The Stand

A long time ago, I wrote about an advertisement for an art gallery opening that was painted onto the side of a little stand at the corner of Avenue C and East 7th Street.

It turns out that stand is the art gallery! It's called The Stand.

This past Memorial Day weekend, I passed by there again, and saw this:

Flea market.

A flea market!

The woman seated in the picture above is the gallery curator. She was selling things to raise money to support the art classes she gives to adults with disabilities.

Here is another picture:

Another picture.

The mural in the back was painted by her students!

Here is a close-up:

Close-up.

It just goes to show you: behind every closed door in the East Village… is probably an art gallery!

#eastvillage #6thstreet #artgalleries #avenuec #thestand #fleamarket

Art On The Street

With little imagination, and a can of paint, anything can become art!

Behold this open-air art gallery, on East 7th Street this past Sunday afternoon:

Paint and art.

I think the mannequin is from a tattoo parlor!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #art #artgalleries #mannequins

Walk / Don't Walk

Speaking of outdoor art galleries, here is an exhibit on the corner of First Avenue and East 7th Street:

Walk / Don't Walk.

I call it "Walk / Don't Walk".

It's like one of those dreams where you're waiting to cross the street, and you don't know when you should go because the signs are facing away from you, and to make matters worse, you're only wearing one shoe, and the other is dangling from the Walk / Don't Walk signs!

Dangling shoe.

East Villagers are nothing if not deep thinkers!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #abandonedshoes #artgalleries #firstavenue #walksigns

East Village Yesterday

Writing a blog about the East Village today sometimes means that you have to write about the East Village — not just yesterday, but — decades ago.

Decades!

Such is the case with last night's gallery opening at the beloved Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, on Avenue C.

The show was titled: "Taking It To The Streets! The Art + Design of Posters and Flyers on the Lower East Side in the 80s + 90s".

I got there just in time to be the first — and for a while, the only — person in the room!

At least I was able to get pictures of the posters:

Posters on the wall.

…stencil paintings on the floor:

Stencils painted on the floor.

…signs on the back wall:

Signs on the back wall.

…and a cardboard tank, which I think is part of the permanent exhibit:

Part of the permanent exhibit.

I stayed for about twenty minutes, thinking more people would show up, but no one did, so I went outside and sat on the bench and read the show's Playbill.

Fortunately I ate at home before attending, because there was no food — not even beer!

How do you reminisce about the bad old days without beer?!

#eastvillage #artgalleries #avenuec #flyers #morus #museumofreclaimedurbanspace #posters #signs

Posters and Flyers

Hot on the heels of last night's gala at the beloved ILevel is tonight's soirée at the beloved Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS), on Avenue C, called "Taking It To The Streets! [exclamation point theirs!] The Art + Design of Posters and Flyers on the Lower East Side in the 80s + 90s".

That's a long title!

Here is information about tonight's event, once again in the form of a screen shot taken from their web site:

I doubt the food will be anywhere near as good as ILevel's!

Other than that, I don't know what to expect — posters and fliers from when your grandparents were kids?

I'll keep you posted!

#eastvillage #avenuec #museumofreclaimedurbanspace #artgalleries #morus

A Photographic Journey — Follow-Up

Last night's gala at ILevel, on East 7th Street, was everything it was cracked up to be — let's get straight to the pictures!

I arrived at around 5:30, and it looked like there was already a line to get in. Where was the velvet rope, I wondered?

No velvet rope.

Once we got inside, we were greeted right away by the first food table:

First food table.

Of course, no exhibition opening would be complete without a bar, and a place for people to chillax!

Bar.

People chillaxin'.

Just past the chillaxers was… the second food table!

Second food table.

Verily, I had found my home.

Behold:

Yum!

There were meatballs, spinach, pita bread with hummus, those chickpea things that go into falafels, an egg roll that wasn't really an egg roll…

At the second food table they were also serving risotto, and the server gave it to you on a separate plate, because she didn't want it to touch any food you already had on your plate — that's how good it was!

Finally, to top it off, was the dessert table:

Dessert table.

Not to slight any of the dessert makers, but the almond things (top/center of the picture) were my favorite! There were two kinds: one with almond filling and almond slivers on top, and for those who don't like so much almond, another with almond filling and no almond slivers!

If you liked what you ate, there were fliers and business cards of the restaurants that participated, free for the taking!

Free for the taking.

I didn't take pictures of the pictures themselves — it was too crowded! I'll go back before the exhibition closes at the end of the month.

Maybe. :)

#eastvillage #7thstreet #artgalleries #food #ilevel

A Photographic Journey

If there's one thing East Villagers are known for (and there are many!) it's beloving our local businesses — and taking pictures of them!

So what could be better than hanging these pictures in an art gallery and letting people look at them? (I mean… OK… a blog…)

That's exactly what the beloved ILevel Gallery is doing! (Get it? ILevel? Like eye level, because the pictures are hung at eye level? But also like iPhone, because a lot of pictures are taken with iPhones? Pretty clever, eh?)

And the opening reception is tonight!

Here is the information, in the form of a screen shot taken from their web site:

Screen shot.

I know what you're thinking: Will any pictures from East Village Today be in this exhibition?

No.

It's OK though — truth be told, I haven't posted any of their pictures either!

A splendid time is guaranteed* for all!

*Not a guarantee.
#eastvillage #ilevel #manhattansideways #7thstreet #artgalleries #photography

Drugged Nurse Gallery

’Round about ten days ago, I was walking across East 2nd Street, when I saw this painting hanging in the window of a place that could very well be an art gallery. I have no idea what was here before this!

At first glance, it looks like a painting of a bloody nurse.

Painting of a bloody nurse?

Upon closer examination, I discovered it to be a painting of a drugged nurse!

Drugged nurse.

You might expect the inside to look like a slaughterhouse, but it's actually quite clean and… orderly! (Get it? Orderly? Like in a hospital?!)

Quite clean and… orderly.

East Villagers love a good pun!

#eastvillage #druggednurse #artgalleries #puns #paintings #2ndstreet

Low Tech

As part of my series of Day Trips Outside the East Village, I ventured into the Lower East Side this past Saturday. Walking up Forsythe Street, I passed by the Mulherin art gallery.

The pictures near the window caught my eye. They were photographs of houses — nothing special, just drab houses. They looked exactly like the kind of pictures I take, so I stopped in!

It turns out they weren't photographs at all, but paintings! The show is called Low Tech, and the artist is Mike Bayne, from Canada!

As much as I liked the houses, this is the one I took a picture of:

The Enfield.

What I like most about this is the half-a-sign on the left. This is the kind of thing that drives me crazy when cropping photos: do I extend the frame to the left to bring in the rest of the sign, and shift the center leftwards, or do I Photoshop it out? In this case, I would Photoshop it out, but he left it in! Incredible!

East Villagers who appreciate the unadulterated mundane should make this day-trip to the Lower East Side! Here is a map showing how to get there from the East Village:

Directions from East Village.

The show will remain open until October 9!

#artgalleries #artists #daytrips #forsythestreet #lowtech #lowereastside #mikebayne #mulherin #painters

Sidewalk Art Gallery

Exactly two weeks ago today, I was walking across East 6th Street, when I saw this art gallery set up on the sidewalk at the corner of Avenue A:

Sidewalk gallery.

It even has its own built-in spotlight, for nighttime viewing.

East Villagers love nighttime art-shopping!

#eastvillage #art #artgalleries #6thstreet #avenuea

Gallery Opening

I was walking down Avenue C recently, when I noticed that the poster for the gallery opening "A Number of Names" changed since January 2015:

A new poster.

I say, I do like that bottom picture! I like a blank, empty wall as much as the next East Villager, but there's something about that fence in the bottom one, and that snow, and the color of those houses!

Oh, I almost forgot! This show is opening Sunday, May 8 — Mother's Day!

Bring your Mom — she'll love it!

UPDATED

I was walking down Avenue C yesterday evening, when I saw that the poster changed again!

Poster changed again.

You could even say it's changed… A Number of Times!

#eastvillage #anumberofnames #artgalleries #avenuec #thestand

Sales Gallery

Back in November, I wrote about a public art project outside the building being constructed on Avenue A called, appropriately enough, 100 Avenue A!

Last week, as I was walking down Avenue A, I passed by their beloved sales gallery (of course it's a gallery — this is the East Village!):

Sales gallery.

Naturally, I took a peek inside:

A peek inside.

Gallery-goers dressed in black — in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #100avenueasalesgallery #allblack #artgalleries #avenuea #signs

Mary, We Hardly Knew Ye

Life in the East Village is fast-paced — if you blink, you're sure to miss something!

In this case, it would be the beloved Mary Sky Gallery, on Avenue B. Three short days ago, I wrote of the opening of this gallery. I passed by there this morning only to find it deserted:

Deserted.

This is now what it looks like inside:

Inside.

You may recall there were artworks on the wall, and the track lighting was on the ceiling, and the table didn't have junk on it, and there were two chairs, and they were facing the other direction, and there was a blue light on in the back.

Now… nada!

Here today, gone tomorrow… that's the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #artgalleries #avenueb #marysky

New Art Gallery

The East Village is known for its trendy art galleries — it's part of the reason so many people want to live here!

So it came as no surprise to anyone when a trendy new art gallery opened in the location formerly beloved as Tu Casa, on Avenue B and East 6th Street:

Trendy new art gallery.

Look Ma, no riot gates!

Here is a closer look at the artworks in the window:

A closer look.

Is this a gallery? Is the name really Mary Sky? So many questions…

Here is a look inside:

A look inside.

East Villagers can't wait for the first art-glitterati party!

#eastvillage #6thstreet #art #artgalleries #avenueb #marysky

VolaVida

A few short days ago, I took a picture of a Post-It note fixed to the door of the Vella Market, on East 4th Street. In that picture, you can see part of the building next door, and you can see that it's empty.

But it's empty no more! I passed by there again this past Saturday afternoon, and discovered this:

A new art gallery.

East Villagers love art galleries — there are some who believe that before the art galleries appeared, the East Village was just a swirling mass of gas and dust!

Be that as it may, this gallery is called "VolaVida", which means: "VolaLife". The space is empty now, but at their grand opening on June 4, it will be full of East Village art glitterati!

Maybe your friends will be among them… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #4thstreet #artgalleries #volavida

A Number of Names

Here's another of my pictures from 2014.

I was walking up Avenue C when I saw this:

A Number of Names.

An advertisement for a gallery show, that looks like a gallery!

Here's a close-up:

Close-up.

It's not so surprising — the East Village is an art gallery in itself!

#eastvillage #artgallery #art #anumberofnames