North Texas Daily

The Bowllery on Avenue C is a restaurant mainly known for its unique atmosphere and fusion dishes along with its vegan and organic ingredients used in each meal.

For the past four years, The Bowllery has been more than just a restaurant stop for people in and around Denton. It has also been a stop for Dentonites to enjoy art as well. During the summer, customers are introduced to a very unique multimedia art gallery in the restaurant.

Known as “emic,” the multimedia art exhibition presents works from three artists from different parts of the world and is located at the tAd, The Bowllery’s in-house gallery.

“Because of the empty space, we thought it would have been a great idea to use it as an art gallery or an art den,” The Bowllery owner Keven Vivorakij said. “My sister is in charge of running the gallery, and she talks to the artists to set up the gallery.”

The gallery is an artist-run space. Although many restaurants have art and decorations on the walls, tAd allows for open discussion and contemplation of modern art pieces.

“I like that there’s a local art gallery that’s so close to campus,” UNT alumni Nicole Owen said. “It’s great that it’s there for us to see.”

While tAd has showcased different exhibitions and art in the past, emic showcases the anthropologic approach of studying cultures from within. Each component in the gallery works toward portraying this way of learning.

The Bowllery hosts a three-artist exhibition titled “emic”. The exhibit features video artists Chelsea Coon and Tae Kyund Seo and sculpture artist Jill Gibson. Cameron Roe

Shown on the projector in tAd is the video piece titled “9:50:45,” by Los Angeles-based artist Chelsea Coon. As mentioned on the information paragraph near the projection, “the title refers to the universal time of the recording of the two black holes margining in space, an event that occurred in March 2015.” The video installation mostly captures Coon walking around an empty space on day six, hour six of her 36-hour live performance.

To the right on a tablet presents a more expressive piece, titled “Fake Organ Show” by Seoul artist Tae Kyung Seo. The video presents Seo covered in bandages and wraps while she opens herself up to remove bits and pieces of her (fake) organs, “as if delving into her inner being, exposing it and hollowing herself out.”

Despite the gruesome direction, the overall concept of the piece is that no one ever said getting to know your inner self was going to be easy or pleasant.

The final piece in the gallery’s trilogy of pieces is “Agliaia,” created by UK-based artist Jill Gibson from her series of sculptures titled “Emic.”  The light peach-colored 3D sculpture appears to be some organs sculpted out from a block, giving it an organic look. From the description, “all the pieces in the series are uniquely different, yet each one takes on its own biomorphic shape and organic body under the same process and within a uniform structure.”

A quote included on the piece from Gibson describes that the work is supposed to mirror and “emic consideration” of study between the collective and the individual within specific ways of thinking.

The exhibit will continue to be displayed at the restaurant until Aug. 5.

“I think it’s really cool to have a gallery at the restaurant,” server Veronica Rouly said. “[It] makes it seem like a hidden gem in Denton. I do wish more people had the opportunity to see it, but the feel of it not being as well known makes it feel more underground and interesting.”

Featured Image: The Bowllery has been hosting art exhibits for the past four years. Cameron Roe