Best art gallery
Fans of Central Square's Zeitgeist Gallery don't need no stinkin' wine and brie. But they're happy to devour
live jazz and electronic music, spoken-word performances, and some of the most outrageous examples of street
theater in the history of the People's Republic. Oh, and they also like the exhibitions by local painters
and sculptors. Having designated the Zeitgeist as a "Local Hero" in 1999 for its efforts to "revitalize the
fading art of political humor in an increasingly political but increasingly humorless city," we at the
Phoenix are not surprised by the gallery's victory in this year's readers' poll. Owner Alan Nidle and his
friends once literally wrapped Cambridge City Hall in red tape to protest hold-ups that were blocking
public-arts funding. In another event, a bunch of Zeitgeist members dressed like bloody corpses and marched
to the city's election commission to register to vote - protesting the state's refusal to remove inactive
voters (some of them deceased) from its voting rolls.
On the other side of the Charles, the winner is the South End's Bernard Toale Gallery, which marks
its 10th anniversary next year. The exhibits here can usually be characterized as "cutting edge," but
there's always a strong sense of purpose in the selections. What might have prompted its rise in our readers'
poll this year? In January, photographer David Levinthal's "The XXX Series" alerted us to the existence of
Japanese "toy kits" of female dolls with bondage and leather gear. Then photographer Chris Komater's "Harem"
turned the gender tables with fragmented images of male nudes. And in the spring, Japanese illustrator Ayae
Takahashi reinterpreted the Snow White tale with a collection of sensual black-and-white images. If the
purpose of art is to help us see familiar things in a new light, it's no wonder that Bernard Toale has so
many followers.
Zeitgeist Gallery, 312 Broadway, Cambridge, (617) 876-2182; Bernard Toale Gallery, 430 Harrison Avenue, Boston, (617) 482-2477.
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