Rabideau and Bridges Waste Not the evening at Barbara Archer

• Romy Maloon
• Justin Rabideau

The opening reception for Justin Rabideau and James Bridges’ exhibition at Barbara Archer Gallery last Friday was, true to the title, not a waste. The Dashboard Co-Op curated exhibition, Waste Not, is an inspired use of pairing. The palette of Bridges paintings - subdued blues, earthy browns, cloudy greys - works well alongside Rabideau’s salvaged wood sculptures. Other resonances seemed to appear too - like the broken edges of Rabideau’s boards to Bridge’s brush strokes - that might simply speak to a good curatorial pairing or to the fact that the artists spent some time working in neighboring studios at The Goat Farm.

Rabideau’s best works feel like they contain kinetic energy. His largest in the exhibition resembles a walkway that’s buckling during an earthquake or, perhaps, a railway bridge being dynamited. His more quiet works seem to draw on the talismanic or spiritual qualities that found materials can convey.

As the opening wrapped up, a party bus arrived to whisk folks off to The Lawrence, Patrick La Bouff’s as-yet-unopened new restaurant in Midtown. Plates were served around a communal table. Cocktails were served. Lily and the Tigers played to the crowd. All of this, too, owing to Dashboard’s clever planning.

Waste Not continues through March 24. More details at Barbara Archer.