Author Archives: Slideluck

The Creative Influence Launch Party Recap

[Text by Daeha Ko]
[Photos by Gregory Gorin]

What a night! The Creative Influence website launch party at Sandbox Studio’s 7th floor studio in Soho was off to a rocking start last Friday evening. Featured artists and guests freely mingled and listened to tunes by DJ Ella Dee, with beverages provided by Brooklyn Brewery and delicious eats provided by Dune Studios catering. Videos from the Creative Influence website were projected around the space, including interviews with Sagmeister & Walsh, Elie Tahari, Danielle Bernstein, Henry Hargreaves and Totem Creative.

Adding to the festivities was a contest to Instagram the best photo, tagged with @sandboxstudio, for a prize giveaway. Guests were very creative with their submissions.

The Creative Influence.net, produced by Sandbox Studio, showcases video interviews of creative professionals who have made influential contributions in their respective fields. The project is ongoing in seeking out individuals and companies who are creative influencers.

Thanks to everyone for making this event possible, especially to Slideluckers who came out in full force to represent!

Slideluck Salon Series I

[Text and Photos by Casey Kelbaugh]

On a gorgeous Sunday afternoon in May, a few dozen people gathered across the street from the Brooklyn Brewery for the launch of the Slideluck Salon Series. Our first panel discussion of its kind was moderated by the food journalist and trufflista-about-town, Helen Hollyman and was one of the closing events for the Food Book Fair. The topic: the food underground.

We pulled together a panel of instigators and innovators in the underground dining and supper club scene to talk about where they have been and where they are going. The speakers were Brandon Baltzley, author of Nine Lives; Dave Santos, chef at Louro Restaurant; Adam Sirois, co-founder of Underground Eats, Michael Cirino, founder of A Razor, A Shiny Knife, and Danielle Bell and Pablo Osorio, of de Porres.

What followed in Pure Kitchen was a spirited discussion about each of their unique and varied experiences and objectives. No punches were thrown – at least during the panel itself. De Porres created three amazing Peruvian-inspired dishes, including a ceviche that made a number of people cry tears of joy. And all of this was washed down with refreshing Southern Shandys, made with Brooklyn Pilsner.

Guests continued to hang out, nibble on carrots and horseradish cheddar long after the words “Per Se” had crossed the last speaker’s lips. Stuff was learned, collaborations were conceived and connections were made – a fortuitous launch to the Slideluck Salon Series! And damn, what a fine way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Stay tuned for the next iteration.

SLIDELUCK RED WHITE & VIEW II RECAP

[Text by Suchan Vodoor]
[Photos by Yasmina Belkacem]

Neither unseasonable heat nor thundering rain could stop the crowds from heading down to the Lower East Side for an evening of art and adult beverages last night. It was round two in NYC for Red, White & View, the renowned Tel Aviv art party!

The evening started mellow and the first guests to arrive were friends and family of the eclectic group of artists being presented. And after a few hours and a few delicious bottles of Brooklyn Brewery beers, things began to get quite lively at Gallery Bar!

The crowd was treated to a wide variety of work, from photography to video to painting to sculpture. Pieces from Rachel Rossin, Sharon Zobali, Jon Levi, Jennifer Wein, Ella Mashkautzen, and Sandy Cohen were displayed alongside work from honorary hosts Paul Miller (aka, DJ Spooky), David Elan Foox, and Antoine Verglas. Jenny Bapst debuted her new video for “So Exotic” and rumor had it that the Sugarhill Gang dropped by to take in the music of DJ Fame Cohen!

Just like the first Red, White & View, last night’s soiree was a fundraiser for Slideluck. The attendees contributed over $4000 for Slideluck’s Youth Initiative, a partnership with Building Young Minds to take the art of photography to the underprivileged children of NYC. Who knew that all you had to do to support young artists was come down to Losaida and party for an evening?

SLIDELUCK LONDON V RECAP

[Text by Nichon Glerum]
[Photos by Nichon Glerum and Maria Teresa Salvati]

On a cold but sunny Saturday, Slideluck London celebrated its fifth show by throwing a smashing Slideluck event for the grand finale of FORMAT Festival, in Derby’s charming old Chocolate Factory.

Between 6 and 7pm the 200+ (international) guests arrived by car, train, and the special Slideluck London coach. All were welcomed with Format chocolates, Brooklyn Brewery beers and – as more guests arrived- an ever growing number of delicious potluck dishes on the buffet. All indulged themselves on velvety smooth carrot cupcakes, colorful salads, broccoli pies and much much more. Mothersmilk was also on the menu, although only for one very special little guest!! Zac, born only days before the event, is the beautiful newborn of featured artist Fjona Hill.

Then, the guests sat down to watch the slideshows as curated by Monica Allende, photo editor of The Sunday Times Magazine and founder of the pioneering photography section, Spectrum.

Brooklyn Beers kept everyone’s throats chilled, hot water bottles warmed peoples hands, and an overwhelming display of visuals and audio was overflowing the audience.

In the break people could play and have their picture taken in Kitty Walkers industrial cardboard city photobooth.

After part two Director Maria Teresa Salvati announced the winner of the Blurb award, selected by her and Louise Clements, artistic director of Quad and Format festival. Alfonso Almendros is the lucky Slideluck artist that will go home with a £350 Blurb Gift Card!

Then she announced the artists that would be featured in Spectrum, as selected by Monica Allende. Monica was originally going to pick one, but, overwhelmed by the outstanding works, decided to give 7 photographers the chance to shine at this amazing platform. They are: Fan Shisan, Alfonso Almendros, Rafael Arocha, Alexander Aksakov, Arantxa Cedillo, Jean-Marc Caimi & Valentina Piccinni and Bryan Schutmaat.

After the slideshows and a little break, it was time to taste the sound of The Developer: a unique multi-artist residency responding to the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site at John Smedley, especially created for FORMAT13.

As icing on the Slideluck-cake, a raffle was held, in which lucky winners took home prizes not only from sponsors such as Viewbook and Gup magazine, but also 7 beautiful prints kindly donated by participating artists.

All in all, the evening offered a relaxed vibe, with the guests mingling to discuss love, life, art and the universe. Slideluck London was a great succes, thanks to all that were part of it!

A massive thanks to the director Maria Teresa Salvati; the super-efficient and creative producer Nichon Glerum; Pedro Lopez Paz, who helped with all the technical aspects of this edition and was a super hero in organising the coach from London; and Kitty Walker who jumped in to support the whole team wherever needed and who designed built the wonderful cardboard industrial city used for the photo booth. Also, this night would not have been possible without the help of the amazing team of Format: Louise Clements, Federica Chiocchetti, Michael Sargeant, Sebah Chaudhry, Jill Carruthers and all their fantastic volunteers that helped us out. We thank our partners and sponsors Viewbook, GUP magazine, Blurb, Feature Shoot, Format Festival & Quad, Develop Photo, Lily Vanilli, Duckrabbit, and of course Brooklyn Brewery.

SLIDELUCK BARCELONA VII RECAP

[Text by Albert Such]

[Photos by Oscar Ciutat]

Once in a while, quite infrequently, it gets cold and windy in Barcelona…. March 14th was one of those rare days, so the Slideluck and Pati Llimona teams had to take some quick decissions: moving the Slideluck slideshow, and subsequent dinner, from the 15th century patio to the main hall in the Civic Center building.

The shifting of a few signs and the collaboration of our attendees allowed us to start almost on time, and those few minutes of waiting passed rapidly while viewing Gustavo Germano’s touching Ausencias exhibition in Pati Llimona’s lobby.

Once everybody made it to the main hall, we realized that we had a full room… Approximately 100 persons attended the Slideluck, making it the most successful event in the last few years in Barcelona!

The audience enjoyed the 15 pieces that were projected in the slideshow and we moved on to have dinner in the main hall. We enjoyed all the different delicacies that the public brought: pizza, profiteroles, “tortilla de patatas”, and four different types of pasta salad. Pasta salad is probably the staple of any Slideluck potluck!

The stars of the night were, as usual, the bottles of Brooklyn Lager and Brooklyn Post Road Pumpkin Ale that were graciously donated by Brooklyn Brewery, with the collaboration of Crusat, their distributor in Barcelona.

With the delicious food, the beer and the photographs from our friends in “Piel de Foto” that were being exhibited in the foyer, the hours passed rapidly. It was already midnight when the last guests left Pati Llimona.

All in all, it was a good night of photography, food, drinks, and conversations with friends, just as one would expect at a Slideluck…

SLIDELUCK AUSTIN V RECAP

[Text by Ben Sklar, Slideluck Austin Director]
[Photos by and Drew Anthony Smith and Lindsay Hutchens]

The cozy garden space at the CTC International non profit welcomed Slideluck back for another fantastic show in a spectacular outdoor setting by hosting Austin Slideluck V. Rainy weather that worried attendees held off for a perfect evening of laughs and art in the outdoor venue. Plenty of photographers were ready to kick off their shoes and see the show as they were wrapping up the 3 day Texas Photo Roundup conference. Over 250 people made their way to the garden to share amazing dishes and see Slideluck’s fifth Austin showing. The crowd was full of smiling faces and happy potluckers ready to mingle in the laid back vibe. Everyone ate home made dishes as unique as chocolate cameras and devoured pizza from Homeslice while happily indulging in almost 400 cans of Brooklyn Lager.

We were fortunate enough to have Molly Roberts, a native Texan and photo editor of Smithsonian Magazine, curate all the wonderful submitted work. The show highlighted many local artists demonstrating a broad range of talent from abstract iphone photography to portraits of musicians to one favorite pet dog. The first half got the audience to ‘turn up’ while the second half could best be described as ‘Crunk’.

A few lucky guests were awarded with raffle prizes for bringing outstanding dishes that were favorites of the volunteer staff. After the show was complete, raffle prizes given away and plenty of Brooklyn Lager had been drank. The night ended with the smashing of a piñata and the quick gathering of delicious candy.

Austin’s spirited community pulsed all night, Slideluck Potshow Austin V brought out the love for the arts in the city and the creative people who make it home.

SLIDELUCK VANCOUVER RECAP

What a night! Vancouverites came together like never before at the inaugural SLIDELUCK Vancouver to recognize local artists, enjoy new food and celebrate the arts community.

Hosted in the atrium of the historic re-developed Woodwards building, over 150 people joined together to dine on delicious dishes contributed by Save On Meats, Not So Fast Food, Brioche Urban Baking & Catering, Le Tigre Cuisine, Ze Bite and Earnest Ice Cream.

The phrase “I can’t believe it’s finally happening!” was over-heard more than once coming from tables of citizens as diverse as Canada itself. Each person with a cup full of wine or beer from our friends at Brooklyn Brewery.

As the night went on and strangers became friends, the whole crowd buzzed with a sense of joy, appreciation and goodwill. Content with the knowledge by coming out to SLIDELUCK Vancouver, they weren’t just supporting the artists but also the Vancouver community by donating one Save On Meats meal token to our local community partners for each ticket purchased.

As light from the last slideshow faded, music from the live band Warless grew louder, one thing became clear. SLIDELUCK Vancouver is only getting started, and here to stay!

SLIDELUCK DC VIII RECAP

[Text by Lila Allen]
[Photos by Casey Kelbaugh]

Between the 2012 Presidential Election and FotoWeekDC, the District had quite a ride last week. And what better way to finish the weekend than with the return of Slideluck to D.C.?

Led by director Patrick McMullen, SLIDELUCK DC VIII partnered with FotoWeek to bring in the best talent from the DC area and beyond. Some artists (such as Robb Hill and Ed Pfueller) focused on local culture and history; others, including artists Dominic Bracco and Shannon Jensen, brought us into another world with their heartfelt shots of international conflict and human perseverance.

D.C. has always delivered on their potlucks, and Sunday was no exception. Highlights include chevre-stuffed dates served on a banana leaf tray and a hearty (but healthy!) kale salad with apples. Hopefully we’ll find some room in our stomachs for Thanksgiving next week!

Thanks to our sponsors Brooklyn Brewery and Viewbook, we also had some fantastic door prizes for guests – tours at the Brooklyn Brewery, a Brooklyn Brewery sweatshirt, and Viewbook Pro account subscriptions. Thanks also to Malmaison for hosting us!

D.C., thanks for making it great!

SLIDELUCK DALLAS RECAP

[Text by Leila Wright]
[Photos by Casey Kelbaugh, Thorne Anderson, Kael Alford, and Danny Fulgencio]

Dallas welcomed its first Slideluck with open arms, Saturday November 3rd 2012. The evening showcased and honored the amazing culinary, musical and photographic talent we have in our city. And of course, since this is SLIDELUCK Dallas we’re talking about, the debut was BIG!

Held at the beautifully-restored Power Station, the event attracted well over 100 guests and featured 20 local artists. The day began with a portfolio review, offering local photographers time with leading industry professionals such as Stacey Clarkson, the art director at Harper’s magazine in NYC, Jason Dibley from the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and Guy Reynolds from the Dallas Morning News.

At 6pm, guests began trickling into The Power Station… and they brought their potluck A-game! The executive chefs at Charlie Palmer treated guests to a slow-cooked cassoulet, Chef Andre Natera created savory works of art out of summer squash, and Dallas’ local foodie magazine, Edible, whipped up a delicious southwestern salad. The dessert table was no slouch either. Slices of Emporium Pie’s caramel flan adorned the table, alongside home-made chocolate chip cookie-muffins and Central Track’s hand-frosted cupcakes. All of the good food was washed down with ice cold brews lovingly provided by Brooklyn Brewery, and the Dallas Family Band wandered through the crowd playing music to add a touch of ambience.

Following the potluck, guests were led up The Power Station’s outside staircase to the third floor screening room. Wide-eyed scintillation was followed by enthusiastic applause as each slideshow filled the packed room with powerful images. The wealth of local talent was on full display and left no doubt there is a bright future for more photography-based endeavors in our city.

The amount of love and support that went into creating this evening was highlighted by the awesomeness of the raffle table, which included:

T-shirts from House of Plates, Central Track and Brooklyn Brewery
A hot-off-the-press cookbook from Edible Magazine
Three one-year membership cards to the Texas Theater
A beautiful poster from The Fox & The Bird and a copy of their new album
Two one-year subscriptions to Viewbook in generous support of some very lucky photographers in need of a website
Awesome free swag from Yelp Dallas, including fingerless gloves that read “yelp life” across the knuckles and tins filled with Yelp mints (perfect for after the potluck).

For those still craving more, the party moved to The Amsterdam Bar for drinks, mingling and a special after party screening of even more local talent. The extra hour of daylight savings time went to good use, allowing DJ Trigger Mortis and DJ Fat Kerouac to spin fresh soundtracks to the looping slideshows long into the night.

Slideluck Dallas would like to give a shout out and huge thanks to all the people and organizations who made this such a special evening. We would also like to thank the following media outlets for covering the event: Dallas Observer, DMagazine, KERA’s Art&Seek, Central Track, FD Luxe, and Culture Map Dallas.

Here’s to SLIDELUCK Dallas II!

SLIDELUCK LEHIGH VALLEY II RECAP

[Text by Dave Willard]
[Photos by Dave Willard and Diane Richter]

On Saturday, November 3rd, 189 people gathered in the Blast Furnace Room of ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania for SLIDELUCK Lehigh Valley II. Slideluck was part of the third annual Olympus InVision Photo Festival and Lehigh Valley Photography Month, presented by ArtsQuest under the direction of Janice Lipzin, Director of Visual Arts & Education.

The work of aspiring and professional photographers from throughout the region was showcased alongside the work of world-class photographers. SLIDELUCK Lehigh Valley II featured the work of 14 photographers from the Lehigh Valley, five Olympus Visionary professionals, and one international artist whose work has been shown at other Slidelucks. Olympus, one of the world’s top camera manufacturers, became the title sponsor of the festival this year. Olympus Imaging America Inc. has its headquarters in the Lehigh Valley and a number of Olympus executives were in attendance that evening.

A three-person local curating team made the selections for Slideluck Lehigh Valley II from over 40 entries. The work ranged from sports and fashion photography to photojournalism and personal collections, creating a fast-paced and varied program.

The event also featured the premiere of a new work of art created by Vicki DaSilva, the renowned light graffiti artist from Allentown. DaSilva, a pioneer in the light graffiti medium, unveiled a brand-new work created specifically for InVision. DaSilva has exhibited around the world and was recently named the solo grand-prize winner of Artists Wanted’s global competition, “Art Takes Times Square!,” which resulted in her work being featured on the digital screens of Times Square in July.

Several well-known photographers who were presenters at the Olympus InVision Photo Festival also attended Slideluck. These included Zoe Strauss, a member of Magnum Photos who had a ten-year retrospective of her work at the Philadelphia Museum of Art earlier this year, and Jay Dickman, a National Geographic photographer and a long-time Olympus Visionary.

Guests were not required to bring a dish to share because food and refreshments were provided by the catering service at ArtsQuest Center. Everyone enjoyed tasting Brooklyn Lager and Brooklyn East India Pale Ale, generously provided by Brooklyn Brewery. The venue itself added to the visual impact of the evening. ArtsQuest Center overlooks the iconic Blast Furnace of the former Bethlehem Steel Corporation. The site has been recently redeveloped as SteelStacks and reborn as a community center for music and art.

Slideluck Lehigh Valley II was scheduled to end at 10 p.m., but many guests were still on hand at 11 p.m. when lights flashed to close the room for the evening. It was a sign of how much everyone enjoyed the event – too bad it had to end! (By the end of the night, the Slideluck team was ready for a good night’s sleep!)

We want to give a big shout-out to Casey Kelbaugh and the Slideluck organization for this great concept, and especially to Lila Allen, who helped us every step of the way. Lila made it easy and fun to produce the show. The Lehigh Valley photographic community will be looking forward to Slideluck III as part of next year’s Olympus InVision Photo Festival.