Recap: BEAU’s New FABnyc Exhibit on 4th Street
Don’t forget to look up. Art is everywhere, even in the most unexpected places.
ArtUp kicked off their latest exhibit on East Fourth Street on Wednesday night. Not found in a gallery or on a wall, but instead the installation “Ordo Ab Chao,” by the street artist BEAU, was created on a scaffold. More specifically, the ArtUp Scaffolding Bridge at the 70 East Fourth Street Cultural Center.
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"Ordo Ab Chao" installation
Hosted by FABnyc (Fourth Arts Block) as their public art program, the installation was best viewed from the FAB Cafe across the street. At the request of the artist, the opening was intentionally set on March 14, aka Pi Day (3.14), to reflect the his emphasis on art and physics. The cafe, of course, served up free slices of warm apple and blueberry pie, which caused many to lament the lack of local pie makers in the East Village. (Hint hint, to all you bakers out there!)
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Pie for "Pi Day" at the FAB Cafe
While chatting with BEAU, we found out that it took him 20 days to create the multimedia mural, which depicts, among others, Adam and Eve, Archimedes, the Wall Street Bull, and Obama holding a beehive. “One side [of the mural] is nature, the other side is chaos,” said BEAU, who also explained that his work has running themes about “social control, philosophy and politics.”
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BEAU, surveying his work
And, let’s give a little shout-out to the exhibit’s curator Keith Schweitzer, who has worked with FABnyc and MaNY (Murals around New York), to spotlight local artists and street artists. Schweitzer has helped create a forum for artists exhibiting in both conventional and unconventional spaces.
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The scene inside and outside the FAB Cafe
All of the heady discussions about the meaning of life and art (and all that), led us to wonder: what other ways could those ubiquitous (and oh-so-ugly) scaffolds be open to artistic interpretation? Covered in faux leopard? Chia Pet-ed? Drop your ideas in the comments!
Ordo Ab Chao is up until June 10.
–Writeup and photos by Lori Greenberg