Monday, May 9, 2011

The Superdive space is now home to an art gallery


RyanAvenueA snapped this photo yesterday... some people were transforming the former Superdive space into a temporary art gallery... Per the Ad Projects website:

AD Projects is an independent, migratory curatorial organization. Founded in April 2009, AD Projects has staged three group exhibitions of emerging and mid-career artists in borrowed spaces.

This week, you can find the following:


AD Projects is setting up a temporary home at 200 Avenue A with the exhibition Reliquary/SUPERDARK. Reliquary will be an evolving display of artifacts and SUPERDARK is an evening performance series over the coming weeks. Every few days, objects by one artist will be displayed on a pedestal in the vacant storefront of 200 Avenue A, the former location of Superdive. The relics displayed allude to such varied topics as the personal history of the artist, the contemporary mania for collecting celebrity memorabilia, and utopian visions of the future.

The performance series SUPERDARK complements the transformation of Superdive into a reliquary for contemporary artifacts, giving artists the opportunity to step into the spotlight and position themselves as modern-day idols, dictating and commenting on contemporary culture.

Our inaugural exhibition at 200 Avenue A will feature the works of Wonderpuss Octopus. We will hold a soft opening on Sunday, May 8th, with the official event Wednesday, May 11th.

Our hours will be Saturday & Sunday, 12 – 6 pm, and weeknights 7:30 – 10 pm. Stay tuned for details about Friday night performances.

7 comments:

Ken from Ken's Kitchen said...

This sounds kind of interesting. The AD Projects website's down, but found this here:

AD Projects presents Reliquary/SUPERDARK, an evolving exhibition combining the display of solitary artifacts with an evening performance series.

Each week, one artist will be chosen to present their form of a relic in the vacant storefront of 200 Avenue A, the former location of Superdive, transforming the space from a pilgrimage site for excessive drinking to a destination for arts enthusiasts. This opening week presents a solo-exhibition of Wonderpuss Octopus.

Each artist can be contemplated as a singular aesthetic entity in addition to serving as a metaphor for a greater concept. The relics displayed allude to such varied topics as the personal history of the artist, the contemporary mania for collecting celebrity memorabilia, and utopian visions of the future.

The performance series SUPERDARK complements the transformation of Superdive into a reliquary for contemporary artifacts, giving artists the opportunity to step into the spotlight and position themselves as modern-day idols, dictating and commenting on contemporary culture.

Anonymous said...

How does one position his/her self as an idol? Fucking stupid. Here I am, I am a modern-day idol, please look up to me.

Unknown said...

Ahhh blessed SUPERDIVE. now serving as muse of the art world.

Long Live SUPERDIVE !!!!!

Jeremy said...

Cool, so we still have to live with SUPERDIVE(!!!) even after it's gone. Great idea, guys.

Ken from Ken's Kitchen said...

Superdive the bar is gone and now somebody's subletting the space out to a legitimate organization that apparently does pop-up type art galleries featuring shows with emerging artists. Seems pretty in keeping with the neighborhood and sounds like an interesting idea for an exhibit.

Not sure why that's a cause for concern, or kneejerk reactions.

Anonymous said...

This isn't SUPERDARK. It's SUPERDUMB.

Jill said...

I was told it's sponsored by the New Museum and part of a larger effort to put art in empty storefronts.

It used to be that artists had to break into empty spaces and squat to get to use them. Now we have evolved so it is sanctioned.

I think it's a good thing, but it does lose the edge that made it exciting. The "idol" part makes a good statement about how that very ideal of being a rogue artist has changed from underground hero to matinee idol, even if they didn't mean it to say that.