Straight from sunny Southern California with nothing but love of the lowbrow sort, art dealer Matthew Abramowitz opens The 4th Wall Gallery -- and many of the participating artists have never shown their work in this town.
Given Abramowitz’s penchant for showcasing work from an oft times misunderstood populist movement known as Lowbrow art, the opening of his gallery is an event worth noticing. That is, if you appreciate art...
Lowbrow art originated in the City of Angels more than 30 years ago and is a subversive mix of hot-rod culture, underground comix and hardcore punk music, and in other words -- all things that are freakin’ cool. Most Lowbrow art has an undercurrent of manic humor that’s as sarcastic as it is fun. Also many Lowbrow artists are current and former professionals from the editorial world.
The loss of talent in the shifty and uncertain world of publishing is The 4th Wall Gallery’s gain.
"Artists from all over the world knew how special this opening is and subsequently started sending me their favorite pieces and personal projects," said gallery director Jordan Roth, who admits to working out of the Stoneleigh Hotel with his laptop up until a couple weeks ago because the space didn’t have air conditioning.
What Roth has accomplished in little more than a month (with support from Abramowitz, of course) is impressive. For example, in less than a week of creating a Facebook account, the gallery’s page displays more than 300 friends. In a bold move, Roth has encouraged artists and collectors to speak openly on each other’s profile walls, sometimes even posting art as it’s created. Roth said he isn’t worried because he believes there’s nothing wrong with building artist loyalty and giving clients a glimpse into the artistic process.
Miami painter Miguel Paredes has clients flying in who saw his work on the social networking site. Not to mention Ronnie Cutrone, former assistant to Andy Warhol -- yes, the Andy Warhol -- is coming to the opening to support Paredes. Cutrone is known for his pop paintings of Felix The Cat, Woody Woodpecker and Pink Panther. Paredes recently painted an homage to the living legend titled “Ronnie is That You?”
Renown New York sculptor Cynthia Von Buhler and illustrator Scott Bakal will attend the opening. Expect to see a veritable who’s who from the global art community when you attend.
Deets:
Date: Thursday, May 21
Time: 7 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Location: The 4th Wall Gallery at 2525 Fairmount St.; 214-740-9400
More Deets:
Terry Hankins and will play music with a quartet.
The Stoneleigh Hotel will provide nibbles.
Eye candy of both sexes will serve Veev Vodka cocktails.
Fat Finger The Date:
Look forward to a show from Justin Bua as he holds it down for New York City’s Upper West Side at The 4th Wall Gallery on June 20. The urban artist will show a new rendition of "The DJ," one of his most well-known pieces.
“We’re really lucky to have him,” said Roth.
