A gallery night in the LES and Williamsburg

"Yo, there's some kind of photo shoot going on up on Essex" my roommate said.

My boyfriend and I look at each other. Where? Just a couple block up?

"Yeah, there's tinfoil lights and everything. Some wierd people too."

Actually, it wasn't a photo shoot. The light and mirrored walls were from Gallery, where Shimon Okshteyn was having an opening this past Friday. My boyfriend and I had popped in earlier to check it out. It make me feel pretty cool to have a place like that, with a draw of such great, "weird" people in my neighborhood. (Apparently the owner is a very cool, very sweet 21 year old(!). 21, really?)
The gallery was even cooler than when Miranda from the Sex and the City movie moves to my block, although that was pretty cool. The tiny mirrored space was so full of young people that I can't actually review the artwork, which supposedly looks like this:

Shimon Okshteyn: Reflection of Reality

Between not knowing the super-trendy kids and not being able to see the work well, we left quickly. It looks pretty cool though, and I love the idea of painting on mirrors.

Then we were off to Williamsburg, walking up Bedford to check out a group show that my boyfriend's friend was in. What a difference: low-key hipsters walking between that gallery and the one next door, where a band played piano man. Both these scenes had such a different atmosphere than Chelsea--it was really exciting to get out of that box and see new spaces and tastes.



Then last night as I was walking down Houston, I stumbled upon a really cool advertising board on Bowery and Houston, where a projector shows a changing reel and targeted sound as you walk by supports the advertising. When I was stopping to check it out, I turned around and saw another gallery through a window. Very cool: but that will have to be another blog entry.

ADDENDUM: I walked back by Reflections of Reality, and it looks the composition of pieces of mirror with such precise painted patterns on it looks great, and much more interesting than it does in the image above when you get a better sense of texture and changing light.