A grand finale at Modern Love Club this weekend

As we mentioned yesterday, the Modern Love Club will close at the end of the month here at 156 First Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street. But! Not before one last show. 

Today and tomorrow from 2-8 you can immerse yourself in "Frantic Romantic!" ... "a photographic study of the romantic subconscious" by koko_bode.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by the gallery-matchmaking service last night to see what was happening in the space... she talked with proprietor Amy Van Doran (top photo!) and below with photographer Koko Bode...

The art installation team was hard at work... (from left) Brendan Burke, Madame Vivien, Van Doran, Bode and Glenn Vasaturo  ...

And last one out...

The Modern Love Club giving up its 1st Avenue space; last show on tap this weekend

The Modern Love Club will close at the end of the month here at 156 First Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street. Proprietor Amy Van Doran recently made the announcement on Instagram.

Van Doren and Emily Lesser operate a longtime matchmaking service and also use this space as a gallery. 

More on the closing in a moment. Tomorrow and Sunday will mark their very last show here — "Frantic Romantic!" ... "a photographic study of the romantic subconscious" by koko_bode.

Viewing is from 2 to 8 p.m. Per the invite: "We will be letting in masked sanitized viewers up to two at a time every 15-20 minutes. Please come healthy and safe!"

As for the closing, here's part of the announcement via Van Doran:

Don't panic. It is okay for things to change. November 1st the Modern Love Gallery will be giving up it's beautiful home. We are going deeper into our matchmaking efforts energetically because love is what we have to offer, and the matchmaking side of Modern Love is busier than ever. 

It has been a pleasure being your local store that sold nothing. Come the spring, if democracy is intact, AND we can host gatherings inside, we will be in the market for a new love clubhouse. 

Stay tuned for our last couple of programs coming up over the next month. I love you, I thank you, it has been such a wild and wonderful time sharing this magical little box in the strangest corner of the world with you.

The space opened in the fall of October 2016. 

Photo from the first show in 2016. 

A debut exhibition for the Modern Love Club on 1st Avenue

[Image via Facebook]

In recent weeks the storefront at 156 First Ave. between Ninth Street and 10th Street has been transformed into the Modern Love Club.

The space is the work of Amy Van Doran, who has operated a longtime matchmaking service. (You can read an interview about all this here.)

During the day, Van Doran and her business partner, Emily Lesser, run the matchmaking company from the space. And on the weekends, it moonlights as the Love Museum.

And tomorrow (Saturday!), Van Doran is hosting the Love Museum's first exhibition, titled "Girls I Love." Per the Facebook invite:

It's a show featuring the work of some of my most favorite ladies, and we can't wait to share space and the love with you.

Offical opening Oct. 8 5-9 pm
Show ongoing until Nov. 5.

There will be paintings, performance art by Bode, tarot readings by Sarah Moran, Pornkus by: Margaret Meehan, champs, DJ's AndrewAndrew, Featuring the work by: Kirsten Bode, Jenna Gribbon, Loretta Mae Hirsch, Sarah Moran, Carly Silverman, and Sera Sloane
Curation by: Marina Press and Amy Van Doran

In an email, Van Doren said that the Modern Love Club "bridges my East Village dreams, love of durational performance art, community, weirdness, chaos, and the obsession for connection."

You can read more about the storefront here.

The address was previously home to a different club — the Deep End Club, which closed in July after a three-year run as a pop-up shop of sorts.