial structures in Queens Plaza and other places in LIC. Coney Island has my heart, though, and I was drawn back to the beach when I started developing the work for this show. In 2006 I had my first solo show, “A Brooklyn Year”, which was all Brooklyn—including a lot of Coney Island pieces. So I already had ideas for paintings that I didn’t get to for my last show.

When I learned that Coney Island was potentially destined for the wrecking ball it definitely lit a fire under me to not only capture images of the Coney that I knew and loved, but also to get involved politically to help keep it that way. That’s when I started volunteering for Save Coney Island. I did some petitioning on the boardwalk and helped organize to raise awareness about the city’s redevelopment plan and it’s inherent threat to the existence of the vibrant, small scale, historic, and unique Coney Island that’s been drawing people there for over 100 years. The fight’s not over yet and I hope that when people see the work in this show they will also be inspired to fight for a Coney Island that remains one of the last places in New York City that is an open-access melting pot of people, creativity, color, and fun.

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Astroland, hand-tinted etching by Eric March, 2009

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Gallery Talk, Friday, November 6, 7 pm
The artist will discuss the artistic process and the political inspiration for his Coney Island images. Featuring guest speaker Juan Rivero from Save Coney Island

Moments in Time: Queens to Coney Island, October 16- December 31, 2009. Park Slope Gallery is a by-appointment-only art gallery in the historic Park Slope section of Brooklyn. Phone 718-768-4883 or e-mail parkslopegallery@mindspring.com

Parachute Jump, etching by Eric March, 2009

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The Wonder of Artist Philomena Marano’s Wonder Wheel

Posted in art, tagged ACA Galleries, collage, Coney Island, Philomena Marano, Wonder Wheel on October 4, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Coney Island's Wonder Wheel: Swingin', Stationary by Philomena Marano

Swingin’, Stationary by Philomena Marano. Cut paper collage. From the exhibition “New York Then and Now” at ACA Galleries ~~through October 10~~. Extended through October 27, 2009

Last week ACA Galleries hosted a Meet the Artists reception for their current group exhibition celebrating “New York Then and Now.” Coney Island’s legendary attractions provided the inspiration for several works, including painting, sculpture and collage. Artist Philomena Marano, who is known for her bold and colorful cut paper collages of Coney’s amusement rides and signs, talked about her favorite subject matter:

The “Wonder Wheel” ferris wheel is continuously inspiring to me because it has two worlds — the one above, riding the sky and the one below, bathed in rhythmic patterns of light & shadow. Both are at once industrial and enchanted.

In “Swingin’, Stationary,” I hope to evoke not only the visual complexities of linear tension but also the sounds of gears turning, motors humming, and the sonorous chords of cars swinging. All magic. If you’re going to ride it, I suggest the swingin’ car!

The group exhibit “New York Then and Now,” which includes the work of George Ault, Romare Bearden, William Gropper, Reginald Marsh, Faith Ringgold and Herb Rogoff, among others, continues through October 10 27. 2009 ACA Galleries, 529 West 20th St., 5th floor, New York, 212-206-8080.

ATZ enjoys the roller coaster-like thrill of the swinging cars, too. There’s still time to go for a spin on the Wonder Wheel this season– Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park is open weekends and school holidays through Monday, October 12. Weather permitting of course. Call ahead for hours of operation. Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park, 3059 W 12th St, Coney Island, 718- 372-2592.

Related posts on ATZ...

October 26, 2010: Studio Visit: Philomena Marano of the Coney Island Hysterical Society

September 19, 2010: Art of the Day: Play Fascination by Philomena Marano

October 31, 2009: Traveler: Carnival Rides as Public Art at Toronto’s Nuit Blanche

June 13, 2009: June 13: Coney Island Hysterical Society Artists in Conversation at A.M. Richard Fine Art in Williamsburg