Art Exhibit Invites Viewers To Come Home To Harlem

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Art Exhibit Invites Viewers To Come Home To Harlem
05/05/2008 01:11 PM
By: NY1 News

A landmark Harlem home is transformed into an impromptu art space that explores the meaning of home. NY1's Stephanie Simon filed the following report.

Home is where you hang your hat, and maybe where you hang your art. For one group of artists in Harlem, home is where they make their art, and what inspires it.

For the third year in row, the non-profit organization HomeBase project has arranged for more than a dozen artists to use a New York City home as their art studio and then as their gallery to present the work to the public.

This year's HomeBase is taking place at an historic Harlem townhouse in Sugar Hill.

Adi Ezroni is one of the artists and organizers

"This is a site-specific, international, public art project that explores notions of home," said Ezroni. "What does that mean? That means that we bring a group of international artists from different backgrounds and different artists mediums and we bring them into a raw urban space and each one of them creates an installation that has to do with what is home."

The artwork fills all five floors of the townhouse.

HomeBase founder and artist Anat Litwin focused on the living room and the notion of ceremony, which for her, connects the simple and the sublime

"I created this in-between space that, for me, contains both aspects," explained Litwin. "What I actually did is, I chose a few objects from my home, from my living room, and transported them into here. You see here the bird cage and the desk and the basin and the barber's stand are things that are part of my daily life and here they become this kind of theater, object theater, and they become animated and they tell a story."

Landlord Robert Pair admits at first he wasn't really sure about the idea.

"I actually took a leap of faith and I had no idea," said Pair. "They articulated it to me a couple of times, but it didn't really stick, and I took a leap of faith and they know what they're doing and it worked out well."

In addition to all the art works on display, HomeBase is also inviting people inside for performances like dance pieces, music, lectures and tours of the house.

HomeBase is located at 764 St. Nicholas Avenue at 148th Street, from now through May 18, Wednesday to Sunday, 1 p.m. — 9 p.m. For more information, go to www.homebaseproject.com.

- Stephanie Simon