Art brings people together… and tears them apart. Such was the case at O’Flaherty’s opening of the collective summer exhibition on Thursday 14 July.
“The Patriot” is an open-call submission project in which artists of all mediums and abilities were invited to deposit their pieces – the smallest, the best – at the gallery at 55 Avenue C in the week leading up to the show. Over 700 works of art line the walls and ceiling of O’Flaherty and are only fully visible with a flashlight as they are displayed in the dark.
“We literally took whatever shit you brought in, whether it was awesome or totally trash and tried to make it into an idea,” reads a press release from O’Flaherty’s. “The Patriot is a truly democratic show where everyone is treated equally as crap.”
In what is now dubbed more of a “shitty show” than an art exhibition, the opening was hugely popular, attracting around 1,000 spectators lining the Alphabet City blocks surrounding the small gallery. That’s a lot of frustrated artists outside on a summer evening. And so, the NYPD came to break up the crowd and the opening night of The Patriot, scheduled until August 10.
2/2 With over 700 artists featured, over 700 people showed up for the opening, with a queue to enter Fourth Street and back to Avenue B. By one estimate, the crowd at the outside was 1,000 people. The NYPD closed the show for security reasons. Photos of @Joy_of_photos pic.twitter.com/2sXPc825er
—evgrieve (@evgrieve) July 15, 2022
“Thank you, go home,” gallerist Jamian Juliano-Villani shouted to the crowd through a megaphone as he was surrounded by uniformed NYPD officers Thursday night. “Move, motherfuckers, move, thank you,” she added to cheers from art fans. “We love you,” someone shouted back.
“It was a beautiful shit show,” recalls 30-year-old BARC artist The Dog, whose work is featured in The Patriot. “I really admire the attitude and energy that Jamian brings to the art world. End the chaos in the best way possible. It was a crazy experience.”
Since last night at O’Flaherty’s, the gallery at 55 Avenue C in the East Village. Le Patriote is an open call program where all works were accepted (less than 36×36). There are over 700 pieces in total and gallery visitors used flashlights to view them. Then the NYPD arrived. 1/2
Pictures @Joy_of_photos pic.twitter.com/Qvii8maHhn—evgrieve (@evgrieve) July 15, 2022
