Jeff Elrod
Dream Machine (for Brion Gysin), 2009
Acrylic on canvas
84 x 144 inches (213.4 x 365.8 cm)
© Jeff Elrod; Photo by Argenis Apolinario; Courtesy the artist and Vito Schnabel Gallery
For decades, a hulking former bank building at 190 Bowery has been a canvas and de facto galleryfor graffiti artists and fans, one of the last places in SoHo where street art was allowed to flourish. Now the building is a showcase for a far more rarefied art installation, offering select visitors a tantalizing glimpse inside for just two weeks.
“First Show/Last Show,” organized by Vito Schnabel, is a group exhibition in the former Germania Bank building, an 1898 landmark that was once home to the photographer Jay Maisel. The six-story, 38,000-square-foot building has been closed to the public since 1966, when Mr. Maisel bought it, its interior a mystery.