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From OleK

 

If you missed Olek's latest shows, there will be many more opportunities to see Olek's crocheted madness, starting..... 

now!

                            

 

Crocheted Grapefruit

wall st  

 

I will unleash a team of peaceful, crochet-clad performers onto the streets of NYC to engage members of the public and draw them into a work of participatory performance art - Crocheted Grapefruit. This three-day action, inspired by one of Yoko Ono's "Instructions" in her iconic 1964 book Grapefruit, will engage passersby and turn them into enthusiastic, if unlikely, collaborators.

Where & When:      Sunday, June 19, 2-5pm - Times Square

                                    Monday, June 20, 2-5pm - Wall Street

                                    Tuesday, June 21, 2-5pm - Grand Central    

                                  

Press Contact:        Todd Florio, Project Coordinator

olekinfo@gmail.com 

 

More Info:

On each of the three performance days,performers clad head-to-toe in hand-made crocheted body suits will be enacting Yoko Ono's "Painting to Shake Hands" instruction. With hands protruding from holes in canvases, performers will welcome handshakes from members of the public. By directly engaging strangers in the simple act of shaking hands, an undeniably human connection is made and the intimidating fa�ade of the art world is broken down. After a wildly successful New York gallery show, and in anticipation of an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute in 2012, Olek seeks to engage people who would normally never enter into a gallery or museum by welcoming them with this action.

The interactions are the art. In Olek's own words, "For the last seven years I have been creating socially conscious public 'actions' that shape, inform, and transform the dialogue between performer, observer, and participant." Observers' reactions to similar Olek performances in Berlin and Harlem have been a mixture of surprise and delight. Children and adults alike are drawn to the performers with nervous enthusiasm. They are eager to take part, even as they only begin to understand what they are taking part in.                            

 

Should any of the artifacts from these performances be sold, Olek will donate 50% of the proceeds to Japan Society's Japan Earthquake Relief Fund.

 

 

 

Crocheted Grapefruit is made possible in part with public funds from the Fund for Creative Communities, supported by New York State Council on the Arts and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

logos 2 

 

 

Special thanks to LMCC and Felicity Hogan  


And much more...

April 29th - July 7th A new Hook. Rethinking Needlework
, Museum Bellerive, Zurich

June 18th

Crest Fest, Crest Hardware Art Show, 558 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn, NYC 

numero uno 

 

June 18th - July 2nd

Sing for Hope's Pop-Up Pianos, NYC

 

June 28th - June 30th, Town & Country

Curated by Jason Patrick Voegele of Republic Worldwide,  Samson Contompasis of The Marketplace Gallery, Keith Schweitzer of M.A.N.Y. and  Tyler Wriston of The B.K.A.C.

 

Hosted by 320 Studios at 320 West 37th Street FL 14

  

July - August, Make Skateboard, I-20 Gallery, NYC 


  

August 10th

The Bad Artists Imitate, The Great Artists Steal

w b 

solo show at Jonathan LeVine Gallery, NYC




Videos of my recent actions:

 

Working Woman in Red: A Portrait

All work produced with Red Heart Yarn



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