la.roc

Damon Dash Gallery Opening / 172 Duane Street / February 19, 2010

Arriving to a line wrapped around the block twice, I was happy to have finagled my way past queue to view Damon Dash‘s first foray into the art market. The atmosphere was trumped by an overwhelming capacity signaling NYPD to shut things down before 9pm. Hip-hop’s troubled businessman can still draw a hell of a crowd. Heralding art’s freshest faces is another story altogether. The collection saw the usual range of urban-edged street art reeking of Basquiat, walls strewn with stuffed taxidermy-like animal heads, and inanimate metallic objects set across the floor. Perhaps the most eye-popping work was a series of storybook illustrations hung towards the back of the salon, featuring ghoulish depictions of bears, possums, and rabbits by toy maker Heather Gargon.

clutch by Jackson

photo (top) courtesy of gabriel fortoul
& (bottom) courtesy of julia chesky