THANK YOU For The Art, NYC

We have New York City to thank for a lot of things: endless entertainment, sleep deprivation, delicious if sometimes regrettable halal cart binges. It's also served as artistic inspiration for generations of creatives, as Thank You, a one-night-only exhibition at Niagara bar in the East Village, reminded us.

Curated by OC alum Gia Seo, Thank You played host to a booming crowd of downtown individuals eager to see a wide range of artists, from Antwan Duncan and Smurfo U Dirty to OC Fam members James Evans, Fernando Ruiz, and Galen DeKemper. "There was something about all of the pieces that the artists showed me when I first met them that I thought would come together well in a cohesive show. I don’t know how cohesive it was, but it was interesting to see," Gia told us.

The show accurately represented the juxtapositions of city life in all its forms. Pieces included Smurfo's colorful graffiti and Fernando's macabre, anatomy-based drawings. James' paintings featured symbolic, wheatpasted collages of fashion models, Chinese lucky cats, and graphic signage. Galen showcased his Dollar Stories zines, collaborative memoirs that voice the different views of diverse individuals around New York.

"The anatomy of this city has so many different mediums, people, and art. There's good things and bad things, but the more different things you put together, the more accurate the representation of art is," James told us. "I think [the show] is spot-on because it’s a lot of different mediums, ideas, styles, and backgrounds. The show was a melting pot of art."

A melting pot, huh? Sounds just like NYC.