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Barry Kostrinsky - Page 2

Barry Kostrinsky

Barry Kostrinsky is the founder of Havensbx and Haven Arts. Gallery and performance spaces that reinvigorated the South Bronx arts scene from 2004-2017. The Municipal Arts Society (MAS) awarded Haven Arts a certificate of merit in 2006. 

Barry has contributed to a variety of  panels including a NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) Percent for art program, and a Bronx Museum symposium for the Artist in the Artists in Marketplace (AIM) program. Barry formed and moderated  talks for the Artists Talk on Art(ATOA) Series at The School of Visual Arts (SVA) and the National Arts Club that discussed the history of  the Bronx arts scene and contemporary ceramics. Recently he joined the board of ATOA 

Barry served as a member of the Arts in Public Places (AIPP) committee for Rockland County in the past and now sits on the board of "Human Connections Art"

His past experiences managing a family run manufacturing company in the South Bronx for 20+ years gives him a uniquely balanced view of the art world.

He worked in finance and banking from 2010-2013 for a small independent company and then for Bank of America. As a result he sees the art world from both the aesthetic side and the financial market it is. 

As an artist Barry has exhibited in group shows in NYC. He works in a variety of medium including oil paints, ceramics, acrylics, watercolor, photography and mixed medium. Whereas the oil paintings are mostly plein-air works not unlike the impressionists and post-impressionist, his acrylic work is quite contemporary and often on found objects including car parts, light bulbs, beds and more. His photographic work ranges from serene nature shots, to street detritus and social commentary using his simple I-Phone and old Polaroid small format cameras. In ceramics Barry makes modern day minkisi-power figures and has helped developed Bruce Sherman's ceramic career while managing his studio from 2014-2016

Barry special ability is to be able to see others artists work from the eyes of an artist and to dialogue with artists in a meaningful way about their art and where they are going.
 
As a youth Barry was a math major at Vassar College and graduated in 1982. His High School days at New Rochelle High enabled him to develop his artistic talents, Mr. Blackburn was an inspiring teacher. He spent the summer before senior year at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and had a firm footing in the arts before college. By chance Vassar had one of the best art history departments in the US and he studied with Linda Nochlin, Susan Kuretsky and in his rookie year, Ken Silver.

He is a proud father of three grown kids ages 29,29 (twins is the way to start) and 24. 
Like so many today he is divorced.

Barry has a strong passion for all things arts related and his love for cooking and eating run a close second. 
 

 






The Accessible Art Fair Opens at the National Arts Club - Brussels Fair Makes NYC Debut
The Accessible Art Fair Opens at the National Arts Club - Brussels Fair Makes NYC Debut
October 31, 2016

The Accessible Art Fair Opens at the National Arts Club. Brussels Fair makes NYC Debut. The Vision of Stephanie Manasseh to give access to artists directly to collectors for exposure, connections and sustainability is the fulfillment of a daughters dream for her mother.

Kazu Mori: Photography Beyond and Inline with Skating
Kazu Mori: Photography Beyond and Inline with Skating
October 13, 2016

Kazu Mori: Photography Beyond and Inline with Skating By Barry Kostrinsky What makes a photographer a photographer? Is it a certain number of shots with a camera, is it a certain quality of the images? What of all those pictures you have taken with your iphone, are they photographs, have you printed them? The definition of photography has been changing over the last 10 years. When Kazu Mori takes his camera in hand with a fixed wide angled lens that seems to have been beaten and battered by some street tricks, is he an inline skater or a photographer?

What Morley Safer Got Right About Contemporary Art
What Morley Safer Got Right About Contemporary Art
May 23, 2016

It was odd watching the pre-memorial segment on 60 minutes a week ago about a soon to die Morley Safe. It felt like a Monty Python sketch and I expected Morley to blurt out, ' I'm not dead yet.'

BWW Review: PICASSO - Stealing from Painting and Invigorating Sculpture
BWW Review: PICASSO - Stealing from Painting and Invigorating Sculpture
October 19, 2015

MoMA's must see exhibit of the year is definitely the Picasso Sculpture show up until February 7th 2016. We all know Picasso as that painter that put some odd eyes on faces, gave us multiple views of a sitting figure at once and the great thief that Giacometti would not let in his studio.

BWW Review: Art Amongst the Manure by Barry Kostrinsky
BWW Review: Art Amongst the Manure by Barry Kostrinsky
September 1, 2015

A Vermont getaway, or for that matter, any getaway helps to bring perspective to the daily lives we lead. Everyone becomes myopic in time and so these trips away from ourselves are critical for grounding our views, opinions and feelings about life and art. The MET, MoMA, The Morgan Library and Chelsea are great fun and places to see the best culture has to offer that has not been destroyed by irate terrorists of late. Yet Vermont's rolling hills, cows at every pass, cheese made from goats and maple syrup speak of a quieter, simpler time without monumental statements, paintings or understanding of man. Or is there something in the stillness, the quiet of time that Vermont possesses that we New Yorker's brush off our shoulder as if dandruff when in essence it may be the pixie dust of gods?

BWW Reviews: The Bronx Museum, Sze It Now and Burcaw's Street Mural
BWW Reviews: The Bronx Museum, Sze It Now and Burcaw's Street Mural
August 18, 2014

Hop on the 4 or the D train and travel north young men and woman to see art in the South Bronx. No, that's not a typo, I did not mean to say go see the Yankees. Like many inner cities including Detroit, the Bronx is best known for high crime, poor health condition and low test scores; However these inner cities are also the breeding ground for countless innovative film makers, music makers, visual artists and thought provoking thinkers. The why and how the tough conditions of these neighborhoods breeds an aesthetic flourishing is perplexing to figure out.

BWW Reviews: Clay in a Blaze of Glory at the Clay Arts Center
BWW Reviews: Clay in a Blaze of Glory at the Clay Arts Center
August 12, 2014

Sometimes art is not about Museum blockbuster exhibits, 50 minute interviews on Charlie Rose and opening night attendence by a who's who list of celebrities from coast to coast. Most times art is about artists making art in isolation and occaisonally communing with a small group of cohorts. At the Clay arts center in Portchester 'Two Vigiles: Bruce Dehnert and Shawn O'Conner ' opened Saturday August 2nd and runs through September 20th. The 2 person show gathered a small grouping of some of the over 50 clay artists that are associated with the center. What was so memorable about this small show and a quiet opening for an exhibit behind the Don Bosco Prep School and adjacent to the Firehouse in Portchester?

Mid-Year Highlights in the Art World: Koons, Donovan, Minkisi and More
Mid-Year Highlights in the Art World: Koons, Donovan, Minkisi and More
July 17, 2014

Half of 2014 is behind us. What was new and different, exciting and outrageous, unpredictable and surprising in the NY art world? That's right, not much. Like a large yacht the art world turns slowly. As usual, it seems like money is at the helm captaining the course of art history. This is not new; Leo and Peter Paul worked for the moneyed men of the day. In the past this would mean Princes, Kings and Popes. Now, money has let go of it's need for a title ( except for Sir Paul) and huddles around businessmen. Entertainment and luxury good CEO's, corrupt hedge fund a-holes that pay almost $2Billion in fines and drug dealers dress up their persona with art, cocktails parties and world class trips to stay firmly footed as the top dog in the art world.

The Bush Dilemma Has The Art World's Panties in a Bunch
The Bush Dilemma Has The Art World's Panties in a Bunch
April 11, 2014

The art world has its panties in a bunch. George Bush has entered some hallowed halls through a side door. Powerful teams of married art writers are reviewing his painted portraits of world leaders he met while playing president. Lady Gaga and Jay-Z were allowed in at the top of the art world for a day. Her pop fame and costumes and his good looks, money and past rap edge were enough to get them in and after all they were already in the music world: that suburb just down the block from the art world. Zimmerman entered the art world through the prison gates, the only pain less prison backdoor I can imagine. But George W Bush came in through a White house back door quite unlike the one JFK slipped in and out of in his day.

BWW Reviews: Cured to Perfection the ADAA Art Fair is a Pleasure to Visit
BWW Reviews: Cured to Perfection the ADAA Art Fair is a Pleasure to Visit
March 10, 2014

The Art Dealers Association of America- ADAA for acronym lover's, is consistently the classiest and most enjoyable art fair experience every year. Temporarily housed through Sunday in the Park Avenue Armory at 67th street, it is more than the simple things like aisles capable of handling a heard of elephants, good lighting and enough but not too much art and exhibitors that make this a Fun Fair with two capitals.

BWW Reviews: A Piered Armory Show Peers Back To The Past
BWW Reviews: A Piered Armory Show Peers Back To The Past
March 7, 2014

As if there is not enough confusion in the art world THE Armory show and many satellite fairs dropped through New York Cities stratosphere Wednesday night and orbits through March 9. What is the Armory? An Armory is a place for the militia; however defendable attacks employing full scale GI Joe green suited plastic men and woman have gone dormant over the last century. What to do with all that empty cavernous space? In 1913 an Armory was repurposed to house an art exhibit and so was born THE Armory show. Now, no longer in an Armory, it might be better called the Pier show as it is housed in Pier 92 and 94 near 55th street on the far west side.

Memorable Art Moments in 2013
Memorable Art Moments in 2013
January 6, 2014

What's hot: Forgeries, Infinity Rooms. Though a dry year weather wise, rain has been in. Red, Reflective materials. What is not there. Doing very little- like staring. Conceptualism, Caravaggio. Koons, George's as artist (Zimmerman and Bush). The expansion rate of Museum's in China. Post anything, Pussy Riot. Cross over musicians going gaga with Jzzzs'. Art that media jumps. What's Cold: Arthur Danto

BWW Interviews: Olivier Widmaier Picasso - In the Shadow of Pablo, One Picasso Shines Brightly
BWW Interviews: Olivier Widmaier Picasso - In the Shadow of Pablo, One Picasso Shines Brightly
December 4, 2013

Seeing Olivier Widmaier Picasso for the first time you can not help but notice the resemblance to his grandfather, the father of modern art, Pablo Picasso. Beyond an admitted nose-likeness he does resemble Pablo on some deeper level. Was I looking for this and did that cloud an objective view?-Hard to tell in this dream we call life. Grandson of Picasso, Grandson of Marie-Therese, Son of Maya Widmayer-Picasso. Olivier Picasso is often thought of as 'of' this and that. From what I saw in our meeting atop the Mandarin Orient's 26th floor lobby, Olivier is an interesting fellow of many sorts. His dialogue was alive and warm. The legacy of a famed grandson is often hard to bear and can leave scars. Instead of scars I found a creative spirit and a free mind that did not fall from the tree of that great deep visual madman who's Oeuvre comprises careers worthy of ten great artists. Only from Leonardo could you clone out a larger stable.

BWW Reviews: What's All This Fuss About Detroit's Art at Risk; Where Does It All End Up Anyway?
BWW Reviews: What's All This Fuss About Detroit's Art at Risk; Where Does It All End Up Anyway?
October 14, 2013

So what of Detroit's mess. Detroit has been dying since the late 80's. Put a fork in it- it's done. The Japanese made a better product and Detroit has been taking advil ever since for what has swooned to be $18 Bill of debt headaches. The Detroit Institute of Art- DIA was not set up as a non-profit and the art may be vulnerable to a firehouse sale to satisfy some of the debt.

BWW Reviews: The Metropolitan Museum - Too Much To Hang
BWW Reviews: The Metropolitan Museum - Too Much To Hang
October 16, 2013

Largeness seems like an American thing. We super size our meals, our homes and our waistline. Wasting much and consuming more and more we try and keep pace with the need for corporations bottom line growth that seems to grow on our bottoms and hips. So follow our Museums.

BWW Reviews: More than Schmattas: Textiles and Art, Where's the Line? Interwoven Globe at the MET
BWW Reviews: More than Schmattas: Textiles and Art, Where's the Line? Interwoven Globe at the MET
September 12, 2013

Interwoven Globe: The worldwide Textile trade 1500-1800 opens September 16th and runs through January 5th 2014 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is a story of hidden treasures speaking to one another on a cross-cultural global connection told through design and traveled by boat. Base-cemented for years within the METS vaults, now resuscitated, alive in nine galleries you can even see what Louis XVI commissioned but never got to; he lost his head too soon.

BWW Reviews: Vermont: Corn, Craft, Cheese and the Shelburne Museum
BWW Reviews: Vermont: Corn, Craft, Cheese and the Shelburne Museum
September 5, 2013

Vermont, there, I said it and now the thought of art has left your mind. I drove 243 miles to get away from New York and MOMA to see the mountains, the lakes and yes all that maple syrup. Oddly enough, the first signs you see that don't advertise corn, heirloom tomatoes and artisanal goat cheese are for artist studios and craft spots.

BWW Reviews: Cartoons as Art: It's No Joke
BWW Reviews: Cartoons as Art: It's No Joke
August 30, 2013

It is over 20 years since the important exhibit at MOMA 'High and Low: Modern art and Popular Culture' and over 40 years since Warhol borrowed from soda pop, ketchup, soup- a full lunch plate special of art supplies. Elevated to arts center stage on both canvas and auction podiums, these once thought plebian forms of low art have gone gargantuan. Comic related exhibits have run rampant in the art world for the last 10 years and yet many still hold fast to the aesthetic cast system and its hierarchy forged by iron-age men, that still considers comics just for kids.

BWW Reviews: The Germ: Where Did That Idea Come From and Some Trickster Visual
BWW Reviews: The Germ: Where Did That Idea Come From and Some Trickster Visual
August 15, 2013

The Germ: Where Did That Idea Come From and Some Trickster Visual. Early Christo Communist Coverings, Kelly's Camouflage days, Serra Ship Structures a Son Sees? Noguchi Drawn in by “The Leonardo.” What is the germination of an artistic idea and where does it spring from? Often these trails are left off the tour of art history.

BWW Reviews: MOMA's Fun, For a Friday Night and More
BWW Reviews: MOMA's Fun, For a Friday Night and More
August 7, 2013

MOMA is hot, blame it on Global Warming. I can't remember anytime I enjoyed such a large range of works on different floors at MOMA. Claes Oldenburg's old storefront packed up a little differently this week compared to what must have happened after its four year run in the early 1960's. You may have missed this one that has sat too long on my desktop. As recompense go to MOMA for free one Friday night from 4-8pm, tell them Barry sent you. Often we only read about exhibitions, who can schlep to so much?



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