NURTUREart is pleased to announce the Bushwick Biennial, opening June 6th, 2009, and curated by Benjamin Evans of NURTUREart, Phoenix Lights of English Kills Gallery, Austin Thomas of Pocket Utopia Gallery, and Jill McDermid of Grace Exhibition Space. Opening receptions will be held on Saturday, June 6th at all four locations.

Bushwick in the 1820’s – which then included all of Williamsburg and a good portion of Queens – was a swampy, beer-brewing, rope- making, glass-blowing, bear-shooting, offal-disposing industrious town of mostly German and Dutch immigrants. Today, the most recent arrivals are from an unlocatable land called the art world. They come to Bushwick attracted by its low(er) rents, the convertibility of its industrial landscape into lofts and studios, and the madness and hype of a new scene. Here demographics collide, attitudes shift, prices fluctuate, and new histories are made.

Focusing on the DIY spirit of independent galleries and exhibition spaces that have sprung up in recent years, The Bushwick Biennial showcases thirty-nine local and emerging artists whose visionary work reflects both an immediate and necessary sense of place – Bushwick – and the larger cultural and social values that have led to the fleeting artistic colony it currently represents. It is at once a celebration of the talent in this neighborhood and a questioning of the values of both “biennial culture” and neighborhood brand marketing that frequently ends up subverting its own good intentions. It is fitting then that the work of these artists is inherently dichotic, reflecting the tensions between doomed worlds, better places and personal mythologies. Themes of transformation, and strategies of transformative experience are direct responses to the neighborhood that is changing both around and because of them.

Featured artists will include at NURTUREart: Rahul Alexander, Jonathan Brand, Deborah Brown, Jaclyn Conley, Mike Estabrook, Jason Falchoock, Josey Hale, Audrey Hasen Russell, Meg Hitchcock, Kim Holleman, James Reeder, scrapworm, Radek Szczesny, and Christopher Hagerty, at Pocket Utopia: Rico Gatson, Ben Godward, Valerie Hegarty, Andrew Hurst, Molly Larkey, Kevin Regan, Austin Thomas, and Jonathan Van Dyke, and at English Kills: Leah Aron, Jason Balicki & Jason Eisner, Carter Davis, Peter Dobill, Holly Faurot, Steven Harding, Jim Herbert, Andrew Hurst, Andrew Ohanesian & Tescia Seufferlein, Brent Owens, Sarah H. Paulson, Don Pablo Pedro, Andy Piedilato, Lenny Reibstein, Hiroshi Shafer, and Judith Supine.

Come experience a cultural phenomenon before it’s lost forever to luxury condos, designer boutiques, soaring rents, and atmospheric wine bars! The Bushwick Biennial will be on display at NURTUREart through July 19th, at Pocket Utopia through June 28th, at English Kills through June 19th and at Grace Exhibition Space on June 19th (Marni Kotak) and July 3rd (Holly Faurot and Sarah H. Paulson). Please visit www.bushwickbiennial.com for an updated events schedule and more information.