January 25, 2008

Shades of Grey

Grey Gallery & Lounge Opens

From blind dates to your niece’s ballet recital, you’re hard pressed to think of a situation that doesn’t improve with booze.

So stumble into Capitol Hill’s brand new Grey Gallery & Lounge, an inspired hybrid art gallery and cocktail lounge.

Owner (and longtime local gallery director) Erik Guttridge wants artists, patrons, and regular kids to chill out and interact with art — so he’s created a loungy space with salvaged wood furniture and steel and birch floors.

Order a classic, pre-Prohibition era cocktail with confidence (Grey’s bartenders hail from spots like Zig Zag and Napa’s Auberge du Soleil). Then feast your eyes on revolving exhibitions of contemporary paintings, sculptures, and experimental and multimedia works.

Because Guttridge shows young artists who are still on the verge, it’s the perfect place to start a collection or impress a date with your spot-on taste.

Not to mention your tolerance.

Opening party tonight, 8 p.m.-2 a.m., 1512 Eleventh Avenue, between Pike and Pine Streets (206-325-5204 or greygalleryandlounge.com).