Great Art, Cool Books, Comfy Chairs: The Best Group Show of the Season is Summer Reading at The Hole
SSPNY Checks Out the Best Group Show of the Season, Summer Reading at the Hole, for Great Art, Cool Books, and Comfy Chairs!
Now THIS is how you do a group show. Start with a theme... not too hokey, but not too abstruse, or metaphysical, either. Then gather together lots of engaging art that hits on chosen theme in interesting ways (either explicitly or tangentially), and preferably in a variety of both mediums and basic aesthetic styles. Finally, trick out your whole gallery so that the place becomes a kind of interactive installation tying the whole thing together, And that is exactly what you'll find at the delightful Summer Reading exhibition at The Hole gallery on Bowery, just a few few blocks away from SSPNY's Elizabeth Street buildings.
The theme of The Hole's Summer Reading is, obviously, reading, though it's also about our relationship with all manner of printed material. The Hole's crack curators have assembled some terrific artists--37 in all!--many of whom, in addition to being super creative, are also quite funny. I like most everything at Summer Reading, but a list of absolute favorites would include both David Shrigley pieces; Harland Miller's fantastic "Penguin Classic", Death: What's In It For Me?; Hollie Chastain's precious, collage-y book covers; Long Bin Chen's amazing "great author" busts made entirely of stacked up magazines; and Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber's vast Library, featuring hilariously horrible books like A Magic Pumpkin Makes a Magic Pie, This Is What I Care About: Vol. 2, and I'm Still Not Very Happy.
But it's what The Hole has done to the entire space that, at least for this book-lover, elevates Summer Reading into something sublime. Calling upon
friends, stores like Chelsea's Printed Matter and DUMBO's powerHouse books, and raiding their own home libraries, the curators of Summer Reading have filled the gallery with some 5,000 actual books, shelved on the walls surrounding the art, and available for anyone to pull down, take a seat, and read. Novels, art and photography books, zines: as you can imagine if you know anything about The Hole, there's a pretty cool collection of titles here at the "reading room". And it's not like they slacked off in the furniture department either! The chairs are all on loan from Brooklyn's Bright Lyons, and they are comfy as can be.
The Summer Reading show at The Hole through August 24. The Hole is located on Bowery between Houston and Bleecker, and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 12:00 noon to 7:00 p.m. For more info, see here.
