Lesser, a New York playwright who has compiled a couple of books on pulp cover art, is a consummate collector with a good eye for quirky objects. The figurines have a peculiarly aggressive optimism, surely the result of that era's confidence in technology mixing with the undercurrent nervousness of the cold war. The show runs through Feb. 1, 2001. Among the things we especially liked were the period neighborhood photos by Jamel Shabazz and the handful of graffiti works by pioneers such as Lady Pink that gave a glimpse of the gritty glamour of the early '80s. Kudos to museum director Arthur Lehman for his populist programming.
Graffiti lives on outside the museum, needless to say.
Hilario Nu o 's Fish Tank Gallery . The back of the gallery features a video seeking help for a family who lost one of those decorated barns due to a fire. The show has been extended through Feb. 15, 2001. Two blocks away at Eyewash , a gallery run by Annie Herron out of a former tenement apartment, is a show by painter Mark Masyga of odd abstract paintings plus some groups of photographs of construction sites. At first glance the paintings seem tranquil, all sober browns and mustards and muted blues and creams, but on longer reflection the unbalanced compositions and the odd spatial jumps show a quiet daring.