helter swelter

when the weather gets hot, the gallery scene gets quiet, but scoboco did see one great show this season: justin lowe's evocative and dynamic "helter swelter", at oliver kamm 5be gallery (on 27th street, all the way over near 12th...).

the set up is this: the outside gallery door looks like any other... tasteful, discreet type; frosted glass. but open the door and suddenly you're inside what looks EXACTLY like a washington heights bodega. the shelves are stocked with sad groceries, the fridge is stocked with cheap beer and off-brand soda, the gallery employees sit behind one of those "robbery proof" clear plastic walls, with all the now-and-laters and smokes and phone cards and there's the little area where you can pay for your things... it's TOTALLY a bodega... a bodega with a secret door on the back wall that leads you into what looks like a construction site, which you quickly realize is the inside of some kind of vehicle. and when you exit up front, you see you were in a "kool man" ice cream truck! parked on a wildly colorful "rug"! with annoying music blasting! we had lots of fun checking out all the amazing detail, goofing with the gallery employees, and trying to figure out what it all meant (other than, like, "summer in the city").

the bad news: the exhibit's no longer there. sorry for the last post. the good news: this was only lowe's first solo show (he had something cool at ps1 last summer, too), so there's bound to be a lot more to come.