It's not unusual, in the Lower East Side, to walk into a boutique that's offering mani-pedis in the back. Or, on any given night, go out for Chow Mein and find yourself a couple of hours later singing "Hotel California" in dimly lit room downstairs. Space is tight, after all. New to the neighborhood, art-bar hybrid, GalleryBar, milked that fact, opening its lounge doors to Orchard Street last night with the debut of Kevin Berlin's "Slaves of Fashion" exhibition. In a stripped space save for provocative black-and-white paintings floating on the main gallery walls, a photography corner, two no-frills but fully stocked bars, and a shadowy hideaway with exposed beams and dark leather chaises downstairs, you can debate the facets of avant-gardism in between tequila shots. If you start to feel artistically inspired yourself, pose for a picture in their vintage photo booth. Another kind of hungry? Snack on something from Bruschetteria on Rivington. All in all, adding to your art collection while under the influence may not be wise, but if you wake up the morning after and a life-size rendering of a naked woman is standing before your bed, at least you'll know where you picked her up.

SAMANTHA GILEWICZ

GalleryBar
120 Orchard St.
New York, NY
tel. 212-529-2266

myspace.com/gallerybarnyc

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