The good old, bad old days. That’s one way to look at the 70’s and 80’s, specifically in the East Village of New York City. The “Club 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978-1983” exhibit currently being shown at the Museum of Modern Art captures this very essence of the city through an iconic zero budget art venue in the basement of a Polish church located on 57 Mark’s Place.

Founded in 1978 by Stanley Strychacki, Club 57 started out as a small space for musicians and performers to put on a show for cheap, but soon became a creative epicenter for the counter culturists and avant garde artists of the time. Each night, there was always something interesting going on as everything from film screenings to live art to drag shows and even women’s wrestling, went down at Club 57. There was no leash on the types of events or pieces of work that were presented as no one was afraid to experiment which is why the East Village was transformed into the hub of culture and expression that it became.

The exhibit truly captured the aura of what those five years were like in that basement in the East Village, specifically focusing on the sexual overtones of performance and expression and the punk culture and art form that gripped the nation in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Once you step into the first floor of the exhibit, you are greeted by hand made flyers and newspaper clippings for the infinite number of events occurring at the club among the years, demonstrating how personable and caring those who worked at Club 57 were. Their anti-establishment views and ideology spread through these posters so these “worthless” pieces of paper are priceless in terms of giving one a peek into what the place was up to at any given moment in time.

The lower level of the exhibit gave the impression that what the viewer was seeing and feeling walking in was how others felt when Club 57 still existed. Greeted by a burly security guard and collections of art from various art shows through the years, I felt as if the dimly lit space gave off such a vibe one would expect of an uber art centric establishment. Stepping in further, there was a small theater screening weekly rotating programs ranging from different artists like Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf, and Barry Shils to name a few with random unrelated subjects and content. It only got weirder as I walked through the exhibit, seeing every other aspect of the famed club. There was a specific space dedicated to clothes fashioned from the insulation foam found in homes from an event back in the day. Sexually charged artwork lined the walls throughout whether it was an abstract work of art or a very clear and concrete piece with emphasis on the human anatomy. There was even an audio recording of the cabaret singer John Sex sparing no expense as he talked about the joy he derives from performing and stripping for his audiences with a reporter. Club 57 clearly brought out in people a beautiful and intense sexual side dying to be expressed. Telling from the impact the club had on its community, it seemed to have exploded, resulting in all of the art and work seen in the exhibit.

The bubbling anger towards the political climate at the time was also clearly displayed through the culmination of the exhibit. A video of Tom Rubnitz and David Wojnarowicz ripping Ronald Reagan and the US government on their response to the AIDS crisis tapped into the feelings of the community and showed how empowered people were to not only speak up but express themselves.

The most intriguing piece was a room created by Kenny Scharf, an artist molded by Club 57, called the “Cosmic Closet”. At first, it didn’t seem to fit in with the whole exhibit at first as it was a room filled with random glow in the dark objects that covered the whole room whether it be suspended from the ceiling or cluttering the floors with a disco ball in the center. However, after further thought, it seemed to fit perfectly with the exhibit as it seemed to catch the entirety of what Club 57 was, a colorful random mass of amazing things that somehow made sense but didn’t at the same time and refused to be tied down to a singular type or genre of being.  

Going into this exhibit, I didn’t have any expectations as I truly had no idea what exactly I was getting into. But what I saw throughout the exhibit was so peculiar and fantastic as it was interesting to see what a small part of the city was like during a small period of time and how there was so much that came out of that small pocket of time to observe and appreciate.