The concept of pop-up visual arts galleries is a blessing and a curse. These beacons of creativity that have become so common over the past year offer temporary bright spots, filling recession-stricken real estate voids with welcome color. And then, who knows how many months or days later, they’re gone — for good.
What remain are traditional galleries that don’t always keep the hours posted on their doors, especially during slow winter months when weekday crowds are thin. There are plenty of openings fueled by wine, cheese and high spirits, but for the next few months it’s slush-streaked floors and precariously placed puffy coats that threaten to topple delicate installations — or that can of PBR you’re juggling along with your own coat, hat and gloves.
Don’t get us wrong: We love art, and we love going to see it. But sometimes, especially in this freezing stretch when it’s an effort just to bundle up and leave the house, we’d rather go window-shopping for visual stimulation as we go about our daily routine than commit to a dark, cold, crowded night out.
Window-shopping for gallery installations? Yes. Everywhere.
Map out your window-shopping itinerary on Page 5.
