Major Announcement Soon
The Gallery will be issuing a press release forthcoming about the above exhibit that postponed the 3 April opening reception and subsequent show due to COVID-19.
Goodbye Peter Beard – “The End of the Game”
For Nejma and Zara Beard
This photograph was taken 19 June 2016 from the cliffs at Peter Beard’s Montauk, NY home. Photo: Orin Langelle
20 April 2020 – This morning The New York Times reported that photographer and artist Peter Beard’s body was found in Camp Hero State Park near his home in Montauk, NY. He was 82. He had been missing for 19 days. Peter had a huge impact on my life. I created this post in Peter’s memory and to pay respect to Peter’s wife Nejma and daughter Zara.
April 19, 2020, An excerpt from the statement on behalf of Peter Beard’s family:
Peter was an extraordinary man who led an exceptional life. He lived life to the fullest; he squeezed every drop out of every day. He was relentless in his passion for nature, unvarnished and unsentimental but utterly authentic always. He was an intrepid explorer, unfailingly generous, charismatic, and discerning. Peter defined what it means to be open: open to new ideas, new encounters, new people, new ways of living and being. Always insatiably curious, he pursued his passions without restraints and perceived reality through a unique lens. Anyone who spent time in his company was swept up by his enthusiasm and his energy. He was a pioneering contemporary artist who was decades ahead of his time in his efforts to sound the alarm about environmental damage. His visual acuity and elemental understanding of the natural environment was fostered by his long stays in the bush and the “wild-deer-ness” he loved and defended. He died where he lived: in nature.”
Peter Beard’s signature “autograph” in Zara’s Tales to Anne Petermann and me.
The last time I saw Peter was at his home in Montauk during the summer of 2016. My wife, Anne Petermann, and I were invited by Peter’s wife, Nejma, to spend some time with Peter around the occasion of his retrospective exhibit at the Guild Hall Museum in East Hampton, NY.
Anne and I had a great time in Montauk with Peter and his family. We all drank wine, shared stories and, always creating, Peter decorated and signed his book Zara’s Tales, for us. The book was a tribute to his daughter.
The last time I spoke to Peter prior to our trip to Montauk was in Manhattan in January 1978 most likely at his 40th birthday party at Studio 54.
The first time I met Peter was in 1977 when Peter had his first one-person show at Manhattan’s International Center of Photography, The End of the Game – The Last Word from Paradise. Over four months I photographed Beard and the people, many celebrities, that were part of Beard’s life prior to and during the exhibit’s installation and the subsequent opening.
Those photographs are in the Peter Beard Studio files and have illustrated several books and articles.
In 2015, on the 50th anniversary of Beard’s book, The End of the Game – The Last Word from Paradise, with the support of Nejma Beard and the Peter Beard Studio, the ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery for Contemporary Art in Buffalo, NY presented my work Peter Beard’s The End of the Game – The Last Word from Paradise, Revisited.
To me Peter was not only a great documentary photographer and artist, but also an ecologist who understood the connections of life and death. I learned much from Peter’s photography and ecological perspectives that have helped shaped my work in photography and how I have come to understand Earth with a greater depth. For this I will always be grateful. Safe and wild journey’s Peter. – Orin Langelle
The following link goes to photographs from the exhibit:
Chile: Peoples’ Uprising Opening Postponed
Press Statement March 17, 2020
¡Buen Vivir! Gallery for Contemporary Art Postpones April First Friday Event in Buffalo
Chile: Peoples’ Uprising Exhibit Opening to be Rescheduled
Buffalo, NY: Due to the current public health emergency and recommendations for events not to exceed fifty people, the ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery for Contemporary Art is postponing our April 3 First Friday event. The opening reception for our new exhibit, Chile: Peoples’ Uprising, will be rescheduled for a later date. We will be sure to inform you of the new date for the exhibit opening when we make that determination.
Contact: Orin Langelle +1.716.536.5669
New Press Statement coming soon
Above posted on 6 April 2020
Press Statement March 17, 2020
¡Buen Vivir! Gallery for Contemporary Art Postpones April First Friday Event in Buffalo
Chile: Peoples’ Uprising Exhibit Opening to be Rescheduled
Buffalo, NY: Due to the current public health emergency and recommendations for events not to exceed fifty people, the ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery for Contemporary Art is postponing our April 3 First Friday event. The opening reception for our new exhibit, Chile: Peoples’ Uprising, will be rescheduled for a later date. We will be sure to inform you of the new date for the exhibit opening when we make that determination.
Contact: Orin Langelle +1.716.536.5669
Chile: Peoples’ Uprising
Images from the Front Lines
Exhibit Opens April 3
BUFFALO, NY – The ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery for Contemporary Art will present documentary photography and videography from the ongoing peoples’ uprising in Chile that started in October of last year. The images were shot by the gallery co-directors, Orin Langelle and Anne Petermann in the months of November and December, 2019 from the front lines of the uprising.
The Opening Reception of Chile: Peoples’ Uprising will be held during Allentown’s First Friday event on April 3 from 6 to 9 p.m. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served at the ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery for Contemporary Art, 148 Elmwood Avenue at Global Justice Ecology Project space.
A massive popular uprising in Chile began on October 18, 2019, and continues to this day. Millions are demanding a new economic and political system in Chile and a new Constitution.Chile’s existing Constitution was written during the Pinochet Dictatorship, ushered in during a military coup supported by the U.S. in 1973.
Today Peoples’ Assemblies are taking part in all regions of Chile to create a process that will rewrite the new constitution. Chile’s President Piñera is trying to take control of this process and to crush the protests with extreme violence and repression.
Petermann and Langelle documented street protests including clashes between activists and Carabineros (national police) in the cities of Santiago and Temuco.
As of the first week of March of this year reports state that since the uprising began in October, 36 activists have died, more than 28,000 Chileans have been detained and 4,080 minors arrested. Additionally over 11,000 have been injured by the Carabineros. Shotguns loaded with rubber-coated metal pellets deliberately aimed at protesters’ faces have caused 445 serious eye wounds. Many people have partial or complete loss of vision in one or both eyes. In addition, several protesters have been run over by armored vehicles.
Langelle and Petermann also traveled to two indigenous Mapuche land re-occupations, where communities had taken back 1,500 hectares of their ancestral lands, stolen from them during the dictatorship. On U.S. Thanksgiving, they took photos and video interviews after Carabineros shot and teargassed people in the re-occupation.
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On Tuesday, April 7, Jim Shultz, Executive Director of the Democracy Center, will launch his newest book My Other Country, Nineteen Years in Bolivia? in the BV Gallery from 7 – 9 p.m. The full moon event commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Cochabamba Water Revolt in Bolivia that Shultz was involved in and helped publicize.
The gallery is free and open to the public.
Contact: Theresa Church Theresa2@
BuenVivirGallery.org
Santiago de Chile: Water cannons chase crowd. A caustic liquid was mixed with the water to irritate the skin and lungs. Water cannons were strategically used to target street medics and the Red Cross.
Santiago de Chile: Depicting blood and eyeballs in the hands of the government. This guerrilla theater on International Human Rights Day, December 10th, commemorated the (then) 350+ eyes injured, some permanently by the Carabineros de Chile (national police) who intentionally shot people in the face with shotguns filled with rubber-coated metal pellets during the protests.
This young Mapuche is from the community of Quilape Lopez, Chile, which is re-occupying stolen ancestral lands. Elders say the young are the future of the Mapuche, as is the land.
all photos by Orin Langelle / photolangelle.org
Looking Back to See the Future – POSTER ART Open
The Opening Reception was held during Allentown’s First Friday event on February 7th. Wine and hors d’oeuvres were served. Photograph by Bill Jungels.
BUFFALO, NY – The ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery for Contemporary Art presents a Poster Art exhibition: Looking Back to See the Future.
This exhibit is now available for viewing by appointment. Please call +1.716.931.5833.
Johanna Dominguez (left) interviewing gallery co-director Orin Langelle (center) for the Allentown Association. Gallery co-director Anne Petermann (right). Photograph by Bill Jungels.
The Opening Reception was held during Allentown’s First Friday event on February 7th. Wine and hors d’oeuvres were served.
The event showcases archival posters from past exhibits – 2014 through 2019 – at the ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery for Contemporary Art, 148 Elmwood Avenue at the Global Justice Ecology Project space. (more after poster)
First gallery poster from October 2014
The gallery’s exhibits continue to tackle major political and social themes: climate change, environmental destruction, political repression, Indigenous Peoples’ rights and struggles for justice around the globe, and present a historical look at m
ovements for change, struggle and everyday life.
Anne Petermann, co-director of the gallery and Executive Director of Global Justice Ecology Project states:
At the same time that we are facing mounting social and ecological crises, we are facing the dual threat of societal amnesia. Many people in the U.S. either never learned, or have forgotten the rich history of the social, labor, women’s, civil rights and other movements that came before. We cannot forge a path forward to a sane and sustainable world unless we remember and learn from the critical lessons of those who struggled before. Looking Back to See the Future is designed to lift up these struggles so that we can save our collective future.
The next exhibit at the gallery, Chile: Peoples’ Uprising– photos and video from the front lines, opens April 3rd. It will feature photographs and video from the ongoing people’s uprising in Chile shot by by Buffalo’s Orin Langelle and Anne Petermann during November and December of 2019.
The name of the gallery, ¡Buen Vivir!, is a concept stemming from Indigenous and other cultures of the Southern Americas. ¡Buen vivir! means life in harmony between humans, communities, and the Earth–where work is not a job to make others wealthier, but for a livelihood that is sustaining, fulfilling, and in tune with the common good.
Poster Art Opening 7 February / Chile: Peoples’ Uprising Exhibit 3 April 2020
Chile exhibit details after this:
Looking Back to See the Future
POSTER ART Exhibit and Opening Reception
Buffalo, NY – The ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery for Contemporary Art opens its 2020 season with a Poster Art exhibit: Looking Back to See the Future. The Opening Reception will be held during Allentown’s First Friday event on February 7th from 6 to 8 p.m. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served.
The event showcases archival posters from past exhibits at the ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery for Contemporary Art, 148 Elmwood Avenue, which opened in 2014 at the Global Justice Ecology Project space.
The gallery’s exhibits have tackled major political and social themes: climate change, environmental destruction, political repression, Indigenous Peoples’ rights and struggles for justice around the globe.
“Humanity is facing what is perhaps its greatest challenge with the mounting ecological and social crises around the world. We are going to have to look at lessons from history– peoples’ history–if we are going to identify ways forward. The ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery was founded as a way to help do that and this exhibit of posters showcasing our past work is a celebration of that mission,” said Anne Petermann, co-director of the gallery and Executive Director for Global Justice Ecology Project.
The next exhibit at the gallery, Chile: Peoples’ Uprising– photos and video from the front lines, opens April 3rd. It will feature photographs and videos shot during the ongoing people’s uprising in Chile by Buffalo’s Orin Langelle and Anne Petermann. Their work was shot in Chile during November and December of 2019.
The ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery for Contemporary Art was founded to utilize art and photography to present a historical look at movements for change, struggle and everyday life. It is designed to counter the societal amnesia from which we collectively suffer—especially with regard to the history of social and ecological movements and issues, and to inspire new generations to participate in the making of a better world.
The name of the gallery, ¡Buen Vivir!, is a concept stemming from Indigenous and other cultures of the Southern Americas. ¡Buen vivir! means life in harmony between humans, communities, and the Earth–where work is not a job to make others wealthier, but for a livelihood that is sustaining, fulfilling, and in tune with the common good.
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Chile: Peoples’ Uprising Exhibit
An Exhibit of Images from the Front Lines
We are happy to announce this upcoming exhibit. Photos and videos were shot in November and December of 2019 in the ongoing People’s Uprising in Chile. From Santiago and Temuco’s streets to the Indigenous Mapuche land occupations in the communities of Liempi Colipi and Quilape Lopez, Anne Petermann and Orin Langelle had the honor of being part of the uprising as documentarians. The Red Masks in Resistance movement photo below has history with the performance of !Un violador en tu camino! (The rapist in your path). The anti-rapist anthem and dance is planned to be performed by a local women’s group at the opening – lyrics and video below. 
Hundreds of women march together into Plaza de la Dignidad. Women have a lead role in the protests, including the Red Masks in Resistance movement, and created an anthem for women’s rights that has gone viral: ¡El Violador en Tu Camino! [The Rapist in Your Path]. photo Orin Langelle/Global Justice Ecology Project (2019)
1 MINUTE VIDEO: MARCH AGAINST VIOLENCE TOWARD WOMEN IN TEMUCO, CHILE
Women’s March Against Violence Toward Women in Temuco, Chile. photo: Langelle/GJEP
This was shot last November during the Women’s March Against Violence Toward Women in Temuco, Chile – Video below.
Posted In CLIMATE JUSTICE NEWS December 4, 2019 by Anne Petermann
Women involved in the protests taking place across Chile have been targeted for sexual abuse and rape by the Chilean National Police (carabineros), leading to marches around the country demanding an end to violence against women. Photo: Langelle/photolangelle.org
Excerpt From Human Rights Watch, Chile: Police Reforms Needed in the Wake of Protests – Excessive Force Against Demonstrators, Bystanders; Serious Abuse in Detention
The police detained more than 15,000 people and ill-treated some of them.
Of 442 criminal complaints filed by the National Human Rights Institute on behalf of victims of abuse, 341 refer to allegations of torture and inhumane treatment and 74 of sexual abuse. Many detainees allege they were brutally beaten by police. Another of the most common allegations was that police forced detainees, including children, to undress and squat fully naked in police stations, a practice banned by police protocols in March 2019 but that still occurs, including before the protests.
The police appear to be more likely to force women and girls to strip than men, based on data that the National Human Rights Institute collected and interviews Human Rights Watch conducted. A Chilean human rights lawyer told Human Rights Watch of a case in which men and women were detained in the same circumstances, but only women were forced to undress, and cases of police touching women’s genitalia after they were forced to strip.
For the full piece, go to: https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/11/26/chile-police-reforms-needed-wake-protests
#notwhite collective: In Between the Middle Exhibit Closing Reception AND Photo Essay of an Exhibition Opening
[Closing Reception Friday, June 7, 6 – 9 p.m.at the ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery for Contemporary Art, 148 Elmwood Ave., in Buffalo NY’s Allentown Art District. Hors‘douvres and refreshments served. The event is free and open to the public.]
The following photos were taken during the #notwhite collective’s Opening Reception, Friday, April 5, 2019 for their Buffalo, NY Premier Exhibit In Between the Middle held at the ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery for Contemporary Art. The #notwhite collective is a group of thirteen women artists elevating the stories of the others. They are based in Pittsburgh, PA.
There is a resemblance of the U.S. flag in their exhibit which you will notice in several of the photos below as a backdrop. The title is Mom, you know we’re all just shades of brown by Fran Ledonio Flaherty.
The photos of the opening below are by Orin Langelle / PhotoLangelle.org
Similarity
#notwhite collective member Fran Ledonio Flaherty and reflection of her hearing dog – Olympia
The #notwhite collective, with their art and message, brought seriousness and laughter together in one of the best – if not the best – openings at the ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery since it opened in October 2014 with Climate Change: Faces, Places & Protest. I (Orin Langelle) hope the gallery continues to have exhibits that reflect the seriousness of our times with contemporary art and photography along with much needed humor while inspiring people, as the #notwhite collective says “…to share, to question, to investigate, dig deep into what identity is within and outside the construct and context of white –not in skin color, but as a system of oppression, a system we do not align ourselves with.”
Alison Zapata, from the #notwhite collective
#notwhite collective members Allison Zapata (l) and Sara Tang
The Collective’s Carolina Loyola-Garcia (l) and Santiago Masfererr from El Buen Amigo
A content young one with mother
Hugs
The name of the gallery, ¡Buen Vivir!, is a concept stemming from Indigenous and other cultures of the Southern Americas. ¡Buen vivir! means life in harmony between humans, communities, and the Earth – where work is not a job to make others wealthier, but for a livelihood that is sustaining, fulfilling, and in tune with the common good.
Smiles
Maritza Mosquera (l) from the #notwhite collective
Viewing “Warriors” a photograph by Liana Maneese
#notwhite collective’s Sarika Goulatia
From Left to Right Top Row: Carolina Loyola-Garcia, Bianca L. McGraw, Danielle AJ, Alison Zapata, Amber Epps Middle Row: Maritza Mosquera, Sarika Goulatia, N’gana, Sara Tang Bottom Row: Fran Ledonio Flaherty, Madame Dolores, Veronica Corpuz
From the exhibit
Well…
#notwhite collective Is a bi/multi-racial/cultural, immigrant or descendants of immigrants. Since 2016, they have met to share, to question, to investigate, dig deep into what identity is within and outside the construct and context of white –not in skin color, but as a system of oppression, a system we do not align ourselves with. They provide an artistic platform for difficult discussions on the complexities of cultural identity in America to move us all towards humanity.
Media Alert: #notwhite collective Closing Reception
Media Alert: Closing reception for the #notwhite collective’s “In Between the Middle” art exhibit in Allentown
Media Alert June 6, 2019
What: Closing reception for the #notwhite collective’s In Between the Middle art exhibit
When: Friday, June 7, 6 – 9 p.m.
Where: ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery for Contemporary Art, 148 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14201
Hors d’oeuvres and refreshments served
#notwhite collectiveis a group of 13 women artists elevating the stories of the others. Those who do not fit neatly in the consensus boxes; neatly in cultural categories.
#notwhite collective Is a bi/multi-racial/cultural, immigrant or descendants of immigrants. Since 2016, they have met to share, to question, to investigate, dig deep into what identity is within and outside the construct and context of white –not in skin color, but as a system of oppression, a system we do not align ourselves with. They provide an artistic platform for difficult discussions on the complexities of cultural identity in America to move us all towards humanity.
#notwhite collective members are: Sarah Aziz, Veronica Corpuz, Christiane Dolores, Amber Epps, Fran Flaherty, Geña, Sarika Goulatia, Carolina Loyola-Garcia, Liana Maneese, Maritza Mosquera, Maggie Negrete, Sara Tang and Alison Zapata.
Contact: Orin Langelle <langellephoto (at )PhotoLangelle.org>
Happening in Buffalo’s Allentown
