Cleverly placed mirrors at Factory Fresh’s “A Maze” exhibit — Photo by Diego Cupolo
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Out in the country side, Autumn and corn mazes are synonymous. But here in Bushwick, the harvest season produces vibrant art mazes — it’s only natural.

Last Friday, Factory Fresh art gallery on Flushing Avenue held an opening reception for “A Maze,” a unique exhibit that features Celso, Infinity, Stikman, LA II and Cbeauty. The miniature labyrinth was built from wood boards and then covered with the artists’ signature styles and symbols to create multilayered collages.

“Most of the artists are our friends so they just came up to me one day and said ‘we want to build a maze’ so I told them to go for it and they really pulled it off — it looks great in here,” said Ad Deville, co-founder of Factory Fresh, as he served $1 Coronas throughout the night.

While navigating the maze, I couldn’t stop thinking about the irony of seeing New York City street art staples indoors. After all, there’s a Stikman piece around the corner from Factory Fresh on Vandervoort Place.

I got to chat with LA II, whose graffiti served as a major influence for Keith Haring’s work. After meeting in their teenage years, LA II and Haring became collaborators and went on to travel the world together, holding shows in every major museum in the United States.

“I’m bringing a little bit of the Lower East Side to Brooklyn,” LA II said. “I’m happy I came out here because I’ve been wanting to check out the scene.”

His most recent works are the mural on Houston and Bowery as a tribute to Haring’s 50th birthday and a mural that was completed last week on 57th Street and 12th Avenue.

The exhibit’s namesake — Photo by Diego Cupolo

“A Maze” runs until December 2, 2008.

Factory Fresh
1053 Flushing Avenue, between Morgan and Knickerbocker.