Carson Ferri-Grant has been a fixture on the NYC art scene since the 1970s, member of Colab, and he knows a good idea when he sees one. So this multi-talented artist – hes also an accomplished actor – is thrilled to revisit the pop-up gallery movement with his two new shows this September at cofounders Tommy Chan and Paul Newnam – Gallery 11 on Kenmare Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The LES is one of the city’s trendiest neighborhoods, and has emerged as a hub for whatever is new.
Pop-ups have been around for decades, but have surged in popularity recently as the citys rents soar ever higher. Artists were among the first to jump on the idea of short-term storefront displays, but theaters, restaurants, and clothing designers have adopted the idea as well. Booming neighborhoods – especially Tribeca, SoHo, and the LES in Manhattan along with Williamsburg in Brooklyn – are pop-up hot spots, with short-term performance and display spaces opening and closing regularly.
Carson Ferri-Grant’s two Gallery 11 shows – “Bohemians @ The Beer Garden” runs September 1-14 and “Unknown Strangers” follows September 15-30 – are his foray return into the pop-up world and hes excited to make the move. “Art is an ever-changing universe and we as artists need to continue to evolve. The concept of short term display spaces is echoed in the digital world, as well as, in this dimension.”
Ferri-Grant’s love of large canvasses and installations dates back to his involvement in the East Village Art Movement of the 1970s. Hanging in an abandoned porno shop as part of Colab 1980: The Time Square Show, his In Life Turmoil triptych of edible undies, lacey ladys undergarments dipped into coco butter sweet chocolate provoke the viewer 3rd tychs senses of sight, smell, salivation, and libido.
Carson Ferri-Grant: 2016 Bohemians @ The Beer Garden runs September 1-14, with an opening reception on the 1st from 5 to 8 PM. Unknown Strangers runs September 15-30, with an opening reception from 5 to 8 PM. Pop Up Gallery 11 is between Bowery and Elizabeth Street on the Lower East Side.
And Colab1981 The Coney Island Show with Ferri-Grant’s The Coney Island Bathing Beauties, a daily constructed installation on the beachfront.
Among his notable large scale installation works was his U-Cave, a walkup into Mother Earth Uterus, post nuclear with her scarred, deformed next generation flowing from her fallopian tubes, Nature-Nuclear 1979 solo art show was set up in a popup storefront gallery Jack Morris Gallery (V. Parker) Amsterdam Avenue, NYC.
A native of Rhode Island, he first studied art as a teenager at the Rhode Island School of Design. He received a BA in Psychology and Art from Hunter College, studied computer graphic design at Pratt Institute, where he later taught, and received a masters degree in Sociodrama from UConn. Carson Grant has appeared in more than 400 movies and commercials, and is the 1st Vice President (GIAA), 5th VP Chair 4As-DPE and a member of SAG-AFTRA & AEA since 1973.
Read more about his work at carsongrant.com.
Story By Mara Lesemann
Mara Lesemann is predominately a film script writer. She has known Carson Grant via GIAA (Guild of Italian American Actors). Mara is married to Carlo Fiorletta, an actor and GIAA President.
