In “Bushwick Chronicle” art critic James Panero describes the after affects of his first ever visit to Bushwick:
“…the need to see it all, to see the art, to meet the artists, to seek out the galleries…and not to blink.”
During tours for Bushwick Open Studios I stopped in for Meryl Meisler’s exhibit “Bushwick Chronicle” up at Stout Projects, 55 Meadow Street, through October 30th.
Above, Panero writes on his experience of first coming to the neighborhood in 2009, and falling for it. Same thing happened to me that year after visiting apartment studios during the Summertime BOS. We all seem to have this hazy memory of a first-time journey on the L train from Union Square, coming up from the underground into industrial landscapes unknown. Now famous and well-known, I think some of us are holding onto this place by a thread before it becomes too cool for us. I certainly feel like it will soon move on without me and I only just moved here in 2013.
Panero adresses Meryl’s documentation of the “long history of the neighborhood” and “the power of remembering,” reminding me of my own avid nostalgia for every place in New York I’ve come to feel close to over the past ten years – especially the one and only Bushwick.
These pictures look like they were taken decades ago, but it was only this past Summer. I’m not sure what time or dimension I’m in when I look at them, it’s like waking up from a nap. They say not to hold onto the past, but I think with Panero’s text and Meryl’s photos it’s fitting to be nostalgic, even of the present and future.
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