A quest for liquid love

In my search for my next liquid goddess, I found myself walking into an opening at the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center. My friend was there nice, cold, and priced very closely to New York, but my love is not deep enough for a six dollar light beers.

First up to the plate was the Albanian artist Anri Sala with the show “Purchase Not by Moonlight”, who created multi-media images exploring the idea of time and how it is tracked. He uses drums, which are normally used to keep time for the bands but for Sala this instrument of his exploration of time and space. Sala accomplishs this exploration by using large projections flashing multiple images of drums being played that were accompanied with actual snare drums that played the same rhythm. While some of his other video installations included a horse on a road and a film projection of Andre Agassi which did not have the same feeling of time.

Still waiting to meet my new love, I ventured downstairs to see the Marilyn Minter’s “Chewing Color” exhibition. She is exploring the love of color, but the image were more about color on people rather then a love for color itself. The photos and paintings resembled high fashion photography with paint dripping from the models. The most interesting piece was her strange video in the corner, with the mysterious form moving the different color around, later to discover a mouth chewing and spiting color. Over all the CCAC was an interesting experience, to bad my friend wasn’t free, but off to the Rock Bottom Brewery and Restaurant. Taking one step into this bar and restaurant, it looked like every other steak house across America, however they do always have seven unique beers that I won’t find anywhere else.

First, is the Cincinnati American, which has a clear yellow colored beer with a slight hop aftertaste. Over all this crisp tasting beer that is similar to most American brews, light and refreshing that leaves the palate relatively clean. The next beer should have been called, That is Shit is Bananas, but this was my first banana flavored beer. The “White Tiger” is a cloudy yellow heffeweizen with an over powering banana flavor conquered any beer flavors that might peak its little head. As a sweet summer brew this drink could go well with tart deserts but to pair this with anything hot or sweet would be total over kill.

Since the Heffenweizen lacked its normal citrus appeal to heal my wounded heart, the Crosley Field pale ale seemed up to the task. This clear yellow brew embodied both the hoppy taste paired with an acidic fruit that creates a spectacular party in the mouth. Swirling this pale ale over your palate leaves a clean finish while the orange aroma keeps you coming back for more. They seem to be mixing up all the draughts on us now, before the arrival of the stout we have an ale that embodied with alot rich flavors. This chocolate ale has a malty flavor with a clean flavor with an overpowering after taste. The Tall Stacks Ale, starts off excellent but has an after taste which seems to be an acquired taste.

There must be millions of people who need coffee just to start their day and if it is the taste of coffee, this beer will knock your socks off. The Brown Beer Brown is colored like its coffee counter part with an amber undertone but remember it contains alcohol rather then an uplifting blast off caffeine. This flavor comes from how long they roasted the barley that allows this beer to make miracles on the palate while leaving a sweet finish behind. This beer is like a good house guess, it comes to hangs out and leaves the place better then you had it.

The last beer on the list permanent list is their stout called Rotating Dark. This stout is dark and when it hits you lips you realize this stout is quite lighter than normal. It feels more like a black lager rather then a full bodied stout. It does however have a clean finish and would pair very well with most bar foods by complementing the flavors of any entrée. Over all this seemed more like a dark Budweiser, but there was a treat in the form of their seasonal beer. The Rocktober is a see-through amber ale with a fruit blast of excitement that could put your taste buds in a state of melancholy. The fruit and hops work together like colored pixels in a high definition television to creating a well balanced flavor. The clean finish of the beer and the fruity aftertaste made this my favorite of the night. For Cincinnati, it seems that their brewery has some potential and is worth visiting.

Limited Dating.

Recently, beer consumption has been on an all time low and how I’ve missed my wonderful friend. A few weeks back was my last date with any hoppy delights and I ventured to on of my Brooklyn favs; the delicious Maggie Brown’s. In search for a new friend to add to personal my “I love that BEER” list, I tried Ommegang’s take on the Belgian white ales. Ommegang opened it doors the brewery world in 1997 in upstate New York and specializes in Belgian ales. They now have five award winning ales and now I can’t wait to have them all, but I had to start with the one in front of me. Plus, Ommegang has a good ring to it, so I couldn’t resist. It had to be good with a name like that, Right?

Actually, it is a great summer beer with a crisp and flavorful taste paired with a slightly orange flavor that has a clean finish. Your palate is so clean after each sip, should you decided to pair this ale with sushi you wouldn’t need the ginger between rolls. The citrus aroma of this pale yellow ale has a feeling of Sunday morning mimosas or lounging pool side. This ale is great, but remember this beer is for sipping or causal drinking and not for that after work bender.

I wish there was more beer dating in the last couple of weeks however, I did come across some very interesting artwork. During the Greenpoint open studios in Brooklyn on the last night at the Greenpoint Gallery there was a gallery talk by three participating artists: Mary billyou, Amanda Browder, and Chris Clary. After a few PBRs and Miller high life’s the gallery owners’ finished installing the screen for the slide show.

First to the podium was Mary Billyou a video artist who creates films from older films in tape formats such as VHS or BETA. She is interested in how the films change as they are played over and over and the films changes. One video about relationships, (the name alludes me, I forgot to write anything down, world’s greatest reporter here) that consisted of different films that were so worn down the visuals seemed like white noise. But the characters’ voices were clearly distinct and the story they developed had a lonely appeal, but seemed a bit spry. She showed 3-4 other films each has a different aesthetic but her use of different media is quite impressive. I would implore anyone who could see any of her videos to do so.

Amanda Browder, stood tall and very excited to talk about her work. One key feature about her work there was the clear relationship to she develops between herself and her environment. Everything from the hipsters love for mustache’s to the fairy tale of Rapunzel, with the use of recycled or donated clothing. Using the clothing she develops allegories between the fabrics and her critique of popular culture. One image in particular was about the hipster mustache, which she displayed with an image of a female with a fabric classic mustache. The idea of the displacing the mustache, which in the past was used to once to show social standing is now a ridiculous attempt to reach back without its historical reference. Browder body of work is exciting with a feminine take on Oldenburg’s soft sculptures, with a more contemporary edge. She will be having show Brooklyn soon and will be covering a house in Greenpoint with her fabrics in the near future.

Lastly, there was Chris Clary, a photographer who captures different types of documentary and internet research. The first project he showed us was about how the internet defines “Black Man”, and what images arrive when that phrase is entered. This project was originally inspired by his African-American boyfriend who later looked over the images after the images were compiled. These images included everything from pornographic images of black men to black puppies and a mix of other images. He then images where compiled together into wall paper and the wall paper was displayed in the gallery. His other projects included an investigation that exposes a sitter to a camera which takes a photo every few seconds for an hour or more. Then the photos are composed in a grid and the sitter decides if there are any images which should be excluded and they are replaced with a completely black photo. The display of these psychological portraits creates a voyeuristic feeling of the artist/sitter relationship. Other projects include investigations into his passion for pornography and how it has changed over the years. I found Clary’s work compelling and can’t wait to see more from him.

Enough about art, in the next few weeks I’m going to get to travel around the country and taste beers from different regions and of course see some art. Next stop is Cincinnati Ohio, I can’t wait to have their local beer.

Excited for the new gallery season to start

Next week, the galleries are reopening from their monthly vacation to the Hamptons, August is to hot to be walking door to door in the city. On a different note, my good friend Andy Weeks will be having a solo show opening next Friday at Stripeman Gallery on north 3rd st between Barry st. and Wythe. This beautiful gallery with exposed brick will be hosting some beautiful landscapes from around the city while having a bottle of two of pretty good vodka. Andy will be showing some of his new landscapes of different places all over the city.

This Mark Bradford and Kara Walker exhibition at Sikkema Jenkins & Co is going to be one of my must see exhibitions next week. This should prove to be an interesting combination between Bradford's large mixed media collages that resonates a feeling of the early abstract expressionist and Walker's confronting silhouettes of African Americans. The way this is displayed is key, I hope it lives up to my expectations.

Having recently stumbled upon a new brewery, heaven can be expressed through barley and hops. Of course I am talking about Lake Placid Craft Brewing which started in 1996 and in 2003 started to mass produce the flagship beer their Ubu Ale. This 7.0 brown ale has a amber color with a golden head has a crisp taste with that is just enough of a hop flavor. I really enjoyed the hop flavor of this ale because it plays wonders on your palate. I experienced this brew at the Green Canteen in Williams burg on North 6th, this is a excellent Mediterranean restaurant with lots of free range meats. I enjoyed this brew so much I had three of this New York brewed beer as if it was my favorite English beer.

As we continue to wish friends farewell on their move out of the city, Dustin Shoots forced me out to Beer Park on North 14 and Barry st for drinks. Where I meet my new friend Kostritzer, a black lager of incredible taste. This dark brown lager looks like a shout, but has a lighter finish will all the flavors became my companion for my all semi-all nighter. Needless to say, this was the favorite so far of the 16 important draughts and another visit is in the works to visit that awesome roof deck.

A new season

Hello everyone! The new art season will soon be upon us with lots of free drinks and tons of contemporary art. Also, this is a place to review almost every beer that I come across and its location.

Last night was O'Hara's an Irish Stout on draught at the Bushwick Country club. This is a must try if you like full bodied stout full of flavor, which seem to be mostly chocolate. Not to mention this is an award winning beer since 1886, has alot of history behind it. So go and try this smooth stout.

Friday night, was the first time I experienced a Blueberry ale at the Public house. They have an array of different beers but this one stood out mostly due to being blueberry, it was a taste that I would soon like to forget. If you love blueberry's and ales this might be the drink for you. It was an overpowering taste of blueberry which at first was very refreshing but awful for a whole American pint. I was glad to venture in there Wednesday afternoon to see that it was being replaced. If you missed your chance to taste this ale, I will keep my eyes peeled for you all.

Enough for beer, I did get to see some wonderful realists showing last season, one to note was David Kassan's recent work at Gallery Henoch. David combined both abstract images with realistic portraits of beautiful females, self-portraits and well rendered drawings of all kinds of objects. His work can been seen online both on Gallery Henoch or atDavid Kassan.

Another realist painter to note was Yigal Ozeri: Genesis at Mike Weiss Gallery, if you never seen his work its amazing. He has an upcoming show early this fall, it should be a sight to see.

Gallery Openings to attend for the upcoming season.

1. Mckenize gallery - they always have scotch and very interesting abstract art, generally geometric in nature.
2. P.P.O.W. - you will be able to get your screw driver fix or a Cape Cod

8/13/09