Just Do Art!

[media-credit id=1 align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]THE WEST VILLAGE CHORALE’S “SUMMER SINGS” SERIES  |  A musical tradition since 1972, The West Village Chorale’s annual “Summer Sings” series fills the atmospheric space of Judson Memorial Church’s (air conditioned!) Meeting Room with your voice, and the voices of others — all coming together to sing choral classics. Drawing from New York’s abundance of skilled choral singers and conductors, the series has been likened to summer pick-up basketball games (where the action is unrehearsed, but the quality still impressive). Those who buy their tickets to listen, but not sing, have rarely left disappointed — although at a Summer Sing, the audience is certainly encouraged to participate (musical scores, piano accompaniment and intermission refreshments are provided). Bonus Events: Flip your calendar forward to December and make a note to join The West Village Chorale when they sponsor the popular West Village Caroling Walk and a “Handel’s Messiah Sing.”

“Summer Sings” happens Mondays, through Aug. 13, 7:30pm, at Judson Memorial Church (55 Washington Square South, at Thompson St.). Admission: $15 ($12 for seniors, $10 for students). For more info, call 212-517-1776. Access the full schedule at westvillagechorale.org.

 

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SOLO EXHIBITION: “KENJI NAKAYAMA”  |  The first New York solo exhibition by Japanese-born, Boston-based artist Kenji Nakayama — simply entitled “Kenji Nakayama” — is a presentation of his complex photorealistic, hand-cut stencil, spray enamel, acrylic and mixed media paintings of street scenes. “My process is like dust,” says the artist. “Each little grain and speck adds up, and soon becomes a mountain.” The subject matter may be that of urban chaos, but Nakayama’s intricate technique (original, hand-cut, multi-layer stencils become one complete image when illuminated with colorful spray enamel) casts a meditative spell of contemplation and calm.

Through July 7, at Woodward Gallery (133 Eldridge St., btw. Broome & Delancey Sts.). Hours: Tues.-Sat., 11am-6pm; Sun., 12-5pm. Call 212-966-3411 or email art@woodwardgallery.net. To access selected works online, visit woodwardgallery.net. Large scale spray paint and hand cut stencil paintings by Nakayama are featured at the Four Seasons Restaurant (99 E. 52nd St., btw. Park & Lexington Ave.), throughout the summer.

FACEBOYZ FOLLIEZ  |  Who says there ain’t no cure for the summertime blues? The Who says it…or at lest they sang it. Too bad the gloomy group without a crystal ball didn’t know about the upcoming July installment of Faceboyz Folliez. They might have changed their tune. No mortal, sans Kreskin, can say for sure how the timeline would have been altered if that 1960s supergroup came to grok the new millennial mindset of the Folliez crew — which draws on the Parisian pleasures of the 1800s to create a Downtown parade of sin, skin and questionably moral (though technically legal) shenanigans.

You’d have to be a deaf, dumb and blind kid not to have heard about the infamous Folliez — and now comes word that this may be your last chance to see them, for the next few months at least, at their current venue. Bowery Poetry Club is closing for renovations sometime this summer — but your admittedly clinically depressed host, Faceboy, isn’t letting that get him down. In the spirit of hope against all odds, he’s invited the beautiful and talented Deity Delgado to strut her fine burlesque stuff (which will include a very dirty duet with the Folliez stalwart Stormy Leather). Musical guests Chemda and Lauren (partners, lovers and powerhouse singers) will join regulars St. Rev. Jen Miller, Velocity Chyaldd, Amanda Whip, Paaije Flash and Dick & Duane. Courtney Fathom Sell-directed short films from ASS Studios and flicks from Cheyenne Picardo round out the night — and help you fill the void that might be felt if August rolls around and the Folliez lights have temporarily dimmed. Don’t worry about perfecting your rooftop swan dives, folks…they’ll be back.

Sun., July 1, 10pm to midnight at Bowery Poetry Club (308 Bowery, btw. Bleecker & Houston Sts.). Admission: $10. For info, visit 212-614-0505 or visit bowerypoetry.com. Also visit faceboyzfolliez.com and facebook.com/faceboyzfolliez.

REVEREND BILLY & THE STOP SHOPPING CHOIR PRESENT: “NO PIPELINE, AT THE HIGHLINE!”  |  “We will go with the audience to where that pipeline is supposed to surface, in the Meatpacking District,” vows Revered Billy — in response to our Freedom of Information request for a sneak peek at the type of civic action we’re likely to see when “Reverend Billy & The Stop Shopping Choir Present: No Pipeline, at The Highline.” That’s Highline as in the Ballroom — not High Line, as in the nearby elevated park. Both venues are in danger, warns the Reverend, from Spectra Energy Corp.’s plan to construct a 20-mile natural gas pipeline stretching from Linden, NJ to Gansevoort Street. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission calls is “safe” — but Reverend Billy is using far less generous words. “We will say ‘yes’ to solar panels on our rooftops, and we will say ‘no’ to dangerous fossil fuel. That’s the devil.” Before leading the audience in a march to the surface site, the man of the oil-stained cloth and his choir will enlighten and enrage you with a spirited Sunday service that’s a uniquely entertaining mix of performance art, community activism and soul-nourishing political satire. Among the offerings: “We have a new song, in which we sing to Spectra,” Reverend Billy notes. “It’s a cross between a gospel song and a hex…and our post-religious, all genders, all races chorus is definitely full of the spirit right now.” Amen, brother!

Sun., July 1, at 1pm (doors open at noon). At the Highline Ballroom (437 W. 16th St., btw. 9th & 10th Aves.). For tickets ($12), call 212-414-5994 or visit highlineballroom.com. The show is appropriate for all ages. Lunch and spirits served. To purchase special guest tickets (and to find out what that means), visit revbilly.com.