‘Lush Life’ Visits Nine Lower East Side Galleries
Paul Pagk "OGLS #116" 2010. Photo courtesy: Scaramouche, NYC.
By Mackie Healy, Art Market Views Contributor
Hipsters, artists and literature fans alike endured the heat last Thursday night, partaking in the opening of Lush Life, a collaborative summer gallery show, based on a popular crime novel.
The exhibits were inspired by Richard Price’s 2008 novel, Lush Life. The best-selling police drama takes place post-9/11 in the Lower East Side. Independent curator Omar Lopez-Chahoud and artist Franklin Evans organized the project at nine Lower East Side galleries. Each shows corresponds with a book chapter.
Large maps were distributed, listing gallery locations, as well as a legend for fictional settings of events from the book’s plot. Schiller’s Liquor Bar on Rivington Street was deemed Café Berkman, the restaurant where the suspect and the victim of Price’s novel are both employed.
Some of the correlations are obvious, like the bird and feathered creature theme at Invisible-Exports, while others may require a better familiarity with the narrative and a strong imagination. The chapters do not need to be viewed in chronological order. Event organizers encourage visitors to let spontaneity and convenience rule when choosing a route.
Sue Scott Gallery Chapter 1: Whistle
On Stellar Rays Chapter 2: Liar
Invisible-Exports Chapter 3: First Bird (A Few Butterflies)
Lehmann Maupin Chapter 4: Let It Die
Y Gallery Chapter 5: Want Cards
Collette Blanchard Gallery Chapter 6: The Devil You Know
Salon 94 Chapter 7: Wolf Tickets
Scaramouche Chapter 8: 17 Plus 25 is 32
Eleven Rivington Chapter 9: She’ll Be Apples
A video tour of the exhibition with Richard Price is here.
Tommy Hartung "Camera" 2009. Photo courtesy: Scaramouche, NYC and On Stellar Rays.
Jayson Keeling "This Town Needs An Enema," 2010. Image courtesy: Scaramouche, NYC.
Rudy Shepherd, "Jesse Rae Beard, Jena 6," 2007. Image Courtesy Y Gallery.
Rudy Shepherd "Bryant Purvis, Jena 6" 2007. Image courtesy Y Gallery.
