Dumbo Arts News
News From the Rabbithole
Ask Alice, Feed Your Head at Underground Gallery Space
by Leo Kuelbs
Just around the corner from the Front Street Galleries and across the street from Dumbo Arts Center, there’s a set of stairs leading into yet another gallery. But this mysterious space exists more like the magic door in “Steppenwolf” than it does as a standard, vanity gallery. The shows here have been more interactive, pulling the viewers towards and into the work. Down the stairs, into the doorway, into the small gallery and into the art itself. Then to the back room for wine and talk.
That’s how it goes at Sean and Teodora Lyon’s Rabbithole Studio/Gallery. Originally conceived as the creative balance to their Rabbithole Moving Co., this space’s mission is to show work that excites the owners. Sean Lyons told Paneling that this desire to present a wide range of more interactive work came from his years in college, where he trained to become a writer while spending lots of time around artists.
Lyons spends most of his time running the moving business, plus Rabbithole is also a rental space for photographic shoots—another time-consuming, yet money-making endeavor which helps keep the gallery dream afloat. For this reason, Lyons oftentimes turns to curators he trusts to put together show for his space. Serge Cashman is the guy behind the current Photography-based group show, “Disappearing New York,” which uses “street photography” to document the disappearing/changing physical and cultural landscapes of New York City. One can see how this show fits in with Lyons’ desire to engage to viewer. You can actively go to some of the places depicted and note the changes for yourself, if you don’t recognize them already.
Other shows that fit the interactive mode include Jason Gandy’s recent “Atixp: tefoxl,” show which featured other realities on view through tiny holes in a variety of “boat-oriented” work. Also, Justin Lin, whose show consisted of voyeuristic photos of couples shot from above their own beds, offered viewers a chance to be photographed similarly and shown as part of the existing exhibition.
Though Lyons’ himself is a trained writer and uses the space to help balance out his creative desires, he also is somewhat of an artist himself. Recently, he has projected video-work onto the sail of his small sailboat which he piloted from Manhattan into the Gowanus Canal, where the projections ran while the boat was then docked. Viewers of this piece told Paneling that it was another amazing offering from the master of the warren.
So, next time you see the little sidewalk sign outside of his space on Washington and water Street, do follow the steps down and into another world. One last thing, Rabbithole is next to several unrelated artists’ studios, and oftentimes these studios are open during Rabbithole events, so check them out, too, if you can.
Next Show at Rabbithole:
SECRET LIVES
April 3, 2008 - April 29, 2008
Opening reception Thursday, April 3rd, 5-9p
Works by: Maria Kenny, Manu Romano, Liz Schnore, Ebru Yildiz, Mitchell King
Ask Alice, Feed Your Head at Underground Gallery Space
by Leo Kuelbs
Just around the corner from the Front Street Galleries and across the street from Dumbo Arts Center, there’s a set of stairs leading into yet another gallery. But this mysterious space exists more like the magic door in “Steppenwolf” than it does as a standard, vanity gallery. The shows here have been more interactive, pulling the viewers towards and into the work. Down the stairs, into the doorway, into the small gallery and into the art itself. Then to the back room for wine and talk.
That’s how it goes at Sean and Teodora Lyon’s Rabbithole Studio/Gallery. Originally conceived as the creative balance to their Rabbithole Moving Co., this space’s mission is to show work that excites the owners. Sean Lyons told Paneling that this desire to present a wide range of more interactive work came from his years in college, where he trained to become a writer while spending lots of time around artists.
Lyons spends most of his time running the moving business, plus Rabbithole is also a rental space for photographic shoots—another time-consuming, yet money-making endeavor which helps keep the gallery dream afloat. For this reason, Lyons oftentimes turns to curators he trusts to put together show for his space. Serge Cashman is the guy behind the current Photography-based group show, “Disappearing New York,” which uses “street photography” to document the disappearing/changing physical and cultural landscapes of New York City. One can see how this show fits in with Lyons’ desire to engage to viewer. You can actively go to some of the places depicted and note the changes for yourself, if you don’t recognize them already.
Other shows that fit the interactive mode include Jason Gandy’s recent “Atixp: tefoxl,” show which featured other realities on view through tiny holes in a variety of “boat-oriented” work. Also, Justin Lin, whose show consisted of voyeuristic photos of couples shot from above their own beds, offered viewers a chance to be photographed similarly and shown as part of the existing exhibition.
Though Lyons’ himself is a trained writer and uses the space to help balance out his creative desires, he also is somewhat of an artist himself. Recently, he has projected video-work onto the sail of his small sailboat which he piloted from Manhattan into the Gowanus Canal, where the projections ran while the boat was then docked. Viewers of this piece told Paneling that it was another amazing offering from the master of the warren.
So, next time you see the little sidewalk sign outside of his space on Washington and water Street, do follow the steps down and into another world. One last thing, Rabbithole is next to several unrelated artists’ studios, and oftentimes these studios are open during Rabbithole events, so check them out, too, if you can.
Next Show at Rabbithole:
SECRET LIVES
April 3, 2008 - April 29, 2008
Opening reception Thursday, April 3rd, 5-9p
Works by: Maria Kenny, Manu Romano, Liz Schnore, Ebru Yildiz, Mitchell King
posted by Leo Kelbs at 7:16 PM
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