Wouldn't it be awesome if you could take everything you love about NYLON and turn it into an art exhibit? Yes, that means an entire room filled with Nina Dobrev Polaroids, stacks on stacks of our favorite denim, and the contents of our Blue Crush Bag Check (just to name a few of the possible exhibition pieces).
Well, the geniuses behind NYC's arts and culture publication Dossier Journal agree--which is exactly why they took some of their favorite artists from their own printed issues, and gave them each their own art show at the South Street Seaport Dossier Outpost gallery. It began as a way to bring art to a place where people may not normally expect to find it: in this case, a lighthouse of sorts, drawing in creative people and the art-inspired from across the river and into Manhattan.
Throughout an entire NYC summer you can catch artists like Petra Collins, curators like Ed Varie, and workshops like how-to dye with indigo, just by hitting up Fulton Street at the East River. Even though there's only a few weeks left to catch these awesome shows, we've put together a gallery of our favorite pieces from the Dossier Outpost this summer, and caught up with their Assistant to Creative Director Skye Parrott, Kat Slootsky, in an interview below (so, yes, now you can enjoy the outpost all year-long).
How do you choose who will have shows at the Outpost?
We feature a lot of artists who have appeared in the Journal, or friends of the publication, but Petra Collins actually reached out to us via Instagram to see if she could do a pop-up or a show.
Who is your dream artist to feature in this space?
A Kiki Smith and Patti Smith collaboration. That would be really epic.
Where is the best place to discover emerging artists?
For me, it's my community. Most of them are artists I've gone to school with who are now opening their own galleries. Also, I definitely find people all over Instagram. Oranbeg Press is an independent publishing-slash-online gallery. Their founder, John, follows all these different photo and art blogs so I find their site really inspiring.
What are you favorite galleries in NYC?
I'm a photographer, so Yossi Milo. Also, MoMA PS1 even though I know that's not actually a gallery.
How did you choose the music to go along with each exhibit?
Each of the vendors chooses their own music and creates a really awesome playlist. We encourage them to bring their friends who are musicians. India Salvor Menuez DJ'd for the Petra show. For High Tide, the show I curated, I had my brother Andrew Slootsky DJ. We have a running joke, because he always DJs all of our parties, so he had an awesome selection.
If Dossier could have a record label extension of the publication, who would be on it?
Oh, man. That is a loaded question. Definitely Beach House--it just makes sense because we're by the seaport--super chill stuff. Broken Bells would be awesome, Dead Man's Bones of course.
Who do you think are some must-follow Instagram accounts?
- @BRESLAUERS
- @AzaZiegler (Ziegler is a designer I collaborated with via Instagram, she is super talented and has a great vision for her brand--and is an all-around great gal!)
- @teget (Ana Kras)
- @Jenniferabessira
- @edroste (he’s apparently gotten really into filters lately--hehe)
- @guy_yanai is an artist whose work I am really inspired by, and his Instagram mostly shows his painting process, which I find super interesting.
It's Me and You - Petra Collins
High Tide - Curated by Kat Slootsky
Audrey Louise Reynolds' Tie-Dye Pop-up + Workshop
Cosmic Needs - Curated by Amanda Valdez
Whisper Editions' Pop-up Shop
Summer House Urban Surf Collective - Folklore Surf Custom Surfboard Builder
Haze Collection Pop-up Shop
Decade of Decadunce - Cinders Gallery Pop-up