Just returned from First Friday a miraculous evening of art and people watching. As usual, no one in Corporate Museum and Frames was actually looking at the art. As usual, Orange Door was outrageous and the most creative. Check out the Styrogami. Small but highly amusing. I couldn't even get into 1708 because of a capacity issue. Police were regulating. My favorite exhibit was at Artspace. The exhibit in the Main Gallery downstairs, with a sea of folded-newspaper hats, is breathtaking. The art is smooshed up against each other in direct contrast to Corporate Museum and Frames which is pristine and cold. The work ("a multi-media installation by Mark Guilbeau and Rian Kerrane") is highly personal and tactile. Curls of hair in something that looks like wax or glue. Odds and end transformed into cultural comment.
First Friday used to be a couple of galleries on Broad Street doing an uncoordinated opening night without a name or a theme. Now theres a non-profit organization to oversee it and it's hard to find a place to park. A couple of streets were blocked off and there was a live band.
My vote for most unique exhibit goes to the Queer Space Project poster and flyer collection. I always check out the Visual Art Studio(This link may or may not work. I couldn't get the home page to load). Anne, the owner, finds fascinating artists to exhibit in her space. Visitor's look at the art in a serious way and seem to all know each other. If you go all the way to the back there's free food and wine.
All of the openings used to have free food and wine. Then they started charging for the wine. The only gallery still serving alcoholic beverages was Artspace. All the others had only a few handfuls of snacks and sodas.
Feel like walking the streets at night in November? Give me a call!
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