F6 Gallery One-Year Anniversary Party
February 23, 2008
F6 Gallery
Better Than: Most anything else happening in Arlington on a Saturday night. Download: See who was at the gallery's birthday bash in our slideshow.
Sometimes what begins as a capricious whim or an idealistic toss of the dice manifests into a force greater than one could have imagined. This is how the story goes for the F6 Gallery, an awesome little warehouse-turned-art house hidden in the scrappy city landscape off Division Street in Arlington.
Last night F6 Gallery celebrated its one-year anniversary with the kind of warm, jubilant vibe symbolic of the best kind of Saturday night house parties –- and it’s that exact funky-feel-good energy that spurred the almost instant success for the sizzling F6 movement. Not just a gallery but an homage to raw, frenetic self-expression, F6 brings the party –- melding street inspired art, dance, DJs and style into one cool event after another. In the past year, F6 has hosted unique monthly events such as the Lock In Show (featuring work created in one night of sleep-depravity), Uppercase (an adventure in the art of the alphabet) and Electroshock (art inspired by all things electronic).
These wildly popular monthlies have generated a creative vitality that co-organizer Guy Black points out was so desperately needed in the sleepy trenches of the curious city famed for big ticket entertainment, not underground art movements. “I don’t know if you know this, but there’s not exactly a lot of culture in Arlington,” says Black in a reluctant whisper.
Black, along with founders Mike Smith, Kevin Thornton and Jeremy Gabriel, has transformed the former boat storage space into a mission –- a sacred space exalting street-style art as a vital and incendiary element of modern society. And when you bring the art, you bring the people –- the collective of artists, musicians and fanatics who live and breathe the renegade fervor that fuels the scene.
F6’s birthday bash was true to form last night with vibrant visual art displays, funky-fresh DJ cuts and break dancing maniacs slicing up the concrete floors. The seriously-hip crowd of patrons and artists spilled out into the warehouse driveway smiling and sipping on bottled beers and smokes. They were proud, frivolous and buzzing –- mingling and enjoying a weekend feast of the kind of spirited nutrients that are necessary for our souls’ survivals. -- Krissi Reeves
Critic's Notebook By the Way: The artists at F6 believe in making art available to everyone, not just the social elite. Therefore, the majority of the work shown is ridiculously affordable.
Random Detail: F6 Gallery is supported exclusively through donations. F6 never charges a cover for its events and does not make commission from its artists. Sweet.
