POP UP ART GALLERIES on 14th STREET

Could 14th Street be a new Meatpacking District, where art, commerce, trash and the transient merge? The current show of works by Alexandra Pacula and JMR at the Dapper Dan Imperial Gallery, 139 West 14th. Street, Manhattan, suggest a new energy of possibility on an otherwise nondescript stretch of 14th St. between 7th and 8th Avenues. Street artist and visionary curator Alex Emmart has brought two vibrant talents to this innocuous stretch: the bold graffiti artist JMR, and the heady, intense ferocity of Alexandra Pacula. Pacula's furious brush work is rivetting. A glass of Scotch holds one's gait. Streetscenes of Manhattan are caught in their relentless passion. The colors are unapologetic, sweeping the viewer into the maelstrom of drama. Pacula's graphite on paper are magnetic images of delirious traffic. The strokes draw the eye along the lines of speed. The passerby is left thinking: we need more of this. Emmart's tenacity has brought two gems to 14th Street, and we can do with more of such surprises along forgotten storefronts and forelorn drapery stores.