Ten under-the-radar art spaces
Kick-ass art is everywhere; here's where to look
We may have lost hip underground hot spots like Oni Gallery and The Berwick, but the Boston art scene, much like hope, springs eternal. New experimental spaces that expand the boundaries of kick-ass continue to pop up citywide, featuring cutting-edge artists and innovative ways to present them. Here are the spaces to find the most provocative, risky new work in town.
Meme Gallery
They're little over a year young and they still haven’t lost their enigmatic sense of humor. Founded by the artist team of Alice Vogler, Vela Phelan and Dirk Adams, the space is dedicated to providing a home for “ephemeral art to be made and witnessed.” This translates into stuff like an evolving sculpture of aluminum foil and balloons that takes over every square inch of Meme's space, and a disturbing figure named Crank who turned the place into a museum of helmeted creatures. Past Notable Show: The International Pancake Film Festival. 55 Norfolk St, Central Square, Cambridge (617-354-6363, meme.templeofmessages.com)
Fourth Wall Project
It's 3,000 square feet of pure attitude a line drive away from Fenway Park. The Fourth Wall project was founded in 2009 by the crew of the Bodega sportswear company as a place for “punks to loiter, artists to flourish and voices to be heard.” It would be hard to find a more diverse and on-the-edge lineup of shows than this: a photographic tribute to hardcore music, a skateboard art exhibit and a showing of photographs by Tokyo fashion photographer Yone. Past Notable Show: An exhibit of works by experimental filmmaking sensations the Brothers Quay. 132 Brookline Ave, Boston (fourthwallproject.com)
The Lily Pad
It’s a combination gallery/musical performance space that thinks big and knows how to have fun. Curator Joey Asal was a painter/sculptor looking to put his art on the expansive walls of his favorite musical venue, and before he knew it he was running a gallery. “I want to find artists with a density of work, enough to hold the whole space, and give them complete freedom,” he says. Past Notable Show: Local artist-about-town Autumn Ahn, who filled up the space with her eight-foot-high paintings and a huge dance party. 1353 Cambridge St, Inman Square, Cambridge (617-395-1393, lily-pad.net)
Axiom
It's the only space in the city focused entirely on New Media, and the only gallery in the country housed within a subway station. At the Green Street station of the Orange Line since 2004, Axiom is known for pieces earning buzz from crowds and critics alike. The constant bustle of train-bound passers-by and the hands-on nature of the work ensures an unpredictable audience and the kind of atmosphere that you won’t find at a gallery on, say, Newbury Street. Past Notable Show: An artist in a mobile podcast exhibit had his car carried into the gallery to broadcast from the spot. 141 Green St, Jamaica Plain (617-522-6710, axiomart.org)
Hallway Gallery
It literally looks like a hallway, but it's actually a building that's only 6 feet wide and 35 feet long with a 10 foot-high pressed-tin 1920s ceiling. One of its early uses was as a ladder store, which sounds about perfect. Founder and curator Brent Refsland enjoys working within Hallway's peculiar size and scale limitations, and crams the space with group shows spanning both walls. Hallway also hosts open mics and live music, wedging bands behind a curtain at the far end of the space. Past Notable Show: Art collective at large Rifrakt descended on the space and took over for a month, showing their provocative photos, prints and sculptures. 66A South St, Jamaica Plain (617-818-5996, thehallwayjp.com)
Proof Gallery
They don’t give a damn about making money. Really. “We’re non-profit and we have no expectations of selling anything,” says Director Kara Braciale, whose day job is, conveniently, designing software for a company that sells supplies to art galleries. The proof is in the work: challenging sculptures that sprawl through the space and installations that often use video as a component. Try and shill that. Past Notable Show: Isabella Riley’s Bauhaus-influenced abstract sculpture that combined furniture with weaves, knitting and crochet. 516 E. Second St, South Boston (508-963-9102, proof-gallery.com)
La Galería
Part of the Villa Victoria Center for the Arts, La Galería is a place to check out some truly unusual and unexpected art from the Latino community. Exhibits like “Ajena” show photographs of the gritty parts of Columbia that tourists never see. Some of the most interesting work anywhere can emerge from the minds of area kids given art supplies for the first time, as exhibited in the yearly "Parades en Fuego" show. Past Notable Show: Agustin Patino’s disturbing, surreal paintings of a rotting city swallowed up by the jungle. 85 West Newton St, South End, Boston (617-927-1735, villavictoriaarts.org)
Bob’s Your Uncle Gallery
Wacky Brits are always welcome. (FYI, stateside types–the name is English slang for “all is well.”) “Americans tend to look at us funny when we talk,” says co-owner Michele Yeeles. With this name, she and her husband figured we’d all get a right good laugh. The space, now a year old, is an impressive-looking 300-square-foot portion of their offbeat stationery business of the same name. “We couldn’t lease it, so we made it a gallery,” jokes Yeeles. As with their store, the owners like a little twist in every show; exhibitions tend toward colorful abstracts and photography that takes witty jabs at pop culture. Past Notable Show: Martin Donnell’s pop-top mosaics, critiquing American culture and consumerism. 25 Channel Center St, unit 101, Fort Point, Boston (617-670-3782, bobsyouruncle.com)
Art Market
Here you can see the artwork of legendary rocker Patti Smith. Why here, you ask? All we know is that she can’t seem to get enough of the place, and has shown her dark, subversive photographs and various memorabilia here numerous times. The gallery was initially started two decades ago by artist Patti Hudson as a vehicle for her own work, but it wasn’t long before she threw the doors open to the JP community. Work usually follows themes like animal rights, environmental re-use and cultural diversity. Added bonus: It has cupcakes. Past Notable Show: Pretty much anything with Patti Smith’s name attached. 36 South St, Jamaica Plain (617-522-1729, jpartmarket.com)
Fort Point Arts Community Gallery
This is one of the rare cases where art by committee actually works. FPAC gallery presents a wide variety of artists, styles and thought-provoking themes. Part of a building in Fort Point that houses hundreds of artists, this gallery is swimming with energy and ideas. Groups of volunteers from the community take turns running it and hiring guest curators. Past shows like “Sprawl”, showing surrealistic worlds in decay, and “Here We Are, Who Cares?” mixing photographs and sarcastic text, tell the story. Past Notable Show: The "Adventures of Innocence," which featured half paintings/half kinetic sculptures and a spring that uncoiled in slow motion, eventually unfurling itself from floor to ceiling. 300 Summer St. Fort Point, Boston (617-423-4299, fortpointarts.org)
