A group of artists who are passionate about bars and the people who inhabit them will open a collaborative art show at the beloved Brooklyn bar and music venue Sunny’s May 8.
The opening is modeled after the salons of Paris, bringing together a group of talented creatives to inspire and entertain, with cocktails fostering thoughtful conversations. The Salon was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Thus our name is a play on words: not Beaux-Arts but Booze Arts.
Artists whose work will be part of the Booze Arts show include:
· John Tebeau — Brooklyn-based artist John Tebeau brings his love of early MAD magazine and alternative comics to his illustrations of bars in New York, New Orleans and San Francisco. It shows in his line work and use of colors. Tebeau is turning the bar art series he calls Great Good Places, featuring exteriors of beloved community hangout bars, into a book for Rizzoli, coming in 2018.
· Jill DeGroff — Author of “Lush Life; Portraits from the Bar,” Jill DeGroff is an itinerant artist (and graphic designer) who plies her trade on the streets and in cafes around the world, portraying barflies, musicians, writers, and the great assortment of characters she encounters wherever she travels. DeGroff’s caricatures of luminaries from the culinary world have gained her tremendous popularity in the food and beverage industry.
· Nicole Desmond — This grand dame of the Rhum Rhum Room turned her New York City apartment into an extraordinary shrine to all things tiki, complete with talking parrots. However, Nicole Desmond’s primary interest is in the art of classical realism painting. Her work reflects her love of adventure, exotic places and, of course, tiki drinks! Her masterful approach to still life and portraiture and rendering of color and mood has earned her tremendous respect in the arts community.
Pernod Ricard USA will sponsor a by-invitation-only reception 6-9 p.m. featuring cocktails created by bartending legend Dale DeGroff and tiki aficionado Joe Desmond, husbands of the artists. John Tebeau, who is also a bartender at Fort Defiance in Red Hook, will round out the trio of guest bartenders for the private party.
Dale DeGroff, who melds his cocktail knowledge with his love of singing in his one-man show “On the Town: a Tribute to Bars, Speaks, and Legendary Saloons,” will sing with pianist Jesse Gelber as part of the private opening.
The party opens to the public at 9 p.m.
Sunny’s is a legendary, almost mythical, bar on the far edge of Red Hook, just a short walk from the New York Harbor. Sunny’s has evolved from a scruffy dockworker bar with erratic hours to a beloved neighborhood gathering place with an active schedule of live music and art shows. Owner Tone Johansen , widow of Sunny Balzano, is raising money to help her buy out Balzone relatives with a stake in the now-valuable Brooklyn property. A portion of Booze Arts art sales will go to the Sunny’s closing costs fundraising campaign.
Please drink responsibly.
Sunny’s on 253 Conway St. in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Take the 2/3 or 4/5 to Borough Hall and connect to the B61 bus down Van Brunt. Or take the Ikea ferry from Pier 11-Wall Street to Ikea and walk to Sunny’s.
Monday, May 8, 6-9 p.m. by invitation only, with complementary cocktails and snacks. Open to the public beginning at 9 p.m. with live music.
• Telephone number: Sunny’s 718-625-8211
Booze Arts: boozearts.com
Sunny’s: sunnysredhook.com
The Booze Arts art show will remain at Sunny’s until June 20.
