Architectural sculpture digest: A look at some unique 'Houses and Hotels' at O’Flaherty's

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Longtime East Village resident Donna Dennis, part of the architectural sculpture movement of the early 1970s, is the subject of a new solo show at O’Flaherty's, 44 Avenue A at Third Street. 

"Houses and Hotels" spotlights a selection of the early sculptures that helped launch her career. Dennis created these pieces while living on St. Mark's Place (they were assembled elsewhere). She now lives in Germantown, N.Y.

Saturday was the opening-night reception... here's a look around (I was told that the roof/ceiling at 44 Avenue A may or may not have been cut open to transfer and install these pieces)...

Dennis also has a new book coming out, which will be launched on April 13 at Karma Bookstore on Third Street, co-hosted by O'Flaherty's.

We also spotted O'Flaherty's gallerist Billy Grant...

... and owner Jamian Juliano-Villani, here with her mom...

Gallery hours are Wednesday through Friday, 11 a.m. until 6 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 2-7 p.m.; or by appointment. 

"Houses and Hotels" is up through April 28.

The 'Snappy' new show at O'Flaherty's

Photos by Stacie Joy

The latest exhibit is up and running at O'Flaherty's, the gallery-performance space at 44 Avenue A and Third Street. 

EVG's Stacie Joy stopped by the opening last weekend for Christian Ludwig Attersee's "Snappy Armpits and More." The show features work from the Austrian artist dating to 1965, many pieces never shown before in the United States. (The artist was also present for the opening.)

First up, O'Flaherty's gallerist Billy Grant and owner Jamian Juliano-Villani ...

The exhibit will be here through Jan. 15. Hours Wednesday-Sunday from 2-7 p.m.

At the opening night of the O'Flaherty's Café

Photos by Stacie Joy 

The latest installation is now open at O'Flaherty's, the gallery-performance space at 44 Avenue A and Third Street. 

On Thursday night, a steady stream of curious gallery-goers stopped by to check out the work of seven artists... not to mention the accompanying café offering tasty vittles like mac & cheese and chicken fingers...

Artist, curator and co-owner Jamian Juliano-Villani was busy making sure attendees were taken care of...

... and her parents stopped by as well...

... and scenes from inside and out, 

Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Sunday 2-7 p.m. Cafe Hours: Thursday-Saturday 5-10 p.m. (Tonight, Aug, 12, the hours are 8 p.m. to midnight.) 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• At the O'Flaherty's Café, come for the art, stay for the chicken fingers

At the O'Flaherty's Café, come for the art, stay for the chicken fingers

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

There's something new cooking at O'Flaherty's, the gallery-performance space at 44 Avenue A and Third Street.

Starting this evening, you can partake in the new café (The Café) concept from artist, curator and owner Jamian Juliano-Villani (below right)...

... with a menu that features comfort food (nachos! mac & cheese!), salads (loaded iceberg!), and small bites (chicken fingers!)...

... and some new artwork from seven featured artists to coincide with the food...

At the moment, we're not sure if the exhibit is part of the Café or the other way around. In any event, it should be interesting and crowded, given the previous shows here. 

The opening is tonight from 7-10...

And hereafter... Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Sunday 2-7 p.m. Cafe Hours: Thursday-Saturday 5-10 p.m.

A Smoke House for Avenue A

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Updated: The shop opened on June 24

A weed-smoke shop called Smoke House is in the works for the smallish retail space on Avenue A between Third Street and Fourth Street... previously part of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater's East Village outpost, UCBeast.

The new shop is nestled between Two Boots and O'Flaherty's, the newish gallery-performance space. 

This arrival comes as New York State has ramped up cracking down on unlicensed cannabis shops in NYC.

Last weekend for a serving of gelitin at O'Flaherty's

Photos by Stacie Joy

Thursday night saw another full house at O'Flaherty's, the new gallery-performance space at 44 Avenue A and Third Street.

This evening (March 4) at 5 (it's free, but get there early) marks the fifth and last show in the inaugural exhibition, "O'Flaherty's gelitin O'Flattering," featuring the Vienna-based performance group gelitin. Each show is different, and something people seem to be talking about each one ... 

And tomorrow (Sunday!) is the last screening of the group's film, "Stinking Dawn," ... starting at 5 p.m.

Opening night at O'Flaherty's

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Feb. 16 saw the debut of O'Flaherty's, the new gallery-performance space at 44 Avenue A at Third Street. (We first reported on this here.)

And what an opening it was: An enthusiastic crowd packed into the theater space to take in the first performance in a series titled "O'Flaherty's gelitin O'Flattering" featuring the Vienna-based performance group gelitin. 

The four members, all in their 50s, painstakingly created a live sculpture based on the statue "Laocoön and His Sons."

Presiding over the festivities was artist, curator and owner Jamian Juliano-Villani ...

The group members, wearing flesh-colored stockings, smeared themselves with petroleum jelly before slathering their bodies in plaster ...

... throughout the spectacle, Juliano-Villani's friend and business associate Ruby Zarsky strummed a guitar from an elevated position in the back of the theater, the former UCBEast (and Pioneer)... 

Afterward, the crowd snapped up the merch...

O'Flaherty's is hosting three more performances by gelitin — all different, and on Feb. 25, March 2 and March 4 — and screening the U.S. premiere of the group's film, "Stinking Dawn." Go here for details and showtimes. 

As previously reported, O'Flaherty's had a year-long run at 55 Avenue C at Fourth Street (we covered the opening here), culminating with a GRAND finale late this past summer. 

Upright Citizens Brigade Theater closed UCBeast in February 2019. The comedy venue opened in September 2011, and UCB took over part of the expanded Two Boots empire — the video store on Avenue A and the Pioneer Theater around the corner on Third Street.