The next time you find yourself walking through the Lower East Side, do yourself a favor and dip inside the Lichtundfire Gallery located on Rivington.
It’s currently home to a collection of artists’ works called “The Trace”. It’s an interestingly varied collection, and while there are overarching themes that clearly connect some pieces like hypnotizing repetition and line-work, however I could not cleanly string together all the pieces, and I really appreciate that. To have a grouping of pieces that really push the viewer to draw out the connections and make them think is really appreciated.That is not to say that the pieces presented aren’t really impressive at face value, they in fact make an amazing first impression. They are decorative while still being complex. Part of that complexity lies in the variety of styles present in the display. They range from thin lines scrawled across the wall to well defined figures reminiscent of Matisse.
It’s content makes “The Trace” an easy standout among the many galleries in the lower half of Manhattan. Personal standouts were Jeffrey Bishop’s Joy Revision and Sheila Elias’s iPad pieces. The former being a seismograph-esque collage mixed with fantastic line-work and the latter being an interesting concept in what can be done with digital art. There are a ton of other great artists on display there too, so it’s definitely worth making a trip to.
