Not even driving rain could keep the patrons from enjoying the evening.

White Column Gallery from New York City was my first stop. The first piece to grab my attention was "Gold Madonna" by Scott King. I was also intrigued by "Self Help Video," a found poster that was... shall we say "amended" by the artist Simon Bidwell. "Make Art Not War," a poster by Bob and Roberta Smith, was hung over the room's bed, which made it not only a play on the slogan "make love not war" but also reminded me of Ono and Lennon's bedded anti-war statement. Another highlight of personal interest were archival photographs by of early punk icons Lux Interior, Poison Ivy, Exene Cervenka, Lydia Lunch and a surprising photo of a Negative Trend member.

Boston, MA lends us the Allston Skirt Gallery. The feel in this room seemed to be that of a female young adult's bedroom, until you looked a little closer and realized that the embroidered vintage linens on the bed and in the bathroom actually feature nude men and women in provocative poses-- a cloth in the bathroom draped over the toilet featured a beautiful woman boldly urinating, the bed linen featured an original sin sort of scene involving a woman eating an apple. Gallery representative Emily Isenberg related that many of the women were actually self portraits of the artist, Orly Cogan.











Isenberg herself was represented by liquor bottle cozies (which appeared to be comprised of fabric and embroidered animals) which function as "relationship coping mechanisms."








I also enjoyed Amy Ross' mushroom sketches; mushrooms and bird parts morph together into new but oddly plausible organic figures.