Meet the Others: Alan Strack
The Game Changers. The Rule Breakers. The Innovators. Discover some of the fantastic emerging talent showcasing their work at The Other Art Fair.

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Take a First Look Inside the 2019
Kips Bay Decorator Show House
By Madeline Luckel
Architectural Digest May 2019

Jim Dove Design

“When the house was built, this was always a wet bar,” Dove explains of his assigned space, which he has transformed into a glamorous champagne bar. (Dove also adds, no doubt euphemistically, that when he first saw the closet-like area, it was “a much more rustic situation.”) But in creating this new design, Dove channeled the 1970s, and specifically the likes of Truman Capote and Lee Radziwill, whom he could easily imagine attending functions at this type of house. Capote and Radziwill are not dissimilar from the type of dinner party guests that Dove can imagine escaping mid-soiree to this “little getaway,” or jewel box, as he calls it. “I wanted to know what it would feel like to be inside a Fabergé egg,” he adds, citing the decadent objects as another source of inspiration, while acknowledging that “we all know the outsides are fabulous.”

As for the specific pieces included, Dove used a Kohler faucet and sink in amber—which he selected to align with his palette of blue and golds. The custom rug, which evokes the Manhattan skyline, was made by The Rug Company, while Schumacher was responsible for the mirrored and star-covered wallpaper that coats the ceiling, as well as for the space’s wall coverings. While Alan Strack’s glowing multi-media light box, which is comprised of film stills from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, may draw the most attention, the details go on. L’Objetobjects can be spotted, as can fixtures by Circa Lighting, and a chandelier by Aerin. The underlit countertop is by Cambria, while the ram's head cabinet pulls are by Nest Studio. Interestingly, these pieces were first glimpsed by Dove at a party hosted by Nest Studio founder Jessica Davis. At the time, Dove says he couldn’t imagine how one might incorporate them into a room. However, three years later—they fit in perfectly.

THE ART OF THE CINEPHILE

Rebecca M. Alvin
Provincetown Magazine June 12, 2019

It might be hard to imagine today, but for Alan Strack childhood meant watching a lot of movies in actual movie theaters…sometimes two or three movies a day even.

http://pmag.provincetownmagazine.com/new/index.php/2019/06/12/lightreel-the-art-of-the-cinephile/

PICTURE PERFECT :
NY ARTIST MAKES MOVIE MAGIC

By Matthew Dougherty
Hospitality Design Magazine September 2019

Alan Strack’s family moved around a lot during his childhood, so he looked forward to spending his family vacations in upstate New York, where his grandparents owned a handful of movie theaters. It was there that he found a sense of home, sometimes going to the movies multiple times a day.

When his grandparents passed away shortly before he graduated college in 2000, he inherited their old film prints, more than 3,000 of them, in fact. Looking to combine his graphic design background with his love for movies, he started cra ing framed lightboxes with the edited lm reels from his collection as art pieces. “I always liked photography and was always a designer, so this was a good hybrid for me,” he says.

After 13 years as an art director for Nike, he left the company in 2017 to launch Light- Reel—a tribute to the movies that de ned his youth. Depicting edited versions of famous scenes from various lms, the pieces “try to keep everything in sequence” Strack says. “But it’s not like you’re watching it—it’s in order for the most part, but it’s more about how it looks when it’s laid out in the frame.”

Alongside upcoming director-speci c collections on Wes Anderson and Stanley Kubrick—he cites 2001: A Space Odyssey as his favorite lm—set for the fall, Strack has found a consistent gig out ing the new Nitehawk Prospect Park theater in Brooklyn with the old lms showing there. Meanwhile, lightboxes of classic lms set in New York, including Eyes Wide Shut, The French Connection, and a piece over the bar on Three Days of the Condor (which was filmed in the area) are found throughout.

This creative outlet is more than just a profession to him—he has a personal connection to each of his works. “I’m a nostalgic person, and because I moved around so much, these films are like little markers in my timeline,” he says. “I lean on those more than other people.”
hd

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/hd/201909/index.php#/66

7 PROJECTS 

FOR THE PROVINCETOWN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

JUNE 12 – 16, 2019  

7 PROJECTS for THE PROVINCETOWN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. Six artists have made projects that intersect with the Film Festival’s mission and programming. They are: Alan Strack/ Amy Arbus and Martha Posner/ Joel Janowitz/ Lauren Ewing/ Jefferson Hayman/ Faith Hubley/ and Kahn and Selesnick. The exhibition is on view from June 12 – 16, 2019.

FESTIVAL PROJECT

LIGHTREEL, created by Brooklyn-based Artist + Designer, ALAN STRACK, is a collection of cinematic inspired artworks which feature original 16 & 35mm movie film that is backlit and showcased in handmade wooden light boxes. Each one of kind piece features a different film and is a unique expression of abstract light and color.  The perfect addition to the modern film lovers’ collection or center piece for your entertainment room.

Alan Strack has deep roots in the world of cinema and his early love of movies is what inspired the creation of LIGHTREEL. His Grandfather, Harold DeGraw, better known as ONEONTA’S MOVIE MAN got his first job in a theatre in upstate NY when he was 13 and went on to open one of the first drive-in theaters in the United States in Cambridge, MD, 1952. In 1961 the Degraws returned to Oneonta NY and opened the Oneonta Theatre and Showcase Cinema. It was at these two theaters where Alan’s first memories and love for film were born.  “I can remember playing with spools of film that my grandfather would give me in the projection booth.  I was fascinated by them on many levels and still am.” When his grandparents’ theatres closed in 1999 Alan inherited an extensive catalog of movie trailers which was about to be thrown away. Many years, and layers of dust later, Alan conceived a concept of how a series of small images could combine into a larger abstract visual art piece. “I was inspired by the lightboxes I had seen outside of the theatres as a young boy. At the most basic level, my light boxes are an abstracted version of the original movie poster. All the elements from the film are there, only they are transformed into a overall grid pattern of light and color.”

After working at NIKE as an Art Director for 14 years, creating visuals for some of the world’s top athletes i.e. Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Russel Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony, Alan decided to his return to his family roots in film and create LIGHTREEL in 2018.

https://galleryschoolhouse.com/project-four/

New York Cottages and Gardens

October 2019

Scene Stealer

A movie buff sheds new light on strips of old celluloid

By Kelly Velocci

Photos : Doug Young

Lights, Camera, Action!

A light table inside Alan Strack’s Brooklyn Heights duplex is covered with strips of 35-millimeter film from old movies. Using a loupe, he scrutinizes iconic scenes from vin- tage flicks, ranging from Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Jaws to Aliens and Raiders of the Lost Ark. “I never know what I’m going to find,” says Strack, who in the late 1990s inherited more than 2,000 spools of film trailers and full-length features from his grandparents, former owners of theaters in Oneonta, New York, as well as a Maryland drive-in. “Will there be interesting graphics? Maybe a scene that didn’t make it into the movie?” …..

http://www.cottages-gardens.com/New-York-Cottages-Gardens/

4 Exciting Artists We Discovered at the Clio Art ‘Anti-Fair’
BY JAE THOMAS
BEDFORDANDBOWERY.COM

Alan Strack 
Brooklyn, New York
Formerly an art director at Nike, Strack quit his corporate job a little over a year ago to create art full time,
using film and custom-created LED light boxes.

Strack’s grandparents owned one of the first drive-in movie theaters in the United States, as well as three standalone theaters in
upstate New York. When they passed away, the film from the theaters was going to be thrown out but Strack salvaged it, looking
for a project that could use the over 3,000 reels of film.

What he came up with is a visual experience. Strack cuts and arranges the pieces of film, layers them over LED light boxes and
frames them. From far away, the pieces look like vibrant, abstract patterns. Upon closer inspection, you can see that each section
is one frame of a movie or movie trailer. Experiencing the pieces is a multi-step process, encouraging the viewer to take a moment
to discover and explore every aspect of the work.

“I just am trying to pay respect to my grandparents,” Strack said. “What better way for me to honor their legacy than to take
something that was literally being thrown in the garbage and bringing it to life in a new way?”

https://bedfordandbowery.com/2019/10/4-exciting-artists-we-discovered-at-the-clio-art-anti-fair/#more-142248