Image slideshow
What happened at the Village Underground?!
Last week the venue known as the Village Underground was taken over by The Thousands.
The Thousands was born from the idea that there are thousands of anonymous and semi-anonymous people working outside the confines of the institutional art world to create the only avant-garde movement of our time.
It is based in the strength of the youth demographic and demonstrates a generation that not only thinks outside the box, but also colors outside the lines while still maintaining a mastery of design and drawing.
The exhibition, curated by RJ Rushmore, age 18, shone a bright light on a selection of artists that were hand picked to represent the best of the aforementioned “thousands.”
It was RJ’s intention to bring the work of these artists off the street and onto the walls, ironically to give the movement a little more “street cred” with respect to earning a place in museums like The Tate Modern or the Moma.
The big brick walls and lofty ceilings served as the perfect space to make the transition from street to show. Steering clear of the sterility of a traditional white-walls gallery atmosphere allowed the works to maintain their unpolished edges feeling while the exceptional lighting illuminated each work as an individual masterpiece.
80% of the works in the show came from private collections and this five-day exhibition was a one-off, one-time chance to see works that normally remain under lock and key in the homes of elite urban art lovers.
RJ pulled it off. The opening was packed, apart from the photos here’s another measure of perspective: 600 bottles of Brew Dog demolished in under three hours. The evening was frequented by friends, art lovers, collectors, journalists, gallerists, and of course artists. We got to meet Know Hope, Pure Evil, Elbowtoe, Herakut, and members of the Burning Candy Crew like Tek33, Sweet Toof, GLDPEG, and Rowdy.
For those of you who missed this five-day phenomenon, you will be happy to know that we took plenty of pictures and video footage so that you can live vicariously through us…Or…you can pick up a copy of the accompanying book and check it out yourself…and then kick yourself for missing it. Twice.