Final Weekend of Governors Island Art Fair >>> it goes out with a bang!!!

CLOSING RECEPTION FOR

THE SECOND ANNUAL GOVERNORS ISLAND ART FAIR

Sunday, September 27 from 3-6pm

PRESENTED BY

THE 4HEADS COLLECTIVE

Sponsored By GalleryBar, Golden Paints, Two Boots Pizza, and Frame It Brooklyn

On Display Saturdays & Sundays thru September 27

Governors Island, NY (September 27, 2009) – The Second Annual Governors Island Art Fair compiled by the 4heads Collective and sponsored by Gallery Bar will culminate with a closing reception on Sunday, September 27^th from 3–6pm.  Visitors will be allowed one last chance to stroll through the abandoned army barracks of Governors Island while viewing a selection of work by 150 independent and international artists and performers as well as a selection of art galleries. A large number of paintings, photographs, sculpture, video, sound and object installation pieces are showcasing a vast cross-section of the New York art scene.  Guests will be able to view these collections every Saturday and Sunday now through September 27^th from 11am – 6pm.

Along with the critically acclaimed exhibition organized and curated by The 4heads Collective, at the closing reception will be a live painting competition by Art Battles, live music by UOM from Miami and German folk songs by Tine Kinderman (just back from a tour with Iggy Pop).  Within the exhibition itself, the public will be invited to commission private and intimate verse with The Poetry Brothel, to experience a multi-person live performance in the installation created by artist Kikuko Tanaka, and to revel in the depression of the recession by playing metal-sculptor Robert Spinazzola's  game, "Lay-off Bingo".  In the spirit of true end-of-the-summer festivity, the closing reception (featuring food by Two Boots Pizza and drinks by GalleryBar) will be a mid-day costume party and outdoor masquerade ball with mask-making booths for any unprepared revelers.  The public are encouraged to attend in costume and to engage in the many interactive adventures that will be happening on the Island, in order to send the wildly successful fair off with a bang.  

“On our opening day there were 9,700 people here,” says Preet Srivastava of The 4heads Collective.  "We were overwhelmed with the positive reception to our event and we hope for even more of a spectacle at our closing."

While Governors Island is a place that few outside the military have ever seen, its rolling hills, sprawling lawns, colonial homes and ancient forts have made it a focal point of the New York art scene.  In recognizing this point, The 4heads Collective organized the first Governors Island Art Fair in the fall of 2008 featuring works that ranged from emerging unknowns to established working artists.  This year, the organization has brought on GalleryBar from the Lower East Side to act as a partner in the project in order to help expand the reach to artists and appeal to a younger New York crowd.

“We were blown away by the attendance at the opening of this event,” says Darin Rubell of GalleryBar.  “Working with The 4heads to bring all this amazing art out to this exotic little island has been an unbelievable experience for us.”

Just a (free!) 5-minute ferry ride from Manhattan, Governors Island includes a National Historic Landmark District featuring 18th century fortifications, pre-Civil War arsenal buildings, Victorian and Romanesque Revival housing, as well as early 20th century neo-classical architecture.  Twenty-two of Governors Island's 172 acres comprise the Governors Island National Monument, which is owned and operated by the National Park Service. The island boasts sixteen acres of recreational facilities encircled by a one-mile esplanade for jogging and walking which features New York's closest view of the Statue of Liberty from land.

About The 4heads Collective

The 4heads Collective is a New York-based group dedicated to cultivating interest in the arts through community involvement and interaction.  Ernie Sandidge, Nicole Laemmle, Preet Srivastava, Antony Zito and Jack Robinson formed the group in early 2008 with a mission of forging new opportunities for the growing community of artists in New York City.  The 4heads Collective offers each selected artist a chance to exhibit in his or her own room in a historic building on Governors Island.  The 4heads has established a hands-off curatorial environment inviting the individual artists to create their own experience. For the public, it’s an opportunity to see and buy artwork from some of the city’s most sought-after independent artists in a beautiful, historic park setting.  www.4heads.org