BROOKLYN, NY.- Brooklyn Arts Council announces Art As Anecdote, exhibition that looks at the events, impressions, and ambitions that are part and parcel of an artist’s daily grind—and the unlikely meanings they generate for others. The exhibition, which includes works by Alexis Ditkowsky, Benjamin Evans, Marney Fuller, Chris Herbeck, Orrie King, Nsenga Knight, Ellen Letcher, Dominic Miller, Brent Ridge, Annick Rosenfield, Yasmine Soiffer, Kurt Strahm and Annette Tacconelli, is curated by art critic Sarah Schmerler and will be on view from February 1 through April 20, 2007 at BAC Gallery, located at 111 Front Street, DUMBO.

The small stuff is the best stuff. Like knowing what an artist likes to eat, where they paint, what bugs them, what they’ve just read. Strangely enough, it's artists themselves who disagree: " The details of my life are so boring," say the young artists Schmerler has met over the years at the New School (where she teaches a class called “Artists' Writing Workshop”). "People can't possibly be interested in hearing about me."

This show looks to the resources of a non-profit institution (where, ostensibly, artists' best interests are always in mind) and begs the question: Why is it that what makes an artwork so meaningful—to a broad audience—is often what makes an artwork incredibly personal and unique? Photographer Annick Ronsenfield claims that she just wandered downstairs one morning to find her mother eating a baguette. Yet (through Rosenfield’s eyes), mom wears a glazed—and utterly enigmatic—look that defies description. Orrie King’s incredibly intimate photograph of “Sebi in Bed” can’t help but make us wonder: who is Sebi to her—and subsequently, to us? And what do we do with Kurt Strahm, a former and well-accomplished painter, who claims he’s stopped making art because the whole prospect is just too futile. That said, he works diligently on his extensive blog (“restlus.com”), describing and categorizing every seemingly useless art-making idea he says he’ll never make. Maybe (as Strahm implies) the details, or what we’d like to call the purely anecdotal info, are really all you need?

Ten other artists—from a note-taking traveler to a woman “See-er” (who makes artworks as healing documents for her clients)—are included in the show. And in deference to all the good advice (anecdotes, stories, aphorisms) these and other artists have gotten over the years, we’ll be distributing stories and saying (in the form of printed strips of paper) at random, to visitors at the opening reception.

Sarah Schmerler will lead a curator’s talk about Art as Anecdote as part of DUMBO First Thursday Gallery Walk on Thursday, March 1, 2007 from 6-8pm at BAC Gallery.

Sarah Schmerler received an MFA from Pratt Institute and a BA from Vassar College . She is currently a freelance arts writer and has been published in The New York Times , ArtReview, Time Out New York , Art in America , and Art on Paper, among other notable publications. Schmerler is also an Adjunct Professor at The New School for Social Research where she teaches “Writing for Artists,” a course in which artists create written statements about their own work for exhibitions, grants, residencies, and the like. She lives in Brooklyn .

Brooklyn Arts Council's new gallery space, located in the heart of the vibrant DUMBO arts scene, is a premiere destination for emerging Brooklyn artists to display their work and for collectors worldwide seeking up and coming talent in the visual arts. BAC Gallery is located at 111 Front Street, Suite 218 (alternate entrance at 55 Washington Street ) Regular gallery hours are Monday - Friday from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM.