The Shop

The husband and I have a problem: When we get drunk, we buy art. I mean, there are obviously worse vices, and the French Quarter would be the place to indulge in them. We could go trolling for prostitutes or drugs. Or worse, we could end up at one of the tourist traps on Bourbon Street. But nope, we just spend too much money on things to make our apartment more fabulous. OK, maybe some gay stereotypes are true.
I wasn’t too impressed in much of the art we had seen in New Orleans, as most of it was very «New Orleans». I put that in quotation marks, but if I had the technology I’d also put it in bold, italics and probably flashing. What I mean is that so much of what we saw was tourist drivel. But all of this is a roundabout way of saying that both the Hubbs and I thought The Shop was fantastic!
The Shop is a fantastic contemporary art gallery that would be at home in NYC, LA or my native KC (don’t laugh — our art scene is fantastic!). It’s not edgy for edginess sake, but I would say that the works here had a definite point of view. I’m not art critic or historian, but I would say that I appreciate works that aim to be more than decorative or simply provocative. The artists behind these works have something to say, even if I’m not always sure what that is.
The gentleman watching over the shop was helpful and friendly, but knew when to leave us alone. We ended up with a numbered limited edition print from a Portland based artist. We’re quite happy with our purchase and I can guarantee that I’ll be visiting The Shop on every return visit to New Orleans. I’m sure they’ve got something excellent up their sleeve.