Gallery Watch: 'Black Femme: Sovereign of WAP and the Virtual Realm' at Canada

Text and photos by Clare Gemima 

Black Femme: Sovereign of WAP and the Virtual Realm

Canada, 60 Lispenard St. 

The WAP in the title of this show could not be more relevant after the huge success of Megan Thee Stallion at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards last week, taking home the title of Best New Artist. 

Unfortunately for me, the WAP had nothing to do with one of Cardi B’s best songs ever, but instead with something called Wireless Application Protocol, which the show’s description prefaces. Six female-identifying Black artists celebrate the Black Femme body through a post-internet art lens in the form of textile, paint, appliqué and video sequencing. 

Through various mediums, a heavy-hitting and sensitive topic are embraced through color, figurative play and an undeniable boldness that permeates as soon as you walk into the gallery. The work aims to dismantle and challenge the societal restrictions that are forced upon female Black bodies both offline and online, in virtual reality and AFK (away from keyboard). 

This group show intends to initiate discourse around the politics of sexuality, gender and femininity. The group show was curated by Christina Ine-Kimba Boyle and showcases the works of Caitlin Cherry, Delphine Desane, Emily Manwaring, Kenya (Robinson), Sydney Vernon and Qualeasha Wood. 

Black Femme: Sovereign of WAP and the Virtual Realm will run until April 10.

 

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ 

Clare Gemima is a visual artist from New Zealand. New-ish to the East Village, she spends her time as an artist assistant and gallery go-er, hungry to explore what's happening in her local art world. You can find her work here: claregemima.com 

The shirtwaist dress on the Bowery

Photos courtesy of E. Jay Sims

On Sunday, Bowery resident E. Jay Sims hung a large shirtwaist dress on the top-floor fire escape at 306 Bowery.

She mounted the dress, from a performance art piece that she did at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1984, here this week on the Bowery at First Street in honor of Women's History Month ... and in memory of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, whose 110th anniversary is tomorrow. 

The fire killed 146 garment workers — mostly young women, many of whom lived on the Lower East Side.

Sims, a longtime visual arts teacher, also dedicated this memorial to her grandmother, Rose Kruger, a Hungarian immigrant/seamstress who arrived in New York in 1913 and used her sewing skills to raise her family in America.

Weather permitting, the dress will be up through the weekend...

A gardening get-together in Tompkins Square Park on Saturday

There's another volunteer day in Tompkins Square Park on Saturday morning... interested residents can meet at 10 a.m. outside the Park office (over by the ping-pong table and dog run) ... the Parks Department will supply work gloves and rakes to help spread mulch and clean up some garden beds.

As previously noted, given the city's budget cuts, Johnny Young, the head gardener in Tompkins Square Park, has often been assigned to work in other areas... "leaving Tompkins vulnerable to trash and weeds," as he put it. 

The disappearing pay phones along Avenue A

In the last week or so, workers have hauled off the open-air pay phones on the northwest side of Avenue A at Fourth Street (above) ... the west side Avenue A at Third Street...

... and the west side of Avenue A at Second Street...

The one on the east side of A at Third Street is also gone. However, the pay phones remain on the south side of Fourth at A... 

... and the south side of A at Fifth...

So you still have a place to take a _____ or put down your bottle of ______ or roll a _____.

Thankfully, for now anyway, the World Famous Pee Phone™ is still on duty on Avenue A at Seventh Street.  

Anyway, all this was expected... in late February 2020, Gothamist reported that the Department of Information, Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) was going to uproot nearly 3,000 pay phones around NYC that are maintained by CityBridge. A few non-CityBridge phones are likely to remain. And expect to see some new LinkNYC kiosks in some of these spaces.

Tuesday's parting tweet

Someone took the door off the first stall in the ladies room at Tompkins. Look for it on eBay soon! pic.twitter.com/FRpCigjyde

— EdenBrower (@edenbrower) March 23, 2021

On the runway along Avenue B

Photos by Stacie Joy 

On Sunday afternoon, more than two dozen local artists, designers and merchants came together for the Ave B Eco-Friendly Fashion Show... featuring upcycled and vintage clothing on Avenue B between 10th Street and 11th Street.

Loisaida Open Streets and the East Village Community Coalition sponsored the event.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy shared these photos from along the runroadway .... showing the array of creative and wearable art looks... (click on the images for more detail)... 
 

Hate crime arrest made in assault of Asian woman on Astor Place

The NYPD has arrested the suspect wanted in connection with the assault of an Asian woman Sunday morning on Astor Place.

APPREHENDED and charged with a HATE CRIME. @NYPDDetectives @NYPD109Pct @NYPD9Pct https://t.co/dRBgyhxQNw

— NYPD Hate Crimes (@NYPDHateCrimes) March 22, 2021

The NYPD said they arrested 27-year-old Erick Deoliveira last evening. He has been charged with a hate crime assault and criminal mischief as a hate crime, per ABC 7. 

According to Gothamist, the man approached the woman, asked for her protest sign, then tore it up. When she asked why he did that, the man allegedly punched her in the face twice, then fled into the entrance for the uptown 6. 

A Good Samaritan who chased after Deoliveira told ABC 7 that the suspect "dropped his underwear and showed his genitalia to everyone on the platform."

The 37-year-old victim, who was on her way to a demonstration against anti-Asian violence with her daughter, suffered cuts and bruising to her lip, and a sprained ankle while trying to chase the assailant.

A visit to First Avenue Laundry Center

Text and photos by Stacie Joy

Anne DeVita, the about-to-turn 87 years of age manager of First Avenue Laundry Center has a lot of friends and visitors dropping by while I am interviewing her. 

She’s been managing the laundromat at 33 First Ave. at Second Street for 39 years, and proudly mentions it will be 40 years on Memorial Day. 

She works seven days a week, arriving before 7 a.m. most days, and has no plans to retire.

Between making change for customers “I am the change machine!” she jokes when I ask her about quarters vs. tokens (quarters only), Anne tells me about growing up in the neighborhood, working as a barmaid at Club 17 on Avenue D and Third Street, and about the bar she used to work at on 14th Street that had “girls for sale for a dollar upstairs.”

Anne’s friend Joe drops by with some fried chicken “he gets it somewhere on Avenue C,” Anne tells me, and local artist Scooter LaForge shows up with a Payday candy bar (it’s Anne’s favorite, he confides).

People pull up a chair and chat in the back of the laundromat while I talk further with Anne. Everyone looks at me like I’m crazy when I ask if there’s a website or social media profile to link to.

Machines have old-school pricing, $2 for a small load, $3.50 for a medium, and $4.50 for the triple-loader, and dryers are 7 minutes for a quarter. 

Drop-off service is available and is $7 for the first 8 pounds, with a 50-cent increase for every additional pound. Hours are daily from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m., with the last wash at 6 p.m.