JUDY THOMAS
CREST HARDWARE PROJECT
‘REVERSIBLE INDOOR-OUTDOOR RUG’, 2008
post consumer plastic shopping bags
20” x 30”
 
THE “TRUE VALUE” OF ART AND SOUL IN WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN  The first Art show in May of 1990 was covered by various publications and featured on “Egg The Art Show” - a production of channel Thirteen/WNET New York. The store attracted a lot of attention and was named the ‘Top-Rated’ Hardware Store in the New York Daily News’ Best of New York series. It was dubbed the hardware store that “has art and soul.” Now, the next generation of Crest True Value Hardware, manager Joseph Franquinha along with cartoonist Rob Esmay, brings this unique experience back to the Brooklyn community. The art pieces are placed alongside hardware products which adds to the element of surprise and lends an aura of the unexpected. Manuel Franquinha, the now 80 year-old owner says, “Sometimes people aren’t sure if a piece is art or hardware. The only way you can tell for sure is by the price. Hardware is a lot cheaper.”  The Crest Hardware Art Show is giving customers a whole new and marvelous experience and giving the art community a way to see art outside the “white cube” gallery. Customers and visitors are asked to leave their preconceived notions behind while artists are asked to take on nuts and bolts and allow their imaginations to run wild. The New Yorker magazine called the last show, “an erratic show of works that is showcase for art as product and product as art. Just finding the art among the nails and caulk guns is great fun.” The show ends Friday, July 11th.  ‘Rope’, 2002 plastic shopping bags Crest Hardware Show Brooklyn, NY