Gallery Watch: 'Group Sex' at Full Tank Moto Cafe

Text and photos by Clare Gemima 

Group Sex

Full Tank Moto Cafe, 49 Monroe St.

The New York City health guidelines — via its updated Safer Sex and Covid-19 fact sheet — discourage group sex, but provide advice for interested parties, suggesting “to find a crowd, pick larger, more open, ventilated spaces”…

This is an open-minded safety precaution endorsed by the New York City health department to take during the pandemic ... and also a genius conceptual parameter for a visual-arts exhibition. 

The East Village-based Ed. Varie is presenting Group Sex in their newest collaborative location on Monroe Street that showcases the works of artists Cavier Coleman, Colleen Herman, Esteban Ocampo-Giraldo, Giorgio Handman, Ivy Campbell, Leticia Infante, Moises Salazar, Nina Gilkshtern, Sarah Hombach, Scout Zabinski and Ted McGrath. (To learn more about each artist, please visit the gallery website here.)

The show explores group sex, sexuality and sensuality — both metaphorically and literally — in a raw, 2,000 square-foot space. This particular Ed. Varie collaboration marries gallery with the new Full Tank Moto Cafe — part cafe, motorcycle workshop and future bookshop all under the same beautiful roof. 

The building used to be a glass factory, and (thematically, if you will) hosts chains hanging from the ceiling. Ed. Varie founder Karen Shaupeter had to enlighten me that the bondage decor was not part of the show but a happy accident nonetheless. 

Through linoleum prints, gouache and acrylic paintings, soft sculpture and collage, the grit of the work in the space left an enduring impression as I walked through and witnessed exposed brick walls around the canvases and spilled dog food along the gallery floor. 

There were spirit and realness both on and off-canvas, and if you’re exhausted by the Chelsea gallery hoity-toity, then please visit Group Sex for a revitalization. Authentic work is out here in the Lower East Side, ready to challenge and capsize the whitewashed and straight status-quo of what being an artist in New York looks like. 

Thank you Ed. Varie for curating a show that, much like its title, isn’t afraid to show its roughness, its realness, its core. Among the standout work: Esteban Ocampo-Giralso’s Mañanas oil painting, depicting an illusionary, self-pleasuring scene that collides ecstasy with the mundanity of one's own bedroom confines. The forms in this piece are curvaceous and rich with highlighting and shadow play that is seductive and wildly transportive.

Another highlight was Ted McGrath’s Marat Moods/“…stop me if you heard this one…”/Haw haw haw. For me, the more disturbing looking the work is, the better. In this oil painting, we see multiple characters looking both humanly and mystically entrenched in a scene that looks so uncertain and on edge that it becomes nerve-wracking and uncomfortable to be around. There are skulls, banana peels and a sense of impending doom all captured in a sizeable canvas. Confusing and wretched, my favorite work in the show, hands down. 

And there is Spring Fever by Moises Salazar, which captured me immediately both from Ed. Varie’s social media and in person. The work depicts a female form wearing heels on a fur backdrop embellished with constructed floral arrangements. 

This to me is a kitsch daydream from the color right through to the glitter, yarn and sequins used to create the piece. The work is so polished and technically precise that it will leave you wondering how Salazar made it, let alone how the idea came into existence. Super cute, super ridiculous and super exciting to see how this artist grows. To no surprise, this piece has already sold.

If you are in need of a visual explosion, or even a new lease on your own creative practice, then I recommend visiting Ed. Varie’s amazing new space, and even striking up a conversation with its founder and staff. The experience was extremely welcoming and informative and I thank Karen for curating a potent and memorable show that represents a handful of talented and young practitioners. 

Group Sex will be showing until April 18 at 49 Monroe St. (across the street from Coleman Skatepark under the Manhattan Bridge). Full Tank Moto Cafe is open daily from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the gallery will remain open until 6 p.m.

Ed. Varie’s sister location, 184 E. Seventh St. at Avenue B, is currently exhibiting a solo show of Cavier Coleman’s work titled Heaven & Hell, also showing through April 18. 

 

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Clare Gemima is a visual artist from New Zealand. New-ish to the East Village, she spends her time as an artist assistant and gallery go-er, hungry to explore what's happening in her local art world. You can find her work here: claregemima.com