Art Walk entertains thousands

From mushroom people and fire spinners to Cold Toast and brass bands, Broad Street came alive for the third First Fridays Art Walk of the season. Hosted by Curated Culture, this First Fridays featured artwork and music by a wide range of artists and musicians and marked the first official inclusion of the Henry Street Gallery and the Grace Yoga Studio.

As Henry-goers and Turnstyle’s electronica enthusiasts spilled onto Broad Street, thousands milled about enjoying ideal weather, diverse music and envelope-pushing expression.

No BS! Brass Band brought its funky brand of New Orleans street beat and jazz to the sidewalk in front of the ADA Gallery. The dry, low 60s weather was conducive to booty shaking as trumpet solos and tuba bass lines put smiles on countless passing faces.

Gallery 5 displayed its usual multimedia smorgasbord with “Not Fit For Human Consumption,” an exhibition featuring unconventional ceramic and sculpture.

Curator and sculptor Adam Caldwell gathered a group of artists for the show whose mission was to “buck the traditions of ceramics.”

“What you find in this room is a lot different than what is going on in the traditional world of ceramics right now,” Caldwell said.

In addition to Caldwell, artists Monica Vandendool, James Robertson, Jason Hackett (a crafts department MFA graduate), Max Rain, Shay Church, Chris Dufala, Elena Lourenco, Amanda Lynch, Adam Ellyson and Ben Eberle showed off some downright weird installations that pushed the limits of scale. Works lacked glaze, dealt with inverted archetypes or blended dry wit with disturbing imagery.

Caldwell’s wrinkle-faced babies and Rain’s superbly crafted, blood-colored animals with exposed organs cast an innovative, unsettling mood on the upper floor of Gallery 5.

“It’s a really powerful image when you take something that should be cute and turn it into something approachable but repellent at the same time,” Caldwell said.

Danny Vogel, Genevieve Boutemy-Buchanan and G5 Fire lit up the crowd in front of the gallery with their kerosene-soaked, fire-spinning poi skills, while inside, music by Cold Toast and the Ilad lent itself to the esoteric mood of the gallery’s exhibition.

A few doors down, artists Ryan McLennan and Amy Ross displayed their top-notch prints at Transmission Gallery. Entitled “Taxonomic Intoxication,” the environmentally proactive pieces featured hybrids of creative fungus, animals and plants.

“Where does the crossbreeding and human intervention in the natural world stop?” Ross said. “Maybe one day we’re going to be walking around with mushroom heads and animals popping out of plants.”

Ghostprint Gallery featured works by retired graphic design and illustration professor Chuck Scalin. Scalin, who recently completed a two-month residency in Paris, spent his time photographing textures of the City of Light. Entitled “Paris: Fragments of Urban Reality,” Scalin’s blown-up photographs featured a side of the city few are too busy to notice.

“Everybody photographs the City of Light-the typical sites, the Eiffel Tower. Why would I even want to do that when so many people have done it much better than I would have?” Scalin said.

Gallery 6 and art6 featured works by John Walters and Myron Helfgott. Massive installation by Helfgott cluttered the walls and floor space of the downstairs art6. His work was tongue-in-cheek, sexual, informed and engaging, though, not always at the same time.

Upstairs in the Gallery 6 portion of the building, Walter’s tribute to pen and ink illustrator Virgil Finlay profoundly interpreted dot-patterned illustrations through the oil-on-panel medium.

While the First Fridays Art Walk brought quality artwork to nearly every gallery I saw, the next one might not be so warm.