Pushing Perspective in Harlem

It was by sheer coincidence that office magazine would strike up a relationship with the gallery, but I had immediately intuited that this would happen. The gallery’s angle is simple: include works from artists in the area. Here’s the thing about Harlem: it’s brimming with artists. Harlem Perspectives, the gallery’s second official show, is a tour de force of mediums and styles from sculpture to photography to digital embroidery, but an inexplicable quality binds the pieces together — call it sheer artistry.

If the Obama portraits were the diving board, this exhibition is the pool into which one splashes. The joyful spirit of Harlem and New York City’s people of color is here concentrated into silent, visual expression — the questions run deep, of course, but there is a playfulness stirred in with serious hallmark ideas that makes this exhibit refreshing and approachable. Faction Projects introduces not only one of the best new shows in New York city, but perhaps even a new gallery neighborhood. Downtown better watch out — uptown is coming for you.