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Posts Tagged ‘John Sunderland’
Julia Sinelnikova at Life Cafe 983
THE VIEW FROM THE BAR
Julia Sinelnikova
Life Café Bushwick, Artist of the Month
December 2011
John Sunderland
I have been fortunate in my life to live in some beautiful places, and then I came to Bushwick; which to my mind has to be one of the ugliest places on the planet, why else would the artists of the street try to paint it out?
And here this month we have someone who sees beauty where, in daylight at least I see only the beast.
I have been in two minds about Julia’s show. To be honest I think the exhibition on the right hand side of the wall, is truly worthy of comment, but not so the three large paintings on the left, which don’t appear to belong in the company of the rest.
Sunsets and reflected light from natural and unnatural sources transform Bushwick from dusk to dawn; then it becomes a place of mystery, Chirico shadows and possible threat. But high on the rooftops above the streets the greatest show on earth is still playing.
Rather than go for the obvious iconic view of Manhattan set against a flame red sky, Julia looks closer and sees beauty in the momentary passing of light above the shadow blocks of Bushwick, and reminds us that nature gives us a fresh start every morning and wipes the slate clean every night.
It’s not easy to capture fleeting moments, and equally it takes a special skill to capture fleeting moods as the artist does so well with her interiors, where she shows us glimpses of transitory loft-life. We may want to know more but we never shall.
The one piece that really does it for me in this show is, “On the Brink”. This is a painting you could live with, it would always draw you to it; there would always be questions, never a dull moment. It could be a canvas that in the end could drive you mad.
Julia has captured here two people standing together, their naked feet in the moving water. That’s all we know, apart from the delicious fact that this is a moment set to pass and unfold. Quite how- we shall have to wait and see. Time for another glass!
Posted on December 5th, 2011 by Life Cafe |
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Tags: 983, art, art life, artlife, Bushwick, Events, John Sunderland, Kathy Life, Life Cafe, Life Cafe 983
A ROOM WITH A PEW
A ROOM WITH A PEW
 Jonathan Larson Bench-East Village By John Sunderland
Regulars to Life Café Bushwick may notice that there’s an elephant in the room, in the shape, well not of an actual elephant, but a large, wooden well-worn pew. On it is an inscribed brass plate, which reads, “The Jonathan Larson Bench”.
So what’s the point of mentioning this, after all, we don’t write about bar stools, though several are still warm with amazing stories. No, we mention the arrival of the bench from our original East Village Café because we’re closed there at the moment. The building has to have remedial structural work done and whatever it is they will do and whenever they do it, we want the bench to be safe from harm.
 Jonathan Larson Bench Kath’s first husband, David, brought the bench from their hometown in Michigan to the original café in the East Village in 1982. It sat there in the exact same place until yesterday, October 26, 2011, during which time it was host to God knows how many geniuses and dreamers, lovers and dribblers. Then, awakened from it’s cozy rest, it was jumped on, pulled outside and U-Hauled over the Willy B Bridge and into the sweating, straining arms of our unfortunate staff who, man and woman, handled it into the café, much to the surprise of the customers, who were temporarily moved and piled into a corner, whilst the bench was placed in its new home.
 Jonathan Larson's Bench in its new home So, why the effort? Because the bench to many people is a quasi-sacred object. It was where Jonathan Larson, creator of the Broadway musical hit RENT, sat with his friends whilst crafting the show.
Life Café in the East Village was at the epicenter of the world that he describes in RENT and duly gets its place immortalized in the production as the café where the
characters meet and perform the showstopper, “La Vie Boehme”.
So that’s the story. Sit on it, move your bum back and forth; there’s just a chance the bench sparks genius!
Posted on October 27th, 2011 by Life Cafe |
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Tags: 983, Bushwick, East Village, John Sunderland, Jonathan Larson, Life Cafe, Life Cafe 983, Life Cafe East Village, Life Stories, RENT, RENThead
The Beer Dude is Back Behind the Bar
Hi, this is Andy. You remember, The Beer Dude of Life Cafe 983. For years, I’ve been researching, choosing, ordering, serving, drinking, writing about and, last but not least, talking about the beers I love to serve here. I talked so much about beer that John Sunderland (our artist-in-residence and infamous creator of our Menu Picture Riddles) sketched me as I really am – a pint of beer with a nice frothy head. From that moment on, I became The Beer Dude.
Just over a year ago, Mark, my co-manager and “partner in crime” at Life 983, went over to the East Village Life Cafe to help out. My hands became full of managing other things far away from the bar. Well, Mark is happily back and I’m back where, I have to admit, I am most happy to be – running your ears off with ramblings about different varieties of hops, which kinds of yeasts leave the most desirable residual sugars, the way adding rye to an IPA recipe can … yeah, well, I can go on running. I’ll get into more of that in the next postings. I can’t help it – it’s the stuff I love.
I look forward to telling you about the exciting developments with the beer line-up we’re looking to introduce as well as some fun enhancements we’re planning with the rest of the boozies. Like, we’ve got a Scotch event coming up Saturday night, October 22nd. Before then, I’ll be writing about the character of each of the four new Scotches we’ll have in house so you’ll be better prepared to savor their differences.
Come on by to meet me and try the samples. I look forward to seeing you here on October 22nd. And before you get here, tune in to my blog for talk about Scotch.
Posted on October 14th, 2011 by Life Cafe |
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Tags: 983, andy mills, Beer, Beer Dude, beer speak, Bushwick, John Sunderland, Life Cafe 983, Riddle Raffle, whiskey
EAST VILLAGE LIFE CAFE LATE SUMMER DEALS
Starts Friday September 8 till it’s over
Mondays — $5 Margarita Madness, $2 Taquitos at the bar All Day
Tuesdays — $10 pitchers of Yuengling All Day
Wednesdays – $2 off all glasses of wine 7pm – 10 pm
Thursdays — $2 Tacos (beef or chicken) and $6 Twisted Tumblers
Fridays – $5 PBR + well shot and 50 cent Wings at the bar 7pm – 10 pm
Saturdays & Sundays – ½ price bottle of Wine with purchase of 2 Entrees 5pm–11 pm
HAPPY HOURS
7 days with complimentary chips and salsa at the bar
4 – 7 pm and 10pm – midnight
WEEKLY DINNER SPECIALS ARE BACK
New every Friday. Come on in and enjoy some of your old favorites.
 Dog Walks Man by John Sunderland
Posted on September 7th, 2011 by Life Cafe |
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Tags: Art Around the Park, chips, Dinner Specials, Dog Walks Man, East Village, Entrees, Happy Hours, Howl Fest, John Sunderland, Life Cafe, Margarita, PBR, salsa, Summer, tacos, taquitos, Twisted Tumblers, wine, wings, Yuengling
Chalk Talk – Menu Picture Riddle
I thought this was as surreal as you can get, an Abacus with eggs?
Easy does it with the sums!
OVER THE BAR at Life Café
An occasional series about extraordinary people and their work.
An illuminating encounter with PRANA.
By Life Café’s resident artist, John Sunderland
Chris Klapper and Patrick Gallagher are regulars at Life Café Bushwick.They’ve lived in and around Bushwick for sixteen years and as Chris says “been artists all our lives”. Having shown collaboratively many times, their next joint piece is called “Symphony in D Minor”, an interactive video and sound installation to be exhibited in the Skybox at 2424 studios, Philadelphia, PA.
PRANA, Chris’s recent highly engaging installation, supported by the Brooklyn Arts Council has been a major draw at The Invisible Dog Art Center in Brooklyn over the last two months. Having been voted ‘best in show’, its run ends April 24th.
As I discovered recently, the experience of visiting it (and that’s what it felt like- a visit) is something that stays with you afterwards.
About eight feet high and twenty-five feet long, the piece is large but not so that you can’t view it as a whole. Illuminated from an invisible source, thousands of white spheres glow in clusters, against a black background, dimming independently in soft pulses. This gives the whole piece the impression of a breathing light. But its more than a relic from a sixties sci-fi flick!
 Though PRANA dominated the centers’ ground floor, as I came in from the bright street the subtle impact was not immediately evident. But then as my eyes adjusted, it reached out and touched me, drawing me to it like an oracle in a Brooklyn Delphi.
PRANA’S power of attraction connects through a deeply felt impression that there’s a non-human presence in the room, something organic, strange and alien, not disturbing or frightening, but definitely something alive.
As I came closer, it felt like I was having an encounter with something elemental, something from a different realm. Closer still and it appeared to react to my presence, pulsing quicker in the area directly in front of me, as though it was nervous or challenged, and any moment might shoot off like an alien spaceship or a nervous ghost. There were two other people standing there in front, and PRANA was reacting to them too.
To me, the memorable power of the installation was the anamorphic impression that not only did it have life; it had emotions too! This suspension of disbelief is the magic of Chris’ original and wonderful piece.
As I write, sadly in a few days the benign alien presence that is PRANA will depart this planet on its continuing mission- to encounter and communicate with other life forms on other worlds.
BRAIN FOOD AND MENTAL DESSERT
An exhibition of 12 of the best Life Cafe Menu Picture Riddles from the past year by John Sunderland, Artist and Mental Tease, who promises:
“All will be stripped away to reveal the answers and the ideas behind the images.”
July 1 through July 31, 2010
Life Cafe 983, Bushwick Brooklyn
Opening Party Tuesday, July 6, 7 pm -10pm
(*all original works and prints to order for sale)
Life Cafe East Village – Riddle Raffle June 21
Life Cafe 983 Riddle Raffle June 18- June 25
Life Cafe 983 Riddle Raffle June 11 – June 18
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