We tried to get into this opening on Thursday night to support a few friends involved with the project, but were met by a ridiculously long line that wasn’t moving and a sweaty, sardined interior. LOTS of loud skate kids and the ladies who love them though.
Dejected, I followed friends to GoldBar. Now, I’m waaaay too lazy & ignorant to make a full effort to end up at places like this, but with a friend of a friend waitressing inside, we got past the apparently psycho door girl (people seriously loathe this lady, some reviews are pretty hilarious) and settled in for a few rounds of free drinks. Creepy gold skulls, bar prices that made me feel like a common pauper and crappy music abounded. My favorite pieces of overstated decor were the ironic, baroque-y oil portraits hanging about. (I got yelled at for taking this photo.)
Jess was convinced they had something to do with Adam Wallacavage, but upon further investigation…in fact, did not. This did lead me to explore more of Adam’s work and sites (there are a few). A Philly-based photographer, sculptor and all-around curator of the weird and the fringe, his photos cover everything from skate and art culture (Jim Houser, Steve Powers, Mark Gonzales and Ryan Dunn make appearances) to music documentary (Ween, Slayer and a sick picture of Andrew WK among the best) to random odd shots of melted baby doll faces, mullet-ed bystanders and flea market misfits.
Just missed him and his insane octopus chandeliers this summer at the Jonathan Levine gallery, but hopefully he’ll be back with another ornamental oceanic art explosion sometime very soon.
Big Head, Tiny Hands 