Soho Nightlife Unveiled

By Debbie Tuma

	Caption: Soho artist Kevin Berlin blends right into his painting about Downtown Nightlife, which is on exhibit in his one-man show, "Sex, Cell Phones and Late Nights" at RVS Gallery in Southampton. Photo: Independent / Debbie Tuma

As an artist and resident of Soho in Manhattan, Kevin Berlin considers himself "an observer of life." And what he’s observed, from hanging around in his neighborhood restaurants, bars and cafes, is that the downtown nightlife is comparable to Shakespearean theater.

"You see every human emotion and scenario going on out there, from the most tragic to the most elated moments," he explained. "People are falling in love, betraying each other, destroying themselves, breaking up, and celebrating with their best friends, all at the same time."

So Berlin, 35, decided to capture these human elements on large canvases in a new one-man show, aptly titled, "Sex, Cell Phones and Late Nights," which opened on Saturday night at Southampton’s RVS Gallery on Jobs Lane. At the opening reception, from 6-8pm, "cosmopolitans" were flowing (the popular new version of the classic martini), and the hip Soho summer crowd of young men and women were dressed in black, right down to the classic "little black dress."

Berlin, however, was following none of this trend-setting. Dressed in an outlandish matching white T-shirt and jeans, splashed with bright yellow "pop-art" lemons, the lively artist offered. "In my show I am also making a statement about cultural icons, which I see in everyday life. When I moved to Soho [following Yale University] I noticed it was like living in a fashion magazine. All the women wore little black dresses and strappy sandals, and I said, "instead of fighting it, I’m going to put it into my work."

And since all his work is derived from life, Berlin used live models for the nightlife scenes, inviting waitresses, bartenders, hostesses, bouncers, and deejays into his studio to pose for him.

"I wanted to use people who were living this life, which I think brings strength to the work," he said.

In this show, which includes about 50 large and small paintings, and some sculpture, including a giant bellybutton, there are nightlife scenes ranging from The Best Friends, a painting of two female friends at the same bar, drinking the same drink (a cosmopolitan), but in different emotional states, to The Bastard–I’ll Kill Him showing a young woman who is crying over a "break-up" cell phone call she just got in a bar from her boyfriend.

There are smaller paintings showing women in various stages of undress, and a hard-to-miss, five-foot sculpture in the window of a woman taking off her dress. "There’s a mystery about this cultural icon, the little black dress," says Berlin. "Everyone wonders what’s underneath."

This seductive show runs through next Tuesday.