Last night, in the midst of the gaybor district is the Ybor City Social Club (1909 N 15th St Tampa, FL 33605, (813) 242-2717), an upstairs bar, art gallery and lounge that recently hosted the “Waiting Room Art Show”. This night of chill music, surreal themes, dark art and lounging around was a good time, drawing on the ambient vibe I had seen in much bigger art shows previously.
The thing about the Social Club that’s cool is that everything about it speaks of comfort. The whole place is dimly lit with comfortable seating all around. The bit of whirling lights and effects are kept minimal, just like the music, and it works for the Social Club. The seats are arranged to encourage small groups and it’s easy to melt into the furnishings.
Music for the night was from DJ’s Loki, Shard, Sumatra71 and ElliotNess. A mix of ambient sounds, chilled electronic, dub, triphop and lounge music added to the presentation. Being a Tek-nique Entertainment production, everything about the music selection, the environment and the art fit nicely.
The showcase was for Vivid Dark J.E. Feightner. His artwork was a collection of digitally painted works that are part Dali, part H.R. Giger and part slaugherhouse gore. Throw in dashes of nudity and complex layers of themes and you have a collection that speaks to the dark overtones many of us feel inside.
More of J.E. Feightner’s art can be seen on his MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/feightner
