September 2020
Marion Sailhen, Mothership NYC and Singulart
“Mothership NYC is the cradle for what is now a multi-pronged arts enterprise serving as a bridge to New York for artists from other countries. Located on the water’s edge in the happening Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn, this peer community is a combined live-work space and presentation arena for international creatives across all disciplines. […]. More than a decade’s worth of monthly salons and other freewheeling arts events on its expansive outdoor deck overlooking the Manhattan skyline has earned this artist-led initiative a spot on the prestigious list 111 Rooftops in New York That You Must Not Miss (2019) as “a blast from New York City’s less stuffy, more avant-garde past.”
National Geographic, Decebmber 29, 2019
David Farley, “A Neighborhood Guide to Brooklyn”
”For Sol Kjøk, a Norwegian-born painter, Greenpoint has been home since 1998. She was part of the first wave of artists who made the jump over the East River from Manhattan seeking affordable studios and living quarters. Today, Sol is the head of two performance spaces — her studio, Last Frontier NYC, and her home, Mothership NYC, a 10-minute walk away. The latter also hosts a rota of visiting artists from around the world who perform their works at monthly salons.
“It’s a way for local and international artists to meet and talk about art,” Sol says as we chat at her studio. She’s organised a performance: aerialist Erica Marie Mancini dangles from ropes elegantly shifting above us as a band plays avant-garde music. “My studio is called Last Frontier NYC because, well, it’s geographically on the border of Brooklyn and Queens but also it’s really the last frontier for artists in Greenpoint,” says Sol. “Rents are going up and it’s not as affordable for us anymore, so my purpose for these performances is to keep alive the artistic spirit of the neighbourhood that’s existed for the last couple of decades. But that said, the longer I’ve lived here, the more and more I love Greenpoint."
NYS Music, June 17, 2019
Chuck DeFilippo, ‘Xanthe Alexis’ Mothership Residency: Mind, Body, Music and Soul’
“There was this force, that transposed our phone conversation. We were connected by more than just music and had oddly specific parallels in our spiritual lives. “That otherness is what we weave throughout the music. It is close to all of us, and some of us are more aware of it,” said Xanthe, soothingly. “These strands of conscious explain to a whole other forum,” perhaps in more ways than we know. Strangely enough, Xanthe feels zen-ed out in New York, a therapeutic calmness juxtaposed to the city. ‘I’m going to live there [Mothership NYC] for a few days with painters, poets and dancers. That is where everybody comes to work and live.’”
111 Rooftops in New York That You Must Not Miss, May 2019
Leslie Adatto, “Mothership: A throwback to the 70s’ art scene opens up her rooftop”
“In these days of chic, safe, and, face it, exclusive New York City, it can be hard to recall the 1970s when the city was about to go bankrupt. Muggings and murders were commonplace, and artists paid a pittance for sprawling cold-water lofts in abandoned SoHo factories. Certainly it was a much more dangerous city, but an atmosphere prevailed that attracted and nurtured innumerable artists, the likes of Andy Warhol, Patti Smith, Bob Dylan, and so many more of the creatives that are still today’s cultural influencers.
A tiny remnant of that 1970’s art scene lives on at Mothership. This artist live-and-work space collective is housed in a permanently docked Brooklyn warehouse at the end of a gritty, industrial street that backs up to Newton Creek. This ship that does not sail is a proud throwback to New York’s art past and serves as a safe harbor where international artists can afford too anchor themselves in the 21st century.
Mothership has an open-house event on the second Tuesday of each month featuring artists of all stripes: filmmakers, performance artists, painters, sculptors, and so forth. When the weather cooperates, the guests migrate up the few steps to Mothership’s spacious, unimproved rooftop. The evening becomes that month’s variation of an open-air art party, as well as a blast from New York City’s less stuffy, more avant-garde past.
Artists and non-artists are warmly welcomed at these casual events that require not much more than an open mind and a willingness to venture out to an edge of Brooklyn that might not be familiar, though it is easy enough to find. The schedule can vary so please check the website for monthly events and surprises that Captain Sol Kjøk and her mates create. There is never a dull moment at Mothership, and when it’s warm and inviting outside, the rooftop is open for expansive views while expanding your mind.”
GAYSIR, May 2019
Thomas Kolbein Bjørk Olsen, “Dreaming Is for Free” (Interview with Ahmed Umar)
“The artist keeps receiving more recognition. He has now been awarded a travel grant from the City of Oslo for his stay in New York. Our talk is taking place on the "deck" of Mothership NYC, an artist collective in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The Captain of the ship is the Norwegian artist Sol Kjøk, who has established a new residency program through which international artists are selected for a free residency period in New York.” [Translated from Norwegian]
OUTSIDER, December 2018
Visual Artist Dusa Jesih Staying in New York: Her Own Visual Expression, Not Current Trends
“Dusa Jesih moved to New York for a month, as an artist-in-residence in an independent arts collective in Brooklyn, where she continues her creative research. Working with the idea of Bauhaus today, one hundred years after the founding of this versatile artistic movement, she responds in her own way – from the minimalism of pure geometric abstraction to personal interpretations – inventing various forms and methods of artistic expression.” [Translated from Slovenian]
ART 511 MAG, July 2018
"Sol, who runs and directs the Mothership NYC in Greenpoint, played an active role as one of more seasoned artists in our show by making curatorial recommendations of several other performers, including the shamaness Siw Laurent, whose otherworldly vocals certainly raised the vibration in the space Friday afternoon."
VOGUE Brasil, June 28, 2017
Interview with Artist-in-Residence Mariana Soares, São Paulo:
“Here at Mothership NYC, I had the opportunity to give a salon talk for a very receptive audience. To be part of an art collective is very exciting and there is always a great exchange of ideas with other artists. Right now, we are collaborating with Art for Progress on an interdisciplinary production for Mothership’s next rooftop event – a great opportunity to start new connections in this city I love.”
Artnet, June 2016
Exhibition Announcement for IN THE AIR, New York:
“She founded NOoSPHERE Arts, a nonprofit exhibition and performance venue, on the Lower East Side, a collaborative arts platform called Last Frontier NYC as well as Mothership NYC, an arts collective in Brooklyn.”
Greenpointers, March 15, 2017
“This month’s 2nd Tuesday (which will be held on Tuesday the 21st due to this week’s snowstorm) keynote presenter will be Mothership NYC’s current artist-in-residence, South African visual artist Diane Victor who will give a presentation about her ongoing project: ephemeral portraits drawn with the soot from a candle."
Eyes Towards the Dove, Dec 31, 2015
“2015 WAS GOLDEN: TOP PICKS” by Katy Diamond Hamer
“Just what the doctor ordered. A prescriptive performance at a rooftop party in Greenpoint. (…)
Video was projected onto a nearby brick façade, a DJj played danceable tunes, and a duo who go by ReFemme, met with patients in an unassuming white tent, set up near the revelers. Even if it didn’t necessarily look that interesting to me initially, I was intrigued enough to put my name down on a list and see what was going on within the otherwise private tent. […] How lovely that in a busy, competitive city that never sleeps, on a rooftop, under the moon shining over Greenpoint,
I was reminded through this simple performative gesture that I’m more than OK.”
Brooklyn Award Program, September 2, 2015
"Mothership NYC has been selected for the 2015 Best of Brooklyn Award in the Performance Venue category by the Brooklyn Award Program.
Each year, the Brooklyn Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Brooklyn area a great place to live, work and play.
Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2015 Brooklyn Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Brooklyn Award Program and data provided by third parties."
Byavisa, March 5, 2015
”Captain of the Mothership” by Tore Feiring (Interview with Captain Sol):
”Sol Kjøk is a visual artist, founder and driving force behind NOoSPHERE Arts in Manhattan and the artists’ collective Mothership NYC in Brooklyn. NOoSPHERE Arts is a nonprofit exhibition arena for arts from elsewhere. […] ‘I am an artist who has started an artist-run venture. It is not privately owned and not commercial. Call it a presentation platform for international artists. It is a DIY enterprise based on voluntary efforts and collaboration between all parties involved.”
[Translated from Norwegian]
BBC NEWS, August 4, 2013
Interview with Slincraze, a musician featured on Mothership’s rooftop stage
(including concert footage):
“Nils Rune Utsi is the founding member of Slincraze, a rap group from Maze, a village in northern Norway. They rap in Sami, a language spoken by less than 20,000 people. Their goal is to save their language and culture and to fight stereotypes about the people of the region.
The BBC caught up with Utsi in New York City. He discussed his love of music, his creative process, and why rap could save his region's ancient cultures and traditions.”
FIN Magazine 1, 2013
“SOL KJØK: On Travels and the Human Body” by Maren Mosaker (Interview with Captain Sol):
“It feels like it’s a couple of hundred degrees on the roof deck of The Mothership, Sol Kjøk’s artists’ collective in Greenpoint, New York.” […] ‘I love to dance with a bunch of good people on our rooftop in Brooklyn to live gypsy music, with a crackling bonfire in a metal barrel and all the lights of Manhattan sparkling against the night sky on the other side of the water.’”
DN magasin, July 20, 2012
“Min arbeidsplass” by Line Tiller (Interview with Captain Sol):
”One of the many advantages of living in an artists’ collective is that I keep meeting people and friends of friends in my home. I get to make international connections in my own living room.”
[Translated from Norwegian]
Refinery29, August 28, 2017
”Ever wonder what it's like to live like a city-dwelling artist? You can get a taste when staying at Mothership NYC, an artist studio-slash-exhibition space in a former industrial building. The guestroom is closet-sized — ah, the struggles of living in a costly city — but the rest of the space more than makes up for it. Eclectic artwork by Sol, a Norwegian artist (…), can be seen all over the living room and hallway...”