Central Park Portrait Exchange Round-Up

Artists Peter Walsh and Xiang Yue Chuan during the onsite exhibition in Central Park in New York City. Photo by Tim Murray.

The Central Park Portrait Exchange was a series of portrait exchanges with professional portrait drawers in New York City's Central Park that took place between 2010 and 2012.

To learn more about the Exchange, click in the “Pages” menu to see the drawings, photos of each exchange and a short explanation of how and why the Exchange came into being.

Here are some of the Blog Highlights:

Finally! A Video Post for the Central Park Portrait Exchange

The Drawings

Photos from the Exchanges

Commentary

Update on the Public Space Issues for Occupy Wall Street: Liberty Square

The Edict of 1853

 

How does an art project like the Central Park Portrait Exchange come into being?

 

Non-Monetary Exchange, Part Two

 

Brian Haw and the Fight for Public Space

 

Glabella, Philtrum, Tragus, Caruncle: Do Faces Matter?

 

 

The Legal Situation

Appeals Court Rules Against Artists in Dua v. City of New York Department of Parks Suit

 

NYC Mayor Bloomberg Forces Artists to Run for Their Livelihoods

 

Artists Peter Walsh and Joel Kaye Testify, Hearing to Continue Wednesday

 

Private Real Estate and Public Parks

 

 

The Artists

 

Session Four: Artashes Karslian and Peter Walsh

 

Session Seven: Sharif Sadiq and Peter Walsh

 

Session Eight: Amon Azizov and Peter Walsh

 

Session Nine: Gao Min and Peter Walsh

 

Organized by artist Peter Walsh, the exchange featured artists Wei Chen, Ji Yin Jin, Artashes Karslian, Li Qun, Lin Ruo, Dean Lu, Qiao Fu, Ren Jien-Guo, Jorge Rivera, Sharif Sadiq, Peter Walsh, Xiang Yue Chuan, Dario Zapata and Zhuang Xuemin.

 

Portrait Exchange Exhibited at P74 Gallery in Slovenia

The Central Park Portrait Exchange was featured in the exhibition "Protests: 6 Case Studies" at Ljubljana's P74 Gallery in Slovenia. The show highlighted a selection of artist protests over a 60 year period and included works by France Kralj (1953), Marko Pogačnik (1966), Antonio Manuel (1970), Goran Đorđević (1979), Peter Walsh (2010-2012), Sašo Stanojkovik (2007-2012). Curated by Tadej Pogačar, the show was up from November 26 through December 17, 2013.

Special thanks go out to Tadej Pogačar and the staff at P74, and of course to the artists who participated in the project including Amon Azizov, Wei Chen, Qiao Fu, Gao Min, Guo Kun Sheug, Artashes Karslian, Ji Yin Jin, Li Qun, Lin Ruo, Dean Lu, Ren Jien-Guo, Jorge Rivera, Sharif Sadiq, Xiang Yue Chuan, Dario Zapata and Zhuang Xuemin. Thanks also to all of the great individuals who helped make the project possible including Roberto Guerra, Kathy Brew, Robert Lederman, Deidre Hoguet, Louise Ma, Miriam Eusebio, Robin Randisi and Alex Ramirez-Mallis.

For more information go to: http://www.zavod-parasite.si/eng/archives/1316

Park Artists Take Case to the U.S. Supreme Court

The United States Supreme Court. 

Image from Wikipedia under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License.

Following on the heels of an appeals court loss in September, the artist-plaintiffs suing the City of New York over rules regulating art vendors in city parks are petitioning the United States Supreme Court to hear the their appeal. Robert Lederman, the lead plaintiff in the case and president of the street art vendors’ organization A.R.T.I.S.T., released a statement vowing “We intend to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court at the earliest possible date, and feel confident that the many errors in both the appeals court ruling and the lower court ruling will be overturned.”

As they move to  petition the Supreme Court, it appears that Lederman and his attorney Julie Milner may be approaching this latest appeal from a new direction based on the court’s ruling that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Deputy Mayor Edward Skylar could avoid being deposed in the case. According to Lederman, the decision makes it “virtually impossible to obtain a deposition from any government official.” In addition, Lederman has stated that “If allowed to stand, this ruling would protect police officials, mayors, agency commissioners, governors, senators or even the US President from ever having to face a sworn deposition. Even the lowest level government officials would be able to cite this ruling in order to avoid giving a sworn deposition.”

Federal Court Upholds City Rule Regulating Art Vendors in Parks
Victoria Bekiempis, DNAinfo New York, September 26, 2013

Appeal Is a Washout for NYC Street Art Activist
Adam Klasfeld, Courthouse News Service, Wednesday, September 25, 2013

In artist case, Court Limits Right to Depose Government Officials
Robert Lederman, President of ARTIST, Friday, September 27, 2013

Appeals Court Decision
Judges Cabranes, Hall and Chin, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Judge Dismisses Park Artists Case; Artists Vow to Appeal

The Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Court House at 500 Pearl Street in Manhattan.

In a setback to artists and sellers of books and other "expressive matter" in New York City's public parks, Federal Judge Richard J. Sullivan of the Southern District of New York has upheld revised Parks Department rules created in 2010 that limit the space available for the vending of materials protected by the first amendment. Judge Sullivan awarded summary judgement to the city in Lederman v. New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, 10 Civ. 4800, dismissing artists' claims that the rules were a pretext for driving artists out of the parks.

Vowing to appeal the case to the Second Circuit of the United States Appeals Court, Robert Lederman, one of the plaintiff's in the artist's suit, stated, “We disagree with the ruling in every detail and expect that the appeals court will reverse the decision.”

Judge Sullivan's decision is not entirely surprising. In July of 2010 he denied the artists a preliminary injunction blocking the implementation of the revised park rules, stating that the rules did not appear to violate the first amendment and that the artists were unlikely to prevail on the merits of their claims. In addition, at an earlier "Show Cause Hearing" on July 8, 2010, Judge Sullivan, while questioning lawyers for both sides, seemed to indicate that he believed it wasn’t his job to interfere in the city’s management of park rules if ultimately they had a right to regulate the time, place and manner of vending of the "expressive matter vendors" selling first amendment materials. In Monday's ruling, Judge Sullivan appears to have accepted at face value the Parks Department assertions that the artists had "ample other avenues to sell their wares."

However, the ruling does seem to leave the door open for the artists to appeal on a variety of issues. What issues the artists and their lawyers choose to include in their appeal remains to be seen.

The full decision is available here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/108588627/SJ-1-Oct-2012

More on the ruling:

OpposingViews.com, Tue, October 02, 2012
NYC Art Activists Must Find New Vending Turf
By Courthouse News
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/nyc-art-activists-must-find-new-vending-turf

Saturday in the Park

Artists Peter Walsh and Xiang Yue Chuan enjoying the show on a beautiful day in the park. Photo by Tim Murray.

The Central Park Portrait Exchange was shown in its entirety for the first time this Saturday, June 16, 2012 on a gloriously beautiful early summer day in Manhattan’s Central Park. Artists, well-wishers, tourists and park visitors came out to see the work and discuss the project. The 15 sets of drawings were set up in a portable exhibit under a majestic oak tree in the same small plaza where many of the drawings had been completed. The Parks Department police, also known as PEP officers (Parks Enforcement Patrol), did not hinder the exhibition in any way.

Many of the participating Portrait Exchange artists were in the park Saturday including Xiang Yue Chuan, Dario Zapata, Artashes Karslian, Wei Chen, Jorge Rivera, Peter Walsh and Sharif Sadiq and those that could easily take a break from their work dropped by to see the display.

Special thanks go out to all the artists working in the park and to Tim Murray who shot video and still photography. Below is small slideshow of snapshots from the day. More photos are on the way soon and a short documentary of the day should be available later this summer.

Central Park Portrait Exchange Exhibition! Saturday, June 16, 10am-2pm

 
Finally! All 15 sets of original drawings made as part of the Central Park Portrait Exchange will be exhibited for one day only on Saturday, June 16 from 10am till 2pm - on site in the southeast corner of Central Park, 60th Street at Grand Army Plaza.

Participating artists include Amon Azizov, Wei Chen, Qiao Fu, Gao Min, Artashes Karslian, Ji Yin Jin, Li Qun, Lin Ruo, Dean Lu, Ren Jien-Guo, Jorge Rivera, Sharif Sadiq, Peter Walsh, Xiang Yue Chuan, Dario Zapata and Zhuang Xuemin.

Click here for the Facebook event page.
See the map below, or click here for a map.

"The drawings will go up in a great shaded spot just a few yards from where many of the Central Park portrait artists - like Xiang Yue Chuan and Dario Zapata - set up and work every day," says organizer Peter Walsh. "But why is space available? Because the new park rules have made this perfect location 'illegal' for artists." The one day "pop-up" exhibition can set up only because the portrait exchange drawings will be marked "For Display Only, Not For Sale."

Artists have sued the Parks Department in federal and state court. Oral arguments on the City’s motion for summary judgment in the federal lawsuit will be heard by judge Richard J. Sullivan on Thursday, June 28 at 2:30pm at the Federal Courthouse at 500 Pearl Street in Manhattan.



View Central Park Portrait Exchange Exhibition in a larger map

Portrait Exchange Exhibition on the Way!

"Exhibition-in-a-Box"

The thirty original drawings from the Central Park Portrait Exchange will be shown soon in a one day pop-up exhibition in Manhattan’s Central Park. The portable display is designed to emerge from a milk crate on wheels and unfold into an elegant display that gives park visitors – and the participating artists themselves – a chance to finally see all fifteen pairs of portrait exchanges simultaneously.

Built by project organizer and artist Peter Walsh, the “exhibition-in-a-box” will set up directly across the street from Grand Army Plaza’s Sherman monument in the southeast corner of Central Park on a spot that has recently become “off-limits” to artist vendors because of controversial new park rules instituted in 2010. Those rules have sparked several artist lawsuits against the city in both state and federal courts. Those new rules do not apply to the upcoming display of the Central Park Portrait Exchange since they explicitly impact only “expressive matter vendors” selling art in New York City parks and do not apply to artists who, as Federal Judge Richard J. Sullivan said at a court hearing in July of 2010, wish to participate in the “marketplace of ideas” by just displaying art.

Says Walsh: “This is an opportunity for a group of artists to reoccupy a part of the commons that is increasingly under attack from well-heeled interlopers who seek to reduce the varied ways in which a public park can be used by ordinary people. I can’t wait to talk to people in the park and see how they respond to the drawings. Showing art in an open public place creates incredible dialogues that go beyond what is shared in the cloistered space of galleries and museums.”

The date for the one-day show will be announced soon. For details of the ongoing construction of the exhibition, see the photo slideshow below.