In 2011, Open Source Gallery will exist as a peripatetic operation. In November of 2010 a 5-alarm fire in the gallery’s neighboring building devastated the Open Source project space. All the artwork and equipment was lost. Open Source Gallery is currently homeless as estimated renovation time is at least six months. Yet, we endeavor to persevere as an itinerant occupant at various locales throughout Brooklyn as we await a return to our former home. To continue the monthly exhibitions, we are looking for “pop-up” rentals, vacant stores and empty spaces in all neighborhoods in Brooklyn and elsewhere in New York City. Every month a show will be displayed in a new space and different area.

Allison Read Smith opens the exhibition cycle on January 20, 2011. Her series “Thugs” will be displayed on the plywood currently covering the gallery space. Ms. Smith is the logical choice to start the year, especially given the situation of our project space. “Thugs” witty take on dealing with fear makes the perfect introduction for our upcoming year.

Allison Smith about her series “Thugs”:
“Years ago I was jumped by a group of kids. I was not robbed or even hurt, just scared. And for the life of me I could not describe one of them. This series is an attempt to retrieve levity from fear. My thugs are mean or funny or sad or pitiful; they are good and bad all at once. They are the aggressor and the victim.”

Around the corner her rubber sculptures will be presented at the South Slope institution, SIDECAR, on 560 5th Ave. These works evoke both menace and familiarity. The artists loose handling transform these pedestrian materials into an installation of unsettling beauty. The “Frog Prince,” for example, has one entreating hand open and a mouth curved in an smirk. Ten crowns float above his head. Other rubber sculptures are tables and chairs hung on the wall, ready to fly off. Birds are playing dead, rabbits are hanging from the wall.

From her artist statement:
Okay, I will be perfectly honest up front and say that I have never found artist’s statements particularly helpful. It seems a lot of “my work” and “I feel” and “dualities” and “embodiments” ad infinitum. I do, however, love stories about why something was made or what in their youth, perhaps, it is reminiscent of. So, here we go…“I feel my work embodies dualities.”