you need to see ‘we need each other’

Two guys sat at the far end of the room munching sandwiches and talking with an art-enthusiastic woman. Someone threw on a hip-hop album. I started browsing what I saw first- individual pieces from over 20 artists, following the ‘we need each other’ theme. A few were subpar (melting gummy bears?), but for the most part they whet my appetite for what I was about to see next. I turned around and…

…exquisite corpse, right in my face.

If you look closely, you can see that the squares, while separate, removable pieces, are all connected in some way. The sandwich-munchers turned out to be Andrew and Joe, two of the five founders of the ohno!doom gallery, and they explained that the process took place in two rounds- each artist was given free reign over their first square, while for the second square they referenced images of the half inch area that would be bordering it so that they could plan to connect it accordingly. “Each artist got to participate collaboratively and individually,” Andrew explained.

Aside from their awesome exhibits, my favorite thing about this gallery is that it isn’t a typical gallery. In step with street art principles, I was allowed to take pictures- “The more exposure, the better”- and got to listen to music while viewing the pieces, rather than silence or the sound of heels clicking on hard wood floor (as was my experience in the LUMA gallery). So has their exhibit gotten much of a response? “We actually had a line out the door of people waiting to get in on opening night,” they told me. Also, almost all of the squares are for sale- individually or combined with other ones next to them. They’ve already sold 12.

You can always view more of my pictures, or check out the gallery’s own photos, but I suggest stopping by during their open hours- Tues/Thurs from 7-10, and Sat 12-4.