The Toothless Cat Gallery

I do have a penchant for the interesting and obscure, so it’s fitting that I find this place to be fantastic. I have purchased furniture from T.C.G. and probably will again. Their prices are reasonable, selection is good, and the staff is helpful and friendly, without being pushy. Check it out for yourself. You never know what you’ll find.

Art that might eff you up. Always on edge, often a bit disturbing, definitely reactionary. This gallery is attached to jinxed clothing and collectables.
Every gallery show comes with free cheap beer, some snacks, old friends, more punkrock than you can handle.

This is one of the best art galleries/​boutiques in Philly. They have a huge variety of art related materials ranging from books, vinyl toys, clothing, handmade goodies, & work from local artists. One of my favorite features in the store is the black shelve right near the glass counter that is filled with neat vintage goodies. The owner goes to auctions every so often and usually bring some neat jewelry, knick-​knacks, & vintage cameras.
The gallery itself always has something cool on displays & the owners are so nice.

I love this gallery. The shows are thematically dark and lovely and the openings are always a good time — the most recent being the show «All Girls Go To Hell» by Buddy Nestor, featuring portraits of women whose faces are melting into ghostly demonic hotness.
When you stop in, don’t miss JL Schnabel’s jewelry line «Blood Milk». This local artist and part owner of the TC creates unique pieces, often by casting vintage finds and other objects d’art and juxtaposing them with thoughtfulness. I’m stoked for the necklace I bought with a bronze dove suspended above an actual butterfly knife — my interpretation of this symbolism: I come in peace, but I’ll cut a b*#$%

Really nice artists/​owners, very cool local artwork and a great location.
I went there this past Saturday to see the opening of a valentine themed exhibit in which hundreds (?) of artists created images on little wooden heart shapes. They served up a whole roasted pig, head and all, with free PBRs for the guests, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. It was a great socializing event and I will be sure to check it out again.

In theory, The Toothless Cat is friggin’ awesome. In reality, it needs some work if it’s going to be an exceptional gallery space. Trying not to take myself too seriously here, but I love art spaces and I always hope they’ll be amazing.
One of the biggest problems I have with TC is that it’s a preconfigured space at the Piazza. It appears that there’s very little that they can do with the layout — not to mention the fact that the space is very small. On top of that, although the lighting is very good at night, during the day, all light comes from the natural light through the wall of windows. Not only does this detract from hanging space, it’s also not the best way to light artwork. All in all, as a gallery, it’s a very limiting space. My advice: visit at night.
As for the shop, I really enjoyed the collection. If you’re into artists like Ryden, Nara, and Houtkamp, this is the place for you to check out while you’re waiting for your significant other to buy brussel sprouts or some other healthy crap at the Farmer’s Market. They have some really great books (they could use some more — I have suggestions), there are a good number of collectibles, and the info/​free stuff at the door is pretty rad, too.
I think the best part about TC is that they leave the studio door open so that you can steal a peek at the artists’ process while you are perusing the goods. So cool…
And although I want more from the place, I will definitely stop in again. The shows that I have seen here are chock full of really fresh talent and really interesting work. Plus, the space is really inviting and the TC family seems to be really friendly.

Dave Fox is one of those crazy Philadelphia artists/​tattoo artists that I’ve randomly been following around for awhile. His stuff is straight from the albums that your mom and pop try and keep you from listening to at a young age, only for the music to get planted even further to the point that you end up getting the artwork tattooed on a random part of your body (I’m still considering the ladder.). So when I found out that he was one of the artists founding a gallery for underground artists at The Piazza I just had to check it out. and it definitely impressed.
It’s most recent show was called The Magnificent Egress, and featured work that was inspired by early and mid 1900’s carnival sideshows, specifically the grotesque hybrid creatures created to entice and shock paying customers. If a whale conjoined with an elephant, a baboon conjoined with a cheetah and eagle & a snake, and well… a mutated pink rabbit with tits crosses your mind as some interestingly twisted artwork then it’s the gallery for you. But even if it doesn’t then it’s still some crazy artwork to marvel over and witness when your doing a Piazza crawl.
So overall not only is it the gallery that might just have the best name ever, it has art that makes for a pretty twisted thrill ride.