I’m convinced that I was born about thirty years too late.  In visiting The Downtown Show at New York University's Grey Art Gallery and Fales Library and learning so much about the local art scene from the mid 70s to mid 80s, I can’t help but wish I’d been around to be a part of it.  I wish people still sold so many random forms of art for so cheap.  I wish there really was no reason to go above 14th Street, because I live well below 14th Street in an area that mostly closes down by 6pm every night.  I wish art was still as much of a political statement today as it was 25 years ago.
            But since I can’t actually go back in time and personally experience a time period two to twelve years before I was born, The Downtown Show seems to be the next best thing.  I was quite impressed by the comprehensiveness of the show.  I think that it was particularly well organized, divided into several smaller sections with cohesive themes, instead of forcing visitors to face the whole show in its overwhelming entirety in one go.  Rather, these sections facilitate the exploration process by giving the viewers different things to think about in each of the eight units, providing a sort of guided tour throughout this crazy and chaotic time period.
            I was really glad to see the wide range of mediums displayed throughout the show, from the more traditional (not at all traditional in the true sense of the word but rather as a sort of relative term) two-dimensional paintings, drawings, and photographs, to the three-dimensional creations, many of which involved painting or drawing or even photography, to the more abstract concept of the video, to the articles of clothing worn and the types of tools created and used, such as, for example, a vacuum cleaner, which seemed less out of place than one might think.
            I feel The Downtown Show did a really great job of capturing the true essence of the downtown art scene during this time period.  Walking through gives you a real feel of the excitement associated with this era, the pace at which life was running, the way new things, perhaps even life changing, were perpetually happening; how there was always so much going on.  And yet many of the artists sacrificed some of their personal well-being to collaborate with others to create things bigger than any one individual.  It was in this fashion that some of the most important artwork was produced.
            I learned a lot from this show, and did so in a much more enjoyable fashion than reading it out of a textbook.  It is important to experience things firsthand, but since time travel has not yet been invented, I suppose it is ok to settle for seeing a broad and thorough collection of some of not just the most important works of art, but ideas and concepts as well.  Understanding the past is key to understanding the future, and like the saying goes, “those who fail history are doomed to repeat it.”  I certainly don’t want to repeat it, and thus I feel fortunate to have been able to visit such an important show representing such an important part of our history.