The Hole is pleased to present Not Quite Open for Business, a conceptual group show of unfinished art, unfinished poems, and unfinished symphonies. The installation is designed by Taylor McKimens and the show includes over twenty artists from our community. What does a “finished” piece mean anyway? Come tell us no, no, no we are doing it all wrong it needs more yellow on June 26 when we have to open the doors, ready or not.

BLARG opening a gallery immediately on the heels of Deitch Projects closing has been a struggle. Jeffrey leaving suddenly to be the director of the LA MOCA, us not knowing what to do with ourselves after eight years here, scrambling to figure out who would be on our team, trying to wrangle artists, looking for a space, investors, a name, a logo. We were going to open two shows June 26th but our corporate sponsor pulled out at the last second on the big expensive exhibition. We scrambled to find a different source for the 80K and FOUND IT only to have, two days later, the space for the show revoked. No way around that one; we threw in the towel.

Then suddenly the inaugural show at our main gallery at 104 Greene Street was cancelled! The artist was under too much pressure to make this big installation and we were running out of time to execute his idea well. Which is totally understandable and did not make me go outside and cry on a stoop. I GIVE UP! Or rather I did until it occurred to me:

Turn into the skid! The Hole: NOT QUITE open for business. What if the gallery didn’t look finished, lights burned out, cracks in the floor, a mop bucket still sitting out. What if the sheetrock was showing and the benches were half painted and the press release full of typoos?

We called our artists and said hey, want to be in our first show opening in less than a month? They all said they didn’t have enough time, were too busy, blah blah blah. We said GREAT! Give us an incomplete piece. Give us a piece that has been on your wall half done for two years. Give us a drawing that you just can’t bring yourself to finish from your flat files. Put half your makeup on and come give us most of a performance!

The show is not about process-based art or deliberately “unfinished” artworks, it is about getting caught with your pants down and your lipstick smudged and your armpits sweaty because you didn’t have time to take a shower before YOUR FIRST GALLERY SHOW.