he first advertising book I’d ever read was Ogilvy on Advertising, and Mr. Ogilvy asserted in his overture that he most certainly hated rules even though he was sometimes attacked for imposing them. Whatever the case may be, it was in the book I learned that “if you set the copy in black type on a white background, more people will read it than if you set it in white type on a black background.” Since then, I’ve thought about how that rule (or hint as Mr. Ogilvy would prefer to say) applies to the general display of art. What we generally know or have been taught to echo: in portfolio books, art is mounted on black sheets, and in galleries, art is set against stark, white walls. To me, good artistic sensibility should be a mixture of keeping with the rules, and breaking them. I’m always pleased to discover progressive examples of the latter.

In Gallery White is Dead, it was exciting to see various New York galleries with exhibitions mounted on darkly colored walls. Last fall, Andres Serrano had an exhibit on Shit at Yvon Lambert which was mounted on black walls. For a controversial photographer like Serrano who is known to assault the senses, this antithetic context just made sense.

There’s also The Black Wall at the Subway Gallery situated in London’s underground subway path. Curated by R.G. McHarg who is also the founder of the Subway Gallery, The Black Wall is utilized as a public exhibition space to initiate the “transformation of a neglected and unloved space into a dynamic urban art experience, engaging with the public on their journey elsewhere.”

Aside from the actual Black Wall, the Subway Gallery in itself is beautiful, and housed in a small kiosk with walls made of glass resulting in a unique display of art. I’m thinking to myself that this would also make a pretty amazing office with some good people watching to boot, although the lack of natural sunlight might get to me after a while.