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Art Imitates Life

JULY 16, 2010

One of this summer’s most compelling exhibits looks to a book to chronicle a neighborhood’s growing pains through art in nine chapters.

The 2008 Richard Price bestseller Lush Life stitched up a tale of life within the shiny surface and seamy underside of Manhattan’s contemporary Lower East Side. Now, two independent curators (Omar Lopez-Chahoud and Franklin Evans) reference the urban murder mystery in a new tribute to the neighborhood’s cultural shifts. “Lush Life” is a sprawling, ambitious group show that takes place progressively in nine galleries, mostly on the Lower East Side.

The exhibit was recently reviewed in the New York Times; the review includes mention of the unique relevance of “generic truth-suspending elements, like addiction, money and celebrity…” Those elements inform works by a variety of artists, from film and abstract painting to drawing and installations that include video, found objects and historic footage.

The show officially opened on June 8 and will run through August 13. The galleries will host concurrent exhibitions, with each exhibition reflecting the idea of one of nine chapters in the book.